Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford Read Free Book Online Page B

when he noticed her cane and those wide, milky eyes, which never found what they were searching for.
    “When do you want to do it?” Charlotte asked.
    “Shouldn’t we keep working on history?”
    “This place will be history once we leave.”
    William hesitated, then shrugged, closing the book in his lap as he looked around to make sure no one was listening in. “Well, according to the newspaper, the Movietone Players begin their run next Friday at the 5th Avenue Theatre. I think we should look for the best opportunity, for the best weather, but the later in the week the better.”
    Charlotte nodded.
    The closer to curtain , William reasoned, the less time they’d have to fend for themselves before the big show . Plus that allowed him a few more days to save crackers, biscuits, and bread crusts from every meal. He had a bounty wrapped in a large piece of cheesecloth left over from the kitchen. The scraps would be enough to feed them for a week. Their bellies would never be full, but they wouldn’t starve, at least not right away.
    “I still don’t know how we’ll make it on our own.” We need money , William thought. We won’t last more than a week …
    “I’ll beg if I have to,” Charlotte said. “I’m not too proud.”
    It may come to that , William worried, as he recalled the streetcarride back from the theater and the dozens of men he saw with signs, seeking food, seeking work, seeking shelter. Sunny had once talked about being hired by a downtown apartment manager to run from room to room, twice a day, sniffing beneath the doors for the smell of gas. People were out of work and starving. The pitiful conditions got so bad that hundreds had committed suicide, all over the city. William remembered his mother’s pale, limp body and shuddered. He could never do that job. With any luck they could sell newspapers—that’s what most of the kids his age seemed to do. But Dante used to work as a newsie. He said it was a terrible job and that he constantly fought with the other kids over territory. Dante finally quit after showing up late and seeing a group of newsboys standing in a semicircle peeing on his bundle of papers.
    “I have about a dollar saved up,” William said. “How much do you have?”
    “Four dollars and fifty cents.”
    William sat upright. “How’d you get that much?”
    “My grandma sends me a dollar for every birthday. I’ve saved most of it—what is there to spend it on?”
    William sat back, wide-eyed. He wasn’t sure what was more surprising—that Charlotte had that much money or that Sister Briganti actually let her keep it.
    A LL WEEK W ILLIAM bided his time, looking for the best opportunity. Then on Thursday morning, while walking to class, he noticed the other kids carrying their library books. He couldn’t help but smile when he realized the bookmobile was coming back that afternoon. He sat in Sister Briganti’s religion class, listening to her drone on about Moses and Exodus as he waited impatiently for her to turn and address the blackboard. That’s when he slipped a note to the boy next to him, who passed the folded piece of paper along to the girl who shared a desk with Charlotte. The note asked the girl to whisper, “Let’s check out during library. Meet me in the grotto.”
    William watched as the girl quietly delivered the message then looked back at him and shrugged, somewhat confused. Charlotte merely turned her face to the boys’ side of the room and slowly nodded her head, trying not to smile as Sister Briganti cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention.
    William snuck away from lunch and gathered up his knapsack and a few belongings—his hat, scarf, mittens, and an extra pair of socks. What he couldn’t take, he hid in Sunny’s cubby along with a brief note saying goodbye and that he’d write to him when he could. Then he slipped down to the grotto and retrieved the coins he’d hidden. There was a single stick of fragrant incense left