Page 42 of Ice Darling
I stop abruptly when I walk into the house and spot Gordie hunkered under the table. She sees me, but she doesn’t run up to me or smile.
It’s shocking—not her ignoring me but that I want her to come closer.
“Hi, Gordie,” I say.
Her eyes flicker to me and linger.
I wait for a smile and an enthusiastic burst of conversation, but it never comes. Instead, the room turns stiflingly silent.
I shuffle my feet, unsure of what to do next.
Gordie’s eyes drop to her shoes despondently, and I start to understand why Chance stressed that Gordie is okayphysically. She looks the same on the outside, but this is not the Gordie who screamed to the entire patronage of Bob’s Burgers that I was sitting on her dad’s lap.
“Uh”—Renthrow’s mother slides in and blocks Gordie from view—“ignore her, dear. She’s in a…” The older woman looks up at the ceiling, searches for the right word, and ends up with, “Mood.”
“Oh.”
“I think I put the keys right over here.” Renthrow’s mom shifts some decorations on the counter.
There’s nothing there.
“I’m sure it was here. Did I…” She scratches her head. “Did I move it somewhere else? Just a second, Cordelia.”
I nod.
The older woman wanders off.
I take that as an opportunity to tiptoe over to Gordie. “Hey.”
Her eyes meet mine. “Hey.”
That’s better. I smile. “Have you gone to the library lately?”
She shakes her head.
“I asked the librarian to order the latest Harley Davidson catalogue. That way, you can read the specs for my bike and find all the others they produced this year.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hm.” I grin, noticing the interest in her eyes. “Cool, right?”
Gordie nods slowly.
I lean sideways, so I can see under the table better. She’s wearing a simple blue T-shirt and blue jeans and has three sparkly blue clips holding her hair back. Everything about her seems normal, but Chance was concerned, and Mrs. Renthrow is shaken, and Renthrow looks way worse than me—and I’m getting a maximum of four hours of sleep at night.
“What are you doing under there?”
Gordie shrugs.
“Thinking?” I suggest.
She pauses and then nods.
“Can I think with you?” The offer shocks both me and Gordie. I backtrack it immediately. “I-it’s okay if you don’t want to.”
Gordie pauses and then she slides to the side and makes room for me. After a moment’s hesitation, I crawl underneaththe table. My adult frame fits a little less comfortably than Gordie does, but I’m not tall, so I make do.
“This is cozy,” I mutter, glancing around.
