Chapter 22

The trip to the fauna farm started with everyone gathering at the school on Saturday morning. There were only eight of them; Sam was one of the only two guys. They caught the early morning trolley to Mountain at the far end of the Valley. The mountains and peaks loomed like green, tree-covered walls on three sides of the town. It was like riding into a box capped with dark clouds that swirled around the flanks of the mountains.

"I'd heard a story that the sun comes up at noon in Mountain," Annamarie said from beside Sammi as they looked out the windows. "Now I believe it."

The town was set on the side of the valley above the lake fed by a vigorous stream full of rocks and spray on the south side of town. This was the beginning of the river that watered most of the North Valley. The other major stream in North Valley was at Hydro, and the two joined at Midtown. There were roads leading out of town toward the mountains. Most of the roads quickly disappeared into the trees. A few ran along the edge of the valley before climbing out of sight.

They were shepherded from the trolley to a waiting bus. The bus ground its way through the gears as it climbed one of the roads that led over the ridge. Mrs. Miller had warned them to bring jackets as it could get cold and rainy. Now she walked along the aisle making sure the windows were closed. As they neared the top of the ridge rain began to streak the windows. At the top a gust of wind rocked the bus, and trees lining the road waved back and forth.

"Does it do this very often?" Sam asked as another gust shook the bus.

Mrs. Miller nodded. "I grew up in Mountain, and this is very common. There's a constant storm on the far side of the ridge. It's the only real gap in the mountains for more than 200 miles, and a lot of the weather systems end up squeezing through here. The town was sited in a permanent lee, but occasionally the pattern changes slightly. You get used to the rain, it's the wind that can be the real problem."

"You should have seen it last winter," the bus driver said. "We had trees down all over the roads. Most of the farms were cut off and it took nearly a week before we could get back in." He swerved around a downed tree limb, and slowed long enough to mark it on a map.

The bus reached the end of the paved road. Several gravel roads fanned out from here. The driver turned down one of them and slowed down as he picked his way around the potholes. After a bit the road smoothed out. Rain still streaked the windows, and the trees on both sides of the bus seemed darker and taller, with a lot more undergrowth.

After an hour the rain stopped and the sun made a brief appearance. After another hour and several more hills they dropped into a small valley and stopped in a clearing filled with large wooden buildings. Trees loomed on two sides, and there was a rock face on the other side of a small stream. There were what looked like tents here and there on the rock face.

"We're here," the driver called as he got up. He stood in the aisle, facing the students. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Where are the animals?" one of the girls asked.

"This is actually a training camp for the Rangers," the driver said. "The actual farm is off to the left. That's where we're going. You'll be staying in the two-story building to your right."

"Where do the Rangers stay?" Sammi asked, thinking of Stan.

The driver waved toward the cliff. "They camp out in that direction."

"Camp out?"

He grinned. "You'll see. Now get your things, we need to get you checked in so we can get started."

They filed off the bus and into the building to the right. It was a large wooden building resembling a log-cabin, at least on the outside. The interior was filled with heavily lacquered wood and reminded Sammi of the building she'd seen when she'd been to the ice sheet after the Center Cup. On the main floor there was a kitchen, a dining hall, and several meeting rooms. The stairway behind the front desk led to a hall running left and right, with individual bedrooms on each side and bathrooms in the middle.

She and Annamarie ended up as roommates. Annamarie tested the bed with her hand before tossing her suitcase on it. "Austere."

"I've seen worse," Sammi said, thinking about the rooms next to the ice sheet. Their room continued the 'all wood' theme. The beds were in the middle, and there was a dresser on each side. There was a window between the beds; they were in the front of the building, so they had a terrific view of the bus in the parking lot. The rug between the beds was dark green, the only color in the room.

"The floor's cold," Annamarie said after she'd felt it with her fingers. "I'm glad I brought my slippers."

"I saw a bathroom's down the hall," Sammi said. "I'll check." She was back a few minutes later. "There are two, one marked Men, the other marked Women. I saw that in Center when I was there for the Cup." She looked at the window. "I wonder if that means there are people here who aren't from Three Valleys?" She shook her head and lifted her suitcase onto her bed. "This is going to be exciting, 6 girls and one bathroom."

"We'll just have to plan to take more time in the morning." Annamarie opened the dresser and began unpacking. After another look outside, Sammi did the same. She glanced at the time, surprised to see that it was mid-afternoon. Now she understood why this was a two-day field trip.

