She watched Kirby, but Kirby didn’t open her eyes.
Thirty seconds. She didn’t know what she should say. She wanted to say something.
They were given the signal to head to the start, and Kirby finally looked at her.
Kirby reached out and moved Mara’s sunglasses, which had been up on her head, down into position over her eyes.
“Thanks,” Mara said.
Kirby nodded again.
And that was it. She should have said more. But that was it.
Mara wasn’t an aggressive skier, and she’d never been the scramble leg on a relay or team sprint where she had to jockey for the best position once the race started.
But she understood the strategy. She wasn’t going to let Kirby down.
The signal sounded, and she immediately bounded forward, making a tactical move to the front, and she was off.
Under three minutes. She needed to finish her lap in well under three minutes. Two and half would be better.
Easy.
There was only one skier in front of her.
She powered up the hill and flew down it, around a slick curve, and back onto the straightaway. The lap was just under a mile long. When she skated back into the stadium, Kirby was in the relay exchange zone.
Mara pushed, tapping Kirby on the shoulder as Kirby took off.
One leg down. Five to go.
Mara breathed through the exertion and prepared for her next leg, only a few minutes to recover. The team sprint was an interesting and complex mix of anaerobic and aerobic work, and her fitness skills were better suited to continuous endurance and distance, but that didn’t matter today. She was going to succeed even if it shredded every muscle in her body.
Kirby raced into the stadium. She was in third but barely. All three top teams were bunched up.
She tapped Mara.
Mara burst forward and quickly swung around the sprinter from Italy, putting first place—Norway—in her sights.
She finished her lap in second, and Kirby zipped off.
One lap left. Mara only had one lap left. Then it was all on Kirby to finish the anchor leg.
Everything was happening so fast. She tried to catch her breath.
Coach Wu and Coach Karlsson were shouting things at her from off the course. Mara nodded, but she wasn’t really hearing. She knew what she needed to do.
Kirby entered the stadium in third again. Norway was pulling away.
Aggressive. She needed to race aggressively.
Kirby tapped her. A perfect exchange, and Mara’s focus zeroed in on Norway. On first place. She easily passed second place again.
Mara pursued Norway, narrowing the lead with every push forward. The big curve on the course was fast and slippery, and Mara had been too conservative on it during the previous legs.
She needed to trust her skis. And herself.
She blew around the curve, gaining on Norway.
