CHAPTER I
Winters on the small planet of Igbidus were harsh and unforgiving. Strong winds blew all day long. The poor spent a large portion of the rest of the year gathering rubble, wood, rocks, and garbage to build strong homes where five or six of them would live together.
The rich were a different story. Their houses, which often served as shelters from the wind for the poor peopleís homes, were large and usually made of bricks, fully strong enough to handle the winters. Families shut themselves in with as many provisions as possible. If they needed anything over the winter, they sent their servants to handle it for them. The only thing that would draw them out was a friend, relative, or associateís sickness or death. They communicated such things by telepathy, but telepathy took a lot of energy and was therefore not often used.
Thus, the first warm day of each year was cause for much happiness. Lovers and friends were reunited for the first time in months. Everyone felt much better; being without sunlight or fresh air eventually began to take its toll on peopleís health.
Seasons changed rapidly on Igbidus. All the snow melted one day; the next, flowers would be in bloom and it would be warm enough for summer clothes. Astronomers thought the quick change in season might have to do with the planetís three moons, but they werenít certain. They had only recently discovered that the sun and the rest of the universe didnít revolve around their planet. They hadnít figured out much else about the way the cosmos worked yet.
Some people did know how the cosmos worked, although they didnít share that information with the astronomers. These people knew that the three moons had gravitational pull on each other and were arranged in a tight row, so that during the winter they almost completely blocked out the sunís rays.
Early on a Monday morning, Pauline woke up and had a sensation she hadnít felt in a while--she was hot. Confused, she looked down at her bed, made simply of a worn-out mattress and a tattered blanket. When she heard a birdís loud, cheerful chirp, realization finally dawned.
ìWake up, everyone!î she cried, leaping out of bed and dancing in her tattered gray dress and dirty bare feet. She was thirteen and still occasionally gave into such whims. ìItís Spring-day!î
Dave opened his eyes wearily. ìPauline,î he grumbled irritably. ìWhat are you doing?î
ìDavie, itís Spring-day!î
Daveís eyes lit up. He jumped up off his mattress and gave Pauline a hug. ìWake up, everyone!î he bellowed. ìGet out your silver-cups!î
At the mention of silver-cups, everyone truly woke up and stopped groaning. Silver was common on Igbidus, and silver-cups were inexpensive and available. Therefore, all of the poor people, at least in this city, used them to beg.
Pride wasnít a problem; begging was a career of sorts to the poor. There was no middle class, unless you counted the politicians. They were paid significantly less than most of the rich to be sure that they were honest and genuinely cared about the welfare of the voters; leaders with power as well as money to corrupt them were pointless, dangerous and ridiculous. In some cultures, politicians were outlawed, and democracy without representation prevailed so that everyone was equal.
The rich felt secure in giving the poor street-livers money, because they would never be any competition. The poor accepted the proffered money for exactly the opposite reason; if they saved as much as possible, maybe someday they would be competition.
Since the poor lived in groups, they worked together for food, shelter, clothes, and money. Dave was the unofficial leader of the group that Pauline was in. Every idea he came up with seemed to work, and he worked harder than anyone in any of the cityís other groups with the hope of one day proposing to Pauline, who was only two years younger than he. He loved her childlike happiness, a quality that wasnít common on the tough streets of Codeibleu. He did everything to make her happy, so he worked hard. Daveís was the strongest and best-off of all the cityís groups.
Their home was built between two gigantic houses. The walls were made of huge cement bricks lined with soft, colorful cloth that Pauline had bought on one of the rare occasions when she had and spent extra money after buying allergy medicine for her brother. The ceiling was made of bricks with tarps above and below. There was a wooden door with a lock only they could figure out how to open, and a window that had a thick, sturdy wooden block they put inside it in winter to block out the bitter cold. Wooden shelves that were filled up with food and many bottles of water covered an entire wall.
Six mattresses were lined up against that wall, leaving a space at the wall closest to the door where the members of the group walked to get to the window. At the end of the row of mattresses was a fire pit. Sand was piled high around the ashes. The sand and ashes were piled high because of all the fires that had been made during the winter.
