The sail of the overturned iceboat was billowing like a parachute. Slipping and sliding, Penny ran to pull it in.
“Take the old thing down!” urged Louise, hobbling after her. “I’ve had enough ice-boating for this afternoon!”
“Oh, just one more turn down the river and back,” coaxed Penny.
“No! We’re close to the club house now. If we sail off again, there’s no telling where we’ll land. Anyway, it’s late and it’s starting to snow.”
Penny reluctantly acknowledged that Louise spoke pearls of wisdom. Large, damp snowflakes were drifting down, dotting her red mittens. The wind steadily was stiffening, and cold penetrated her sheepskin coat.
“It will be dark within an hour,” added Louise. Uneasily she scanned the leaden sky. “We’ve been out here all afternoon.”
“Guess it is time to go home,” admitted Penny. “Oh, well, it won’t take us long to get the Icicle loaded onto the car trailer. Lucky we upset so close to the club house.”
Setting to work with a will, the girls took down the flapping sail. After much tugging and pushing, they righted the boat and pulled it toward the Riverview Yacht Club. Closed for the winter, the building looked cold and forlorn. Penny, however, had left her car in the snowy parking lot, which was convenient to the river.
“Wish we could get warm somewhere,” Louise said, shivering. “It must be ten below zero.”
Pulling the Icicle behind them, the girls climbed the slippery river bank. Snow now swirled in clouds, half-curtaining the club house.