A woman knocked on the door. She was carrying several pairs of khaki slacks over her arm. "It gets cold and muddy out there," she said, "and the wind is nobody's friend. We wear these when we're here."

"What about boots?" Sammi asked as the woman measured her inseam. "I brought some just like the instructions said."

"Let me see," the woman said. She nodded when Sammi pulled them from her suitcase. "Those should be fine." She looked at Annamarie. "How about you?"

"I didn't have any, and Mrs. Miller said they would be provided."

The woman nodded. "After you change come down to the front desk. They'll find you a pair."

After the woman had left Sammi held up the pair of pants. She could see why they would be useful at a place like this. In the short walk from the bus several gusts had tried to flip her skirt up. If a girl didn't want to turn into an ice cube she'd wear pants all of the time. She just didn't like the way they felt on her legs.

"I hope they fit," Annamarie said, echoing Sammi's thoughts. She pulled on the pants, and then examined herself in the mirror. "Ugh, I look ugly, but I'll have to get used to wearing them."

"Why would you want to?" Sammi asked. She'd finished changing and took her turn in front of the mirror.

"I want to be a Vet, and you don't go tramping around a barnyard or a stable in a skirt. Oh, I suppose you could, but it's really not a good idea." She flashed Sammi a smile. "Besides, my legs would be cold all of the time if I wore a skirt."

"I know somebody who's going to go to Vet school, too," Sammi said. "She lives on the prairie a hundred miles or so southeast of Center."

"It's a fun career," Annamarie said. "On the weekends I tag along with one of the Vets in the Valley."

"You'll have to go to school in Center," Sammi said. "There's this apartment complex, and most of the people from Three Valleys live there."

"I won't."

"Why not?"

"The boys. When I'm around boys I can't concentrate," she added when she saw Sammi's expression. "They're all I can think about, and my studies just go to pieces."

"You'll be around boys in your classes. That's inevitable."

"But I won't be around Three Valleys boys. Boys from Three Valleys know that if you ask a girl to have sex she'll say yes. But boys from elsewhere, they'll be off-limits or something. Last year my family went to a place near Center, and I didn't find myself primping and trying to attract attention from the boys. You wouldn't believe how much I liked that."

"But I thought you liked sex. You certainly sound like it in class."

"I like it too much." Annamarie sat on the bed, staring out the window. "It kind of runs in my family. My mother started out to be a newspaper reporter, and ended up as a housewife. She couldn't stay out of bed with all of the boys. My grandmother... my grandparents moved to Three Valleys from Zero Phase because my grandmother loved sex so much. She hadn't been brought up to be anything other than a housewife, and the sex parties she and my grandfather went to when they lived in California were almost the only way she had to get out of the house. She told me once that if she wasn't in bed with someone, she was thinking about it.

"The trouble is sex feels so good that when it's offered that's all I can think about. You get hyper-aware of your body, the way it feels, and the way people are looking at you. If I lived in that apartment building in Center I'd probably be the total party girl, and I don't want to do that. I want to be a Vet."

"There are a couple of guys from our school along on this trip."

"Yeah, but your brother's girlfriend Anna is here, and Doug Harley's girlfriend Kathi is here, too. That makes them off-limits, and in my mind that's a relief."

"Well, we'll see." Sammi slipped her feet into her boots, laced them up, and grabbed her jacket. At the top of the stairs she stopped, hearing the chatter of kids from the other side of the building. She looked at Annamarie, and they both explored a little.

"I think you were right," Sammi said after glancing in the first door. "I think they're from outside Three Valleys." None of the girls looked familiar, and from the occasional word Sammi heard they weren't talking about any school she'd heard of.

Shrugging, the two girls went downstairs. The woman at the front desk confirmed Sammi's thoughts. "They're from a group of islands farther up the coast," she said. "It's not affiliated with Three Valleys at all."

"How did they get here?" Sammi asked. "I didn't think we had much connection to the outside world."

"There's a small seaport about 20 miles farther north," the woman said. "They came down by ship. It takes about two days to get here. They're part of a grand tour. After here they'll go to Hydro, and then re-board their ship and go somewhere else."

"I guess we'll have to be on our best behavior," Sammi murmured to Annamarie. "It also means even more girls to use the bathroom in the morning. Keep that in mind."

"Yeah, lucky us." Annamarie smiled at the woman. "I was told I could get a pair of boots here."

"Ah, yes, I was told to expect you. C'mon round back and let's see what we've got."

