A Spell of Snow Read online

  I leaned back into a chair and realized the extent of my weariness as my eyes closed. I became aware of little more than the blurred sounds of the older woman giving orders to Ruby, and Edward’s rumbles of protest as his arm was strapped up, the cut to his head bathed and bandaged, and his many bruises examined carefully.

  When Vera returned I forced myself to move again and took off my coat, wrapped the blanket around me and scrubbed at my hair with the towel. A few minutes later the girl returned and handed me a steaming bowl. I cupped it in my hands and took a wary spoonful of the contents. To my surprise it was meaty and delicious. It had been hours since I’d eaten that slice of cheese on toast and I was very hungry.

  I was just scraping the bottom of the bowl when Edie stood up from the sofa and stretched her back, watching me. ‘That’s it, that’ll warm your cockles, all right.’

  She turned back to Edward as Ruby covered him in blankets. ‘Well, we won’t be getting the doctor out to you in this weather, our Edward, but I don’t think you’re mortally wounded, for all you’re in a lot of pain. Cuts, bruises and broken ribs heal, and I think that wrist’s just badly sprained. You’ll feel better once you’re warmed up.’

  The younger boy, Tom, entered the room then. ‘Da’s on his way. I saw his lantern,’ he told Edie.

  ‘Thank the Lord for that,’ the older woman said, seating herself on a hard-backed chair beside the sofa. ‘We’ve had enough casualties for one night.’

  ‘Was Moll all right?’ Ruby asked Tom.

  He nodded. ‘She’s fine, just a bit tired. I’ve settled her down with some hay.’

  ‘Now how did you come to be out here in this weather, eh?’ Edie said, turning back to me. ‘And all on your own.’

  ‘Oh, I… um, I got the bus, and then I got lost.’

  ‘Caught the wrong bus, you mean?’

  I nodded; unwilling to reveal the truth. ‘And then I heard the horse, and she led me to your son.’

  Edie nodded. ‘Well I can’t tell you how glad I am that you did, dearie, because I doubt Ben would’ve found him the way things are out there right now. Will there be anyone worrying about you – looking for you?

  ‘There’s my aunt, but –’

  ‘Poor woman, she’ll be worried sick. Well, there’s nothing we can do tonight I’m afraid. You’ll stay with us, and we’ll see how the weather is tomorrow.’

  There was a bang as the front door shut and then a tall, sturdy man, his clothing covered in snow, entered the room, bringing an icy blast with him.

  ‘Moll’s in the stable, is Edward…?’ He asked, and then stopped as he spotted the figure on the sofa.

  ‘He’s all right,’ Edie said quickly. ‘He took a tumble and cracked a few ribs, but Tilly here found Moll and rescued him.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Da,’ Edward said in a voice tinged with pain. ‘I didn’t expect the snow to come on so badly, so fast.’

  ‘Aye well, I’m that relieved to see you I’ll let you off,’ Ben said gruffly, and then turned to me. ‘We’re much obliged, love. But what on earth were you doing out on your own in this weather?’

  I didn’t need to respond, as Edie, Ruby, Vera and Tom were all too happy to fill him in on my status as a temporarily lost girl. I was glad to stay silent; my eyes kept trying to close and I felt as if I could sleep for a week. What was more, I couldn’t rid myself of the sense that everything was somehow completely surreal.

  ‘So where does your aunt live?’ Ben asked.

  ‘In Nimbury, in Jackson Street.’

  ‘You talk funny,’ Tom said suddenly.

  ‘I’m Australian,’ I said, immediately on the defensive. They were the ones who talked funny as far as I was concerned. None of them sounded right.

  ‘You’re a long way from home, then,’ Ben said. ‘Well, you can share our Ruby’s bed tonight, and we’ll just take tomorrow as it comes.’

  ‘Take her upstairs, Ruby,’ Edie said, as I struggled to keep my eyes open. ‘She’s dead on her feet, poor love.’

  I was glad to follow Ruby up the stairs, but I could barely put one foot in front of another, and I couldn’t work out why Ruby was carrying an oil lamp. My brain seemed to be wrapped in cotton wool; nothing made sense, but I didn’t have the energy to work it out.

