“I bought a house.” Bette said.

“You bought a house?”

“Yeah, and I have a dog too.”

Kit chuckled “You bought a house and got a dog?”

“I actually did not intend to get a dog. She just got there and would not leave. I’ve been keeping her since.”

“Doesn’t she have an owner or something?”

“No collar.”

Bette and Kit were walking around a construction site of what was supposed to be North Racine.

“What are we doing here?” Kit asked.

“I’m supposed to deliver a letter.”

“Where?”

“It should be here. North Racine.”

“Are you meeting someone?”

“I thought so.”

“Are you sure this is the address?”

“Yes, she was very certain of it.”

“Should I ring the bell?” Kit asked with mischief in her eyes.

“When did you become such a clown?”

Tina just got her latest note from Bette.

Dear Ms. Kennard,

I went to North Racine and guess what? It is still in construction and will not be finished for another 18 months or so. From the pictures it looks nice. Maybe you got the address wrong since it seems you got the date wrong too.

Tina rummaged through her album looking for a picture from April 2008. She then proceeded to write back to Bette.

Ok my mystery and sarcastic correspondent I get it. Just in case you are really where you think you are you’ll need this. There’s a freak snow that spring and everyone got sick so plenty of rest and lots of fluids. Doctor’s orders.

Tina proceeded to put it in the mailbox together with a scarf.

Bette opened her mailbox and found Tina’s note with the red scarf that Tina sent her. This made Bette chuckle.

Bette was having dinner while reading Tina’s note.

“Snow.” Bette incredulously said as she was pouring her soup. She took the bowl and faced the lake and that was when she saw the snow pouring outside. She looked at Jack.

“What the hell is happening?” She asked the dog who simply looked at her before lying back down.

The next morning, everything was covered in snow. Bette wrote her reply to Tina and put it in the mailbox.

Can this be happening?

Tina was on her day off and went to the lake house. No one is still occupying it and that makes her wonder why. She proceeded to the mailbox and saw Bette’s note. She quickly wrote a reply at the other side of the note:

Why not?

Bette was on her way back to the house when she saw the red flag disappear and went back up. She ran to the box and saw Tina’s reply. She looked around making sure no one was there. With a confused look in her face she proceeded to go into the house to get a notebook and pen and wrote on it before putting it in the box.

Tina was on her way to her car not expecting a reply from Bette anytime soon.

“Jacky, come on. Let’s go.” She called to her dog.

Jack was just staring at the mailbox and started barking. Tina looked at the mailbox and saw the same thing Bette saw. The red flag went down before going up again. She looked around and was perplexed. No one was there. She carefully retraced her steps and went back to the mailbox retrieving a new note. Not before studying the mailbox very carefully.

Not possible. What is happening?

Bette was cold but she wanted to wait it out. She saw the red flag do its thing again and she opened the mailbox as soon as the red flag went up.

Where are you?

Tina waited anxiously for the red flag to come up. She retrieved the note and read it out loud.

The lake house

“The lake house. Great! Yes, as you can see I too am at the lake house and this is no longer funny so goodbye.” Tina said to no one out of exasperation before going back to her car and driving away.

Bette waited and when it was apparent that she was not going to get a reply she went inside the house. She was not dressed for snow anyway.