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Chapter 28: The Winds of Winter

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints in snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle, autumn rain.
As you awake with morning's hush,
I am the swift up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the day transcending soft night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry-
I am not there. I did not die.
-Clare Harner

October 16, 1988

The day was still young enough to call night when they climbed into Enos' truck and set out for the museum. The predawn excursion reminded her of a trip her family had taken to visit one of her uncles in Tennessee when she was little. Crammed into the back with Luke and Bo, she had curled up with a quilt in the floorboard of Sweet Tilly and slept until they were in the mountains.

He pulled into the far lot overlooking the pier and a long section of sandy beach, and directed her attention out the salt stained windshield. At first, she thought he meant for her to watch the lake, but it was dark and formless under the moonless sky.

"I can't see anything."

He nudged her shoulder and pointed further down the beach. "Down there."

"Where?"

He put his hands on either side of her head and turned it left.

Almost hidden by the shelf of rock, faint beams of flashlights moved in the darkness. She watched, not understanding what was going on. Were they searching for something? Little by little, the sky lightened until she could make out several people gathered at the water's edge, their coats snapping in the wind. Some stood in groups while others scrawled things in the sand that were unreadable from her distance.

"What are they doing?" It was far too cold for beach combing and, under the circumstances, that seemed like a ridiculous explanation.

"Today's the anniversary of the SS Tamarack sinking," he reminded her. "There's a superstition that if you write a message in the sand on the day a ship sank, the lake'll carry it down to your loved one."

She stared out at the frigid lake and thought of the ships lying dark and silent beneath the waves and of the souls lost and left behind. The idea of some inexplicable force delivering messages to the underworld made her guts twinge. She realized that people here believed in ghosts, but to see that faith in action made it all the more real.

"Do you think it's true?" She whispered. "That there are ghosts out there?"

In the gray light, his face was ashen and tired. "Honestly? I try not to think about it."

The gathering at the courthouse later was a remembrance of the 49th anniversary of the sinking. While the minister read from the book of Psalms and the sky slipped into evening streaks of red and pink, Daisy's thoughts were on a dust-swept cemetery half a world away. Beside her, Enos was somber, as he had been much of the day, and she wondered if he was thinking of his father as she was thinking of Uncle Jesse and Aunt Lavinia.

By Thursday, the talk of the town was Melinda Zagadka vanishing from Tamarack without a trace. After a few days of gossip, the consensus was that she'd left by early morning Tuesday. The last one to see her had been Mertle at the Quik-Trip Monday evening when she'd gassed up her truck.

People naturally assumed Enos knew where his maybe/maybe-not girlfriend had gone, but he was honest as Abe Lincoln when he told them he had no idea. Joy, who had taken the first half of the week off to visit her brother in Ann Arbor, wasn't so easy to convince. The look she shot him in response to his greeting Friday morning told him she had something bothering her, as she dragged her chair across the tiled floor and plopped down in front of his desk.

"Something on your mind, Joy?"

"I think we need to talk."

The way she said it made him feel like he was in trouble. "About...?"

"Oh, so many things," she waved into the air. "Let's start with Daisy."

"Let's not."

She ignored him. "Where'd she learn to shoot like that?"

The wheels of his mind spun for a second before remembering Joy had gone to the firing range with Daisy the week before. "Did she do alright? I didn't know how it'd go, what with not remembering if she'd ever fired a gun or not."

"Alright!? She's a better shot than everyone here!" she told him. "Except maybe you with your stupid 'E''s and hearts. Show-off."

He grinned.

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. "She said her uncle and cousins only had shotguns at home, so where'd she learn to hold a handgun correctly? Proper stance and everything, like she'd done it a million times. You teach her that?"

He gathered a stack of papers from the file bin and began to sort them. "Ain't much else to do in a small town other than shoot at things when you're bored and the fish ain't biting. Her uncle practically adopted me," he reminded her. "It ain't like it's a big secret that we shot at cans together."

