In Vertu’s taxicab, on the Port Road. Outside, a blizzard.
In which Vertu’s passengers see signs of other travellers.
Speaking of things I’ve never heard of because I live somewhere that it never snows: graupel. I thought from the context of it being something on the road surface that perhaps it was “gravel” being mangled (like the “Salmo’s Fire” later in the story) by Surebleak dialect, but it turns out it’s a particular type of thing that falls from the sky, something like a cross between a snowflake and a hailstone.
The statement that “Vertu had already driven through a Surebleak winter” shows that this is at least her second winter on the planet. It could be read as her third, if one wished to insist on “through a winter” meaning an entire winter, since Skyblaze shows that it was already winter when she started driving with Jemie’s Taxi; that was early winter, though, so one could instead read it flexibly as meaning through the most part of a winter, and I’m inclined to read it that way because my understanding is it fits the overall timeline better that way.
Speaking of Skyblaze and the timeline, I remember not being sure whether it made sense for Jemie’s taxi to have expanded to an entire fleet of cabs by the time of the end of Necessity’s Child, when a fleet of cabs was available to bring people to the opening of the new school. The idea described in this story that Jemie’s success inspired other people to run their own cabs makes that fleet of cabs less of a stretch.
RE: the word graupel. I grew up calling this “sleet,” but I see that the US Weather Service reserves that term for actual tiny ice pellets, so I understand why the authors chose “graupel”—which I had never, to my knowledge, ever heard before! Until I used your link, Paul, I also had assumed it was one of the authors’ Surebleak dialect creations. Since I grew up in the Northeast of the US, I have experienced “graupel,” even though I heard it called sleet by us common folk. If the authors have become familiar with the term since their move to Maine—where graupel is likely to be a yearly experience—I am surprised I never heard it from my mom, who was from Massachusetts, but with relatives and connections to Maine.
Paul: The statement that “Vertu had already driven through a Surebleak winter” shows that this is at least her second winter on the planet. It could be read as her third, if one wished to insist on “through a winter” meaning an entire winter
I perfer to interpret “a” to mean only one, as in, had it been one and an additional “part of one,” the text would have said “through Surebleak winters,” plural.
Mary/Memit certainly seems to have a respect for Anna’s talent. I was interested in their communication of few words.
How old do we guess Vertu is? If Jemmie is “younger than her youngest daughter” what age would we guess?
@Graupel
Ups – a German word 🙂 In Germany we differentiate between Hagel (=hail) and Graupel (soft hail). Graupel may occur in winter and may grow up to 5mm withe and soft pellets (mini snowballs). Graupel makes seeing ahead more difficult. Hail is more dangerous, it is made by storms and may reach the size of a tennis ball. Hail may occur in summer.
I didn’t realize that the story used Graupel, so thanks for pointing it out. And yes, I looked up both words in order to get clear on the differences too. I believe I haven’t seen much Graupel in the last years, it is more a term form my childhood. Hail on the other hand – that has been present every year.