guess it’s a good way of helping them to deal with it. You know. Young kids, a trauma like that. They need to express what they feel.”
“Did you see the news?”
“Yes. But, to tell you the truth, I almost wish that I hadn’t. I’ve witnessed enough tragedy in my time, caused by the cold. I don’t need reminding what frostbite can do.”
Henry Hubbard led Jim through to a plain, sparsely furnished living-room. It had a distinctly rented look about it. An olive-green carpet, cheap laminated furniture. A large oil painting of an orange sun that looked like an advertisement for Minute Maid orange juice. In one corner, however, stood a huge new widescreen Sony television and stacks of videotapes, all neatly labeled; and above it was a bookshelf crowded with books on meteorology and geography and Arctic and Antarctic exploration.
“You’ll have to excuse the confusion,” said Henry Hubbard. “I never seem to get the chance to—”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. My place is just the same. That’s the trouble with living alone. That cup of coffee you left on the table in the morning, it’s still there whenyou come home at night. I haven’t trained my cat to wash dishes yet.”
“Get you a drink?”
“Anything. Club soda, Coke, whatever you’ve got.”
“Beer? Unless you’re on duty or something.”
“Beer’s fine. I don’t have any problem with beer.”
Henry Hubbard brought two cans of Pabst and they sat on the leatherette couch together.
“West Grove must be in some kind of turmoil today, after what happened.”
“Turmoil?” said Jim. “Turmoil’s an understatement. You can’t blame people for panicking. But I’m determined to find out how that railing got so cold. I’m not letting Ray sacrifice his hands and never know why.”
Henry Hubbard nodded, but he kept his eyes lowered, and didn’t look up at Jim once.
Jim said, “Jack told you about the washroom freezing up?”
“That’s right. You still haven’t found out how that happened?”
“No, but I’m working on the assumption that the washroom incident and the railing incident are directly connected.”
“I wish you luck. But don’t be surprised if you never find out how they happened. The cold can be like that. Full of secrets, you know? The cold … well, let me tell you, the cold is a different country.”
They sat and drank in silence for a while. Then Henry Hubbard said, “Jack’s doing okay? He seems to like his English class.”
“Jack? Jack’s doing fine, from what I’ve seen of him so far. He seems to be intelligent, perceptive, articulate. I don’t think he’s going to have to stay for very long in Special Class II. He just needs to find his place in the educational system,that’s all. Once he’s up to speed, I don’t see any problems whatsoever.”
“He’s happy? He’s not disturbed?”
“Why should he be disturbed?”
“I don’t know, losing his mother. Moving around so much.”
“He seems okay to me.”
“That’s good,” said Henry Hubbard, nodding. Then, “What happened today … this frostbite thing. I don’t really see how I can help you.”
“I wanted to pick your brains is all.”
“Listen … just because I went to Alaska, just because two of my friends got frozen to death, that doesn’t mean I know anything and everything about cold weather conditions. As a matter of fact, my friends and I were exposed to minus seventy-one degrees … and when you consider that the lowest temperature ever recorded in the US was minus eighty – that was at Prospect Creek, Alaska, in 1971 – well, what we went through, that was pretty close to the limit. It was a miracle I got out of there alive.”
“Jack seems to think that you’ve got something on your mind. Something to do with what happened up there.”
“You said he wasn’t disturbed.”
“There’s a difference between being disturbed and being bewildered.”
“Bewildered? What about?”
“He says he’s tried to
“Did you see the news?”
“Yes. But, to tell you the truth, I almost wish that I hadn’t. I’ve witnessed enough tragedy in my time, caused by the cold. I don’t need reminding what frostbite can do.”
Henry Hubbard led Jim through to a plain, sparsely furnished living-room. It had a distinctly rented look about it. An olive-green carpet, cheap laminated furniture. A large oil painting of an orange sun that looked like an advertisement for Minute Maid orange juice. In one corner, however, stood a huge new widescreen Sony television and stacks of videotapes, all neatly labeled; and above it was a bookshelf crowded with books on meteorology and geography and Arctic and Antarctic exploration.
“You’ll have to excuse the confusion,” said Henry Hubbard. “I never seem to get the chance to—”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. My place is just the same. That’s the trouble with living alone. That cup of coffee you left on the table in the morning, it’s still there whenyou come home at night. I haven’t trained my cat to wash dishes yet.”
“Get you a drink?”
“Anything. Club soda, Coke, whatever you’ve got.”
“Beer? Unless you’re on duty or something.”
“Beer’s fine. I don’t have any problem with beer.”
Henry Hubbard brought two cans of Pabst and they sat on the leatherette couch together.
“West Grove must be in some kind of turmoil today, after what happened.”
“Turmoil?” said Jim. “Turmoil’s an understatement. You can’t blame people for panicking. But I’m determined to find out how that railing got so cold. I’m not letting Ray sacrifice his hands and never know why.”
Henry Hubbard nodded, but he kept his eyes lowered, and didn’t look up at Jim once.
Jim said, “Jack told you about the washroom freezing up?”
“That’s right. You still haven’t found out how that happened?”
“No, but I’m working on the assumption that the washroom incident and the railing incident are directly connected.”
“I wish you luck. But don’t be surprised if you never find out how they happened. The cold can be like that. Full of secrets, you know? The cold … well, let me tell you, the cold is a different country.”
They sat and drank in silence for a while. Then Henry Hubbard said, “Jack’s doing okay? He seems to like his English class.”
“Jack? Jack’s doing fine, from what I’ve seen of him so far. He seems to be intelligent, perceptive, articulate. I don’t think he’s going to have to stay for very long in Special Class II. He just needs to find his place in the educational system,that’s all. Once he’s up to speed, I don’t see any problems whatsoever.”
“He’s happy? He’s not disturbed?”
“Why should he be disturbed?”
“I don’t know, losing his mother. Moving around so much.”
“He seems okay to me.”
“That’s good,” said Henry Hubbard, nodding. Then, “What happened today … this frostbite thing. I don’t really see how I can help you.”
“I wanted to pick your brains is all.”
“Listen … just because I went to Alaska, just because two of my friends got frozen to death, that doesn’t mean I know anything and everything about cold weather conditions. As a matter of fact, my friends and I were exposed to minus seventy-one degrees … and when you consider that the lowest temperature ever recorded in the US was minus eighty – that was at Prospect Creek, Alaska, in 1971 – well, what we went through, that was pretty close to the limit. It was a miracle I got out of there alive.”
“Jack seems to think that you’ve got something on your mind. Something to do with what happened up there.”
“You said he wasn’t disturbed.”
“There’s a difference between being disturbed and being bewildered.”
“Bewildered? What about?”
“He says he’s tried to
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