While Annamarie got fitted for boots Sammi found a seat in the meeting room. A group of kids from the other wing joined them, chattering away to themselves. They settled in back. After Annamarie took a seat next to Sammi a seat a guide wearing a tan uniform got up.

"Welcome," he said. "I'm glad to see so many of you here today. We'll start with a tour of the barns, and then take a look at the particular animals. Everyone make sure you have your coats on, it gets a bit chilly here, and we're expecting showers later this evening. Let's go."

He started for the door, and after looking at each other they followed him down the hall and out behind the building.

The yard was muddy, but there was a gravel path along one side next to a corral with several horses. There was a barn at the far end of the gravel path; there were other buildings around them, but this was the only one with a path to it. The guide opened the door, and warmth and the sour smell of some animal wafted over them.

"This is Priscilla," the guide said, waving at a large animal in a pen made of thick timbers. "Priscilla is a giant sloth. Technically she's a Jefferson's Ground Sloth, or Megalonyx Jeffersonii. She isn't the largest giant sloth, there's one called a Megatherium that weighs about five tons and is the size of an elephant. We'll see him later today."

He leaned through and patted Priscilla on the side. "She has a thick hide with boney deposits on it that actually deflects most bullets. Fortunately for us sloths aren't aggressive. They're herbivores, and they'll run away unless cornered."

"How did you get her?" Sam asked.

"We got her when she was a baby. Giant sloths might be large, but they can be killed. Her mother was felled by a tree. We found Priscilla and her litter mates under her mother. We took them all in. The others are around the farm. We're keeping Priscilla confined because she's about to give birth and the vets want to keep a close eye on her.

"Now why don't you come up here and take a closer look at her."

When it was her turn Sammi reached through the wooden beams of Priscilla's pen. The sloth's hide was hairy, but under the hair it felt like one of the seashells she had found on the beach at Seaside. She could see Priscilla's thick claws, and asked about them.

"The giant sloths are ground-dwellers," the guide said. "They use their claws for self-defense, but they also use them to strip bark and leaves from trees."

"Can they get much food that way?" Annamarie asked. "I wouldn't think there would be that much nutrition in tree bark."

"Actually there's quite a bit there for the right digestive system." The guide patted Priscilla's hide. "She has it." He led the way through the barn, a dark warren of pens and feeding troughs. "You can see some of the other sloths," he said when they reached the door in back. He pointed at a golden brown sloth ripping the bark from a tree. "That's Anthony eating over there."

The sloth knocked down a small tree, and then grazed through the wood chips. After a bit he reached up again and started clawing at another tree.

"You can see how big they get. At full extension Anthony can reach nearly ten feet off the ground. As I mentioned, some of the other sloths we have are bigger."

The rest of the afternoon was one pen after another and one animal after another. After a while Sammi lost track of them. But the guide handed out fact sheets about each animal, which helped. Even better, there was a list of references on the back of the fact sheet so she could look things up later on.

The last stop was the largest sloth, the Megatherium. They couldn't get close to it, but there were several guides and a vet next to it, and that gave them an idea of how big it was.

She got back to their room shortly after the sun set behind the mountains. Back home she barely noticed that; here the temperature dropped abruptly, and the trees swayed in the breeze. It was beautiful in a wild way, and made her appreciate how much more settled things felt around home.

Annamarie didn't come back with her. She and Doug Harley, who also wanted to be a Vet, were pulled off into a separate session.

Sammi changed back into her skirt, rubbing her legs vigorously after she'd done so. Pants just didn't feel right. If she wore them all of the time, like Sam did, then it would be different. She tried to remember. As far as she could tell this was probably only the third or fourth time she had actually worn pants.

There was a line for the bathroom. There were some faces she didn't recognize; these were some girls from the islands. Sammi nodded politely, wondering what life was like where they came from. She'd have to find out some time.

There was a large fire in the fireplace in the dining room. Several of the kids were clustered next to it, warming up. Most of them, she realized as she had a seat, were the girls from the islands. She knew it got pretty warm along the coast, was it even warmer in those islands? That was something she could check later on, too.

After dinner there was a movie. Most of the staff came in to watch it. Sam and Anna didn't stay, choosing to go upstairs instead. The movie was a drama about the early days of Center, and managed to make the digging of a sewer system and the paving of the roads seem exciting. There was a love interest, of course, a ravishing actress with auburn hair that Sammi vaguely remembered her mother bringing home once.

Annamarie leaned over. "Hasn't she been in several of the videos we've watched in Sex Ed?" she whispered.

"Yes she has," Sammi whispered back. "I recognize the hair."