Free Going Places by Fran Hurcomb Page A

Daisy’s dad. “You could have gotten hurt. And you should have taken the plan to him instead of going ahead with it on your own.”
    â€œI know, Mom, but it seemed like such a goofy idea. I don’t think anybody but Opal thought that he’d actually show up. Actually, it’s kind of cool how it worked out.”
    â€œWell, I’ll be interested to hear how Reg’s talk with Cory goes. I expect we’ll hear about it soon.”
    No sooner had she spoken than the phone rang. Mom answered it and had a conversation that consisted mainly of “Yup,” “Uh-huh” and “Okay.”
    â€œThat was Reg. He wants us all to come to the detachment at three this afternoon.”
    I gulped.
    I finished cleaning up while Mom prepared some moose stew for supper. At five to three, we hung the
Back Soon
sign in the window of the café and headed to the detachment. Inside, it was already crowded. The room really wasn’t built to hold twenty people, but we all squeezed in. Corporal Smithers came out of his office, looking serious.
    â€œThanks for coming. Sorry there’s nowhere to sit, but this won’t take long. I hope your girls have told you why we’re here.” He paused, and everyone nodded. “Well, the short story is that I followed up on their detective work and interviewed the young man in the photos. I also returned his helmet and axe. He admitted to the whole thing, including the paint incident and trashing the skate sharpener.”
    â€œAll right,” said Opal, high-fiving her sister. All eight of us were grinning now. We had actually caught the right person. The parents were all talking at once. The hubbub was pretty loud. Finally the corporal spoke up again.
    â€œI’d like to thank the girls for their help, but I’d also like to warn them that in the future, they shouldleave the policing of Fort Desperation to the rcmp. Luckily, this young man is not a violent sort. In fact, he’s pretty embarrassed right now. But if it had been another type of person, the whole story might have turned out very differently. So that’s about it. Cory will probably be charged with mischief and made to pay for the skate sharpener. That’s up to the courts, I guess. I think it’s safe to say that the case of the Hockey Vandal is closed. If you want to see the photos, they’re right here. Thanks for coming.”
    With that, he held out the photos to the closest parents. Everyone wanted to see them while we explained in gory detail, to everyone, all at once, just what had happened. It was all okay. We weren’t arrested. In fact, we were sort of heroes. Wow!
    Sam was grinning from ear to ear. “I was kind of worried that we were going to be in big trouble.”
    â€œMe too,” I said. “Hey, want to go skate for a while? I think Curtis comes back tomorrow. I’ve got a few moves I’d like to work on.”
    We all headed home to get our skates. Within half an hour, most of us had made it to the pond. It was already getting dark, but that didn’t matter. The pondwas ours again. The only reminder of the case of the Hockey Vandal was the remains of the goal, which still lay in the firepit beside the ice.
    â€œMy dad said he’d make another one,” said Opal as she stood looking at the ruined net. “Might even be ready by the time Curtis gets back. Boy, are we going to have a story to tell him.”

Chapter Sixteen
    Curtis came back on schedule, and he was pretty impressed with our detective work, but he didn’t let it get in the way of our practices. With lines on our rink, we actually got to teach the new players the strategies of the game. We got better with every practice, and by the time the arena finally opened two weeks before Christmas, we were beginning to feel like a team. Sam, Geraldine and I were so busy with the team that we didn’t even have much time to play with the boys, whose