Anyway, it was three days before Christmas and his mother had left him a note on his desk:

SANBORN HOUSE

December, 1926

Three Days before Christmas

Dear Colin,

Your father and I are going to a party. Hannah has made dinner for you and Lizzie. Swedish meatballs. Your favorite. We might be late. You know how the Bennetts like to celebrate holidays. Tree trimming. Carolers. I hear there may be a five-piece quartet (I guess that would be a quintet) and a choir. And probably sticky toffee pudding. For sure, I’ll bring you both chocolates, I promise.

Please see that Lizzie doesn’t stay up too late. And if you would, would you read her a book?

Extra Kisses,
Mama

Colin had done exactly what his mother had wished. He’d even read a chapter of Doctor Dolittle’s Caravan to Lizzie after she’d put on her pajamas and hopped into bed. Lizzie was eight and they’d had a long day and she fell asleep as he was reading to her. She looked so peaceful. He tucked the covers gently under her chin and stroked the top of her head, the way his mother did to him sometimes, before he went off to school. He put the book back on the shelf, turned the lamp off by her bed, and walked quietly out of the room so as not to wake her.

He went to his room and lay down on his bed meaning to read a bit himself, and without meaning to fell asleep.

There was a light snow falling. He wasn’t sure what had awakened him but when he woke up he saw the snow and that was what had caused him to go outside. He’d never seen snow falling before.

It hardly ever snowed in London. He’d seen snow on the ground before.

His dad had taken him once to Dartmoor, in South Devon but inland and very high up from the sea, to a friend’s manor house that looked more like a castle, and there was snow knee-deep on the ground, soft, lovely for playing in. There’d been a random snowball fight started by a couple of kids on the moor and even his dad had joined in. Gentle throwing, so no one would get hurt. But they’d all ended laughing and rolling in the snow.

It was the snowfall that caused him to go outside. He’d put on his clothes and walked quietly past Lizzie’s room and, carrying his boots, tiptoed three flights down the staircase to the front door. It wasn’t until he was outside that he sat on the stoop to put his boots on.

He was mesmerized by the snow. He thought it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen as it reflected on the street lamps, causing a spray of colors in the air.