Chapter 13

Danielle was still laughing when she got home on Tuesday. Her aunt, who was watching something on TV, looked up. "You're in a good mood."

"It's this sign on the door at Fiona's," Danielle said. "It just says 'Clothes?'" She laughed again. "Apparently her sister keeps forgetting where she is and has left for school wearing what she'd have on in her hometown."

Aunt Jessica smiled. "I've heard of that happening from time to time. Does Fiona have that problem?"

"She still doesn't understand underwear," Danielle said. "I take that back. My friend Robin finally got her to start wearing panties. She told her to think about them as a towel that you always have with you."

Aunt Jessica nodded. "I've seen that in Upper & Lower. The residents carry towels around with them. They sit on them, mostly for sanitary reasons, though I was told they also protect your bare skin from any hot metal or plastic."

Danielle nodded. "Fiona said it's also to keep you from sticking to the plastic of a chair." She looked past her aunt at the TV. The screen had an aerial view of some town buried in white. "What's that?"

"Oh, a big blizzard has hit Center. These are live pictures. They get blizzards once or twice every winter, but this one seems stronger than usual."

"I've always wondered what it's like to be in one," Danielle said. "Winter back in Tiburon usually meant lower temperatures, and rain."

"It means the same thing here," Aunt Jessica said. "It gets down in the 50s at night, and we'll get drizzle that lasts for a week or so at a time. We're heading for one of those storms right now. Your friend's sister will probably have to put clothes on just to stay warm."

"I'm not sure I have anything that's suitable," Danielle said. "When Mom told me to pack, I didn't think to pack winter wear, except for my heavy jacket."

"That might be too much," Aunt Jessica said. "I can get your stuff from Tiburon Or, if you want, we can do a little shopping."

The idea of getting new stuff appealed to her. "Let's go shopping," Danielle said. "I suppose I have to get used to what's in the stores here."

Her aunt nodded. "What about tomorrow? The weather forecast said the storm should be here Thursday afternoon."

"I just have that paper to write," Danielle said, "and a math test on Thursday. So if we don't spend too long shopping, it should be all right."

Aunt Jessica smiled. "As soon as you get home, then."

Fiona looked miserable. She kept rubbing her arms and staring out the window. During lunch, Danielle asked her friend what winter was like in Seaside.

"More rain," Fiona said, "and it's warmer. It's cold out there today."

"It's worse in Center," another girl said. "Did you see? They got two feet of snow, and 60 mile an hour winds."

One of the girls in her English class nodded. "I lived in a small town near Center. Believe me, Fiona, this is nice. I'd much rather have this than two feet of snow."

"I miss making a snowman," a different girl said. She nudged the boy next to her. "My brother and I used to make these snowmen. We'd build them all up and down our street."

"Remember the time we accidentally blocked up Old Man Smith's front walk?"

The two laughed. "What a mess. Our Mom made us demolish the snowman, which was fun, too."

"Never made a snowman," Fiona said. "I don't think I'm likely to make one here, either."

"Not unless you go up to one of the glaciers," Robin said. "If you do, dress warmly. "There's one not too far from where we live, and the wind really cuts through you. We had to wear these really dark goggles, too, about like what my Dad wears when he's welding. The sun was out, and it was so blinding white that we would have been blind in a couple of minutes."

"The closest I've gotten to that," Fiona said, "was last year. "I have a cousin who lives in White Beach. They've got a whole mile of beachfront alongside the town, and the sandy is as white as a piece of paper."

"I bet it's warm," Robin said.

Fiona rubbed her arms. "Very warm, warmer than here in the summer."

"I'd love to be there right now," Robin said.

"You'd have to leave your clothes here," Fiona said.

"Oh. Yeah." Robin stared at the table. "Maybe."

Before Fiona could launch into a speech about the benefits and virtues of living naked, Danielle cleared her throat. "Where did you used to live so you were near a glacier?" she asked Robin.

"Oh, that was back in Teays. The northern edge of the state is the glacier. We lived in a small town that was about five miles from the foot of the glacier. The town's the base for all sorts of scientific teams that are doing research in the area. We get a lot of crazy weather there, so you always dress for the worst."

