Chapter 2

Hours later, the chartered plane the girls were flying on began to make its descent. Sabrina was the only one not sleeping, and she enthusiastically turned to her two friends.

"Hey, we're here!" she exclaimed, throwing a pillow at Jill and nudging Kelly's leg with her foot. Alaska was one of the few states she had never lived in or visited growing up and she was looking forward to seeing it.

The two girls awoke and looked out their windows, Kelly with excitement equal to Sabrina's and Jill with dread equal to nothing.

The plane touched down and slowed to a halt on the runway. The girls looked out of their windows excitedly, taking in their first sight of the unfamiliar state.

Jill suddenly laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Sabrina asked distractedly.

"Look at the thermometer up there by the big clock! It's broken!" she said, pointing out her window to the clock tower by the runway.

It indicated that it was -9 degrees outside.

Sabrina frowned. "Oh, Jill. I don't think it is." she said gravely. She gave Kelly a look and they both shuddered and pulled their coats more tightly around themselves.

Jill continued to laugh, but her laughter died off as she realized her friends weren't joking. She looked horror-stricken. "What? It can't really get that cold, can it?" she asked in panic.

Sabrina and Kelly nodded their heads.

Jill was silent for a moment as she considered this.

"Ok." she said after finally finding her voice. "That's not a problem. I can handle this." she added with a confident nod of her head. She put on a brave face, rose from her seat and began to grab her bags. "I can handle this." she repeated over and over to herself, her steady mantra of false confidence. Sabrina and Kelly followed her towards the plane's exit, amused smiles on both of their faces. An attendant rushed over to open the door for them.

A bitterly cold gust of wind blasted through the open door at them, whipping their hair back and forcing them to shield their eyes.

"Oh my God." Jill breathed as she stepped outside. "I can't handle this."

Sabrina chuckled as she followed Jill down the landing stairs. "Too cold for you?" she teased.

Jill turned and glared at her. "I'm a California girl. I don't do snow."

"Neither do I." Kelly agreed, catching up with her two friends. "But do you hear me complaining?"

Jill rolled her eyes and Kelly and Sabrina shared an amused glance. Beach bunny Jill was going to have a tough time adapting.

"Didn't you used to live in New York, Jill?" Kelly asked as they walked. "You should be used to snow."

Jill nodded her head. "Yeah, I lived in Buffalo for a year when my parents were getting divorced. They shipped me and Kris off with my grandparents so we wouldn't have to deal with it."

She stopped and stared at her two friends.

"But I was eight. And I hated it. You know why?"

Kelly and Sabrina waited, holding back giggles at her expense.

"Because it was cold." Jill finished. She huffed and continued down the stairs, leaving her laughing friends behind her.
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"Welcome to Bellfort!" a cheerful looking middle aged man called out as the girl's walked inside the warm motel lobby.

"Thanks." Kelly answered for them through chattering teeth. By the time the three girls left the landing strip and drove to the motel, Jill wasn't the only one complaining about the harsh conditions of their new surroundings. The motel appeared to be made up of several little cabins separated by a few feet. The girls were to spend tonight and the next night here, preparing themselves for their undercover assignments. Charlie usually gave them more time, but for this current case time was a precious commodity.

"My name is Jacob Nordby. You must be the Townsend people." the motel owner guessed.

Jill nodded her head, unable to answer. Nordby looked at the girls' ruddy cheeks and chattering teeth and gave them a warm smile. "You must not be from around here. Where are you ladies from?" he asked.

"Los Angeles." Sabrina answered miserably. Sweet, sweet, Los Angeles. Where temperatures remained on the correct side of zero.

Nordby burst into laughter. "Long way from home then. You won't find any palm trees here!" he joked. Seeing that they weren't amused, he cleared his throat. "Well, don't worry. People usually get used to the cold in a week or so." he said shaking his head.

The girls' looks indicated that they didn't believe him.

Nordby decided not to push the issue. "You three are in cabin twelve. I'll show you the way." he said quickly. "Follow me."

The girl's followed him down a snowy walkway to cabin twelve. Nordby held out the key.

"Well, here you are. Give me a ring if you need anything, the lobby number is by the phone. I'm at the desk until 6 A.M. so feel free to call." he said with a polite smile. He handed the key to Kelly and turned to leave the girls alone. As soon as his back was turned, Jill snatched the key away from her friend's hands and slammed it into the lock, desperate to get inside to warmth. She grumbled to herself as she worked the lock. After a few moments, the door swung open.

The girls cautiously entered their cabin. They were pleased to see that the interior was neat and clean, decorated in a charming rustic theme. They set their bags down to explore their new surroundings. The cabin was deceptively larger than it seemed from the outside, boasting a roomy den complete with a fireplace and a comfortable looking couch and armchair, a kitchen area and two bedrooms.