"You know what I think?"

"I'm scared to know."

She shook her finger at him. "You should hire her to work dispatch while I'm on maternity leave."

Enos laughed. "No."

"Why not? I'm serious!"

"Well, first off, she ain't gonna be here past Christmas. Second, I don't wanna spend every waking minute with her in my ear. Besides, she's already tried that and it didn't take. Being a deputy, that is."

Now it was Joy's turn to be dumbfounded. "What!?"

"Don't look so surprised," he said, downplaying her excitement. "Plum near everyone in Hazzard took a spell as deputy at one time or another. Daisy, Uncle Jesse, Bo and Luke, Emery the county clerk. Heck, even Mr. Hogg. I reckon that's a mite confusing for folks outside of Hazzard."

She shook her head. "I just keep finding out more and more I didn't know about the two of you."

"Yeah well, don't you go telling tales to Daisy," he warned. "She don't remember none of it, and that'd just open up a whole new kettle of fish that I ain't got time or energy to explain." He frowned. "What do mean you 'keep finding out more and more' about us?"

"Look, I know was hard for you when she showed up here in Tamarack, what with the stress of the Elcid Barrett investigation, but I thought she was just some chick you had a crush on for a while that didn't end well."

"There ain't much more to it, Joy," he said with a shrug. Heck, that was probably the opinion of most Hazzard residents. The poor love sick dipstick should have known he'd never had a chance. Grabbing his coffee cup, he decided to escape to the break room. "Hey, didja see Julie's Cafe is getting the Golden Fork award for their pasties this year? We should send them a card or something."

"She told me you almost got married-" He turned back and stared at her like a deer trapped in headlights. "But your fiancee ran off and married another guy."

He sighed, wishing he had 'accidentally' fallen in the lake that day instead of answering Daisy's question. Lord knew he'd used his clumsiness countless times before to avoid touchy situations. Why he had told her something so personal was beyond him.

"Obviously, it wasn't much of an engagement," he muttered, studying the dark remnants of coffee in his cup.

"Was it Daisy?"

He glanced back at her. "You've already figured that out, or you wouldn't have asked. Don't make me explain it."

"I'm sorry, Enos." Her regret made her seem very young, reminding him that he had twelve years on the girl. "If I'd have known, I would never have insisted she stay."

"No, you were right," he said, forcing a smile into his face and voice. "She's family. Always has been and always will be. Her not remembering what happened makes it easier."

"It's been nice having another girl to hang out with," she admitted. "It's been a long time since my older sisters have lived close. I think you should keep her." She grinned at the flash of irritation in his eyes. "As an adopted cousin, I mean."

People had far too much time on their hands up here, he thought grimly, reading the unspoken suggestion between her lines.

"Cousins is how I aim for it to stay between us," he snapped. "Don't think I don't know about the betting going on at the tavern. I wasn't born yesterday."

"Fair enough, Sheriff, but in my opinion? You avoiding her is going to make people gossip more. Now," she continued, changing the subject before he could complain, "tell me why Melinda really disappeared."

The cold gave way to warm weather by the end of the week, and the temperature soared into the fifties, allowing the town one last chance to prepare for the bitter winter ahead. The air resonated with the sound of chainsaws and smelled of hemlock and white pine. Enos had bartered five pounds of ground venison for another rick of firewood, but Daisy was pretty sure that he was just being kind - they had enough wood to run the fireplace for two years, much less a winter.

Two weeks passed and worry over the unseasonable warmth and lack of snow became the subject of every conversation. Daisy, bred with the southern attitude of snow being terrible, was confused until Joy explained that a large part of the county's budget came from cross country skiing, snowmobiling, and ice fishing. Hopes were pinned on a large storm forming in the northern reaches of Canada which promised to dump at least a foot of snow on them by Halloween.

Though still nervous about winter, she missed her hockey sessions with the kids. They had finally pronounced her an 'average' skater and gifted her an old beat-up stick so she could practice hitting the puck just as soon as the ice came back.

