Songs of Willow Frost Read Online Free PDF

got a new name for you: Sunny Mess-maker.” Dante laughed as the pieces—wires, tuning knobs—scattered and the delicate cat’s-whisker receiver was broken. Without that fine-tipped wire, the homemade radio would never work. One of the girls expected a fight and ran to get a teacher, but Sunny didn’t say a cross word, he just stared out the window as black coal smoke belched into the sky.
    But like so many orphans, William most feared being alone. It’s just one night , he reasoned. After five years of sleeping in the same room with two dozen other boys, the absence of snoring, giggling,whispering, even the squeaking of old bedsprings, left nothing but the sound of the timbers shifting, pipes groaning, and the storm winds rattling the windowpanes. The unsettling sounds of emptiness, the chords of solitude, caused William to feel a rise of panic as the echoes of a grandfather clock chiming somewhere two stories above reminded him just how long that night would be.
    I didn’t have a reason to stay . Willow’s words echoed in his mind.
    In the darkness he shoved aside the shoes and boots. He pulled down two woolen coats and, like some feral creature, tried to create a makeshift bed. But the tinkling of metal hangers and the swaying shapes in the dark kept him awake. Plus he thought he heard footsteps, or light tapping. It’s just the creaking of floorboards , William thought. This building is new and still settling . He knew it was doubtful that Sister Briganti had changed her mind about his punishment—if anything, she’d forget about him until someone needed a raincoat or until he wet the floor, whichever came first the next day.
    He pulled down another coat and was using it as a blanket when he heard the unmistakable sound of a key rattling in the lock. He reached up and felt the doorknob turn, then jumped back.
    “William,” a girl’s voice whispered as the door cracked open.
    “Charlotte?” he asked the shape in the dark. Then he felt her hand touch his arm as she crawled in next to him, sitting with her back against the wall, her knees up, her cane in front of her. He poked his head out into the blackened hallway. A faint glow came from down the corridor. A night-light flickered off and on as the rain pounded and lightning flashed. He heard a loud rumble in the distance as he closed the door. “What are you doing here? How did you …?”
    “Sister B leaves the key in the candle drawer in the hallway, I always hear her put it away,” Charlotte said, her voice quavering. “I … I don’t like nights like this, especially in my cottage. Sometimes I come down here and hide when the weather is this bad.” She sniffled and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her long flannel nightgown.
    “It’s … just a thunderstorm,” William said. “We’re in a big building. It’s completely safe. Even if the power goes out …”
    Lightning flashed beneath the door, illuminating Charlotte as she pulled her knees tighter against her chest and thunder rattled the building. He wrapped a coat around her even as she flinched.
    “Would it be better if I left you alone?” he asked, unsure of where he might go.
    She shook her head. “Please stay.”
    “Are you afraid of the dark? It’s okay if you are …” As soon as he said it he realized what a ridiculous statement that was. He was about to apologize …
    “I’m not afraid of the dark.”
    “The storm will pass, I promise …”
    “I’m not afraid of the storm either.”
    William sat in the darkness, confused, but relieved to have her company—anyone’s company. Charlotte had been his best friend and, until Sunny arrived, his only friend. He scooted over and sat next to her. She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Then she reached up, hung her cane from the rack overhead, and offered him part of the coat. He wrapped it around the two of them as her shoulders shook. She was wet, trembling and shivering.
    “What are you so afraid of?”