Jill poked her head into one of the rooms. It contained a queen sized bed and a large dresser with a spacious vanity. Beside the bed was a night stand decorated with a lamp made of what she guessed to be polished antler.

"Oh, very nice." she whistled in appreciation. At her comment, Kelly and Sabrina crowded into the big room.

"Charlie has excellent taste." Sabrina agreed. "I wonder what this place set him back?"

"In the time it took you ask that question, he's probably already made back the money." Jill quipped.

Kelly laughed and wandered away from her friends to scope out the second bedroom. She peeked inside. This room was smaller than the previous one and held two twin beds pushed up against opposite sides of the wall. Each bed had a chest of drawers that doubled as a night stand sitting beside it. The same antler style lamp sat on the nightstand to the left.

"So who gets what bed?" Sabrina asked, peeking over Kelly's shoulder.

Kelly gave her a mischievous grin.

"Odds and evens?" she suggested innocently, holding out her fist.

Sabrina laughed, knowing Kelly's chances of getting the master bedroom were very high. She couldn't remember a time that Kelly had not ended up the odd man out. She called Jill over and the three prepared themselves.

"One, two, three!" Jill called loudly.

On the third strike, Jill and Kelly held out one finger and Sabrina held out two.

Sabrina burst into laughter and gave Kelly a playful shove.

"I guess I better move in!" she crowed. She scooped up her bags and skipped happily into the large room.

Kelly stood silently, staring at her one extended finger in open mouthed disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding me." she said under her breath.

Jill laughed and clapped her on the shoulder. "Looks like we're roomies!" she giggled.

Kelly shook her head, not paying attention. "The one time that I-" she trailed off, speechless at her lack of good fortune. She looked up at Jill, a baffled expression on her face. "How do I have such bad luck, Jill?"

Jill looked thoughtful. This was very true, indeed. "Ya know-" she started, putting her arm around her. "You're right. Did you ever wrong a gypsy when you were a kid? Maybe you're cursed."

Kelly tilted her head inquisitively at Jill.

Jill shrugged. "That's all I got. C'mon, roomie." she said, linking arms with her friend. Kelly finally lowered her finger and followed her into their room. They had nearly finished settling in, when there was a knock at the door. Jill looked up and gave Kelly an inquiring glance. Kelly shrugged and walked over to the door, where Sabrina was already opening it, revealing the cheerful face of Jacob Nordby.

"Hello, ladies. Just making sure that you're settled in and comfortable. How do you like the room?" Nordby asked.

"Oh, it's great." Sabrina answered. "A little cold though."

Nordby nodded. "Yes, that's to be expected I suppose. Here, let me show you how to use the heater, that's actually what I came here to do. It works pretty well. It should warm right up in here."

Sabrina let him in and he made his way over to the far wall of the den, where a heating unit was built into the wall. He turned a few knobs and warm air instantly flowed from the vents. The girls were delighted.

"There you go." Nordby said with a proud smile. "Anything else?"

"No, I think we're fine." Jill answered for them. She gave him a toothy grin.

Nordby tipped his hat and bid the girls goodnight as he exited their cabin, leaving the girls to finish unpacking. A few minutes later, Jill looked up suspiciously.

"It got cold in here again." she said.

Kelly paused and furrowed her brow as she realized Jill was right. It was definitely chillier in here than it had been minutes ago.

"Yeah. It did." she agreed.

The two girls wandered over to the heating unit and immediately realized the problem. It had somehow turned itself off. Kelly stepped forward and mimicked Norby's actions, turning the knobs like she had seen him do. To their relief, warm air again flowed out from the vents. Kelly turned to Jill with a triumphant grin.

The grin melted away almost instantly when the warm air suddenly stopped flowing as the heater rattled and died. Kelly turned the knobs again. This time nothing happened. The girls glanced at each, horror etched on their faces.

"Are you serious?" Kelly asked in disbelief, tinkering with the knobs. Nothing happened. Her patience quickly wore thin and she smacked the side of the heater with her open palm.

"It works pretty well." Jill repeated with a goofy look on her face, deepening her voice to mock that of Nordby's. She smacked the heater. "Yeah. About once a week." she added dismally.

Hearing the ruckus, Sabrina came out of her room to investigate. "Why did you turn that thing off?" she asked, joining them by the heater.

Kelly gave her a piteous look. "Why would we turn it off, Bri? The damn thing is broken. We're going to freeze to death." she said dryly.

Sabrina furrowed her brows and pushed past Jill to tinker with the machine. Kelly sighed in exasperation.

"You think I didn't try that?"

Sabrina smiled at her. "Well, maybe it'll start working in a few minutes. It could have gotten overheated or something." she suggested.

Jill scoffed derisively. "Overheated? There is nothing in this place that is overheated."

