Honeycombs and Bittersweets

Chapter Six ~ Plans and Cruelty: Part One

Chapter Six

Plans and Cruelty

In the early days of January a few days after the New Year, the streets were thickly layered with pure white snow that was glazed with icy frosting that had been left before New Year’s Eve. The sky was clear of colour and mood, like a blank undisturbed canvas of an artist who is undecided in what to paint. Even the midday sun was absent as no evidence of its bright golden rays touched the brilliant snow, its warmth non-existent. As the winter’s chill bitterly invaded the warmth of warmly lit homes, the unattended frost had glazed heavily in the corners of the tall long window panes creating countless of white glittering oval frames within each square of the windows. Along the endless long the rows undisturbed brilliant white, cramped elegant houses of the silent street of Maple Croft Road.

After few days since the end of the festivities every working available labourer was out in the bitter unwelcoming cold, hardly even wrapped up in warm clothing as children were hired privately to shovel a path to every wealthy household clearing them from snow and ice, from their front paths to their doorsteps earning a nice shiny bronze penny for all their hard work. While the men shovelled the frost covered snow of bumpy roads making travelling safer for arriving hackneys and carriages, that journeyed often down the street for three shinny pennies in hand.

Walking through the settled snow and bitter weather was an elderly gentleman wrapped up in a nice long black thick coat, his neck fully covered by the long length of his black thick collar that just about touched his chin. Wrapped firmly above and around his collar was a long dark grey scarf which was continuously blown back trailing behind his shoulder by the tiresome wind, as the rest of his coat covered most of his long skinny legs and hands. His tall aged black top hat was expertly fitted and attached firmly to his head as it did not frit to be blown off by the strong winds, as his wispy white hair escaped through the small gaps from his hat being blown wildly around his head. He walked on through the foul weather without a care in a steady pace down the long endless Maple Croft Road, keen to reach his destination without sparing a moment to waste on hesitation.

Trailing behind less than a foot away a young lad walked casually behind him wearing brown dull labouring clothes made of a cheap material, the child’s trousers were hovering above the lad’s ankles. What were once black leather shoes were now worn, torn and scratched to complete oblivion as the child tried desperately to catch up with the fast steady pace of the elderly gentleman. While rubbing life and warmth back into his frozen hands as he could feel the uncomfortable sensation of pins and needles in his small fingers, before tucking them back into hollow pockets of his thin light brown jacket. The child’s face was almost completely hidden by the overly large brown cap on his head; only his unnaturally pale skin glowed with competition with the cold snow as the lads exposed cheeks turned rosy as if the lad had been pinched.

The gentleman seemed to be utterly oblivious of the child’s struggling pace as he tried to desperately to keep up with his own, it was not until he could no longer hear the echoing forcefulness of trodden snow underneath tiny feet did he stop in his tracks to look over his shoulder and investigated its silence. He found his disguised Granddaughter quite a distance away from where he stood staring curiously at one of the houses nearby, he called out to her clueless to what had captivated her unbridled attention as his voice didn’t seem to reach her as she stood motionlessly still. He tried once more to no avail as he started to become quite concerned to her unusual quiet behaviour, he decided to investigate and walk back to where she stood to try and rattle her out of her captivated curiosity.   

Once he was standing by her frozen side he looked down at her overwhelming curious golden brown eyes, following their distant direction as it lead to one of the cramped houses that looked ordinary enough as the others. But as he looked closer through the frosted window guarded by the waist high black iron fence, he could see a lively activity of countless smartly colourful, well-dressed and groomed children of a young age, running about merrily in a large brightly decorated parlour. He knew instantly what game they were playing as they ran screaming and laughing away from the clutches of a blindfolded young boy, feeling about eagerly to catch one of the other children to take his excited place.