Little Sparrow

Chapter Thirty-One

Charity grabbed me by the arm before I even had time to register what she had said.

Her nails dug into my skin and she dragged me off my knees and across the dining room floor. I tried to dig my broken boots into the floor, but it did not work. The toe of my boot just scraped along the floor and did nothing to stop Charity from dragging me out of the room and into the hall outside. Charity slammed her hand on my mouth to keep me from getting Matron's attention and someone else grabbed my other arm to stop me from pulling away.

The dragged me down the hall and to the steps that led down to the kitchen, forcing me down them and forming a barricade behind me. I tried to push back against those behind me, but they just shoved me in the back, and I stumbled several times, almost falling down the stairs. They stopped me from going anywhere but down and until I stumbled into the small corridor with the kitchen on one side and the small room just a short distance away.

Charity grabbed my arm again and pulled me past the kitchen where the cook was none the wiser to what was happening, and Charity made sure I could not make a noise to alert her. When we reached the small room, Polly hauled open the door and someone shoved me inside. I stumbled forward, my knees slamming into the concrete and a wave of pain travelling down my legs.

"Have fun, Lizzie," Charity said.

"You can't do this!" I yelled.

"I think you'll find we can. No one will know you're here for hours yet. Enjoy yourself." She laughed

I turned and looked through the open door where Charity stood grinning at me, her eyes feral. She offered me a very small wave of her hand before grabbing the handle and slamming the door shut, plunging me into darkness. Several seconds passed before I jumped to my feet and slammed the palm of my hand against the wood of the door to try and open it, but the padlock had been clicked into place. Matron was the only one with the key and until she realised I was missing, I stood no chance of escaping.

Small wooden splinters broke off from the door as I hammered my fists against it, someone of them becoming embedded in my skin and others just landing on the floor. The cooks hearing was too bad for her to hear me and none of the other girls would let me out. Matron would not emerge from her office for hours. I was trapped.

After a little while, I stopped pounding my fist against the door and rested my forehead lightly against it. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to block out the sounds that roared in my ears, the memories that came back in flashes. They did not stop. I scraped my forehead against the door, sliding to the floor and pressing my knees into the concrete. My knees ached, my hands and forehead throbbed from the contact with the door, but I did not move.

"Breathe, Lizzie. Matron will find you," I said to myself, but even I did not believe it. "Deep breaths"

My chest tightened but I followed my own advice and took several long, deep breaths until the sounds of images of the past faded and my chest no longer felt constricted. I pushed my forehead off the door and glanced around the room, squinting against the darkness. A small window sat at the very top of the back wall, but it had been covered by a stack of wood outside and blocked out any potential light from breaking through. Other than that, the room was empty.

Not even the buckets that Matron always made sure were available to those locked up in the room were around. She had had no reason to put them out after Sally had been released. I was locked in a dark room with no water, no food, and Matron did not even know where I was and probably would not for several hours. I moved until I was sat on the concrete floor and pulled my knees into my chest, pressing my back against the door and staring into the darkness.