Little Sparrow

Chapter Eleven

I'm not very good at baking.

Despite William trying his best to help me out and talking me through every step of the process, I somehow managed to mess it up. His cake batter looked smooth and ready to go into the over but mine had a distinct lumpiness to it that he had to fix. He did not seem too bothered about it and in fact, found the whole thing to rather amusing, I felt a tad embarrassed that I had somehow failed at following instructions.

By the time my mixture had been fixed and both of our cakes were in the oven, I was covered in flour. Even with the apron, which offered a little bit of protection, I still had flour on my dress and somehow had it in my hair, which was a feat considering how short it was. Matron had made me promise to look after my Sunday best since it was the only thing I owned that she thought appropriate to be seen in public. She would kill me when she saw the state I was in.

"You two go, we'll clean this up," Mrs Langdon said, waving a cloth towards William and me.

"Are you sure? We can help clean up," William suggested.

"This kitchen ain't big enough. Go on, go and find somethin' else to do and leave this to us. You know when your cakes will be ready."

"Alright, fine." He paused. "Come on, Lizzie, I'm sure we can find something else to do."

William nudged his head towards the door and removed his apron, draping it over the back of a chair. I followed him, trying to brush the flour off my dress as we walked out the door and back into the dark corridor outside. Even with daylight well and truly visible, the hall still seemed really dark and I could hear the light drum of rain on the windows that overlooked the hall.

I followed him back up the stairs and into the main hall where he led me into the living room and threw himself down on the sofa. William draped one leg on the chair and rested the other on the floor, huffing loudly. Rain continued to lash against the windows, creating a loud drumming sound that echoed through the living room. I stood in the doorway, not feeling all that comfortable with copying his actions or even sitting down.

Back in the kitchen, I had been able to stand being around William because there were other people around. Mrs Langdon and Sheila offered an extra layer of protection from anything he might have tried to do. In the living room, there was no one else around except us and I did not want to get too comfortable if his nice demeanour suddenly changed and I had to find a quick escape route. I could do that better if I was standing.

Even if he had no plans to do anything, I did not trust him. I had learnt that a person's behaviour could change very fast, Sally had proved that much the previous day when she went from being nice to me to yelling at Charity for defending me. William might have seemed nice in the kitchen, helpful in fact, but that could change so fast and I did not want to be on the receiving end of that when it happened. Charity would tell me that I was being over-dramatic, but she did not understand it the way she thought she did.

"I have no idea what we can do now," William said after a little while. "Usually I help clean up afterwards."

I remained silent.

"Why don't we just do what Mother said and get to know each other? It's better than sitting around in silence and they haven't told me all that much about you."

"Alright," I mumbled.

"Great. Come and sit down, I can't keep craning my neck to talk to you."

He laughed and I perched on the edge of the seat opposite, resting my feet on the ground so I could stand up quickly if I needed to. William sits up, sitting at an angle so he can face me. He crossed one leg over the other and started shaking his leg a little, looking like a restless toddler. I did not feel like I wanted to get to know him, but I did not have much of a choice. If I tried to back out, it would be seen as rude.