Chapter 9Martha wanted cocoa. The smell of it wafted up from the ski lodge, along with the heavy scent of smoke from the chimney. Was that smell also chestnuts on an open fire? Maybe. Even if the snow and the Winter Planet itself was not actually that cold in its normal element, the proprietors of the ski lodge kept the ecosystem attuned to people’s expectations. The weather was always going to be just right here, and just right meant that after skiing for so long, people were going to want cocoa. It was synthetic cold, synthetic smells to build up expectations—but still, Martha wanted it. How could she not?
“Are you ready to head inside?” she asked Roland. He’d been a few paces behind her the entire time they decided to try cross-country skiing, after their second round on the mountain.
