The snow looked like it was going to stop, but I knew we were just halfway through this storm. I cleared the broken limbs out of both our driveways, and with everyone’s help, we cleared the ice and snow off the trucks. Genevieve and I got in my truck, and it started with ease. Our trip was going to be faster than Riley and Cora’s because they were going to have to check out Bryce’s apartment and then the base. The roads were empty with no cars anywhere. The streets looked like they were part of a ghost town. I turned onto Elle’s street, which had not been plowed in several hours. My truck easily maneuvered down the street with its large tires only losing traction once or twice. I was glad Dad loved having bigger tires on his truck.
“Nicholas, don’t get too close to her house. You don’t want her to see your truck,” Genevieve said.
She was right. That would be devastating for Elle to see Genevieve sitting shotgun.
“Okay, stop here. I will run up and check the house.”
“Why you?” I asked.
“I am lighter and I can move across the snow faster. Plus, I have more experience using my talents for this type of thing.” What was she talking about?
“We searched for you for a long time, Nicholas. There were many nights when I needed to be in the snow. Riley taught me a way to help kick-start my talents when I need to use them. Like at the quarry party when I told you to imagine your friends in trouble, and that helped you to slow things down. Our bodies know we’re not in danger, but we trick our minds to help us use a small part of our talents when needed. This will allow me to almost run over the snow without sinking completely in.”
“You can use your physical talents on demand?” It was one thing to slow down my surroundings, but to be able to use my physical talents on demand would be very helpful.
“Nicholas, weren’t you listening? I can only use just enough to allow me to be better suited than you right now because I’ve had a lot more practice. Now be a good little boy and stay here,” she said smugly. That was the Genevieve I knew.
I really wanted to go, even if I sank into a five-foot drift and had to dig to her house.
“I know you want to see her. But trust me—this is not the time to try. I’m going to check the house and make sure she is safe, and then we are going straight back home. The storm will intensify soon and I don’t want to get stuck out here just because you wanted to get a look at her.” She got out of the truck. “Sorry, dear,” she said and shut the door firmly.
She did move swiftly through the snow, barely sinking in as if she were weightless. She was so graceful and agile. She looked like a deer running through the woods. She disappeared from sight. The snow had picked up just in the time I was waiting, reducing visibility. Elle’s house and most of her neighbors’ houses were barely visible from where I was parked.
Ten minutes had gone by. I was getting worried. If she wasn’t back by the time I counted to twenty, I was going to look for her. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight . . . The truck door swung open. A snow-covered Genevieve slid into the passenger’s seat.
“Let’s go, and turn up the heat—I’m freezing,” she said, kicking off her boots onto the floor and shaking her snow-covered head.
I backed up the truck into a side street so that I wouldn’t pass Elle’s house.
“So?”
“So what?” she asked.
“You know what—is she okay?”
“Of course. No one has entered or left the house. Their fireplace is going. Elle, her dad and mom are down in the basement. There are big snow drifts covering the back of their house. The front door is no better. No one is getting in or out of there any time soon.”
Relieved, I grabbed her hand. I don’t know why I did it; it just happened. She gripped my hand tightly, as if she didn’t want me to let go, just in case I had made a mistake. Her skin was so warm. She held my hand firmly in her lap.
We got home just as the storm’s winds began to pick up. The swirling, blowing snow stung my face as we ran to the house.
“Riley and Cora won’t be home for another hour, I think,” I said.
“We can call Riley’s cell phone if you want,” Genevieve suggested.
“Riley has a cell phone? We are supposed to avoid using them because they can be tracked. Cora told me all about it. That’s why Thusians don’t carry them.”
“Nicholas, have you ever known Riley to follow the rules?” She was right, he didn’t, but I still thought it was too big of a chance to take.
“No, they’ll be fine. Let’s make lunch for them before they get back,” I said.
She agreed and we went to work preparing food.