The Burning Man Read Online Free PDF

may have simply forgotten.
    She looked up at Leona, who tapped the spot on her thick wrist where a watch would be, as a signal for her to hurry up.
    Olivia hated being rushed into anything, but there was no time to weigh the pros and cons and come to a carefully considered conclusion. There was clearly no room for debate. Rachel needed her, and being separated wasn’t an option.
    She knew what she had to do.
    “How about a ride to the airport?” she asked.

4
    When Rachel and Olivia arrived at Logan International Airport, they had no idea what to expect.
    Neither of them had ever been on a plane before, or been outside the state of Florida. Rachel seemed to think the whole thing was a grand adventure. She had been thrilled by the little packet of peanuts, and the view out the oval window, and the fact that her seat tilted backward.
    Olivia, on the other hand, was wary and anxious, full of questions.
    The first thing they had to do was figure out where to get their luggage. Luckily one of the flight attendants, a friendly older camp guy, helped them out, pointing them toward the baggage claim area. But right when they passed through the doors that led to baggage claim, Olivia saw a tall woman in her late fifties with obnoxiously bright, clearly dyed red hair, holding a paper sign that said DUNHAM. She had a thick, sturdy, tank-like build and was wearing a maroon, varsity style jacket that had the Deerborn Academy logo on the left breast.
    As soon as she spotted them, the woman started waving frantically.
    “Um... hi,” Olivia said, walking up to her. “I’m Olivia Dunham.”
    “Of course you are,” the woman replied, revealing a hard accent that Olivia guessed was Bostonian. “And this must be Rachel. So good to meet you both.”
    To Olivia’s surprise—and slight discomfort—the woman swept the two of them up into a big three-way bear hug.
    “I’m Mrs. Gilbert,” she said, squeezing Olivia’s shoulder with one hand and Rachel’s with the other. “I’ll be Olivia’s dorm mother at Deerborn.”
    “What about me?” Rachel asked, looking up at her sister with an anxious, thundery frown forming between her pale eyebrows. “Are we going to stay together?”
    “You’ll be staying in the junior girls’ dorm with the other seventh and eighth graders,” Mrs. Gilbert said. “But don’t worry, you and Olivia will still be neighbors. You can visit each other any time.”
    “It’s okay, Rach,” Olivia said. “It’ll be fun. Think of all the new friends you’ll make.”
    Rachel nodded, but still seemed a little unsure.
    “Come on, girls,” Mrs. Gilbert said. “Let’s go get your luggage.”
    * * *
    After retrieving their meager belongings from the revolving baggage carousel, Mrs. Gilbert stopped them right before the exit.
    “You girls got coats, right?”
    Olivia nodded and unzipped their suitcases to retrieve her beloved battered denim jacket and Rachel’s pink Nike windbreaker.
    “Those are your winter coats?” Mrs. Gilbert said, her eyebrow arched. “I guess it never gets cold in Florida, huh?”
    “It does too!” Rachel said, pulling on her jacket. “It’s like forty degrees in January.”
    “Forty, huh?” Mrs. Gilbert smiled. “It’s forty out there right now. By January it’ll be more like four degrees.”
    “Four?” Rachel said, exchanging a horrified look with Olivia.
    Mrs. Gilbert smiled.
    “Tell you what,” she said. “I was supposed to take you shopping for winter clothes this weekend, after you got settled in, but I don’t want you two freezing your little kiesters off in bikinis and flip-flops all week, so how about we stop off on the way to the school? Pick you up some real clothes.”
    “That would be wonderful,” Olivia said. “But... well... We don’t really have any money.”
    “Don’t worry,” Mrs. Gilbert said, stepping through the automatic doors and gesturing for the girls to follow. “An allowance for school clothing is included in your