Bless their hearts, they took the job of training her so seriously that she found them absolutely adorable and practiced as hard as she could to make them proud, even though the arm she'd broken ached if she overused it.

It was Thursday, October 27th, when the weather finally broke. She had walked down to the library, following the wooded shortcut behind the cabin to where it exited just above the school grounds. On the way back, she stopped and looked out over the water.

The sun still shone over the headland - the lighthouse a brilliant white and red against the sky, but a cold breeze had sprung up while she was inside. The air held the scent of something she couldn't place, a smell that reminded her of an old freezer. Far out against the horizon, the sky above Superior was a dark, steel gray.

That night, as the fire burned brightly in the fireplace, the temperature crashed into the twenties and the first true snow fell on Tamarack, Michigan.

The next morning, Daisy woke to an unusual brightness in the room as the sunlight reflected off the snow and through the window. Like a little kid, she stopped just long enough to pull on her boots before dashing out the door without a coat or hat, plowing into Enos who was coming back inside and startling a flock of birds in the front yard.

Outside, the world had transformed into a crystal, white wonderland. Pine boughs dipped low with their burdens of snow heaped on like heavy icing, and the woods echoed with soft thuds as clumps fell from the trees into the drifts, some of which rose a foot higher than the cabin's foundation. She waded to the end of the porch and kicked gingerly at the side of an enormous drift only to be shoved face first into it.

Sputtering, she rolled over to see Enos smiling down at her.

"Joy called," he informed her. "She said when you get done playing in the snow to give her a call." He pointed towards the driveway. "I've gotta dig out my truck."

Daisy scooped up a snowball and threw it at him, but missed as he walked away. "You'll be sorry for this!" She tried to climb onto the porch but fell back into the drift and got snow down her sweatpants. "I'll get you back!"

His laughter rang in her ears as he disappeared around the side of the house. She redoubled her efforts and pulled herself out. Now, she was cold and her floundering had only made it worse. She shook her sweatshirt and brushed the powder from herself. Across the yard, Enos was shoveling the drifts from the front of his truck.

She went back inside to dress and don her winter clothes before running back out.

"You got another shovel?"

He stopped and propped himself up on the handle. "In the shed. There's a red one with a black handle."

Her boots made crunching sounds as she waded towards the metal shed behind the cabin through snow up to her knees. She slid open the door and looked around at the chaotic mess of tools and lawn equipment. There had been an effort at neatness and organization at one time, but someone had given up and just chucked tools in randomly. In the center, under a tarp and a stack of shingles, was a long, narrow object. Stepping gingerly over the piles, she pulled up the corner of the tarp.

"Sweet!"

Covering it back up, she grabbed the red snow shovel beside the door and left.

He was almost finished with the job before she even started. Knowing it was going to snow, he had parked the truck in the yard overnight. The county had plowed all the way up to the cabin and turned around in their circle drive, leaving a mountain of snow beside the woods across from them and a clean driveway. All Enos needed to do was to shovel out his truck. Being Sheriff had some serious perks.

"Hey, there's a snowmobile in the shed!" She wondered if he even knew. Maybe it had been Doc's.

"Yeah, I know."

"So, does it run?"

He grunted something that sounded doubtful.

"What?"

"Last time I tried was two years ago, and it wouldn't turn over. I've never had time to mess with it. Doc said it came with the cabin."

"So, can I? Mess with it?"

"I reckon, knock yourself out."

She followed his lead with the shovel, but the snow was heavy and wet, and she needed two passes just to clean off each small section. Enos flung huge shovelfulls of snow off to the side, making quick work while she struggled. By the time she'd cleared a couple feet, she was exhausted and ready to call it a day.

But first, she was going to pay him back. Summoning all of her strength, she picked up a huge shovelfull. "Hey-"

"What?"

"Look."

