The weather has gone weird. Is it a natural phenomenon or is something more sinister at work ? More weather.
The next morning Tom wondered what to wear to school. This wasn't normally a difficult decision, but there was no knowing what the weather was going to be like. "What's the forecast Mum ?" he asked in the kitchen.
"50% chance of rain, 50% chance of sunshine and 50% chance of wind," said his mother.
"Wait, that's not right," complained Tom. "You can't have three times 50%. That's more than 100% !"
"I think it's their way of saying they don't know darling," said his mother. "Raincoat and sunhat ?" she asked smiling.
Tom frowned. "Hm. I'll play it by ear," he mumbled.
When he stepped outside the snow was nearly all melted in the early morning sunshine. There were occasional little piles left in shady spots, but otherwise it had all melted into puddles. He examined the sky to make sure there were no more hail storms coming his way. It looked clear so far. At the school gates he met Dan. The plaster had been taken off his forehead and he was left with a scratch and a lovely purple bruise. "Nice bruise Dan," said Tom. Dan grunted and tried to brush his fringe over the top of the bruise. The hair instantly pinged back into its original position as soon as he let go.
"Better ?" asked Dan.
"Yeah, loads," lied Tom.
Aneisha and Zoe met them by the doors. "Hi Tom. What's the weather supposed to be today ?" asked Aneisha brightly.
"1% chance that anybody has a clue," said Tom. "Come on. Registration is in two minutes. 100% chance that Mr. McNab will explode if we're late." They all followed him in grinning.
The day passed uneventfully. At lunchtime Tom and the others reported to Frank and Tom told them what he had discovered about the heating control systems. It turned out that the various security agencies had found the same. There had been widespread hacking into heating control systems across the country. "There are back doors into the PLCs," said Tom.
"Tom ?" asked Dan.
"They're easy to hack into," explained Tom. Dan nodded.
"Could someone play with the weather too ?" asked Aneisha.
"I have absolutely no idea how," said Tom. "Nobody has ever done it, apart from making rain clouds rain. That's about as far as it goes."
It was all very unsatisfactory. At the end of the day they had received no calls from Frank so left for home as usual. As they approached the doors to the school yard, they could hear groans from the other students. "What now ?" asked Dan. "Tornadoes ?" he said grinning.
When they reached the exit, they immediately realised what everyone was complaining about. "Fog !" said Aneisha. "Where did that come from ?" They stepped outside into dense, icy fog.
"It was sunny this morning !" complained Tom. "I can't even see the gates." They all stood in the gloomy stillness wondering what to do.
"I think we ought to go home in pairs," said Dan. "It might clear up a bit later," he suggested, looking at the others.
They decided that Aneisha would go home with Tom who lived nearest to her house. Aneisha suggested that Zoe go home with Dan. They were fairly close.
"I'm still under curfew," said Zoe, sounding disappointed.
"Ring the house mother," suggested Aneisha. "I'm sure she'll understand, especially if you're with another agent." Zoe did as Aneisha said and got permission to go round to Dan's house. The house mother thought it was a good idea. She was going out to collect the younger children in the house to be sure they didn't get lost. Dan phoned his Mum to tell her they were on their way.
They all set off slowly. The two pairs split up when Dan walked into the traffic lights at the road junction. "Ow ! How could I not see that ?" he complained, looking up at the changing lights.
From then on Zoe insisted on holding his hand. He had to admit that this was some compensation. They chatted happily until Dan realised he'd lost track of where they were. "Erm, Zo, I think I've lost where we are," he admitted.
"Follow the railings until we get to the road name," suggested Zoe. They did this and Dan breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the end of the road and the enamelled panel with the name of the street.
"OK, left here," said Dan. "We're nearly there." A few people were walking in the opposite direction and there was a lot of apologising and shuffling. Someone tripped over the kerb in front of them as they tried to cross the road. Crossing the road was the most scary part. They could hear cars but it was difficult to tell how far away they were. Luckily everyone was driving really slowly. Dan was surprised when a pair of headlights came weaving towards them and finally swerved into the pavement beside them. A man wound down his window and stuck his head out.
"Excuse me son. Can you tell me what street I'm on ?" asked the man. Dan told him, and the man scratched his head. "Blimey. I'm miles off. What side of the street am I on ?" asked the man.
"The wrong side," said Dan.
"OK. Well, here goes nothing," said the man, setting off again towards the other side of the road. They heard the crunch as he hit the opposite kerb. Dan and Zoe looked at one another and had a fit of giggles. Finally, Dan found his front gate and he let them both in.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're home," said Dan's Mum. "Hello dear, you must be Zoe," she said. "I think it was very sensible of you all to share your walk home. Hopefully if it clears up a little later, Dan's Dad can give you a lift home." Zoe thanked her. She followed Dan up to his room, curious to see what it would be like. Dan dumped his bag and crashed on to the bed. Zoe sat down beside him, feeling a bit self-conscious.
"I wondered what your bedroom would be like," she said.
"Messy ?" suggested Dan with a grin.
"It's not that bad," said Zoe. "It's just so, full," she said looking round at all the posters and books piled on shelves. The room was a fraction of the size of Aneisha's and nothing like as luxurious. There was a guitar propped up in the corner of the room and a music stand. There was a pile of CDs, speakers and an MP3 player. There was a football, a few old toys and a laptop. It spoke of a life being lived in this room. Her room at the orphanage had a few personal possessions but they were only from her recent life since joining MI9. What she really meant was that this room was full of life; Dan's life. It suddenly made her feel quite empty.
"Maybe I should get rid of some of it," said Dan, pushing up on to his elbows.
"No, don't !" said Zoe quickly. "I like it like this," she said. Dan was shocked to see a hint of a tear in the corner of her eye.
"Hey, don't !" he said, sitting up, not too sure what to do. Finally, he put his arm around her shoulders and wiped away the tear running down her cheek. "What's wrong ? Did I do something wrong ?" he asked her worriedly.
"No. Oh no !" said Zoe, wiping another tear away.
"What's wrong then ?" asked Dan gently.
"It's just that, well, it reminds me of what I missed out on," whispered Zoe. It was Dan's turn to feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. He wrapped both arms around Zoe and pulled her into a hug. She sank into his arms and laid her head on his shoulder. She felt so safe in his arms.
"I wish I could fix it all for you," whispered Dan.
"You do," said Zoe, smiling into his shoulder. "You always do."
Zoe enjoyed her evening at Dan's house. Dinner wasn't as noisy as it usually was at the orphanage. Dan's Dad made her laugh by gently teasing Dan, to Dan's huge embarrassment. Dan's Mum was kind and funny. She was sorry when it came time for Dan's Dad to drive her home. The fog had almost cleared when he pulled up outside the orphanage. "It was nice to meet you Zoe," said Dan's Dad. Zoe thanked him and got out. The door was opened as she arrived and the house mother waved her in. Zoe turned and waved to Dan's Dad as he pulled away. He smiled and waved back. His smile reminded her of Dan.