Hodge might not have cared for running, but she did it well, easily pacing herself as she hit the first set of stairs and started upward. Her father had long been a proponent of “slow and steady wins the race”, and she?d never seen the need to separate herself from his apt philosophy.

Slipping into an easy rhythm, she allowed her body to carry her along mindlessly as she concentrated on the rest of the group. Two young women, tall, thin, and looking enough alike to be twins, were far ahead of the rest, playing rabbit. They?d tire soon enough, Hodge predicted, confident in her own abilities.

The rest of the small group strung along in a line, one behind the other, each slipping into her own favored stride. Anya was close behind Hodge, very light on her feet despite her stocky size.

By the end of the second lap, the rabbits were slowing and, setting her jaw, Hodge began to reel them in like fish on the line.

She led them out of the stands and onto the court, her lungs and legs burning in equal measure. On the whole, however, she was satisfied with her performance.

Caulley, on the other hand, looked as if she?d bitten into a particularly sour lemon as she stared down at the stopwatch clutched tightly in one hand.

“Abysmal, ladies,” she stated flatly, walking over to the gasping group. “Just abysmal.” Several blank faces staring back at her caused the pinched look to deepen. “That means ?bad?, Coles.”

Coles, a rangy forward who?d been drafted in the third round, flushed and looked away.

Caulley shook her head, and turned to her conditioning coach, speaking in a loud stage whisper. “Remind me to steer my nieces away from UC Berkley.”

Coles? flush deepened, now tinged with anger as well as embarrassment.

Caulley smirked. “Don?t sweat it, pumpkin. I?m sure those underwater basket weaving classes taxed you to your limit, hmm?”

Coles? mouth opened, then closed, and her throat worked as she swallowed her words.

Caulley smiled. “So, you have some brains up there after all. Good.” She gave each member of the group a pointed look, stopwatch dangling loosely by its strap. “I should make you run the arena again until you take at least twenty seconds off this crappy time, but I?m in a good mood today.”

Nine sets of shoulders sagged in relief.

“So we?ll do windsprints instead.”

Nine groans echoed through the empty building.

Caulley smirked again. “Two lines, ladies. Get ready to go on my whistle. Ready? Go.”

Hodge groaned with pleasure as she slid down in the tub until her chin touched the swirling water. Though she would have rather had her eyes plucked out with rusty spoons than admit it aloud, her body ached from the day?s labors. Caulley and her partner-of-few-words were true taskmasters, though she had to admit they were very good at their jobs. In one day of practice, she?d come close to learning more than during the four years she?d spend at UCONN.

“You?re not in Kansas anymore, Cat,” she muttered to herself as one slightly wet hand reached out to grab the thick playbook resting on the tiled floor.

She?d already leafed through the book half a dozen times, looking at the plays and their attendant diagrams with interest. What she saw both surprised and pleased her.

“Dylan drew up these plays, you dolt,” she chastised herself. “That alone should tell you they?d be anything but run-of-the-mill.”

With a bit of chagrin, she admitted to herself that, given the relative youth of the team, and the attendant lack of wide ranging experience, she had expected an offense heavy with plays that emphasized a ball-control, clock-eating, half-court scheme.

Low scoring, perhaps, but usually effective against bigger and more experienced teams.

Instead, she found herself looking at plays that emphasized what was sometimes called a “run and gun” offense; an offense which was very much like what many, if not most, professional men?s teams used?heavy in transition, all motion, utilizing the full court instead of just half of it.

Discovering this, she came to realize exactly why it was that she, of all players in the draft, had been chosen to lead this team.

A point guard in a run and gun offense didn?t have to be the best athlete on the court, just the smartest and the most unselfish. And Catherine Hodges had legitimate claim to both of those attributes.

In spades.

She?d led just such an offense for four years running, and while she was never the points leader, she?d led the conference in assists for three of those four years. She thought well on her feet, was quick, and an expert passer who could read defenses as well as anyone in the conference. Her three point and foul shooting abilities didn?t hurt either.

With a happy sigh, she closed the book, laid it back down on the floor, and sunk deep in the hottub, allowing the jets of water to work their magic on her aching muscles.

The phone rang for the fourth time and Cat?s face dropped. “Come on, come on,” she softly pled, needing to hear the sound of her mother?s voice. It wasn?t an urge that hit her often, but when it did, obstacles be damned.

