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couldn’t move. Alice peeked out from under the covers. It was probably morning, but you could hardly tell. It was the kind of dark day that forced teachers to turn all the lights on in the classroom as if it was night. She pulled her toque off and listened to the wind howling outside. It sounded like someone was throwing pebbles against her window over and over again. But it wasn’t pebbles. It was tiny slivers of ice. It was still raining.
    Poor Dad. He’d left much earlier, Alice didn’t know how early but it had still been dark. She’d stumbled out of bed to give him a hug and tell him she was going to the farm, and then gone right back to bed.
    Even without getting out of bed, she knew the house was colder. That meant there was still no power. But, thought Alice, it never hurts to try. She rolled over on her stomach, snaked her arm out from under the covers and reached behind her bedside table. Feeling with her fingers, she found the plug for her reading light and plugged it in. She held her breath and flicked the switch. Nothing.
    She unplugged the light then cuddled back under the covers. Alice couldn’t wait until she was in Saint-Hyacinthe with Sophie. At least she’d have somebody to talk to. But Uncle Henri wasn’t coming until after lunch, so Alice reached for her book and made a nest for herself under the covers. She might as well stay in bed and keep warm until it was time to go.
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    Even Maman had decreed no school that morning, but she still wouldn’t let Sophie go with Papa to get Alice.
    “The roads are terrible,” said Maman firmly.
    Sophie remembered what Sébastien had said. Tell her what you really want. She’ll listen.
    “Maman, this is really important to me. I’m worried about Alice. And I want to see the ice on all the trees! Please, Maman?”
    “Non, ma jeune fille. You cannot always have what you want. This time, it is just too dangerous,” replied Maman.
    You can’t always have what you want, grumbled Sophie to herself. How about never getting what you want? Sébastien didn’t know what he was talking about.
    Papa gave her a hug. “I need you to look after the animals while I’m gone, ma chou. The trip might take longer than usual, and you know the animals can’t wait to be watered or milked. I need you – you too, Sébastien – to help your Maman.”
    Generally Sophie was too old to be palmed off with the “I really need your help” line. But in this case, she knew her father was right. If he didn’t make it back by three o’clock, Maman would need both of them to help with the milking. They had fifty head of cattle, after all. If the milking was late, they would have to listen to fifty cows bawl for attention, and that was like something out of one of Sébastien’s horror stories.
    Maman filled Papa’s thermos with hot chocolate and Sophie helped pack him a good lunch for the road. It was only fifty kilometres to the city and shouldn’t take more than an hour, but with the ice the trip was bound to be slower. Papa scraped ice off the four-wheel drive while the motor warmed up. It was raining so hard he had to change into dry clothes when he was finished. Sophie waved him off and headed to the maternity pen to visit Adalie and Mélisande. Papa would probably move Adalie back to the main barn this afternoon, and then Sophie would be completely in charge of feeding Mélisande. Sophie loved being in charge of a calf, loved being needed like that. It felt like the most important job in the world.
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    Alice’s legs were starting to twitch under the covers. She just couldn’t stay still for so long, cold or no cold. Even though she had only missed one day of practice, her muscles were starting to itch with inactivity. She got out of bed and checked her dad’s bedroom, just to make sure he was gone and not sleeping. Gone. Without really wanting to, she headed next to the thermostat on the wall. The house had lost another four degrees overnight; the temperature was