Sabrina laughed. "We'll be fine. There's plenty of blankets. Let's just get some sleep, it's getting late."

The three girls turned as the heater rattled and turned itself back on. There wasn't nearly as much warm air coming from the vents this time, but Sabrina shot her friends a smug look nonetheless and turned to walk back to her room.

"See? I told you. Now let's go to sleep." she said with a grin.

Jill and Kelly reluctantly agreed and the girls went their separate ways to prepare for bed. Kelly opted for a shower before turning in and hurried to the bathroom, which was connected to Sabrina's room. She turned the faucet and was mildly surprised when the water spurted out already warm. Her own house didn't even do that. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all, she thought to herself. She undressed, hopped in the shower and was amazed at how much better she felt once the warm relaxing water hit her. Kelly enjoyed her shower and took her time, the hot soothing water warming her chilled body. But it did come with a price, she found out later.

She had to get out eventually.

Kelly regretted her shower the instant she turned off the cascading water and stepped outside. The warm water on her body immediately chilled and she found herself even colder than before. Muttering to herself, she dried off and wrapped herself in a big fluffy towel. She stepped out of the bathroom and hurriedly crossed Sabrina's room. Her friend was lying in bed reading a book, the covers pulled up to her waist.

"You should have waited till morning." Sabrina said casually as she turned a page.

Kelly paused at the door and glared at her, already starting to shiver. "Shut up, Bri." she said, her teeth chattering again.

Sabrina laughed. "Goodnight, Kelly!" she sang. Kelly gave her a dirty look and shut her door on the way out. She crossed the den to her and Jill's room and quickly went inside.

"This bed is so comfortable!" she heard Sabrina gloat from her room. Kelly rolled her eyes as she changed for bed, and towel dried her hair as best she could, the task made difficult by her trembling arms and numb fingers. Jill was already sleeping bundled up in the bed next to the lamp, looking miserably cold under the blankets. Kelly climbed into the other bed. The mattresses were very firm and reminded Kelly of her orphanage in Dallas. She sighed as she pulled the blankets over herself, wishing her hair wasn't still damp.

It was still cold.

Kelly curled into a ball and shivered, waiting for her body heat to warm up her little nest.

"And it's warm!" she heard Sabrina yell to them. Disgusted, Kelly threw off her covers, got up, and slammed the door to her and Jill's room. She returned to her bed and shut her eyes.

The sooner she fell asleep, the sooner she would forget how cold it was.

An hour later, Kelly's eyes flew open as she felt something ice cold touch the back of her knees. Alarmed, she whirled around in her bed to see what had awoken her, and was surprised to see someone under the covers next to her. Tilting her head in confusion, she pulled the blanket back to reveal a mass of ash blonde hair. She sighed as she pushed it away and found herself staring at Jill's meek looking face.

"Jill! You scared me!" she whispered harshly.

Jill pulled the covers up to her eyes. "Kelly, please. It's so cold in here!" she whined. She pressed her cold feet into Kelly again.

"Jill!" Kelly yelped and quickly curled her legs away from Jill's icy feet. "Jill, go back to bed!"

Jill clutched her arm desperately. "Kelly! Please, don't send me back. It's so cold, I can't stand it! I think my feet are going to fall off!"

Kelly sighed and decided to relent. She was cold too, but had decided to suffer quietly. It would be much warmer with Jill here, she decided.

"Oh-" she started, but Jill cut her off, thinking that she was again going to demand that she leave.

"Kell, please! Just let me sleep with you, I promise I'll never make fun of your Southern accent again!" she whimpered.

Kelly was already sitting up and was about to scoot over to let Jill in the bed.

"Fine, Jill. Ju-". She paused as she realized what Jill had revealed. "Wait. You make fun of my accent?" she accused. "I don't have an accent."

Jill moaned and buried her head in the pillow, realizing that she had incrimated herself for no reason. "I'm sorry, Kell! It slips sometimes and, well ,it's so cute and it makes me laugh, that's all."

Kelly narrowed her eyes. "Jill, get out of my bed."

Jill wailed and burrowed under the blankets. "No! Kelly, please! I'm suffering! I've never even seen snow before!"

Kelly sighed. She softened as she looked at Jill's shivering form under the blankets and started to giggle. She patted Jill's covered head and laid back down.

"Fine, you big baby. Just keep your cold fe-"

She gave up as Jill whooped in delight and pressed her feet into her again.

"Thank you, Kelly! I love you! Goodnight!" Jill blurted out quickly. She leaned up, gave Kelly a quick peck on the cheek and snuggled close, trying to get warm.

Kelly sighed and tucked the corners of her side of the blanket under her body to anchor them. Jill was a notorious blanket thief and she needed to be prepared. She smiled as she felt Jill shivering and reached over to pat her back affectionately.

