The coastal mountains were long behind them, replaced by the arid semi-desert of southeastern Salish-Shidhe. They’d left the clouds behind with the mountains, and the early evening sky was a clear and infinite blue. Here, too, there was no sign of snow, and Sly knew that meant the climatic changes weren’t limited to the Seattle area. The way it used to be, when she was a kid, November would always have meant snow around Sunnyside and the Columbia River. At the very least, the ground should have been iron-hard with frost.