Free On Ice by J. D. Faver Page B

church.”
    “ How nice.” Rene tried to recall how long it had been since she had stepped into a church.
    “ Angel puts on a big, fine meal. Everybody in town comes.” Tink smiled at her hopefully. “Since school starts up again Monday, we thought this would give you a chance to meet everyone.”
    “ Thank you. We'll be there. I gather these are my students?” Rene glanced at the girls who were talking to Seth in low voices.
    “ Yep. Two of your best students, if I do say so myself. We were glad when Brett said you were coming. Angel's been working with them so they won't get behind, but, it’s not like having a real teacher.”
    “ What grade are they in?”
    “ Don't know. The last teacher wasn't very good. Didn't learn much of anything.”
    “ I’ll test to find each students performance level.”
    “ They can show you where they are in the books.”
    “ Mr. Culver, going through books is no way to teach. I’ll have to do evaluations to see if they're learning the information being taught.”
    “ Makes sense to me,” he said pleasantly.
    “ What time should we come on Sunday?”
    “ That depends on whether you're Catholic or Protestant. There's only one church and not many people. The Catholic service with Father Paul is at nine and then there's kind of a social hour from ten to eleven. The Catholics stay and the Protestants come early for it. Then the Reverend Goodnight delivers a sermon to the Protestants at eleven. So the Catholics come to lunch after eleven and the Protestants come at twelve. Those who lie abed on the Lord's day come straggling in whenever they wake up. It works out well, because we wouldn't have enough space to seat everyone.”
    “ I see," Rene said. “We'll figure it out by Sunday.”
    “ Mommy.” Sara called from behind the hanging blankets.
    “ That's my daughter,” Rene said. “Come out, Sara and meet our company.” Sara walked across the floor in her stocking feet to climb into Rene's lap and survey the visitor’s from that vantage point.
    Star Culver came running over to meet her and waved cheerfully. Sara climbed down and wordlessly the two little girls walked hand-in-hand to the other children.
    “ She's still sleepy,” Rene said. “Does Star go to school?”
    “ She hasn't, up to now.”
    “ Sara's going to be in school because I'll be working so if you want her to get some pre-school just bring her. I don't know the ages of the children yet, but I guess we'll work that out on Monday.”
    When the Culvers departed, Rene sat on the sofa with her children. “It seems that the entire population of Sad Horse is happy we're here and they welcome us with food. I'll weigh a ton, but I think I'll enjoy getting that way.” She smiled, remembering how Mark had ridiculed her if she gained an ounce.
    She didn’t hear the next vehicle pull into the clearing, but the knock at the door startled her to her feet. She repeated the process of surveying the visitor from the window. A man about her height with thick, dark eyebrows and a misshapen hat jammed down on his head stood drumming a pen against the notepad he clutched.
    “ I'm Roger Dale, from the Sad Horse Sentinel,” he blurted out as she opened the door a few inches. “I'm here to interview you for the next edition.” He moved forward, as though to enter the cabin.
    Rene blocked the door. “We're just going out.”
    “ This will only take a minute,” he said, patting the camera hanging from his shoulder by a worn leather strap.
    “ It's not convenient,” she said.
    “ But, but,” he sputtered. “We have to put the paper to bed tonight. It comes out Saturday morning.”
    “ Sorry!” Rene shut the door and leaned against it. The pushy little man frightened her. He could be the chink in her very thin armor. She waited until his vehicle started up and pulled out of the clearing to exhale.
    Rejoining her children on the sofa, she drew them into her arms. She held them until they were startled from their