Chapter 18

• Where had the heat gone today? It was July, when did it ever get this cold in July? Clearly Northern Ontario had its own weather rules that were like nothing she’d ever experienced before. She rubbed her hands together and huddled deeper into the sleeping bag. Why hadn’t the blue haired boy sold her mitts along with the rest of the store? Fumbling with the flashlight until she found the on switch, she looked around the tent for those little candles. Should she even light one of those to warm up her hands? She looked up at the ceiling of the tent, with the screen covered by that flap thing—wouldn’t the smoke just go out that way? Sighing, she clicked off the flashlight, with her luck she’d set the tent on fire.
• Rayne shimmied down as far as she could in the sleeping bag and pulled it up over her shoulders. With a lot of grunting and wiggling around she managed to move over by the door. Reaching one hand out, she unzipped the zipper just a few inches and peaked outside. She didn’t need to look out to see how hard it was raining, the drops echoing off the tent already told her. Of course she didn’t have an umbrella or anything sensible like that, so she couldn’t even make a run for the little cabin. Flicking the flashlight back on, she shone it outside, there was a mini river forming and streaming right by the tent. If the rain didn’t let up soon it would be in the tent as well. How waterproof was the tent? The driest, warmest place would be the car with the heater on, but did she want to sleep in that seat again? Not really. Turning off the light, Rayne sat there staring out into the dark. Was the rain ever going to stop? It had started before dark and didn’t seem to be easing off yet. Did it rain here every night? Next time she fled to a secluded place she was going to research weather patterns first.
• Once again, she had no idea what time it was. Had she brought her watch and where would it be? No one wore watches any more, not in this day of cell phones and iPods. She didn’t want to make a run for the car to find out how many more hours until the warm sunlight returned. Did she really want to sit here all night shivering?