A Spell of Snow Read Free Page B

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 that
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