Winter's Shadow by M.J. Hearle Page B

here?’
    ‘Yeah, from Wauchope.’
    Winter frowned at the unfamiliar name. ‘Wauchope? Where’s that?’
    ‘It’s a small town in the mountains. Near Dale.’
    ‘Smaller than Hagan’s Bluff?’
    ‘Much.’
    ‘How do you find it here so far?’
    ‘Not too bad. It’s nice being near the water. I’m thinking I might learn to surf.’
    ‘It’s not as easy as it looks.’
    ‘You’ve tried it?’
    ‘Tried and failed.’ When they were fourteen, Jasmine had fallen deeply in love with Rory Cochrane, a localsurfing instructor, and dragged Winter down to the surf club to sign up for lessons with him. After nearly drowning on the first day, Winter had spent the rest of the summer sitting on the beach slathered in sunblock, reading Stephen King’s
IT
while Jasmine tried unsuccessfully to get Rory’s attention.
    Sam shrugged. ‘I probably won’t get the chance. We usually don’t stay in any one place too long.’
    Winter caught a trace of regret in his voice.
    ‘What do your parents do?’
    ‘My dad works for a bank, and they shift him to different branches every couple of months.’
    ‘That sounds pretty sucky.’ Winter wasn’t just being polite. She’d found it difficult enough to find her place here at Trinity over the past five years; the idea of having to start at a new school full of unfamiliar faces every few months was daunting.
    Sam shrugged again. ‘I’m used to it.’
    ‘Winter!’ A familiar voice set her teeth on edge. She turned to see Harry Francis running to catch up. Ever since the principal had assigned Winter to the school newspaper, Harry seemed to enjoy asserting his authority over her. She supposed the newspaper room was the only place in Trinity where an unpopular creep like Harry Francis had any kind of power.
    ‘Hi, Harry,’ Winter said, forcing a smile.
    ‘I’ve been looking all over for you.’
    ‘I was hiding.’ It was the truth disguised as a joke. Winter had been avoiding Harry, because she still didn’tknow if the pictures she’d taken at Pilgrim’s Lament were salvageable. She’d dropped her camera off at Fletch’s Photographics before school, but the way the service guy’s eyes had bugged out in shock as he took the Nikon from her did not fill her with confidence. She gestured towards Sam, hoping to distract Harry from the topic of the photos.
    ‘Harry, this is Sam. He’s new here.’
    Harry glanced at Sam and Winter saw a flicker of disdain in his eyes. She supposed when Harry looked at Sam, he saw just another muscular jock readying to bully or tease him.
    ‘Nice to meet you,’ Sam said, holding out his hand.
    ‘Yeah.’ Harry ignored Sam’s hand and turned his attention back to Winter. ‘So, did you get those pictures for me on the weekend?’
    ‘Of course. There was an accident, though, and . . .’
    ‘Awesome. When can I have them?’ He didn’t seem interested in any other details.
    ‘Tomorrow,’ Winter answered hesitantly.
    Harry frowned at her. ‘You’re sure?’
    ‘Absolutely.’ Winter tried to sound confident but, judging by the suspicious look on Harry’s face, failed utterly.
    ‘You know that we go to print tomorrow night, don’t you? If I don’t have those pictures the article will be worthless, which means I’ll have to run the paper a few pages short, which causes headaches for the printers. Sorensen wouldn’t like that.’
    Winter’s stomach flipped at the prospect of being called into the principal’s office and having to explain herself to the cold-eyed Sorensen. Though ‘nearly being killed’ was a pretty reasonable excuse for not meeting a deadline, it was still a conversation she’d rather not have, especially after the big deal the principal had made about how working for the paper was Winter’s chance to prove herself. Behind her discomfort with Sorensen was another factor compelling her to have the pictures ready on time. It had nothing to do with any notion of responsibility to Sorensen, Harry, or even