THE MISER AND THE ORPHAN- A Christmas Carol Story

CHAPTER 2: STRANGE HAPPENINGS

"Rag bone! Rag bone! Any old iron or rag!" We heard the continuous noise from outside of the rag and bone man outside combined with people passing by, laughing, conversing, etcetera.

"Every third day, punctual at ten minutes past seven for the past 199 days. With a seven day hiatus July 4th through the 11th, when no doubt, he and his horse were in Margate or somewhere atrocious."

I heard Scrooge mutter, and I kept on sewing. My stomach growled. I knew I hadn't eaten since I had to get going early. Yet I continued on an empty stomach, knowing my employer would want me to stay put and work.

"Two. Oh, no ink. Three calls, fifteen steps of the horse, five turns of the wheel. I need a pencil." He continued.

"Chestnuts! Roasting chestnuts!" A new voice called out.

"Ooh,, that would sound good right about now." I said to myself. "Hope I have enough for lunch."

"Oh, what? A new voice?" Scrooge griped.

"And what's wrong with that, sir? They're only promoting their business outside." I couldn't' help but roll my eyes.

"Four calls, 21 steps of the hoof, nine turns of the wheels. Two from the chestnut woman. Oh, damn it," he ignored my comment and kept counting, much to my annoyance.

"What I would give if you just let them be." I muttered.

"Five calls. 27 steps of the horse, 11 turns of the wheel. Three from Chestnut Woman." He continued muttering. "Five and 27...eleven...rag and bone. Now please pass by. Both of you please pass by."

They continued all through the morning and the day. Eventually, Scrooge begrudgingly let me take a break to get at least two bags full of chestnuts by lunchtime.

I was about to return to work, when the headmaster and headmistress of my orphanage came to me with a sack full of my belongings. They both had told me that the orphanage was closing down Christmas Day, and by the afternoon, I would still be an orphan and would have nowhere to go. They felt awfully sorry, and wished me a Merry Christmas. I wished them a Merry Christmas and went on my way.

I came back to work in a sour and desolate mood, barely acknowledging Scrooge's time management lecture, and continued sewing after I ate half a bag of chestnuts. The other bag was in my sack of belongings.

"Merry Christmas, indeed." I sighed.

"What's the matter, Liza? You seem downtrodden." Mr. Cratchit came over to my work area.

"I have nowhere to go to after I leave work. My orphanage is closing down Christmas Day in the afternoon." I told him.

"Oh, Liza. That's awful, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked.

"A family would be nice. That way, I'd have somewhere permanent to stay. The last foster family I went to was negligent and abusive, as you know. So nothing like that." I said. "We'd better get back to work before Mr. Scrooge catches us not working."

So we continued working.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Three more hours of him muttering numbers, and I silently counted the mere minutes until I was free to go from him...somewhere. Where, I didn't know. I couldn't possibly go to Mr. Catchit's house,  I would just be another mouth to feed, and I couldn't do that to them. I loved the Cratchits, especially Mrs. Cratchit and their children Belinda and Tiny Tim.

By then I had finished a few of Scrooge's new vests, and a couple of dresses. I was down to my very last dress to sew. I still had enough yarn to finish and I was ahead of time, as usual.