  The odd feeling increased as Ruby led me into a small, icy bedroom into which two beds had been squeezed, leaving little room for much else. She put down the oil lamp and opened a battered chest of drawers, from which she drew a thick cotton nightgown. ‘You can borrow this,’ she said. I took the garment numbly and sat on the edge of the lumpy bed, watching in bemusement as she lit a candle stub with a match.

  ‘You look awful,’ she said, staring at me. ‘You’d better get into bed and get warm.’ When she left the room a moment later, taking the oil lamp with her, I shivered, and not just with cold. Had there been a power cut because of the blizzard?

  I undressed quickly and donned the scratchy nightgown, plunging beneath the covers as quickly as I could. Then I took another look at my mobile phone. The time read 10.10, but there was still no signal. I thrust it under my pillow and closed my eyes at last.

  ‘Come on, sleepyhead,’ said a cheery voice beside me, and I woke with a start, staring up with a complete lack of recognition at the woman standing over the bed. ‘I think you badly needed that sleep,’ Edie said, while the previous night’s events rushed back into my mind. ‘I don’t know how you managed not to wake while the others were getting up, but what about some breakfast? You get dressed and come down before it’s cold.’

  I sat up. ‘How’s… Edward?’

  Edie smiled. ‘He’s up and eating his breakfast. He’s very sore and no wonder, and his da’s going to have to manage the farm without him, but he’s going to be all right, thanks to you.’

  When Edie headed downstairs, I pulled my mobile phone out from under the pillow and held my breath as I looked at the screen. I couldn’t believe it; still no signal, and no messages either. I bit my lip and fought back slight wetness in my eyes before throwing back the covers and stepping out of the bed onto a lino floor that felt icy to my bare feet. The room was extremely chilly and I hurried out of the nightgown and back into my school uniform, shivering all the while. Once I was dressed I couldn’t resist taking a look outside, and I edged between the beds to peer through a window covered in swirls of frost. I cleared a little of the frost with my hand, and then watched through the small porthole I’d made as Edward’s dad shuffled through snow that was well over his ankles towards an enclosure where a few bedraggled sheep milled about.

  I found Edie, Ruby and the two younger children in the kitchen, which was warm in the glow of another open fire. Ruby gave me a sympathetic smile and a cheery, ‘Morning,’ as she toiled over an ironing board in the corner of the room.

  ‘Come and sit down now, dearie, and get some food down you,’ Edie said, bustling to the table with a heaped plate. ‘You’re still looking a bit peaky, I have to say.’

  I looked at the plate piled with eggs and bacon and thought about the calories, but my stomach had other ideas. I smiled gratefully at her and dug in.

  Edie watched me for a moment and then returned to the sink, where she set about the washing-up. ‘I’m afraid you’re going to be stuck here with us for a while,’ she said. ‘Could even be a few days. It’s three miles to the bus stop and even if we could get you there I doubt there’d be a bus. The snow’s a foot deep and it’s well below freezing out there. There’s nothing we can do until it thaws. Your poor auntie, I feel so sorry for her.’

  I frowned, confused. Now that my mind was clear I couldn’t see what the problem was. ‘I know I can’t get a mobile signal here,’ I said earnestly, ‘but couldn’t I phone her on your land line?’

  She turned to look at me in bemusement. ‘Phone her? You mean telephone her?’ She exchanged a brief glance with Ruby, who had momentarily suspended her ironing operations. ‘We don’t have a telephone, dearie – no one does that I know of. Is your aunt t
hat well-to-do then, that she has a telephone?’

  I stared open-mouthed at the older woman, realizing suddenly what it was that had been bothering me ever since I’d found Edward. It wasn’t just that everyone spoke oddly, it was that they were dressed oddly, too. Even Ruby was wearing a skirt that showed only her shoes, and her hair was tied up into a bun. Both she and Edie wore aprons over their long skirts.

  I didn’t have a chance to speak, as at that moment the door opened and Edward clattered in, his boots covered in snow, and flakes of snow in his hair. His arm was in a sling and he looked pale. A jolt went through me at the sight of him, and my stomach twisted oddly. Edie gave a tut of impatience. ‘Shut that door, will you, Edward, and get yourself back on the settee. I’ll make you a cup of tea in a little while.’

  ‘All right, Mam, don’t fuss. There’s no avoiding a call of nature,’ he said, in a surprisingly cheery voice, giving me a quick wink.