He turned towards her and his eyes widened in surprise as she tossed the snow into his face. He pulled off his hat and shook out his hair while she laughed at his red cheeks. "That's a little more pay back than I deserved," he groused, scooping snow out from his collar.

She tried and failed to feel badly for him. "I wasn't even wearing a coat before!" she reminded him. "Uncle Jesse always said 'don't dish out what you can't take'".

"You know what else Uncle Jesse always said?"

"What?"

In a flash, he picked up a chunk of snow from the hood of the truck and struck her square in the nose. "Duck!"

Throwing her shovel down, she scooped up a handful, pressing it together into a hard ball while he did the same. He dodged her next one and skirted around the truck. While she made another snowball, he snuck around and pelted her upside of the head.

His aim was better than hers as she missed him again and only clipped him with another as he used the truck to sheild himself.

Another snowball flew at her from around the tailgate, hitting her in the shoulder.

"That's cheating!" she shouted. "Get out here so I can hit you!"

She made another snowball and pressed herself close to the truck, waiting for him to come back around. Directly above her, there was a scraping sound along the top of the truck's camper and she looked up just as the entire snowpack fell down on top of her.

The unexpected avalanche sucked the breath out of her lungs and she could only stand there, stunned, as snow spilled into the top of her coat and buried her in a pile up to her knees.

He walked back around the truck. "Possum on a gumbush!" he laughed. "Were you standing on the other side? I was just cleaning the top of the truck off. Hey, can you put this away for me? I've gotta git."

He leaned the shovel against her arm, and she grabbed for his coat but overbalanced and fell down instead.

"You...jerk!"

"Don't forget to call Joy."

By the time she extricated herself from the snow, he was already gone.

At the station, Enos kicked the snow from his boots and opened the door. Pete, who was watching dispatch that morning, did a double take.

"Holy wah!"

"What?"

"You're supposed to use the other end of the snow blower, Sheriff."

Enos looked down at himself. Everything from his parka to his jeans was packed in a thick crust of snow. "I had a snowball fight."

"I can't tell if you won or lost."

"You should see the loser," he told the deputy, with a grin.

"Oh, before I leave and forget, my nephew, Nate, says he and his friends are gonna stop by after school. I think they've got a favor to ask you."

November 18th, 1988

October rolled into November with little fanfare. Mountains of white turned city streets into mazes as new snowfalls filled in the spaces that had been shoveled or plowed and the process of removal began again.

And again.

And again.

Tamarack became a bustling center of activity, busier than it had been even during the peak colors of autumn. Visitors cross-country skied along the coast and through the immense state forests. Streets and parking lots were filled with more snowmobiles than cars, and trails had been groomed by the county where no roads had ever passed. Their engines blended into a dull roar which could be heard even inside the cabin.

Tired of no way to get anywhere, Daisy had dragged the derelict snowmobile out of the shed and, with the help of Doc and a guy named Seth from the next house down the hill, they managed to clean its dirty carburetor and get the engine to turn over. She found an old helmet in the shed and the freedom that came with having her own transportation meant that she didn't need to rely on Enos or Joy to get into town.

With the cold, the park's ice rink was filled and frozen again, and hockey practice with her group of pint-sized trainers resumed. By the second week of November, she was able to move the puck around while she skated and even hit it into the goal most of the time, although she didn't have much power behind it.

The kids' spirits were high - the first county hockey game was the Saturday after next against the Escanaba Beavers. They were excited about the new goalie; a local plumber who had played for the University of Michigan back in college. Of course he was 46 now, but that didn't dampen their enthusiasm.

Daisy's interest centered around a certain right defenseman who she had a problem believing played hockey at all, what with his propensity to trip over his feet and run into walls when he wasn't paying attention. He always had an excuse not to show up at the park, and she was beginning to think his abilities had been greatly exaggerated.

The Whitefish County Flames were just one of many pick-up teams who played on 'beer leagues' in the Upper Peninsula, which were filled with people who had day jobs but played hockey for fun in the winter. Kind of like chess club or bowling, only more apt to injure themselves. Their league was mainly city and county employees.

