It's Wednesday morning. Viv's driving around with Abigail. There ought to be school, but Viv's not sure about making Abigail endure any more of that. So instead they're driving around. Viv needed some things from the hardware store, and the grocery store, and then from the autoparts store. So they're running errands. It's a bit overcast, and not too cold, but it's not sunny enough to be called a nice day it's rather blah.

They're driving past the Bayfield cemetary. Viv holds her breath.

Abigail's feeling a little guilty about not going to school, but primarily she's feeling relieved. Because if Viv thinks having a couple miles of yarn wrapped around that house is annoying, it's nothing on how the Vice Principal felt about having the cafe hallway turned into a giant scotch tape spiderweb.

Yeah, school's not much fun. She'd much rather being running errands with Viv.

They pass the cemetary entirely and Viv let's out the breath she was holding. "You need anything?" she asks Abigail.

"Uhm," Abigail thinks about it. "I'm not sure yet."

Sometimes she sees food and then she needs to buy it but until it's in front of her she doesn't know.

"How come you were holding your breath?"

"It's just something I do driving around. My mum was superstitious."

"In Glasgow there's a tunnel, under the Clyde, and you have to hold your breath when you go through it," Abigail remarks absently.

"How come? My mum thought if you held your breath going past the graveyard you'd live a day longer."

"I'm not really sure. It's just a tradition. I think you get a wish."

"Oh. Okay then." Viv says.

It was something Abigail's mother told her once but she's forgotten that by now. Only the ritual itself remains in her mind, like some universal law.

"Where are we going next?"

"I'm thinking about the school, but we really can't. I need Alec." Viv says.

"Actually you technically need Diane, she's my educational guardian."

"No I need Alec to intervene with her. Seriously Hugh said there was a huge row over you and alternative schooling."

"Oh, yeah. Diane thought Hugh would try to send us to private school or something, she got upset."

"While I'm sure it occured to him with you, he outright said he was going to ask me to teach your sister a few days a week."

Abigail doesn't quite get why Hugh and Diane don't get each other. In her world people should tell each other whatever comes to mind. And then there wouldn't be problems like this. It's sad. She's sad for Diane and Hugh.

"She's very smart you know."

"Alison, yes, I could tell."

Abigail bites her lip. The link between her and her sister wasn't just for Alison's use. It might have been set up so Ali could tap Abby's magic but Abby was using it the other way too. Alison probably didn't even notice, but Abigail's dyslexic and she can't even really read without someone else's cognitive capacity.

"What?" Viv asks. There's something sort of buzzy that happens when Abigail thinks, it seems more loud in a distorted way when she bites her lip like that.

Oh, right. Verbal communication.

"I can't really read," she explains. "Or write, actually. I'm suppose to have papers but I think they lost them coming over the border. I need a mental link with someone to do it."

It was hard to keep a steady connection so sometimes she could and sometimes she couldn't.

"Again we'd need Diane's help with that kind of paperwork. Maybe you and I should call her."

"I can do her signature okay," Abigail suggests. Alec taught her how, he was getting bored of signing passes and permission slips.

"I'm not sure how I feel about forgery." Viv tries not to be more wrong than she inherantly is.

"Well we can wait for Alec to get home and then you can go work on the snake room and we can go to school," Abigail's always got a helpful plan B. "Or I guess we could call Diane."

"Mmm. I don't really want to go behind her back. She's my friend."

They haven't really been going behind Di's back so much as not bothering her with stuff she didn't need to be bothered about.

Abigail nods. It's not really a big deal with way.

"Just don't try to send me to private school or anything or she'll have kittens."

"Why exactly? I think you might need some special programs. There are private schools just for kids with learning disabilities."

There's no denying Abigail's got a learning disability. The problem is that's not her only problem.

"Diane's very into class divides. And Alec used to go to rich kids' school and they were mean to him 'cause he was a scholarship student and Di got angry."

"I'm not thinking rich kid school. I'm thinking more along the lines of the place where I worked part time to get my teaching hours towards my certificates. It's for kids with special teaching needs. It's private and I can afford it, but even if I couldn't I think you'd qualify. It's not a snobbish sort of place."

"Well you can talk to Diane," Abigail says, somewhat doubtfully. "You really shouldn't be paying for everything Viv, you know, we've got family and stuff."

Sort of. Barely. But she feels bad that Vivienne's somehow gotten stuck providing for them.

"You any good at math?" Viv asks.

Abigail's not sure where that question's trying to get.

"Tolerably. When I can read it."

"I'm going to make you balance my checkbook." Viv'll help her be able to read it.

Abby gets it.

"That's not the point."

"Neither is Diane being prideful. She works too much. I'm not going to make her feel even guiltier so she does it more. I know she'd pay for it, I don't care. You're staying with me and I'll take care of you." Viv means that with all the fierceness of an actual caring parent, it's not something she tries to block from the link either.

Abigail surrenders.

While she shares many of the negative experiences of her sisters, she lacks their guilt. If bad things happened she doesn't see them as being her fault. Everyone should have someone who'll love them and take proper care of them, and Abigail's not going to make an exception for herself.

She shares her wordless gratitude with Vivienne.

"Let's call Diane and I'll try not to get her too alarmed about potential class divides." Viv says with a sigh.

"You know there's only like a month more of school, right?"

This year's been a bit of disaster educationally for Abigail, she's switched schools so many times that she's completely lost track of what she's meant to be learning, and the school's completely lost track of who the hell she is. She has no idea how she's meant to pass her finals.



Diane's probably less likely to take something the wrong way when it's Vivienne anyway. And really since she's so hot on charity she shouldn't have a problem with special programs for disadvantaged

"I do, and you've changed at least three times. I'd rather see you do well than repeat. I'll help you."

Abigail's starting to lose track. She thinks this might be her fifth school.

"How's your French?"

French is even worse than English for having to read.

"Ooh and sex, that'll be fun..."