Claudine, Paulineís sister, began pulling the cloth off the walls that morning. She folded it and put it in the corner, then folded the blankets and put them on top of it. Jon, their brother, swept the ashes from the fire pit, and Cindi and Dann, the young twins who had joined the group last year, made a large new sand pile around the pit. All this took less than ten minutes. They ran outside with their silver-cups, and Dave locked the door, then gathered up the other five, who were admiring the flowers.
"Cindi and Dann, go to the McGregorsí and wait. Brian seems like heís in another world, the last year or so--heíll want to give you guys a lot of money. Heís always in a good mood, and heís probably thinking a lot about kids--I think he and that girlfriend of his finally got engaged a couple of days before Freeze-day came last year. He'll love you. The rest of you, go to the houses you usually do to get money. Be careful, everyone. See ya soon."
Everyone headed off in their appointed directions.
* * * Pauline couldnít keep her tiny bare feet from running. Soon she would see Steph again. Stephen Davison always gave her a warm smile and a lot of money when she went to his mansion with her silver-cup. She didnít know how Dave felt about her, but she did know that she never stopped looking forward to going to Stephís house to see him. He had the warmest green eyes and most perfect dark hair she had ever seen. Steph was Daveís age, or Jonís (Jon was 16), but he still had the sweetest face in the world, as far as she was concerned.
When she read his last name, Davison, on the formbox beside his house, her heart pounded, and she sat on the cool, smooth stone steps with the warm, pretty rising sun on her face to wait. Happily breathing in the fresh spring air, she daydreamed about horses, which she had never seen in person, and huge, green forests with bright flowers all around. She was starting to get a tiny bit drowsy when the door finally opened.



ìPauline,î said Steph quietly, his wonderful green eyes gleaming, ìitís finally Spring-day!î He smiled that bright, sweet smile that always lit up his whole face, and her heart spontaneously melted. ìHere, sweet Pauline,î he continued, making her face turn pink, ìhere is money for your silver-cup. I hope to see you tomorrow.î Then he walked back inside his huge house, and Pauline ran home to count the money he had given her and dream.
* * * Cindi and Dann ran hand in hand to the McGregorsí mansion. Brian McGregor was already on the steps, and just before they arrived, his fiancee, Lauren, did. Brian and Lauren were already kissing by the time the twins arrived at the McGregorsí front steps, and Cindi and Dann, who were ten, looked at each other nervously, not quite sure what they should do.
ìLook, Brian,î murmured Lauren softly. ìWeíve got company.î He tore his eyes away from her with obvious effort and smiled when he saw the twins. ìHi, kids,î he said. ìHey, Lauren. Maybe weíll have cute kids of our own someday.î
Lauren smiled warmly. ìWhat are your names?î
ìCindi aní Dann,î Dann answered quietly, biting his lip.
ìWell, Dann,î said Brian, digging in one of his pockets, ìhereís some money for you and your sister. Please come back soon, both of you.î
ìThanks. We will,î Cindi responded timidly, and she and Dann walked slowly away together, peering in their silver-cups and looking at all the flowers with wonder.
* * * When Dann and Cindi were small, they hadnít seen many flowers. They had lived in an abandoned jade quarry at the edge of Codeibleu, close to the forest. The quarry was bare, the area of the city near their home was almost all stone, and they were forbidden to go into the forest.
One day, however, they did sneak into the forest. They laughed and shouted at each other, dodging between the trees and playing an energetic game of tag.
Then Dann, who was running from Cindi, abruptly stopped short, and she crashed into him, almost causing him to fall. Peeking around his shoulder, her eyes widened as she saw a creature she would always remember but could never describe. All she could say was that its teeth were very sharp and that its eyes seemed to absorb your entire soul.
She whimpered and hid behind her brotherís shoulder, waiting for the inevitable pain of death to come.
Dannís eyes were tightly shut, but it seemed that the image of the creature coming--closer, closer--burned straight through his eyelids.
Suddenly there was a loud thump.
ìDann, Cindi!î came their motherís frantic voice. ìRun! Ruuun--î
They ran, and tears began to pour down Cindiís cheeks as she heard her mother scream.