Word on the street was that Whitefish and Chippewa counties had become fierce rivals ever since the younger county had broken away from the other.

Adding insult to injury, Whitefish had chosen 'Flames' as an homage to when the Point Light had used whale oil lamps, nevermind that it was part of Chippewa County at the time.

Friday was a teacher work day at school and a three day weekend for students, so Daisy met up with the kids in the early afternoon before the crowd began to filter into the park. Nate; Rilla; Ruby, and another boy were already waiting on her when she parked the snowmobile.

"We've got a surprise for you, Daisy!" said Nate.

Rilla giggled. "Hurry up! Hurry up!"

Daisy followed them to the benches. "What's all the fuss, y'all?"

She craned her head up to see over the plywood barrier. At the far end, someone wearing a Flames jersey was practicing slap shots.

"We can't teach you everything, dontcha know?" explained Nate. "None of us are big enough to show you how to check."

"Yeah, you'd just knock us over."

Daisy was already wearing her padded hockey pants and shin-guards since they took too long to put on in the cold. She took off her coat, shivering in the frosty air before she pulled her shoulder pads and jersey over her head, laced up her skates, and grabbed her helmet and gloves while Rilla held held her stick. Finally geared up, she followed the kids out onto the ice.

She crouched down resting her elbows on her knees and letting her skates pull her along, then spun around, practicing skating backward while there were less people to run into.

They were almost to the end of the rink when she turned back around. She nearly tripped over her own skates when she saw the name on the back of the Flames jersey.

Oh my gosh.

"Hey Sheriff!" called Nate.

Enos hit one last shot at the net and turned around. Daisy couldn't read his expression with his helmet on.

"Hey, Nate!" he skated slowly over to them, not looking in her direction. "Pete said you kids needed some help."

"She doesn't know how to check people," he said, pointing at Daisy, "but we're all too short for her to practice with."

"Yeah, she'll knock us over!"

He knelt down in front of Rilla. "So you need me to show Daisy how to hit people?"

The little girl's pink helmet bobbed up and down. "Uh huh!"

With a laugh, he stood up and skated over to Daisy. "I see you've met my fan club."

"So, you can skate," she said. "How come I've never seen you out here before?"

"I don't usually come here unless the kids ask me to. I practice on Bass Pond where I don't have an audience to watch me mess up." He turned to the others. "How about all of us practice? Y'all have games coming up, too, and you ain't going to get better by watching Daisy. Nate, you and Jackson are the same size. Ruby, you and your sister can go up against each other."

Ruby cheered while Rilla groaned. "But, she already beats me up, Enos!"

"Well, this time, you can hit her back."

He lined up everyone across from their partner. "So, when you check somebody, it's not just because they made you mad and you want to hit them," he said, grinning at Daisy. "It's to make them lose the puck or they're trying to stop you from getting past them."

Daisy was relieved to hear there was a point to the exercise.

"Nate, why don't you show Daisy how to check with Jackson."

Nate crouched down and skated at Jackson, knocking him over. The others laughed.

"That was real good, Nate, except you need to get down lower and push up into his shoulder with your shoulder. Did y'all see why Jackson fell over?"

Like shy kids in class, they threw nervous glances at each other until Jackson spoke up. "I was turned the wrong way. I should've been facing him instead of turning to the side."

Enos patted him on the back. "That's right. It's just like they taught us back in Police Academy. If someone is running at you to knock you over, you have to face them and push back. You guys try it again. Jackson, push back against him with your shoulder then use your hands to move him out of the way."

This time, when Nate hit him, Jackson stopped him and they jostled for position other until they shoved each other apart.

"Good job, fellas, now it's the girls turn. Rilla, you try and check your sister."

Rilla sighed. "Okay." She skated without much enthusiasm towards Ruby who knocked her down. "See? I can't."

