It Happened One Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

too. His little sister caught a fever and died right there in the garret. She was only four years old. He missed Ellie. He hadn’t forgotten her, as he had Papa. Her memory was still fresh and painful. He could still see her sweet freckled face, so like his own, and her long red braids. Ellie had the best laugh in the world, and he could make her laugh so easily. He missed his little sister.
    Now it was only the two of them when it had once been four. He and Mama.
    Tom had just finished arranging the meat pasties on the chipped china plates with the tiny blue flowers that had once belonged to his grandmother, when he heard the latch on the door and Mama came in. The weary look in her eyes filled him with sadness, and he wished she would smile and laugh as she used to. It had been a long time since he had seen Mama smile a real smile with her eyes.
    â€œI found a shilling on the way home, so I got us some hot supper tonight.”
    â€œBless you.” Anna Alcott sighed, sitting at the wobbly table and eyeing the little feast he had set for them. “You do have a talent for finding money, my sweet Tom.” She patted his arm.
    Relieved she didn’t question him further, he sat beside her and dug into the tasty meat pie. It was a minute or two before he realized that Mama hadn’t touched the food in front of her. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
    â€œI’m not hungry right now. Perhaps I’ll save it for later.” She rubbed her hands together, warming them and massaging her aching joints.
    Tom knew her fingers hurt from sewing all day at Madame La Fleur’s dress shop. She had been working there for years now, but the physical toll such labor required had begun to show its effects upon her body. Ten to twelve hours a day hunched over expensive fabric and lace, sewing ball gowns, dresses, and undergarments was taxing. Her eyesight had weakened and her muscles ached. She suffered terrible headaches as well.
    â€œHave a bite,” he encouraged her. “It’s good.”
    She nodded, stabbing at the pie with her fork. She nibbled on a small piece and placed the fork on her plate. “It’s delicious. Thank you.”
    â€œThere’s bread, too.”
    â€œI’ll have some in the morning.”
    â€œAnd a fruit tart.”
    She shook her head and frowned. “You shouldn’t have spent so much.”
    â€œWe have to eat, Mama.”
    Her expression softened. “You are a good boy, Tom. And you work too hard for a nine-year-old.”
    â€œI’m ten now. Remember?” He squared his shoulders with pride.
    â€œYes, that’s right. You are, but you still take on too much for a boy your age.” Her blue eyes filled with regret and sadness.
    â€œI’m almost a man.”
    â€œYou may think so, but you’ve got a ways to go.” Mama rose from the table and moved to the thin pallet of blankets that served as their bed. With a heavy sigh she laid her body down, tucking her hands under her head, and closed her eyes in abject weariness.
    Filled with an unspeakable helplessness, Tom watched his mother, exhausted from working her fingers to the bone, and wished fervently that he could ease her burdens somehow. He longed to make her smile as she used to. His eyes moved across the room to where the little sack of money lay hidden under the floorboard beneath the trunk. He needed to fill that sack, fill it to overflowing. There had to be a way. Once he overheard some of the lads talk about the trains. Tom thought about Victoria Station and all the fancy people that traveled and how much money they might carry with them on a trip. He might just have to visit Victoria Station.

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    Follow Me in Merry Measure
    Tuesday, December 2, 1873
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    â€œI promise I will meet your train on Tuesday when you return,” Henry Brooks said as he held Lisette’s gloved hand in his. They stood among the crowd of travelers at Victoria Station waiting