By Wouter Jaegers wo.jaegers@planet.nl

Part three in the "Trouble Walking" series.

Part one "Break out".

After the events of "Dye, dye my darling" Jane decides to leave Lawndale for a while and decides to hop on a freight train. She meets a fellow traveler, an Australian named Sparky and his dog Zippo. Eventually the train winds up in Canada and Jane and Sparky have to get out. The people of a local village aren't too pleased with their arrival and soon they are being chased away. Some boys from the village decide that chasing them away wasn't enough they go after them with shotguns and kill Sparky. Jane, wounded at her shoulder escapes them by jumping in a river.

Part two "Snowblind"

After being rescued from the river, Jane has to revitalize in a hospital. Friends from Sparky offer to take her in so she can get back to strength and be able to continue her journey. Meanwhile back in Lawndale is Trent facing homelessness as the IRS takes the Lane household due to unpaid mortgage bills. It turns out that his parents used the money intended to pay the mortgage with to finance their journeys. Trent finds temporary shelter in an old caravan until he has earned enough money to afford an apartment.

As Jane walked around the hotel that was her home for nearly six months now, she wondered what the future had in store for her. She had seen and been through so much since she left Lawndale, her shoulder had healed quite nicely and apart from a scar there was no evidence from her gunshot wound anymore.

The last couple of months she felt healthier than ever before, chopping firewood and taking long hikes certainly paid off well. She still mailed Daria every now and then but didn't say where she was. She had to overcome one more obstacle before revealing it. Jane loved working at the hotel, small as it was. Jack and Mindy had been there for her all along and she was very thankful. But as happy as she was, she felt that irresistible urge, she didn't know how much longer it would take but she had to go.

Jane sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't recognize herself. All those months and adventures had changed her. Her hair had grown quite a bit, it reached her shoulders, Jane had thought about cutting it short again but decided not to do it.

"Jane, is something bugging you?" Mindy's soothing voice spoke up. Jane turned around and faced the older woman.

"I was thinking about home, the people I left behind, my brother Trent. I've been wondering if leaving them all behind was the right decision. And all this stuff that happened to me since leaving home has made deep impact on me." Jane began. "I see an unfamiliar face whenever I look in the mirror."

"I can understand, you are not the girl you was when you left home. But wasn't it your motivation for leaving home that you could find yourself again?" Mindy clarified "Give yourself sometime to get to know this woman you have become, she just might turn out to be the person you always wanted to be."

Jane wasn't the only person with Identity problems, more than three hundred miles more southwards was yet another girl struggling to get forward. Daria sat in her room and sighed, the last six months were the most difficult time in her life. She broke up with Tom but they figured to give it another try.

Tom sat next to Daria and looked at her, he didn't recognize the girl he fell in love with anymore, curious about this he spoke up. "Daria, be honest with me, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, the last six months you made a U-turn in behavior, you started working with Jodie on this minorities start up bureau, you are actually starting to spend time with your sister and you even began to wear clothes less plain than you used to. Normally it would take sheer hell to make you do that." Tom stated "Besides, you are seriously neglecting Jane, I never see you with her anymore."

Daria gulped, she never told Tom about Jane's departure, afraid to hurt his feelings. Tom was right, she wasn't herself.

"Tom, Jane is gone, she ran away from home after the day the two of you broke up. All those character changes you see within me are because of that." Daria clarified.

"But why didn't you tell me?" He then said "Jane was my girlfriend and she still is one of the coolest people I know."

"I was afraid of hurting you when telling you this, my whole life is rocked by all what has happened" Daria's voice suddenly grew cold "I began to understand why she left, meeting your parents showed me why the two of you broke up. I felt like all those boys that Quinn used to date. You used me as a sort of trophy to get on their good side. Why Tom, why are you doing this?"

