Chapter 4

Two nights later, Ralph Campbell watched something he never dreamed would be possible. Sunday and Wednesday evenings are “open skate nights” at the town arena, a chance for ice crazy Minnesotans to stretch their legs, and it provided the arena a chance to train new organists and Zamboni drivers.

Don never mentioned why he wanted to come; he just insisted it was important. It had been over a year, maybe two since Don skated and Ralph was worried that he’d need a new pair of skates, and he did, but Don soon realized that with a few pairs of socks, Ralph’s old hockey skates fit Don just fine. That left Ralph with one choice if he wanted to skate too: his old speed skates. Ralph’s figure skates were hung up eight years ago, along with his wife Emily’s skates, never to be touched again.

They hopped into the old “Three on the Tree GMC” pickup and headed for the arena, the darkness of the night made even darker by the rain and wet roads. “Meeting the gang there tonight?” asked Ralph, trying to break the silence.

“No ... I just wanna skate. Uh ... warming up my legs for the swim team.”

It was an obvious diversion, thought Ralph. He’s got a reason to want to skate tonight. Shouldn’t be hard to figure out what that reason is. “Welp, it a good ting I brought my speed skate wit, eh? Uff-da, haf not skated in a cow’s age!”

Don rolled his eyes in embarrassment at his father’s “Norwegian Bachelor Farmer” accent. “Daaaad!” he groaned.

Ralph was a bit surprised at Don’s reaction. Maybe he’s going to meet a girl! “Ok, well – the Legion is closed tonight for cleaning, me an’ the boys are going to hang out and drink hot cocoa with a splash of peppermint.” He patted his chest pocket, showing that he had a flask of peppermint schnapps to fortify the cocoa. Normally, the response would be for Don to beg to drive the truck home afterwards.

Instead, Don said, “Good idea, I hear they have new chairs and tables in the break room.” Yep, thought Ralph behind a hidden smile, it’s a girl. The truck hadn’t rolled to a stop in a parking spot when Don bailed out and headed for the arena without a word. Definitely a girl.

Ralph went in, paid for ice time even though he probably wouldn’t skate, purchased a cocoa and a cruller from the women’s hockey boosters, then took a seat in the shadowy bleachers a couple of rows up at center ice. Several couples and a few teens stepped out onto the hockey arena, and Ralph was sure that he couldn’t be seen.

He saw Don come out on the ice and skate a little bit getting used to the skates, doing one slow circuit of the arena, then one fast one weaving in and out of the other skaters, then he went off the ice and disappeared behind the bleachers. After a long wait, Ralph saw Don step one foot on the ice, then turn to help someone behind him on the ice. Ralph was right, it’s a girl. He chuckled at his successful detective work. She was a full head shorter than Don, who, like his dad, was a bit on the short side. She had long, flowing black hair and a tiny nervous grin on her mousy little face as she stepped out on the ice. She wore a long black coat, a scarf of neon colors, and a knit cap with kitten ears.

Don steadied her, then taking her hands, he skated backwards slowly, pulling her along with him. Their first circuit of the rink was slow and cautious, and they stayed right at the edge of the ice next to the boards. The second circuit was marred by a couple of falls that were accompanied by laughter, but by midpoint of the third circuit they were skating side by side, slowly and cautiously. This time, the little girl wasn’t concentrating on her feet and was no longer looking down at the ice, so they were able to converse.

Tears formed in Ralph’s eyes as he watched his son and that darling little girl skate. “Oh Emily, if you could see this, you’d be so proud of our boy,” he whispered, fighting back the tears.

About that time, an Asian couple stepped up next to Ralph to watch the skaters. Ralph looked up and recognized Duong, an acquaintance and fellow member of the local American Legion post. “I hear a rumor that your son Don is skating with our daughter,” as they shook hands and sat down.

“That fellow with the purple Minnesota Vikings cap and the black eye to match? that’s my son Don. Donovan Aloysius Campbell, named after his grandpa, and this whole thing was a secret to me.” He handed his flask to Duong, who took it and spiked his hot chocolate and Mai’s cup also before handing it back.

“That’s our daughter he’s skating with, her name is Lanh...”

“Then am I safe to assume that the fellow in the sunglasses, the guy in the UND jacket, and the young couple skating behind them is her brothers and sister.”

“You are correct Sergeant Campbell. That’s Huy in the sunglasses our oldest son, the one in the UND jacket is Trung, and the couple is Bao and his twin sister Kim-ly.”

“That’s a good-looking family, wait ... Trung Nguyen? Plays left wing for UND?”

Duong grinned. “You know your hockey, this is my wife Mai, the brains of the outfit. The woman to your right is our eldest child, Tam, she engineered this...” Duong’s hand swept taking in the skating rink, “defensive strategy.”

Ralph held out his hand and shook Mai’s hand. “Ralph Campbell, ma’am. You’ll have to get your hubby to bring you out to the legion on occasion.”

“He’ll have to take me anywhere on occasion,” she said with a sideways glance at her husband. “Are you fellows legion buddies?”

Ralph and Duong shrugged. “We shoot pool on occasion,” said Ralph. “I was just saying that I noticed that no one gets close to Don and Lanh. Your kids are good.” And indeed, that’s what they were doing. Huy, Bao, and Kim-ly followed Lanh and Don at a discrete distance and gently but firmly insured that other skaters avoided them. If anyone got too close, Trung swooped in like an avenging hawk to protect his charges.

Tam cleared her throat. “Mr. Campbell, do you realize that the bruises Donovan wears are from defending my sister?”

Ralph looked genuinely shocked. “He said that two guys that attacked him, but he didn’t mention a girl, what happened?”