"I understand you had an 'incident' on practice ice." Rossi was waiting when Laurel and Paige walked into the backstage area after the session. "Michelle Decker stomped through here dragging Hannah after her. It looked like she hadn't even stopped to let Hannah put her blade guards on."
"Oh yes – There was quite a row and most of the skaters didn't get any real practice because of it," Laurel told him. "However, I came up with a solution to that. If Michelle Decker thinks she's going to improve her daughter's chances of winning by intimidating the other skaters, she has another think coming. We do have GPS on the SUV we rented, don't we?"
"Of course," Rossi looked at her, puzzled. "Are you planning on going somewhere?"
"We are going somewhere," Laurel gestured towards the other frustrated skaters and their parents and coaches who had gathered around them.
"Okay everyone, listen up," she announced. "I am going to give you an address. It should be fairly easy to find - It's just out Michigan Avenue in Canton Township, and that's where we are going. The arena out there has two ice surfaces, one of which isn't being used this morning. The rink manager is currently resurfacing the ice and he assures me that it will be ready for us by the time we get there."
"If there is anyone who doesn't have a vehicle or doesn't feel comfortable driving in the snow, let me know and you can either come with us or catch a ride with one of the other families."
"We rented a rink?" one of the mothers questioned in amazement.
"How much is that going to cost us?" another spoke up worriedly.
"Not as much as you would think," Laurel assured them. "I made a deal with the rink manager and he cut the price for us."
"How much?" one of the fathers persisted.
"Just give me what you would pay for a freestyle session at your home rink," Laurel told him. "That will be more than enough."
"And," she added. "If you have another skater in your family who is also competing here, bring them along too."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
When the impromptu group of skaters walked into the lobby of the Canton Ice Arena, they were met by a smiling, bearded man dressed in warm work clothes and shepherding a pre-teen boy and girl in front of him.
"Hi!" Laurel greeted him. "I'm Laurel Hotchner and I assume you're Mack?"
"Right the first time," the man replied. "And, I must say, I was surprised to get your call."
"Well, something came up and we needed some ice time," Laurel explained with a smile. "We appreciate your accommodating us."
"I assume these are the students you told me about," she continued.
"Yes," Mack replied. "This is Trey and this is Brittany. They are in one of the English classes my son teaches over at the local middle school."
"Hello Trey and Brittany - Glad to meet you," Laurel smiled at the two students. "I'm Laurel and this is JJ. She'll be helping you." She turned to gesture to JJ to come over and join them.
"All right, everyone," Laurel looked over to address the group. "I would like you to meet Trey and Brittany. They are reporters for the newspaper at their middle school. While everyone practices, they will be wandering around the rink and taking pictures as JJ explains to them what is going on. After our practice session is over, they will be interviewing skaters for the article they are writing."
"Cool!" a Junior Men's skater who had joined the group chimed. "I have to write an article for my school's paper when I get back. Maybe we can work together."
"So that's how you got us ice time so easily," one of the mothers smiled at Laurel. "Not a bad trade!"
"Well, that's not all," Laurel confessed. "It seems that Mack's cousin teaches Journalism at the local high school. Two student reporters from there should be arriving shortly."
"How did you know?" one of the fathers asked curiously.
"There was an article about this rink and its skaters in one of the skating magazines a while back," Laurel explained. "In it Mack told about how his son not only taught English at the middle school level but also coached ice hockey. Based on that, I just took an educated guess and made him an offer."
"Newly hatched representatives of the Fourth Estate," Rossi said cheerfully. "Always encouraging to see them at work."
"Don't wander too far now, Dave," Laurel warned. "I think they are going to want to interview the 'Famous' David Rossi, too!"