nine.â
âItâs not like I havenât baby-sat her before.â
âIâm not a baby!â Julia exclaimed.
âSometimes you act like it,â Ben snapped.
âLook whoâs talking about being a-â
âBoth of you stop it!â their mother said. âI know youâve taken care of your sister before, but Iâve never left you two alone for the whole day.â
âWeâll be fine.â
âDo you two really think you can get along together for the entire day?â
âNo problem. We get along fine,â Ben said.
âSince when?â their mother asked.
âSince always.â
âYeah,â Julia agreed. âWe only fight when youâre around.â
âIf thatâs the case, maybe I should go away more often.â
âI donât know about that,â Ben said, âbut you should go out today. We hardly have anything to eat.â
âWhat do you mean?â their mother said. âThereâs plenty of food.â
âYeah, but thereâs nothing
good
to eat.â
Their mother opened the refrigerator. âNothing good? We have plenty of cheese and meat, and the fruit bowl is full and-â
Ben frowned. âI donât mean good for you. I mean
good.
There are no more cookies, and the only cereal we have left doesnât even have sugar in it, and Julia ate the last two fruit roll-ups-â
âThatâs because you ate the first four in the box!â Julia protested. âSo those two belonged to me!â
âWell, I didnât eat half the cookies andââ Ben stopped in mid-sentence when he realized that was exactly what their mother was worried about. âAnd I guess I should have eaten only three of the fruit roll-ups. How about if Julia gets four out of the box you buy today?â
âThat would be fair,â Julia agreed.
Ben turned to his mother. âYou better leave now if you want to get there and back before dark. You know Dad doesnât like you driving these roads by yourself at night.â
Their mother nodded. âAt least I donât have to worry about the road conditions. These roads can be pretty dangerous in bad weather. But not today. Theyâre clear and dry. I donât think thereâs ever been a winter with so little snow before.â
âNineteen twenty-seven,â Julia said.
âWhat about 1927?â Ben asked.
âMy teacher told our class that was the only year that had less snow than this year.â
âAnd probably the only year that had less snow days when they cancelled the buses and we didnât have to go to school,â Ben added.
Their mother smiled. âThatâs right. You havenât had one day this year when school had to be cancelled because of the weather.â
âI know,â Ben said. âIt isnât fair. Last year we had seven snow days. Seven days to get together with my friends.â
âCome on, Ben, it isnât like you donât see your friends when you go to school,â their mother said.
âI see them, but itâs a lot different to see them sitting at the next deskthan to play pickup hockey on the pond, or build a snow fort, or have a snowball fight, or go tobogganing.â
âI guess youâre right there,â their mother said. âI think this was also probably the worst winter we could have gotten you a toboggan for your birthday.â
âYou can say that again.â
All Ben had had the chance to do since his birthday on January 14 was look at the biggest and best present heâd ever receivedâa new, shiny, hardwood toboggan. No snow had fallen for almost three weeks, and the little bit theyâd seen before that had been melted by the last Chinook that had blown in from the Rockies.
âDonât worry, Ben, youâll be able to use it next year,â Julia assured him.
âIâm not waiting for next year. Iâm going