"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight, hero." she said. She settled herself down and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, Jill stopped shivering and fell asleep. Kelly was grateful for the extra warmth her friend provided. She decided that Alaska and sub-zero temperatures were definitely not for her as she closed her eyes and let herself be lulled to sleep by Jill's steady breathing.

Around two thirty in the morning, Kelly opened her eyes. It was freezing in here, the heater must have stopped working completely. Her teeth were chattering loudly as she tried to sit up. She found she couldn't. Jill was almost on top of her, shivering and whimpering pitifully in her sleep. Kelly shuddered and gently shook her friend awake.

"Kelly. It's so cold. I hate this place." Jill whimpered as she awoke. She snuggled into Kelly for warmth.

Kelly sighed. "The heater broke. I'll go find some more blankets."

Jill nodded her head in agreement, her eyes still shut tightly. Kelly suppressed a laugh at her friend's pitiful state. "But you have to get off of me first."she said patiently.

Jill sighed and moved away. As soon as Kelly got out of the bed, she immediately rolled herself up in the blankets, still shivering.

"Jill!" Kelly admonished.

Jill looked up at her friend, only her eyes visible within the folds of the blankets. "I'll give them back as soon as you get back, Kell, I promise!"

Kelly sighed and walked to the closet looking for blankets. An unexpected blast of wind hit her as she passed the window in their room, biting through her thin nightgown. Kelly stepped back in surprise and turned to look for the source, frowning when she realized that nothing could be done about the draft. No wonder it was so miserably cold in here. Kelly muttered under her breath as she continued on towards the closet in the den area. I thought I left cold, drafty night behind me when I left the orphanage, she thought bitterly to herself. She crossed the den and threw open the closet door. A thorough check revealed nothing but an extra table cloth. Kelly sighed and started to put it back in disgust.

Then she had a change of heart.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, she decided as she headed back to bed with the tablecloth in hand. She passed by Sabrina's room on her way back and paused for a moment. On a whim, she stuck her head in the doorway to see how Sabrina was holding up against the cold. To her surprise, her friend was sleeping peacefully in the queen sized bed, wrapped up in a thick warm looking down comforter. Kelly looked at the blanket longingly. She sighed and gazed sadly at the worn tablecloth she had pulled out of the closet. Her eyes traveled back up to Sabrina's blanket as a thought suddenly occurred to her.

There was only one thing to be done.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

The alarm clock on the nightstand buzzed loudly, waking Sabrina from a peaceful sleep. She yawned and burrowed back under the warm blanket. It had been cold last night and she was glad for that blanket. After lying in blissful warmth for a few minutes, she decided that she needed to get up and face the day.

No matter how cold it was.

She grudgingly kicked off the covers and sat up in bed. She yelped in surprised when the covers instantly whipped back up to their original position.

What the hell?

Sabrina threw back the covers again and with surprise, noticed that she hadn't been alone in her bed. Jill was curled up to her right. She grumbled and again pulled the blanket back over her head.

Sabrina blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she sputtered.

"Sleeping." Jill grumbled through the blanket. "Or trying to. Shut up."

"What was wrong with your bed?" Sabrina asked, still recovering from her surprise.

"It was cold, Bri. A matter of life or death." Jill's muffled voice answered.

The alarm clock went off again and Sabrina quickly shut it off.

Jill poked her head out from underneath the blanket and scowled at the offending machine. "Is everything in here broken? It's still dark outside." she mumbled.

"We're in Alaska, Jill. The sun isn't going to come up until ten thirty this morning. It's only seven." Sabrina explained patiently.

Jill's head disappeared under the covers. "Ugh. This place is a complete mind trip." she groaned miserably.

Sabrina started to laugh. "Yes it is." she agreed. She looked towards the open door that led into the den. "So you left Kelly all alone back there?" she asked.

"No. I'm sleeping with Kelly." Jill's voice answered. "So are you."

Sabrina furrowed her brow and then turned to her left. Sure enough, there was a lump under the covers. A lump that was rising and falling gently as Kelly slept peacefully under the warm blanket.

Sabrina giggled and shook her head as she patted the lump next to her. "You guys are too much sometimes." she laughed.

"You talk too much sometimes." Jill's voice shot back.

Sabrina giggled again and patted Jill's covered head. "I'm gonna go get us some breakfast. You two bedbugs get ready. We have to meet with the sheriff in a few hours."

At the mention of breakfast, Jill's head popped out of the blanket. "I'll go with you!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Sabrina chuckled. "Ok, then get up and get dressed."

The two girls vacated the bed and went to their closets to get ready for the day, leaving Kelly sleeping alone.

Kelly lay still for a few moments and then suddenly rolled herself up completely in the warm blankets. With a contented sigh, she settled back down and continued to sleep.

She was warm and she planned to savor it as long as possible.