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“Mind if George and I come in?”
    â€œOf course not,” Trish said with a smile.
    â€œHow’s Veronica doing?” she asked, stepping farther inside, with George close behind her.
    â€œShe’s got a mean-looking bump, but the medic said she’ll be fine,” Trish answered. “She’s resting now.”
    â€œWe’ve been asked to deliver a message to all the skaters,” George said.
    Intrigued, Trish called out loud to everyone. “Listen up. For those of you who haven’t met them, this is George and Nancy. They want to tell us something.”
    The other skaters peeked out from various locations around the locker room. Yoko and Elaine were there, and Nancy recognized a few of the others who had been practicing earlier. There were Suzanne Jurgens, who skated in both singlesand pairs; Alicia Mendez, winner of the Southwest Division championship; and Heather Lupton, from Vermont.
    â€œActually, we want to ask you something,” George explained. “Kevin Davis, a reporter from Worldwide Sports, would like to schedule interviews with you. He’s waiting outside now, so if you—”
    â€œKevin Davis?” Veronica murmured foggily. Her eyes blinked open and she raised her head up, wincing. “He’s outside the locker room now?”
    â€œYes,” George replied. “If any of you want to schedule—”
    George broke off as Veronica swung her legs to the floor and stood up, wobbling slightly. “He’s the cutest thing on TV!” she said, checking herself out in a nearby mirror. “How do I look?”
    Before anyone could answer, Veronica tossed her dark silky hair back over her shoulders and made her way a bit unsteadily to the door.
    â€œRonnie, shouldn’t you be lying down?” asked a freckle-faced skater who appeared to be about thirteen years old.
    â€œOh, it’s okay, Terri,” Veronica said. “I feel better now. It was just a little bump.” With that, she was out the door.
    â€œThat was an amazing recovery,” George murmured under her breath. Nancy noticed that George wasn’t particularly happy.
    â€œGood for Veronica,” said Trish, pulling her hair back with a clip. “Maybe arranging an interviewwill cheer her up. She could use something good to happen to her right about now.”
    â€œYou mean because of that fall?” Nancy asked.
    â€œWell, that,” Trish said, “and also what happened to her coach.”
    â€œWhat happened?” George asked.
    Yoko joined in the conversation from the bench where she was sitting. “She just found out he’s got pneumonia,” she volunteered. “He won’t be able to be here at all.”
    â€œWhich is about the worst thing that can happen to a skater,” added a pert girl with short curly brown hair. Nancy recognized her from her picture in the program as Ann Lasser from Florida. “We really depend on our coaches during a competition.”
    â€œVeronica doesn’t have anybody here to give her any moral support, either,” Trish added. “Her folks died in a plane crash a few years ago, and the aunt she lives with couldn’t make it to the competition.”
    Nancy shook her head slowly. “She hasn’t had it very easy, has she?”
    â€œNo,” Trish told her. “But don’t feel too badly for her. I’ve known Ronnie since I was six years old and she was ten. She always bounces back. She’s very resilient.”
    â€œI noticed that,” George said with a frown. “The way she bounced right up at the mention of Kevin’s name was very resilient.”
    â€œCome on, George,” Nancy suggested. “Let’s go out and see how they’re doing. We’ll catch youlater, okay?” she told the other skaters. “And please, go see Kevin. He’s out there now with his appointment book.”
    Waving goodbye to the skaters, Nancy and