Enos picked her up and set her back on her feet. "Ril, do you trust me?"

She nodded.

"If you do it right, she won't be able to knock you down. I've got an idea, though." He took the stick out of her hands and put it on her left side with her left hand down low instead of her right. "Now, I want you to check her, but use your right shoulder to hit her right shoulder instead of your left. And skate faster."

She lined up with Ruby and tried again. This time, Ruby was the one who fell over, and Rilla cheered.

Enos left the kids and came back to Daisy. "Do you want to try?" he asked her, giving her a chance to change her mind.

"They're right," she sighed. "I can't very well practice hitting them. Show me what to do one more time."

"We'll go slow," he assured her. "First, you need to crouch down - no, more than that. You want your center of gravity low when you check someone." He came closer, took her stick, and turned it the other way so that the blade was on the ice. "Pay attention to where your stick is. Keep it down. Skate towards me, hit my left shoulder with yours. You want to be low enough to push up into mine."

She squared up against him, thinking how much taller he was than she and wondering if this was vindication for her building a snowman in the driver's seat of his truck the day before.

"You're a lot taller."

He shrugged. "That's a disadvantage," he said. "I have to try and get as low as you are, or I won't have a chance if you're coming at me full speed."

Feeling very unsure of herself, she followed his instructions and skated into him, as she did, he crouched down, too, hitting her shoulder with his. She lost her balance and fell backwards, but understood better now what she was up against.

He reached down and helped her up. "You okay?"

"Of course I am. I think I understand what I did wrong."

He gestured to the others. "You kids spread out and practice," he suggested. "ten times each shoulder and then switch and let your partner check."

Focusing his attention back on her, he smacked his stick menacingly against the ice as he backed up. "Ready?"

"No, but okay."

Taking the suggestion he gave Rilla, she skated harder to meet him, crouched down and drove her shoulder into his. He met her with the same force, but she kept her balance until he grabbed her jersey and tossed her out of the way.

"Hey, that was real good!"

"Yeah, but I still fell down when you shoved me," she lamented. "And what do I do with my arms?"

He pulled his arms in so his gloved hands were over his chest. "You can put your arms in front, like this, and then you can use them to push your opponent away," he said. "If you feel like you're falling, just spin around and skate away."

"How long did it take you to learn this?"

He laughed. "A winter's worth of getting hit by Pete and his friends, and they weren't very gentle or patient. They couldn't find enough people to fill their team's roster, and I flat told them 'No' at least a hundred times."

"So what changed your mind?"

"I'm a push over."

Nate skated over to them. "Uncle Pete said he was lonely."

Enos shoved him and the kid fell down laughing. "I said I needed something to do, not that I was lonely." To her he asked, "Are you going to hit me or not? We're getting an audience."

Sure enough, a dozen more kids had shown up to watch them and over by the benches, several adults were looking their way, probably wondering what had captured all the kids' attention. Daisy, captivated at how comfortable Enos was with the kids, decided that Nate (or Pete's) explanation was probably closer to the truth. Not only had he been dropped into a completely different culture, but hadn't known anyone up here. It would have been a lonely existence.

She realized he was waiting on her. "Ten times, each shoulder, huh?"

Bruce and Joy sat on a picnic table at the far end of the park, watching the twins whack each other on the ice. Ruby had overcome her indignation at Rilla dropping her like a sack of potatoes and Rilla had gained some confidence. All in all, they were fairly evenly matched.

The biggest surprise were the two adults on which everyone's attention was riveted. Somehow Pete's nephew had managed to do what no one else could - to get Enos to stop hiding from Daisy. She'd have to remember he had a soft spot for kids.

"Did you have something to do with this?" asked Bruce, nodding towards Enos and Daisy.

"Why would you think that?" she said, feigning shock. "No, I'm innocent this time. How's Daisy doing?"

"Not bad. Weak on her left side, though. Did she hurt herself?"

