Page 35 of A Very Roguish Boxing Day
He barked out a laugh.“That’s where you’re wrong.You’ll never have seen it so packed.”
She couldn’t imagine how that would be true but shrugged.“I am all curiosity.”
They exchanged commiserating looks as they passed Pulteney House.Gwen spotted the reservoir up ahead.It didn’t look crowded at all, nor did it look like the water had frozen over.
But she could hear shouts coming from deeper in the park.Not shouts of alarm; these cries bespoke pure joy.
The shouts of children playing in the snow.
Sure enough, as they came around the reservoir, she saw dozens—no, hundreds—of children running across the snowy lawn.Some of them were toddling about and some of them were taller than she was.Many of them were shabbily dressed, in threadbare coats or no coats at all, with patches on their trousers and shoes splitting open, the sight of which made Gwen’s heart squeeze.
But none of them were bemoaning their inadequate attire.Indeed, based on the amount of running taking place, Gwendolyn would have ventured to guess that they were staying warm.
The snow at the edge of the park had been trampled to mud, so the children were venturing deeper into the field.Snowballs were flying in every direction.In fact, one would have hit Gwendolyn square in the face had Tom not reached out and batted it down.
“Sorry, miss…” The hurler of the snowball, a boy of around eight who was wearing a fur cap so ancient it looked like it had a touch of the mange, trailed off, then raised an arm to point.“Blimey, it’s Tommy Talbot!”
Tom waved.“Merry Christmas!”
The children stood rooted to their spots, staring at him in awestruck silence.
Then, from the back of the crowd, a solitary snowball was launched.It flew over the children in front’s heads and smashed into Tom’s chest.
Tension was almost palpable in the air.Tom glanced down at the snowy circle on his coat and back up.His eyes narrowed, and his jaw tightened.
But Gwen couldn’t help but notice that his lip was also twitching.Unable to hold in his grin, he shouted, “Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be?”He bent down and scooped snow into his giant hands.“Watch out, because turnabout’s fair play!”
The children squealed with delight as they scurried to dodge Tom’s snowball, bending low to gather more ammunition.
Tom was immediately pelted with dozens of snowballs, an indignity he appeared to mind not in the slightest.Although he was shouting taunts at the children, he was grinning all the while and scooping up snow and hurling it as quickly as he could.
Gwendolyn was so busy watching the scene that she didn’t notice the snowball hurtling toward her until it was too late.She yelped in surprise as it struck her square in the face.
Tom paused with his arm raised.“You all right, Gwen?”He jogged over.“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drag you into this.”
She laughed, brushing the snow from her glasses.“It’s quite all right.I suppose I need to return fire.”
And so, she joined in the ruckus.Two little girls giggled as they hurled snowballs at her, and Gwen laughed as she tossed one back.Her mittens grew soaked and her fingers numb, but she was having so much fun, she didn’t mind.
Midway through the fight, Gwen noticed a man in a brown coat standing on the graveled path behind them.He didn’t join the melee, nor did he seem to be interacting with any of the children.
Hairs rose on the back of her neck.Something about him felt off.There were some adults who had accompanied their children to the park, but those who were not participating in the snowball fight wore soft smiles, delighting in the happiness of the children.But this man’s face remained stony.
Was it her imagination, or was he staring ather?
She thought about mentioning it to Tom, but when she glanced his way, a swarm of children tackled him into a snowbank and he was busy shouting protestations and vowing that his revenge would be terrible.It would have been menacing if not for the lopsided grin on his face.
When Gwen glanced up, the man in the brown coat was gone.She shook herself.It was probably all in her head.
Eventually, the pack of children trod the snow in this part of the park to nothingness, too.Tom jogged over to her, gesturing to a woman with a pushcart standing back by the reservoir.“Fancy a warm-up?”he asked.
It struck Gwendolyn that her fingers were all but frozen in her mittens.“I would.”
He led her toward the woman with the cart.As they drew closer, she noticed a large copper urn on top.It had its own little brazier burning with hot coals to keep its contents warm.
Tom nudged her with his elbow.“Ever had salop before?”
Gwen squinted.“Sal… what?”
