Prologue II-The Hassler Household
"But why can't I come with you? You know how much I love the doctor conferences," Trisha said to her 'dad'.
He eyed her suspiciously. "If I remember correctly, and I do, you hated the last one I dragged you to. You wanting to come this time has nothing to do with the fact that the conference is being held in the Bahamas, does it?" He glanced at Trisha, whom he had adopted shortly after last year's Christmas. Things just weren't working out; he was never home and he planned to give her up when he got back from the Bahamas. 'If she only knew,' he thought to himself as he walked past the little girl with blonde hair that was pulled loosely into a pony tail. She had bangs and blue eyes.
Trisha smiled at him, "Well of course not! What made you think that? I mean, come on. The sun, the sand, the surf," she said dreamily. "Of course I'd rather stay here in Pennsylvania in the middle of winter," the little girl pouted.
Her best friend, Rochelle, came up beside her, laughing. "Gimme a break, Trish. You want to go with him to look for cute boys! We all know it!"
Trisha rolled her eyes at Rochelle, who was staying over at the house while Trisha's 'dad' was on his trip. "Ewww! Boys are gross. Besides… they smell."
The man shook his head and frowned. "I'll only be gone for a week, Trish. Now listen, I've got to get going. It's starting to snow. There's enough food here for an entire army. Make sure you take the dog out, and don't forget to feed the cat. If you two are going snowmobiling, make sure you take the walkie talkies with you just in case. Wear your helmets and take your backpacks. And don't forget, if you need anything you can always call the neighbors," he said as he walked towards the door. She looked at him impatiently. It wasn't the first time she had heard this. "And if anyone comes to the house---"
Trisha cut him off, "Yea. I'll invite them in and we can have a big party. I know the drill. It's not like this is the first time I'll be here alone. And I'm not really alone, anyway. Rochelle is here, too," she said, gesturing towards her friend. "I'm sure we'll find enough to do to keep us busy. You don't have to worry about us."
For only being 12, Trisha was extremely mature. Most of her friends were much older than she, except for Rochelle, who was also 12 years old. The two shared an interest in everything; they played on the same sports teams and were in the same classes at school. They both loved snowmobiling and were quite skilled at it. In fact, they had met while taking safety classes when they were just 8 years old. The two became instant friends and were inseparable. Trisha considered Rochelle a sister, and Rochelle's family considered Trisha as one of their own.
He bent and gave Trisha a quick hug. "Be good," he said. He gave Rochelle a hug and said, "And that goes for you too, Chelle. No big parties!" With that he picked up his belongings and headed towards his forest green Ford Explorer. He climbed in, warmed up the SUV and headed out, honking as he drove down the long driveway and towards the airport.
Trisha and Rochelle, standing at the windows, waved at the red tail lights that illuminated the snow covered driveway until they were out of sight.
"Well, now what? You wanna watch a movie or something?" Rochelle asked Trisha. She had plopped herself down on the couch and was petting the family's dog, a golden retriever.
Trisha walked over to the big brown hutch and got the TV remote that was hidden where the dog couldn't get it. "Yea sure, just let me watch the weather forecast real quick. Last I heard it's gonna snow a good 6 inches tonight," she said as she stared at the plasma screen.
"Holy crap!" Chelle exclaimed. "They're calling for all that snow and I didn't even know? Where have I been?" she quipped. "You do know what this means, don't you?"
Trisha was beaming. "There's going to be more than enough fresh powder to try out those 2 new sleds in the shed!" she exclaimed to Chelle. Bringing herself back to reality, Trish turned to her friend, "You know, we ought to get some sleep if we're gonna be out all day tomorrow. It's already 11PM. I figure if we get up around 7:30 that should give us enough time to get everything ready and have a path dug to the shed by 10AM. At the latest."
Rochelle nodded in agreement. "I'm up for it. The more time to ride, the better."
With that, they both headed off to dream of the day to come. Neither one of them had any idea what they would find in the woods tomorrow.
A/N: I know this installment was a little dry, but I had to include it. It sets up the plot and gives the necessary background info on the other characters. It will get better... or at least I hope you think so!