Joy watched as Daisy hit Enos with her left shoulder, but without the same power as before. "That's the arm she broke in her accident," she recalled. "I wonder if she's not as strong on that side as the other." The players broke up and a spectator tossed a puck out to Enos. "Oh, that must have been the last set. Don't tell me he's going to let her play offense against him. She must need an ego boost."

"He's not the worst player, anymore," Bruce told her. "He could probably play third line in some of the bigger leagues if he wanted."

Enos dropped the puck on the ice in front of Daisy. "You want to take it down?"

"Against you?" she laughed. "I'm not very fast."

"You know why I'm a defenseman? Because I'm not very fast." He tapped the puck with his stick. "If you score on me, I'll buy you a better jersey than that hideous Marquette one."

She looked down at the center of her jersey where the large "M" had been covered up with several layers of ducktape. It was tempting. "How many tries do I get?"

"Oh, you'll get tired long before you put that puck in the net."

There was the snark she expected. "You just get your checkbook out, Sugar, 'cause you've got a deal."

The puck made a clicking sound against the blade of her stick as she scooped it towards her. She'd played against the kids, and some of them were pretty good. How much harder could it be?

She didn't even make it ten feet before he knocked the puck away. The second time, she got tangled up and tripped over her own stick.

"Just pretend I'm Luke," he teased, kicking the puck back towards her. "He used to make you mad enough to spit nails. I remember one time your Aunt Clara took him to Storyland down in Marietta, but you had to stay home because you were only seven and too little to ride the rides."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Wait! I do remember that!" In fact, it was as clear as a bell, even the look Luke gave her as he stared out the window of their Aunt's Plymouth. "I wanted to punch that smirk right off of his face!"

That memory, plus the ones of all the snow Enos had dumped on her lately, made her look at the competition in a new light. She didn't care if Enos played for the Detroit Redwings, she was going to put that puck in that goal.

She took off, but instead of hesitating, skated straight towards him with as much power as she could muster. Crouching down, she moved the puck to her left side, and checked him with her right shoulder, knocking him out of the way long enough for her to skate around him. She was almost to the goal when he rammed into her from the side. She fumbled with the stick, but couldn't hold onto it and it clattered to the ice.

"Dang it!" She kicked the stick back over to the starting point in a black mood.

"That was real good, Daisy! If you hadn't dropped your stick, you might've gotten the best of me."

"It's these stupid gloves," she grumbled, stripping them off and throwing them down. "It's like trying to play cards with oven mitts on!"

He shook his head. "You can't play without gloves, it's dangerous."

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do," she snapped, glaring at him. "One more try."

"I don't think it's a good id-"

"You're just afraid I'll score on you."

"I'm afraid you'll break your hand."

"You know, you actually sound a lot like Luke, come to think of it."

His eyes flashed, angrily. "You always did have a knack for learning things the hard way," he told her. "Fine. One last try."

Without the bulky gloves on, she could feel the weight of the puck as she knocked it back and forth in front of her. Knowing that he would expect her to try the same thing, she swung it around to her right side instead and checked him with her left shoulder.

He didn't offer up as much resistance as he could have, and she was preparing to yell at him about going easy on her when she saw he had a different plan. Instead of checking her on the side, he had swung around and was skating straight at her as she neared the goal, his stick out in front, ready to deflect any shot she took.

She moved the puck from side to side, unsure what to do. He might not be fast, but he was faster than she was. Any second, he was going to check her, and it would be over. She waited until he was right in front of her, then hit the puck between his skates towards the goal.

Enos turned and skidded to a stop, but Daisy overbalanced and fell forward. Letting her pads take the hit instead of trying to catch herself, she slid into him and knocked him over as she watched her puck go through the net.

"Ha! Did you see that!?"

Her celebration was short-lived as he hauled her up off the ice by the back of her shoulder pads and closed his hand tight around her left wrist.

She looked down, ready to complain about him squeezing her, only to realize she was bleeding everywhere.