  ‘I told you I’d have brought you a bottle,’ Edie said as he headed towards the living room.

  ‘Wasn’t that sort of call,’ he called back cheekily.

  ‘Speaking of which,’ Edie said, turning to me, ‘the privy’s just out the back here. Our Ruby can show you when you’ve finished eating.’

  I wasn’t sure I had any remaining appetite. An outside toilet? What was this, the dark ages? I swallowed and forced myself to finish the meal, thinking furiously. Why was it that when I’d got on the bus the weather had been damp and drizzly, but by the time it arrived at Rillsend it was snowing heavily? And what did the strange costumes and the lack of a phone indicate?

  When I’d finished the last morsel of my breakfast a slightly sniffy Ruby took me outside to show me the location of the ‘privy’. It wasn’t even a flush toilet, I discovered with dismay, but at least it was clean and not too smelly. I didn’t dare to imagine what the family did about taking a bath.

  Once I was back indoors, Edie suggested that I keep Edward company in the living room, and I was despatched with mugs of tea. I was relieved, as Ruby’s resentful attitude was making me uncomfortable.

  I handed Edward his mug and seated myself in a chair by the fire. I took a quick sip of the hot liquid, hoping it would warm me up inside, where I was beginning to feel pretty chilled. I couldn’t help noticing that there wasn’t a single gadget in the house; not even a radio, never mind a TV.

  ‘So you live in Nimbury then?’ Edward asked politely from his position propped up on the sofa. I studied him carefully. He was still pale, and he had a nasty green bruise on his left temple, but he was very attractive, with his clear blue eyes and blond hair, and his lips that seemed to be curved into a permanent smile. All the same, the peculiar feelings he roused in me made no sense; we definitely hadn’t met before.

  ‘Yes, that’s right,’ I answered.

  ‘So what do you do? Are you in service?’

  ‘Don’t be daft, our Edward,’ Ruby butted in from the doorway, where she stood holding a heap of ironed clothes. ‘Her auntie’s got a telephone – she must go to one of them posh schools.’ She turned sharply and headed up the stairs with her burden, but despite her bitter words I was grateful to her for the interruption. It had prevented me from making an even bigger fool of myself by asking what ‘in service’ meant.

  ‘Do you go to a posh school?’ Edward persisted. ‘How old are you then? You must be at least our Ruby’s age.’

  ‘I’m nearly sixteen,’ I replied. ‘I am still at school, but it’s not really posh. I’ll be leaving in the summer, and I’m supposed to be going on to college after that, only I’m not sure I want to. It’s…’ I trailed off as Ruby, returning down the stairs, said, in a fair imitation of my Australian accent, ‘“Not sure I want to”, she says. Chance’d be a fine thing!’

  ‘You can’t turn down the chance to go to college!’ Edward said, looking horrified. ‘You could become a teacher – that’s what our Ruby wants, only Mam and Da can’t afford it.’

  I looked across at Ruby, who said, ‘No, I have to go into service with Mrs Barton in Nimbury Heights. Housemaid, that’s all I’m fit for. And you “don’t think you want to”. You and your rich auntie with her own telephone!’

  Ruby stomped back to the kitchen and Edward gave me a look of mild reproach.

  ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know,’ I said, my face hot. ‘I mean…’

  ‘There’s few enough chances in this world, but if you get them you shouldn’t turn them down,’ Edward said, adding, ‘What would you do if you didn’t go to college?’

  Normally I’d have shrugged and replied that I’d find something, but now I was cautious. ‘I don’t know. Maybe you’re right – I should take my chance while I have it.’

  ‘What would you study?’

  ‘Not teaching,’ I said slowly. ‘I like to draw, and I love animals, especially horses. I haven’t really thought about it much since my mum died and I had to come and live here.’

  Edward looked at me with renewed sympathy. ‘And your dad?’

  I shook my head. ‘He left my mum when I was young, and he died soon after. I never knew him. I don’t know my Auntie Cheryl very well yet, either. She’s my dad’s sister.’

  ‘So you’ve had a hard time of it, too. Well look, don’t mind Ruby. It’s tough on her – we all know she’s not cut out to be a housemaid, but she’s got no choice.’

  ‘That’s so wrong,’ I said.

  Edward gave me a look of amusement. ‘Like my da keeps telling us, whoever said life was meant to be fair?’