Tom was taken aback by the coldness that suddenly came from her voice. "What do you think causes me to ride in that kamikaze device I own?" Tom sighed "My mother and father always saw me as a mishap, a nobody. They send me to that academy so that I could at least get some class but it was to no avail. I figured that dating an artist would make them respect me more. But when they searched Jane's background they even resented me more. Meeting you was the best what could happen to me but believe me it's not just because of the social status your parents have, I do care for you."

But Daria was not finished, she still needed to clarify one more thing. "And if Jane really is 'one of the coolest people' you know than why didn't you visit her? The two of you parted as friends after all."

"I tried but at first I was too afraid to see her again, to hurt her feelings with just me being there. And when I finally had enough courage to talk with her again, she wasn't home." Tom spoke sadly.

"Yeah, the IRS has taken the Lane house, Trent is living in an old caravan right now. It's a wonder how he has survived the winter." Daria sighed "If I had told you about this earlier what would you have done?"

"I would have done whatever was in my power to help him, Trent is like a brother to me. I might have resented his inability to hold on to a job and his lack of class but when I got to know him a little better, I found out that he's just a great guy." Tom stopped for a minute. "I could arrange him a place to stay, before my father made the big figures he had an apartment downtown. He still owns it, I could let Trent stay in there, that's the least that I can do for him. And besides if my dad finds out about this he can't ignore me any longer"

"That's nice of you but it won't change a thing, we are growing apart Tom, this isn't working." Daria sighed. "You take me to places I don't want to go and make me do things I don't feel like doing. If you really want to prove yourself to your parents then you have to look for another way."

Tom looked at her sadly, she was right this really wasn't meant to be. He came up to her and hugged her.

"Come on, let's go and visit Trent, it will take our minds off of things." He then spoke soberly.

When they both walked down the stairs they bumped into Jake.

"Hey Tom my man, tell your dad that I'd meet him for a game of golf in Leevile." Jake called out and added "Daria, you are lucky for having such a great boyfriend." Before walking upstairs.

Daria looked at Tom "Why do you want to prove yourself to your parents anyway, being at their bad side at least will have them leaving you alone."

Tom smirked at her as they both walked out of the door and drove away in Tom's Pinto.

CHOP!

A piece of lumber spliced in two when Jane let the axe drop on it. She loved living in the woods, nice and quiet. She had been painting a lot recently and found it refreshing to destroy things for a good purpose. Suddenly a man appeared behind her and spoke up with a very familiar sounding voice.

"Excuse me young lady but is this hotel open?"

Jane turned around and looked in amazement at the person standing there. "Dad, is that you?" She asked in total surprise.

Vincent's amazement was even bigger, he never thought he would find a family member this far from home and certainly not his youngest daughter. "Janey?" He asked almost frozen. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing what you are doing here." Jane replied witty before embracing her father.

Finally a familiar face.

Later that night, Vincent learned about the things that happened. He smiled grimly.

"It seems to me that you have fallen into the Lane family habits Janey. Travelling, it must be in our genes." He sighed with a smile "But can Trent cope up with paying the mortgage money, last time we had quite some fuss with the IRS."

"Well my journey didn't cost me anything, so the money you and mom kept aside must be still there." Jane clarified

Suddenly Vincent started to look very guilty. "Oh no…" he then quickly dialed the Lane household number on his cell phone, hoping that his fears wouldn't be justified.

"Sack Taylor speaking." The voice at the other end replied.

Vincent began to sweat. "Err… good evening sir, I was looking for Mr. Trent Lane." He began "Is he there at the moment?"

"No I'm sorry, you must search the family that lived here before we moved in, they had to leave the house some six months ago." The voice at the other end replied "I can't tell you about their whereabouts right now, I'm sorry."

"I understand, thank you." Vincent sighed in despair before hanging up. Jane looked at her father and began to understand what was going on. "Janey, they took the house."

"What, but how can that be, you and mom left money to pay the mortgage with didn't you?" Jane stopped and thought it over and then she began to realize what really had happened. "You used it to finance this trip didn't you? Damn it dad, what about Trent?"

