A NEW BEGINNING – CHAPTER ONE – THE INVITE

"Dad! Mail's here!"

"Thanks, Kaley," Gordon Bombay said as his daughter Kaley ran into their apartment with an armful of envelopes.

"Oops." Gordon heard the sound of papers falling to the kitchen floor.

"No need to put those on the counter or anything, Kay," Gordon joked as he got up from the armchair

"Sorry," Kaley said without much sincerity. She was already sorting through the mail. It had become her unofficial job, since she was such a control freak. "Electric bill, insurance bill…Ooh! A letter for me from Audrey, and…" she held up an envelope. "Something for you."

Gordon took the envelope and eyed it. "It's from the Junior Goodwill Games Committee."

Kaley stood on tiptoe and peered at the letter. "What does it say?"

Gordon smiled at his daughter's impatience and opened the envelope. "It says, 'Dear Mr. Bombay: you have won a million dollars."

"Daddy!" Kaley swatted his arm.

"OK, OK," Gordon laughed. "It says…" he scanned the letter. "It says that we, the USA Ducks, have been invited to a tournament in Oslo in three weeks."

"Norway?" Kaley wrinkled her nose. She hated cold weather.

"Yes," Gordon affirmed.

"Are we going?" Kaley asked, bouncing on her toes excitedly.

Gordon put the letter on the counter. "Well, that depends." He reached into a cabinet. "We can go…" he handed Kaley the Duck Whistle. "If you round up the Ducks."

The whistle was barely in Kaley's hands before she was out the door.

Two hours later the team sat in Hans' Skate Shop, chattering excitedly. All except for Charlie, Gordon noticed. The team captain sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, staring straight ahead. It wasn't like him, and it sparked some concern in Gordon.

"Listen up!" Gordon commanded his team. The talking ceased and they all looked at him. "We're headed for Oslo, Norway, in two weeks." He stopped to allow cheering. "This is an invitational. It's not as big a deal as the Junior Goodwill Games. We're playing three games: Canada, Oslo, and Italy.

"No Icleand?" Connie Moreau piped up, referring to the team's ordeal with the Iceland Vikings at the Junior Goodwill Games the year before.

"No Iceland," Gordon confirmed, drawing sighs of relief from the players.

"Is Miss MacKay coming?" Greg Goldberg, the team's goalie, asked. Michele MacKay was the team's tutor from the Junior Goodwill Games.

"Yes, she is," Gordon said. "And I'm pleased to tell you that Miss MacKay will be Mrs. O'Brien in a few months."

Connie and Kaley squealed, while the boys reacted with nods and smiles.

"We fly out in nine days," Gordon said. "Who wants to be in charge of keeping the out-of-state Ducks informed?"

Kaley raised her hand, and Gordon nodded. She was good at such things as that.

"The flight is nine days from today at nine AM," Gordon said. "Start packing! No team practice until we get to Norway. If you don't have a passport, you need to get one. Everyone understand?"

Variations of "yes, Coach," and "we get it" came from the Ducks as they dispersed.

"Charlie," Gordon snagged Charlie's arm as the boy tried to get away. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, Coach," Charlie said in a hoarse voice. Gordon noticed the dark shadows under his eyes. The kid looks like he hasn't slept in days.

"You sure?" Gordon asked.

"Mm-hm," Charlie nodded. "Just tired."

Reluctantly, Gordon released Charlie's arm. "All right." Charlie had always been honest before, but he wasn't right now. Something's wrong, he thought. Something is very, very wrong.