Recap: Evie and her mother moved to Utah, and Aunt Ruthie picked them up at the airport. Evie met the new adorable baby and discovered that she has Down syndrome. Maggie is a girl Evie’s age who is helping with the baby, but she is not friendly at all to Evie.
We pulled up to Aunt Ruthie’s house. There were pansies and violets adorning the front. It was a small brown house with big picture windows. The front hall had a marble floor. There was a sunken living room with a baby grand piano and a grandfather clock. A few baby toys and a baby walker were in the middle of the room. Aunt Ruthie led us to a back room all set up as a guest room for us.
“This is so kind of you to house us,” my mother said. “We’re going to be looking for an apartment as soon as we can.”
“No rush. We’re so glad you could come. You’re both going to love the rink, by the way.” She turned towards me. “Evie, it’s a skater’s dream.”
I started unpacking my clothes. The first thing I hung up was my skating outfits.
Aunt Ruthie opened the white lace curtains that covered a large picture window. “It’s pretty here. Did you see the mountains as we drove here?”
“Yeah.”
I could hear Maggie in the living room playing with Emmie. Too bad we hadn’t hit it off. I felt a lonely pang thinking of Allie. Then I decided to call her.
The phone rang and rang, and then it went to voicemail. I forgot they were three hours ahead. She was probably at camp now. She was working as a day camp CIT. I would have been a CIT with her if we hadn’t moved…
Aunt Ruthie appeared back in the doorway. “Come have some lunch, and then I can drive you over to the rink.”
“We saw that it’s just a few blocks away. You don’t have to drive us. We need the exercise,” my mother said.
We’d been sitting for hours on the plane, and she was thinking of the competition. I needed to get a certain amount of exercise every day to be in shape for it.
Aunt Ruthie made a big salad, and she offered us hummus and pita bread.
“How’s the skating going?” Aunt Ruthie asked.
“Evie’s doing great. We’re looking to hire a coach for her here.”
“I didn’t know you were going to do that,” I said. “You’ve always been my coach.”
“I’ll still work with you, Sweetie, but I’ll have a lot of responsibilities with the new job.”
A new drawback. I sighed. What if the new coach was mean and too exacting? I was used to Mom’s way.
Just then Aunt Ruthie’s phone rang. She answered and then turned to my mother. “Jake is at the rink now. He’s looking forward to meeting you in person.”
My mother bit into her sandwich. “Yes, we’ll be there soon.”
Jake. Mr. Cohen. Why did he have to be here?
…
We strolled towards the rink. My usual excitement for skating on a new rink was dimmed by the thought of meeting Mr. Cohen and the fact that my mother wasn’t going to be my coach anymore.
Mom pointed. “Look at those cacti. They’re called Claret Cup Cacti. I love the reddish flowers. Look at the mountains! It’s gorgeous here.”
When we reached the rink, I lagged behind my mother. “Evie, you can start warming up. I’ll coach you first, and then I’ll introduce you to Mr. Cohen. He’s in a meeting now.”
The rink was huge, with that lovely distinct icy smell all rinks share. The smooth, untouched ice was a sheet of glass. It reminded me of a magic pond. I could imagine enchanted swans floating on it. I stored away the image to write about in my journal.
I slipped off my shoes and slid into my figure skates. I tied them tightly and then rose and headed onto the rink. Mom stood by the wall. She was wearing her skates, too. She skated around a few times while I warmed up with some front and back crossovers and a few easy spins.
My mother skated out into the center. Her blades scraped as she coasted to the middle.
“Let’s work on that camel spin. Watch how I lift my leg so it’s perfectly aligned. You set everything up in the beginning. Wind up. Lift your left arm gracefully in front and keep your body parallel with the ice as you step so you can rise right into position.” She demonstrated.
“Notice how I keep my shoulders facing outside my skating leg. Then I step towards my right shoulder, so I counterbalance my camel. Wind up, flatten back, torso facing outside your left leg.” My mother pushed into the entrance and then rose up into a perfect camel spin. I clapped.
“Go ahead, Evie. Try!”
I followed her example, but I could tell right away I’d leaned too much to the right, and I tipped. I caught myself before I fell.
“Try again, Evie,” my mother said, demonstrating again. “Don’t lean inward.”
I tried two more times, and then on the third one I felt myself spinning in a perfect camel. The feeling was like floating. I loved it.
“You got it. I have to talk to Mr. Cohen now. Keep practicing and try that axel jump if you feel ready.”
I moved into the camel spin over and over. I loved the free-floating feeling. When I stopped spinning, I noticed someone staring at me from behind the wall. I stopped and caught her eye.
“You’re so good,” the girl called to me. She was wearing a long skirt and no skates. She must be a Mormon, I mused. That was how they dressed even for skating.
“Thank you.”
“I wish I could do all those tricks.”
I skated over to her. “Is it public skating now?”
“No, no. I came with my father. He’s meeting with the owner about renting out the rink in two weeks for our tz’dakah project.”
“What’s a tz’dakah project?”
“Charity.” She smiled at me. “I’m Rikki Bernson.”
“Evie Gold.”
“Evie, nice to meet you,” she said.
This was a friendly girl. I liked her right away. She had kind brown eyes and a warm smile. “Did you just move here?” she asked.
“Actually, yes. I’m going into seventh grade. Are you, too?”
Rikki nodded.
“Maybe we’ll be in the same class.”
“I doubt it. I don’t go to public school.”
“Why?”
“We’re Chabad Orthodox Jewish. We have online school, and my father fills in the gaps with homeschooling.”
“Oh.” I felt a stab of disappointment.
“Are you – would you be able to teach me to ice skate?” Rikki asked. “I wouldn’t ask for myself, but it’s for our tz’dakah charity campaign. I have to skate ten times around to make money from the donors.”
“Ah, sure. I’m happy to help.”
“Thank you. You are so kind. I’m coming to the public session every day this week. Will you be here?”
“I finish practicing right before it, so I’ll stay extra and show you.”
“Thank you, thank you. You are amazing. You get a big mitzvah.”
I didn’t know what that meant, but I was happy to meet a new friend.
Just then, my mother appeared, and a tall, thin man was walking beside her. “Evie, this is Mr. Cohen, the owner of the rink.”
He smiled at me. He had a brown beard and wore glasses. I nodded but didn’t smile back. Why should I? I wasn’t happy to meet him.
My mother turned to him. “Dinner would be fine. Thank you.” She motioned to me that it was time to leave.
In the car I asked her, “What did you mean about dinner?”
“We’re having a dinner meeting to discuss more plans for the skating rink. Isn’t the rink great?” she asked.
“It’s a nice rink,” I said.
“And what did you think of Mr. Cohen?”
I shrugged. I didn’t like him, not at all…
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of a newly released historical fiction novel, Captured (Menucha Publishers, 2025), as well as historical fiction novels Please Be Patient (Menucha, 2024), Flight of the Doves (Menucha, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha, 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials, and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, and “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021–2022) and Alaskan Gold (2023–2024).