"Travelling, it's a disease Jane, it's a disease." Vincent muttered unhappy. "Ever since I ran away from home I couldn't stop doing it, I had to see it all with my own eyes."

Meanwhile at the pawnshop "The Wooden Mill" was Trent making the best he could of the situation. He just had heard from Daria and Tom that they had found him an apartment so he soon would be leaving that rat infested caravan that had been his home for six months now.

Paul walked up to him. "I just heard from Morgan that you'll be leaving anytime soon. That little friend of yours found you an apartment."

"Yeah, Daria has been there for me all along, I simply can't thank her enough for what she did." Trent sighed. "I will continue working here though, I like it to see so much good stuff coming in and being sold."

"That's good to hear, you have been a very good employee for the last couple of months, Morgan, Lauren and I would like to take you out to dinner tonight to celebrate this." Paul explained.

Trent smiled "Sounds good." A free meal would have been a welcome bonus. "Just tell me when and where and I'll be there. Hey, that sounds good, I have to use this in a song."

Trent took a sheet of paper and began jotting it down. Paul Smiled "Hold your horses Trent Morgan and I first have to decide which restaurant we're going to. Tell you what, take that friend of yours with you she has done more than enough to deserve to be there."

"Okay then, I'll call her about this." Trent said while writing.

Meanwhile at the Griffin residence was the fashion club just rounding up another meeting. The minority start up program was high on the list.

"And the conclusion of this report on where those unpopular people, or whatever, should get jobs. Is stating that it would be best for them if Quinn's cousin, or something and Jodie would train them to become waiters and waitresses at places like Chez Piere. That way they'll be supplied with goodlooking clothes and be taught our morals and values at the same time or whatever. This way they will lose their unpopularity." Sandi spoke up.

"Yoooouuuur cousin certainlllyyyyy has redeeeeeemed herself Quuuuuiiiiiiinn." Tiffany slugged.

"Yeah" Stacy chimed in "who would have thought that a girl as unpopular like her would do something so right?" Stacy sighed "I guess that underneath that wrong outfit of her lies a very popular girl."

Quinn looked uneasy, why would she lie to them any longer, the past couple of months she and Daria had become very close. The camp where Daria spend the summer gave Quinn a preview of what it would be without Daria in the house, it was strange but she had to admit to herself that it was empty without her around. And then there was David, oh how much she had cried over the love she felt for him that wasn't mutual. Daria was there to cast an ear.

"Hum-hum, Kuh-win, are you listening?" Sandi's voice called out. Breaking Quinn's trance. "We are going to Chez Piere tonight as well as other good expensive restaurants to take notes on which kinds of unpopular people ought to work at which particular restaurants, or whatever." Then she became suspicious "Were you thinking about that David-guy again?"

Quinn remained quiet, this was none of her business.

"Like get yourself together Quinn, he wasn't even cute." Sandi sneered while throwing her hair over her shoulders. "Come on Quinn, let's go before al this think work you're doing turns you into a brain."

Quinn decided to keep her strings for a little while longer and stood up to follow the other members to their cars for this ridiculous search they were going to do. "Okay Sandi, I hear and I obey." She quietly said to herself.

Meanwhile at the Morgendorffer residence was Daria preparing for the dinner. Okay eating with Trent wasn't entirely new for her. She'd stayed at the Lane residence a couple of times and had eaten with him at the pizza place. That was a sad day, now that she thought of it, she had a crush on him until then. He wasn't capable to hold on to commitments and still… Daria sat down, she got more confident around him, she wasn't that shy around him anymore.

Her relationship with Tom was troublesome but she at least had learned some things from it. Daria smiled slightly as a naughty thought came up in her mind.

"Stop it" She said to herself "You are not in the position to even try something like that." She then heard Trent's car stop. "But still…nah." She got up and got downstairs to meet up with him.