ìNo!î came their fatherís voice from far behind them.
Panting, sides throbbing, they ran and ran and ran, wishing that they had listened to their parentsí warnings about the maniticores that lived in the forest, wishing that they could have kept their parents from dying.
They never looked back.
* * * They met Dave on the way back home. ìDid you guys remember where the house was?î he asked them.
ìYep, aní you were right, Dave,î said Dann. ìThey do want to have kids someday.î
ìTheyíre really nice,î Cindi added, and none of them spoke again the whole way back, content to simply listen to the beautiful song that the apple-birds were singing.
* * * Pauline sat silently counting the money Steph had given her.
She remembered the first time she had met Steph. He was obviously a little older than she was, but he didnít act like he was better than she was the way most older kids she knew did.
ìHi. Iím Stephen,î he had said. ìWhatís your name?î
ìPauline,î she had said, and they spent the afternoon playing games together. She had gone over to his house almost every day that year. They constantly had to hide from Stephís mother, who didnít like him playing with poor kids. In reality, hiding was half the fun; it was a new adventure.
Every year they got to know each other better, and last year his eyes warmed up every time he saw her. Heíd beat up a rich kid who made fun of her because she was poor once, and Steph was generally against violence. If only she could--
Claudine walked in, breaking her train of thought.
ìHowíd you do?î asked Pauline, trying to block her thoughts from her sister. Claudine had always been good at telepathy, although she tried to keep it under control.
ìI did about normal, but I see that Steph missed you even more than he usually does,î Claudine answered as she peered down into her sisterís silver-cup.
Pauline flushed, but when Claudine added, ìDave will be upset, you know,î she was confused.
ìWhy? Itís good that I got a lot of money, isnít it? Isnít that what he wants?î
Claudine stared at her. ìYou canít possible be that naive.î
ìWhat are you talking ab--î
They didnít have time to continue the conversation because Dann, Cindi, and Dave walked in then.
ìLetís see how much money you guys made,î said Dave cheerfully.
ìWait for Jon,î Pauline reproached him.
ìOh. Right. Well, as long as we have to wait, do you want to go for a walk, Paul?î
ìSure!î she cried. She loved flowers and fresh air, and everything else about spring. Spring-day was her favorite day of the year. ìCan we go to the park?î
ìOf course we can.î He opened the door and bowed, gesturing for him to go ahead of him.
On the way out, Pauline muttered in Claudineís ear, ìI still donít know what you meant, but if it will help, put some of my money in your silver-cup.î
Claudine shook her head. ìIt wonít help anything to hide the truth.î Then Pauline and Dave set off. Dave stared at as they walked Pauline, and she looked uncomfortably away, wondering what was wrong with him. She ran a hand nervously through her light brown hair.
Finally, she set her mind on staring at all the gorgeous flowers surrounding them to attempt to ease her worries. Soon they got to the park, though it seemed like a long time to Pauline. ìTime almost always passes slowly when someone is staring at you,î a great philosopher had once said. Steph had told her about him, and sheíd noticed that middle-aged people said that phrase from time to time.
Pauline tripped on a rock that was hidden in the new green grass, and Dave caught her hand to keep her from falling, but then he didnít let go. Pauline didnít think much of it; theyíd held hands all the time when they were little kids. They were best friends, after all. They sat on the huge boulder at the top of the hill in the park and looked down on the other side of Codeibleu. This view had always taken Paulineís breath away; there were hundreds of buildings surrounded by the forest and distant mountains. She thought that she could make out the abandoned mine area where Cindi and Dan had once lived in the fading light.
ìBeautiful, isnít it?î said Dave.
She nodded, smiling at him.
Then he leaned down and kissed her.
Paulineís eyes flew open, and all the pieces fit together.
Now she knew what Claudine had meant. I would rather have gone on not knowing what she was talking about. I never listen to Claud as much as I should, anyway.
She didnít want Dave. She wanted Steph.
This was horrible.
Still in shock, she let Dave continue to kiss her. What else could she possibly do, after all?

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