Little Sparrow

Chapter Four

I awoke early the next morning.

I stared into the darkness, listening to the soft snores and slight creak of the bedsprings that came from the other girls. Despite how tired I felt, I could not fall back to sleep and just stared at the ceiling above. The occasional gust of wind caused a small whistle to be emitted from the window and I could hear Matron moving around the halls nearby. She never seemed to sleep, she just waited for the right time to come in and wake us up.

After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, I kicked the blanket off my body. Goosebumps formed along my arms and legs. I glanced down at the graze on my calf to find it had bled a little during the night, but it did not sting so I chose to ignore it. Instead, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and walked to the small trunk that sat at the end. We were to keep our Sunday best in our trunks so they would not get wrinkled or dirty before Chapel.

Charity mumbled something on the other side of the room as I pulled out my dress. It was simple enough, a faded pink colour that came just below my knee. Compared to the fancy clothes I had seen other girls my age wearing, this hardly seemed to cut it and it certainly did not appear to fill the criteria Matron had given the previous day. Nonetheless, she had instructed I wear it, so I pulled off my nightdress and put the pink dress on.

My stockings were still torn from the previous day, having not had the time to repair them due to a hole in my grey dress that needed more attention, I had no choice but to put them on. I slipped my feet into my boots, the leather peeling away from the soles and the front scuffed and damaged.

With my appearance not likely to get any better, I thought the least I could do was run the brush through my hair. Most of the time I did not bother since it was so short it did not get tangled all that often. Still, if I wanted to look presentable, the hair would need to be brushed. I crept across the room and grabbed the brush from on top of Sally's trunk, running it through my dirty-blonde hair a few times before replacing it.

By the time I had returned to my own bed, perching on the edge of it and wringing my hands together, Matron had opened the door and stood with a large bell in hand. She rang the bell twice, never seeing the need to ring it more than that.

"Up, girls! Breakfast is in ten minutes and you have your chores to complete," Matron said. She walked the length of the hall, her eyes following everyone as they moved around in bed or kicked their blankets off. She stopped in front of me and just stared, her eyes raking every part of me and lingering all too long on the hole in my stockings. "Well, it shell have to do." Matron said. "You will have to skip breakfast; the Atkinson's will be here in five minutes."

"Yes, Matron."

"Go downstairs, I will be down in a few seconds."

"Yes, Matron."

Matron nodded her head towards the door before turning towards Charity and the mess she had left with her dress the previous night. I made a quick getaway, jogging across the room and through the door before Matron raised her voice and told Charity off. Something told me I would have company for my extra chores that evening, much to Charity's disgust.

I made my way down the hall and into the entranceway, standing beside the side table and looking more out of place than the empty coat stand. Part of me wanted to run back upstairs, change into my normal dress and join the other girls in the dining hall for breakfast of lukewarm porridge. Even agreeing to meet the Atkinson's felt like a mistake, a rather large one at that. They could be nice people but standing in that entryway waiting for them scared me.

Anyone can feel nice on the surface, my foster family did, but that all changed, and I would not put it past the Atkinson's to do the same. That fear gnawed away at my insides as I stood in the entranceway, the rest of the girls appearing at the top of the stairs and jogging past me, disappearing into the dining hall. Charity passed and gave my arm a reassuring squeeze, but the fear remained.