Meanwhile at one of the restaurants they were to investigate was Quinn looking bored at her fellow fashion club members, in these last couple of months Quinn did a lot of thinking. Why would she want to continue with this charade anyway?

She thought of David and about the prospect of meeting guys like him, finally settling and being happy with a guy on her side, that was what she really wanted.

"Kuh-winn, are you like, listening to what I've said?"

Quinn looked up startled, Sandi caught her off guard again. "Oh, err… I'm sorry Sandi, I wasn't paying attention, could you repeat it?" Quinn asked in her nicest voice.

"You're behaving strange Quinn, I guess that that geeky cousin of yours is getting through to you. Like, you aren't even paying attention to something so important as this mission, or something." Sandi sneered.

"So sue me." Quinn spoke beneath her breath, being able to think for herself and to actually be good at school opened her eyes. Quinn looked nonchalant as she came up with her answer. "Sure you're right, Daria and I are spending much more time together, it's because of her that I spend time searching for colleges to attend after graduation. In my opinion it's important to plan on what to do after leaving school"

"Youuu meeeeaaaaan thaaaat schooool eeends?" Tiffany looked stricken, this wasn't something she thought of before.

"I hope you realize how seriously you are putting your position in the fashion club in jeopardy Quinn. I shall let this brainy behavior slide but keep in mind that I won't be as generous next time." Sandi firmly stated "Come on, we finished our job here, let's go to the next restaurant, we have five more to check out."

Quinn looked bored as she stood up and followed the herd out.

"Here we go again."

Meanwhile in Canada was Vincent looking sadly at his daughter. Jane was in a fury, packing everything she thought was necessary and saying her goodbye to Jack and Mindy before stepping out and walking away with Zippo on her side.

"What kind of a father are you, to leave your family to become homeless and to abandon your wife so often?" Jane's vicious words rang in his head. Was that really true, was he that bad as a father?

Vincent thought back to the day he first saw Jane, she was almost two years old. She was born when he was attending an expedition in Antarctica. What was Jane like as a kid? Vincent asked himself, he vaguely remembered coming home and seeing her around with paintbrushes putting all she had in her on paper.

Vincent reached in his jacket and pulled out a picture he took of the place which used to be the Lane residence. The sculpture, he didn't even witness Jane working on it. He was in Hawaii at the time photographing volcanoes. Jane was right, what kind of a father was he when he wasn't even there when she was born?

Vincent looked at Jack and Mindy and thought back at what Jane told him about her stay and how good the elderly couple took care of her for the last six months. He then decided to do something, this couldn't go on like this, Jane meant very much to him.

Jane walked straight to the railway station, tears stinging her eyes. "This isn't fair Zippo, I lost everything." She growled while taking Zippo up and jumped aboard a freight train which slowly made up speed. "But they won't get me this easy, Jane Lane is coming world." Jane sighed.

Zippo looked at his mistress and licked her face in order to cheer her up. Jane rolled out her sleeping bag and soon drifted away in a deep slumber while the train kept going north.

Meanwhile at "Steaks incorporated" in Lawndale was Daria enjoying the dinner with Trent and Paul's family.

She liked their daughter Lauren, who resembled her mother Morgan at a stunning level. Lauren was really energetic about reading and Daria was happy to share her knowledge on the matter. Paul laughed and told her that Lauren was hard to remove from the books department of his store. Lauren added that she loved the smell of old books and even though she at six years old couldn't possibly understand what they were about, was mystified about all those words, some of which she never had heard off before.

Trent and Paul were talking about music that changed their lives, Paul raved about how Eric Clapton would squeeze a tone from a string and Trent added how in tune Stevie Ray Vaughan was. Daria enjoyed every minute of it. This night certainly was a night to remember.

When the dinner was over Daria came with Trent to his hide out.

"Boy, I'll be glad when I'm moving out." Trent spoke soberly while opening the door. "Living here for six months was sheer hell."

"Yeah so I can imagine." Daria sighed. "Trent be honest with me, do you think I've changed much?"