  ‘So what do you do then?’ I asked.

  ‘Work with my da on the farm, of course. No choice for me, either.’

  ‘And do you like it?’

  He gazed at me, his expression far older than his years. ‘I do, luckily. I wouldn’t want to do anything else. A farmer born and bred, that’s me.’

  I sighed. ‘What I’d really like is to work with horses, like I did in Australia with my mum. We had a riding centre; I loved it.’

  ‘I thought you were good with Moll,’ he said. ‘Tell me about Australia. I’ve read books about it but it seemed so far away. Have you ever seen a kangaroo? What about a koala bear?’

  I was happy to talk about my home country, and I even managed it without getting upset. The two of us talked and talked, without even realizing how much time was passing. Eventually Ruby came in, still looking sulky, and said, ‘If you two are tired of gassing, the dinner’s on the table.’

  I still felt awkward among the family, especially now they were all so sure I was ‘well-to-do’, but I did enjoy the dinner of shepherd’s pie and vegetables. I was also glad to be sitting beside Edward. He ate with enthusiasm, despite his pain.

  ‘Can I come and help you feed the sheep, Da, as our Edward can’t do it?’ Tom asked.

  Ben shook his head. ‘You’re a bit too young yet for all that lifting.’

  Tom’s face fell in disappointment, and he returned to his food, but I couldn’t stop myself asking, ‘Could I help?’

  Ben gave me an odd look, but before he could answer Ruby spoke up. ‘You’re a girl, and what do you know about feeding sheep anyway?’

  ‘Ruby,’ Edie warned sharply.

  ‘Actually I used to help my mum on the homestead, and with her riding centre, so I do know about feeding sheep, and looking after horses,’ I said, more vehemently than I might have done if Ruby hadn’t sounded so snide.

  ‘Well I’m sure it’s a bit different in Australia,’ Ben said, ‘but it’s damned cold out there and you are only a girl.’

  ‘She managed well enough, yesterday, Da,’ Edward said from my side. ‘It’ll be hard going on your own. I think she can do it – she’s tougher than she looks.’

  I gave Edward a grateful look, and Edie said, ‘Maybe our Edward’s right, love. I don’t like to think of you out there tossing bales of hay on your own in this weather. Why don’t you take Tilly and Tom? I’m sure he could help a little, even if he is only young.’

  Tom’s face brightened, and
all eyes were on Ben as he considered the matter, looking from me to Edward to Tom, and back to Edie. Finally he nodded. ‘All right, but you’ll need to wear something else – you can’t go out there in those clothes,’ he said to me.

  ‘She’s only slim – I’m sure there’s some old things of Edward’s that will fit her,’ Edie said.

  Half an hour later, with Ruby simmering over the washing-up and Edie and Edward giving me looks of encouragement, I left the house dressed in a chunky woollen jumper, a well-worn pair of corduroy trousers and some old boots that were a bit too big.

  Ben had already loaded up the cart with bales of hay to take out to the sheep, and a large bay horse was harnessed to it. The three of us jumped on top of the bales, followed by an avid collie dog, and Ben flicked the reins to set off.

  We took a slow route around the fields of the large hill farm, dropping off hay bales at various points to grateful sheep, and I realized I was enjoying myself, in spite of the peculiar circumstances. It was tiring but exhilarating work, and reminded me strongly of my former life, although this landscape was a lot colder.

  It was two hours later when the three of us arrived back at the house, and although the exercise had kept us warm it was a relief to be out of the biting wind and fresh snow flurries. Edie made hot drinks and we all clustered around the living room fire. It was a pleasant sensation to be sitting as part of a family after a shared task.

  ‘So, d’you think you might want to take up sheep farming?’ Edward asked with a cheeky grin.

  ‘I just might,’ I said, smiling back.

  ‘You made a good team, the pair of you,’ Ben said, looking from me to Tom. ‘Both hard workers and not complainers.’

  ‘That’s high praise coming from Da,’ Edward said.

  I spent what was left of the afternoon playing Ludo and Tiddlywinks with the two younger children while Edward watched from the sofa, butting in with comments here and there.

  On my next trip to the privy I checked my mobile phone again, but there was still no signal. Clearly there wasn’t going to be and I needed to face up to it. I’d just have to hope that the snow thawed soon, and somehow I’d get back where I belonged.