Little Sparrow

Chapter Sixteen

I barely slept for three days.

Every time I tried to sleep, the images from my foster family along with Sally's actions plague me and I found myself not even wanting to close my eyes. I would lay in bed and stare up at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of movement coming through the gaps in the window and the high-pitched whistle of the wind. Too many bad memories had been dredged up by Sally's actions, but I still could not find myself feeling happy that she had been locked up for however long Matron decided.

Despite what she did and the anguish she had caused me by bringing everything my foster family did back to the forefront of my mind, no one deserved to be locked up like that. It had been the worst experience of my life when I was younger, and I hated to imagine how bad it would be. She might have crossed the line by attacking me, but even that did not warrant the type of punishment Matron had decided would be fair.

The bruises on my neck became proof of what had happened, and they were still visible three days later when Sally was finally allowed out. She appeared beside Matron not long after we had started our morning chores, pale with dark rings around her eyes with soot and ash clinging to her entire body. She kept her head down, didn't say anything and just grabbed a cloth to start dusting. I exchanged looks with Charity but did not say anything.

Charity was not all that pleased that I did not think locking Sally up was the best way to handle the situation. She supported the idea of it being the best punishment for her after what she did and could not understand why I would not support it. I could not bring myself to tell her that it was not a form of punishment in my eyes. My foster family may have used it as a form of punishment, but that was just the excuse they used to get away with it. It's not a form of punishment.

"Miss Hayworth, you have visitors," Matron said when she passed me, not even stopping. We were all hold in the dining room cleaning that I did not even hear someone knocking at the door. My mind must have been elsewhere.

"Good luck," Charity muttered.

I handed her my scrubbing brush and brushed my hands over my dress to try and remove the grime, but I had days' worth of dust on it that I hadn't tried to remove so I looked a mess. My hands shook a little and I clenched into a fist at my side to try and keep them from showing. Since Sally attacked me, I hoped I wouldn't be asking the Atkinsons for at least a week, long enough for the bruises to fade but they were still rather obvious. Those were questions I would rather not answer.

Matron had already disappeared up to her office without even waiting for me and I found myself dragging my feet a little more than usual. I climbed the stairs and ran a light hand up the bannister as I did do, feeling the grooves of the wood on my palm. A low hum of conversation comes from Matron's office, but I do not understand what they are saying. I paused outside the door and took a breath, flexing my hands by my side before knocking.

"Enter," Matron said from within. I twisted the door handle and opened the door. "Ah, Lizzie. Come in."

"Good morning, Lizzie," Mrs Atkinson said. Her eyes darted to the bruises on my neck. "What on earth happened?"

"There was an altercation between Lizzie and one of the other girls. One of the other girls started the altercation, and she has been punished for it. From what I can tell, Lizzie did not do anything either before or during the altercation itself."

Mrs Atkinson made a noise that I couldn't quite decipher. "Well, we were wondering if you would like to spend the afternoon with us. William would like to see you again, in fact, he's rather insistent on it."

"Lizzie, the decision is yours," Matron said.

Matron looked at me as though expecting me to say no and part of me wanted to. After everything that had happened with Sally, I did not feel like I could put myself out there again. All of this had been caused because I had agreed to go with the Atkinsons, and I knew that the back and forth would only make things worse regardless of the punishment Sally had received. Still, I could not let what Sally did stop me from at least trying to break away from what my foster family did.