"What do you mean?" Trent asked cocking an eyebrow "You are still the Daria I know for almost three years. The only thing I can think of is that you are a lot more comfortable around me."

Daria sighed "My life is a mess Trent, Jane's boyfriend cheats on her with me, Jane leaves to I don't know where and I've been throwing myself into work just to escape the pain this all causes."

Trent walked up to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. "I see, the stress of this all is getting to you. Daria, I am very thankful for all that you and Jodie did for me, if there's anything I can do just tell me."

Daria laid her hand on Trent's and turned around "Well, there is something you can do…"

Meanwhile were the fashion club checking out another restaurant. Quinn was fed up with it, she couldn't even bring herself to fake enthusiasm. Finally she snapped.

"Sandi, what's the use about this anyway, do you honestly think that the people who are getting jobs thanks to the project of Jodie and Daria will actually choose to work as waiters and waitresses?" Quinn asked with a little venom in her voice, Sandi noticed it and retorted.

"What's the matter Quinn, are you saying that this project we were doing was useless?" Sandi bit "You haven't put in any effort at all this night and now you tell me that this project is a waste of time?"

"Then let me rephrase: If you were to choose a job, what would it be? Stop, don't reply, I know the answer. You would have chosen to be a supermodel." Quinn started "The minority people can choose their own jobs, maybe some of them will choose to be a waiter or waitress but you can't force them to become that just because of the outfits they are going to wear."

"Oh, then how on earth do they think they can loose their unpopularity? There is no place for outcasts as long as I'm president of the fashion club." Sandi suddenly began to smile evilly. "But if you insist at being a brain Quinn then I'll be happy to bring you home so you can hang out with that insane cousin of yours while me, Tiffany and Stacy will decide on your future."

"Fine, I quit. I won't give you the satisfaction of throwing me out. And for the record, Daria is my sister." Quinn sneered while walking towards Sandi's car and getting in. "Well what are you waiting for, you wanted to take me home didn't you?"

Sandi growled and winked Stacy and Tiffany to follow her. "Fine but know that this is the last thing you will be doing as vice president of this club." She got behind the wheel and drove off.

But the rage boiling up in her made her push the accelerator a bit too hard. The car picked up speed a little too fast but Sandi didn't pay any attention to it her attention went to the person sitting next to her. "You lied to me, you tell me that popular people can't make unpopular people to wear proper clothing, you fall in love with a geek and you talk back at me…" She growled while looking at Quinn who looked impassive at Sandi's attempts to intimidate her.

"SANDI LOOK OUT!" Stacy suddenly yelled causing Sandi to look up, they were heading to a turn way too fast. It was obvious that they would never make this turn.

The car went off the road, flipped over, throwing Quinn out and landed on its side.

Moaning and crying the Fashion club members made their way to freedom, Stacy's jack turned a faint reddish black as she discovered a gash in her left upper arm. Tiffany walked out a little dazed while Sandi had a gash in her forehead.

"Quinn, are you okay?" Sandi called out while walking towards the spot where Quinn had landed dipping her wound with her own shirt. Quinn looked up breathing heavily.

"Owh… broke my spine… can't move…" she managed to bring out "Call 911… Quick… Guys, where are you guys? " Quinn suddenly began to look panicked. "Don't abandon me guys, I need help. Where are you guys? I can't see you at all."

Stacy got out her cellphone and called the emergency number while Sandi and Tiffany tried to calm Quinn down.

"We're right here Quinn, Stacy is calling for help right now." Sandi spoke to a terrified looking Quinn. Truth was that she was just as terrified, this was something that nobody should endure. "Quinn can't you see us, we're sitting next to you."

"Where are you guys, I can hear your voices and feel your hands touching mine but when I look you're not there. Please, don't leave me here." Quinn cried in total fear of what was happening.

Then Tiffany understood it all. "Quuuuiiinnn haaaaveee yooou beeecooome bliiiinnnd?"

To be continued in "White out."