“Hodge residence.” The voice of her youngest brother croaked out against her ear.

“Hey butthead.” She plopped down in the overstuffed armchair and proceeded to get comfortable.

“Hey Beavis. Whatcha doing?”

“Calling to see how ya?ll are surviving without me?”

“Eh, you know, the dork level in the house went down ten points when you left.” He giggled, having ?gotten off a good one? as the household was fond of saying. Cat could tell one of her other brothers had used the line previously and he willingly repeated it, passing it off as his own.

“Love you to brat. Mom home?”

“Of course. She baking pies for the PTA bake sale Friday.”

“Peach or apple?”

“Yup.”

Hodge?s stomach growled at the mention of her mother?s pies. “Has she got time to talk to me?”

“I dunno let me ask her.”

Cat pulled the phone from her ear when he let loose a blood-curdling yell into the speaker. Wincing, she scowled at the phone, silently vowing to Indian rope burn her brother to within an inch of his life the next time she saw him.

“Catherine? Honey are you all right?”

Putting the phone back to her ear, Cat swallowed the knot that had formed in her throat and smiled as she answered quietly. “Hi Mom.”

“Honey what?s wrong?”

“Nothing?s wrong Mom. I just wanted to call and see how you guys were doing.”

“Well, we do miss you a lot. Your father has done nothing but grumble about the boys beating him at basketball ever since you left.”

Cat grinned and settled into the chair, throwing a blanket over her legs. “I?m sure he?s fine. He always grumbles.”

“This is true. How are things going for you?”

The sound of her mother piddling around the kitchen brought a smile to Cat?s face. It was the sound of home that she found herself missing very much. “Okay. I mean great, but they?re working my butt off and I came home from practice the other night feeling like I was going to die. Coach is fantastic, but damn she doesn?t let up for even one minute. One of the girls puked.”

“Catherine! I?m fixing pies here, if you don?t mind.”

“Sorry.” Hodge held the phone closer, trying to get as close to her mom as possible. “I miss you guys.”

“And we miss you too. You know you can always come home honey. We won?t think any less of you for it.”

“I know, but I won?t. I?m doing something important here and I intend to stick with it. It?s just hard being away from home right now. It feels permanent, ya know?”

“It?s the first time you?ve ever been away from home and truly on your own honey. Even in college you came home once a month.”

“I know and this feels different.”

“But this is always your home and you can come back anytime.”

“Thanks. I think that?s what I needed to hear.”

“And Catherine?”

“Yes Mom?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom. Talk to you soon.”

“Bye sweetheart.”

Hodge placed the receiver in the cradle then curled up in the chair, pulling the blanket over her body and staring out the window of her apartment at the lights of the city. “I love you, Mom.”

The sound of the whistle?s sharp blast echoed through the cavernous arena.

“Damnit, Hodges,” Caulley screamed from inches away, “is this a new development or were you just born stupid?!?”

Gritting her teeth, Hodge resisted the urge to heft the ball in her hands and stick it where the sun never dared to shine. Instead, she concentrated on keeping her body relaxed and her thoughts clear. “Sorry coach,” she said finally, once she could be sure her anger wouldn?t come through in her voice.

“Sorry? We?ve been at this now for two hours and all you can say is ?sorry???” Turning in a circle, Caulley addressed the rest of the team, her eyes wide with mock surprise. “Did you hear that, ladies? Catherine Hodges is sorry! Isn?t that special?” Hands on hips, she shook her head. “I hope you?re all in a forgiving mood at three am tomorrow morning when we?re still trying to get through this simple little drill.”

The others shuffled their feet, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

With a noiseless sigh, Hodge dribbled the ball back to the endline and awaited Caulley?s next order.

In truth, it was a simple drill; one that Cat had run through a thousand times in the past. It was a drill that attempted to break a full-court press; something that Cat could normally do in her sleep.

The added wrinkle to this particular drill, however, was that Cat wasn?t allowed to use her natural quickness to avoid the trap block. Instead, she was required to dribble right into it, pull up, and look for an open teammate to pass to, while two hulking behemoths dressed like coaches waved their arms in her face. An additional problem was that the only teammates she could pass to were short guards who were guarded by very tall forwards every step of the way.