"What did your folks do there?"

"Dad did some sort of communications stuff, and Mom cooked. Usually the first thing the research teams wanted when they got off the ice sheet was a hot meal. I helped Mom in the kitchen from when I was about 5." She chuckled. "It taught me one thing, I never want to make my living as a cook. The hours are long, and can be fairly brutal. You cook until you're dead on your feet, then get up and do it all over again."

"I don't know," a girl said from down the table. "I like cooking. It gives me a chance to express myself."

"That's good for you," Robin said. "I bet you're doing fancy cooking. Mom didn't. It was meat and potatoes, seven days a week, with only a little variation. That got so boring. Nobody wanted creativity, just lots of food."

The girls all nodded. That made sense.

"So what brought you here?" Fiona asked.

"Dad's company landed a contract to build a radio-navigation system. We're doing three main towers, and a couple of smaller ones. The main towers are here in Valley's End, over on West Bay, and down the coast on a hill above East Beach." She shook her head. "I don't know where the smaller towers are."

"We almost went to West Bay," Fiona said. "The town is right on the border between Seaside and the county that's up there. I think they have a mixed school, which would have been fine by me."

"Mixed school?" Danielle asked. "What's that?"

"Half the students come from the Seaside part of town," Fiona said, "and half don't. That means you can go nude if you want." She plucked at the sleeve of her blouse. "I'd like that a lot better than wearing this thing."

"You're the only one at this table," Robin said. She lowered her voice and leaned over a little. "I don't mind nudity, but it's not for me. I could stare at a naked boy for some time."

"I'd want to do more than just stare at him," another girl said. "Of course with my luck my mother would be right there to keep an eye on me." She shook her head. "That's the problem with your mother being a teacher."

The other girl made sympathetic noises. Danielle agreed, but only up to a point. Having her mother at school, could be awkward. But maybe some things wouldn't have happened if her mother could have been along on a date back in Tiburon. She was far enough away from it now that she could actually think that.

Now that she thought about it, there were things about living here that she liked. She felt safe when she was out on a date. Greg had been very polite, and hadn't come on to her at all. Back in Tiburon her dates always got physical. She'd liked the kissing, but the boys didn't do enough of it. And afterward...

Why did I put up with it? she asked herself. I knew it was wrong, and yet...

She was still thinking of the things she didn't like about living in Tiburon—and the things that were good—when Aunt Jessica took her shopping. She forced her mind away from what might have happened to her in Tiburon, and concentrated on finding the right kind of coat and other winter things.

"Fortunately it only has to be waterproof," her aunt said, "but there's this one I just saw in the catalog that has a zipper lining in case you go somewhere where it's really cold."

Danielle thought of what it would be like to visit the ice sheet. It spanned the entire continent, and a good part of the Asian continent, too. Miles and miles of white with blowing snow; seeing something like that would be breathtaking.

"What else would I need if I went some place really cold?" Danielle looked at heavy woolen slacks, and heavy jeans. "These?"

"Possibly." Her aunt looked at her. "If you want to see the ice sheet, we can arrange it. I think that's something everyone should get a chance to do."

Danielle paused, her hand on a coat she'd been taking off the hanger. "Really? That sounds like fun."

"We'll need to get you some boots, too," Aunt Jessica said. And some heavy woolens. I hope you don't find wool too scratchy."

"I can put up with it for a while," Danielle said. "At least I'm not like one girl I know. Cherry, a girl I met at school, has problems with cashmere.

"Really? That's a shame."

"Isn't it?" Danielle put back one coat and pulled out a different one that was the same shade as her hair. "What do you think of this one?"

Two days later Aunt Jessica had a piece of paper in her hands. ""This is where we're going." She put the paper on Danielle's desk. "We'll have to wait until it's school break."

"That's in two weeks."

Aunt Jessica nodded. "We can't go to the one north of Center because of the weather, but there's a place that does tours this time of year."

"Is it close? Does it take long to get there?"