Little Sparrow

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Lizzie! Wake up!"

I rolled my head to the side and pulled my blankets up over my head to block out the stream of light that came in through the window. Beside me, the mattress moved, and someone grabbed hold of the blanket to try and pull it off my face, but I just gripped it harder.

"Lizzie." The person poked me. "Lizzie." They poked me again.

"Stop it."

"It snowed!"

My eyes snapped open and I pushed the blanket off my face only to be greeted by a grinning William. Part of me wanted to move the blanket back over my face until he stopped smiling like that, it was a little unnerving. William looked like a small child, grinning from ear to eat and bouncing up and down his knees, he had not even brushed his head, but he was fully dressed – albeit a tad haphazardly.

I glanced over to the window, but the curtains blocked any view of the outside and the light streaming into the room was an odd colour. It did not look like usual sunlight and had a slight grey tinge to it, like the sky right before it snowed. William continued to bounce up and down on the bed beside and I pushed my hair off my face and tucked it behind my ears. I had never seen someone so excited at the prospect of snow, but he probably had more opportunities to play in it then we had.

At the orphanage, the only time we ever really got to enjoy the snow was during our recreation time but even then, it would only be for fifteen minutes and most of us were too cold to even care. Matron would not like it if we returned wet from the snow so oftentimes, we just huddled together to try and keep warm. We had never really had the opportunity to enjoy it, but we could always hear those outside our gates. Sometimes, I would peak through a window of the room we were cleaning just to see what they were doing. It did look like fun.

"We can have a snowball fight and build a snowman and everything!" William exclaimed, the grin not leaving his face.

"We can't do any of that until you leave so I can get dressed."

"Right. I knew that." He paused. "Mother left some woollen stockings for you, she says they'll be a lot warmer than the ones you wear."

"I don't doubt that. Go on, out."

William continued to grin at me as he clambered off the bed and ran across the room, closing the door behind him. I sighed and pushed my blanket off my legs. The cold air hit me almost immediately and I recoiled back a little, wanting to disappear back under the blankets until it had warmed up. I crossed the room to the window and moved the curtains the tiniest amount to get a better look at the streets outside.

The roads were covered in a thick, white blanket with carriages struggling to move through it but the children making the most of their snowy morning. They ran around with balls of snow clenched in their fists, throwing it at their unsuspected friends and occasionally their parents. From the window, I watched the snow fly through the air and smacking the back of peoples coats or even hitting them in the face. I did not really understand the appeal of being pelted with flying balls of ice, but I had never tried it before.

I moved away from the window and grabbed the pair of stockings that Mrs Atkinson had left. They were far warmer than my own stockings and I knew they would help a lot more against the cold wind. I pulled them on and slipped my dress over my head, wishing that too were a little warmer but the flimsy material would not magically change overnight. Once dressed, I ran the brush through my hair, left the fabric for the other dress in the corner of my room, and disappeared downstairs.

Downstairs, I could see the snow still falling through the glass panel above the Atkinson's front door. It fell gently to the ground and there appeared to be an awful lot of it despite how calm it seemed. I entered the dining room where William sat in his usual seat, still bouncing up and down with anticipation of getting outside. Mr Atkinson glanced at him on occasion, but he wore a look of amusement rather than annoyance towards his son's behaviour. He had his paper open but did not appear to be reading it.