Let it Snow!

❄Six❄

"Nora!" The old woman rushed toward her the moment the tinkle of a small bell hanging above the door of the shop announced her presence. "When did you arrive? Why didn't you call me?" she asked, her wrinkled hands feeling too warm against Nora's cheeks as she pulled her in for a kiss.

"I don't know, Clelia," she said, feeling silly about it now that her godmother asked, following her further inside the bookshop.

Since her grandmother had passed away, Nora didn't talk to anyone from here, from the stage of her life tied to this town. Clelia was her godmother, but she had always felt like a distant aunt, or better, just one of her grandma's many friends. Their family had never been precisely close-knit. Nora wondered if the reason why Clelia had been so distant was her father marrying Mother after the death of his first wife... She could tell that Clelia did not like her.

Apparently, things had changed, and her godmother thought it was her duty to look out for Nora now, to be more present in her life.

"Goodness, I haven't seen you in years. Let me take a look at you, girl," the old woman said, taking Nora by her hand, twirling her around. "You won't believe it, but I called your stepmother a couple of months ago, and she told me that you were considering coming to live here..."

The soft tinkle announcing a customer disturbed Clelia's chattering. Nora retreated to the back of the shop where there was a sofa hidden in the midst of tall bookcases, even as Clelia, looking at her apologetically, left her alone and went to deal with the customers.

Nora took her coat off; the shop felt too warm after her walk in the cold. Spellbound by the quantity of books surrounding her, she took her glasses from her bag and put them on, then chose one and settled into the corner of the red sofa. The voices of her godmother and her customers morphed into a distant drone as she read through the first pages of The Little Prince, smiling as she realized how well she remembered the story.

She did not look up until she felt a pair of curious eyes piercing through her. A little boy who could not be older than five was observing her curiously from behind one of the bookcases.

Clelia was still busy with her customer, so Nora smiled at the boy, waving at him, then patting the place on the sofa next to her. He walked over bravely, sat down silently, then looked at the drawings in her book. His green-grey eyes, serious and wise for a boy his age, but mainly his blond curls and the tranquil, regal demeanour, made him look like the Little Prince. He even wore a long, moss green coat.

"You know, you only need a sword, and you'll look like him," Nora told him, smiling, leafing through the book to find the picture of the Little Prince. "Do you know this story?"

The boy, grinning at the likeness, shook his head as he pulled his yellow gloves off. "But I can use a sword, Daddy taught me," he announced proudly. "Will you read it to me? My name's Daniel."

"Nice to meet you, Prince Daniel. I'm Nora. I'd love to read the story to you, but I bet we won't get further than a few pages before they'll come looking for you."

He shook his head again. "I'm staying with Clelia this morning. Read, please?"

There was nothing to argue about then, so Nora leafed back to the beginning and started to read, while the boy took his coat off and listened intently, his eyes filling with joy and wonder.

"Here you are," Clelia's voice reached them just as Nora finished reading the first chapter.

"I've met your friend Daniel, Clelia," Nora said, standing up.

"And have you noticed how very clever he is? He's only five, but he can read quite well. I helped him to learn myself. Let me just have a word with Nora, I'll be right back, Daniel." Clelia turned to her ward, who was still absorbed in the story, while Nora put her coat on and slipped her glasses back into her bag.

"Will you read to me again soon, please, Nora?" the boy asked, lifting his green orbs to her, his finger marking a place on the page.

"I hope so," Nora said, looking at Clelia for what she was supposed to say. She had no idea who the boy belonged to, how he was connected to her godmother. "The next time we meet here, how about that?" she proposed, and he nodded contentedly, his eyes dropping back to the book.

"He is from the castle," Clelia said vaguely in lieu of an explanation, walking with Nora to the front of the shop. "Have you already found a job?"

Nora shook her head, not quite following her godmother's train of thought.

"Let me make you an offer then. After they opened the new hotel, I organised a reading group for children here, a few hours on weekends' afternoons, and on Wednesdays, too, during school holidays. I had several girls to read and play with the children-- some of the locals', but the majority of the tourists', the hotel and the spa guests', who like to enjoy a couple of childless hours during their holidays. You wouldn't believe how popular we got! But most girls just get bored after a while and leave, and I, with the Christmas market starting this weekend, can't do it alone any longer. Would you be interested? At least until you find a proper job? You could start on Saturday."

"Yes, of course," Nora agreed without hesitation.

"Great. Thanks, girl. I'll pay you..."

"We'll talk about that later," Nora interrupted her. "I meant to ask you if you would walk to the cemetery with me, but I see you are too busy this morning."

"Yes... I can't leave the shop now, but we need to talk. Why don't you pass by later and we'll have lunch together?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you in a couple of hours then."

The old woman pulled Nora in a quick embrace before she let her walk outside.

It was snowing thickly now; millions of tiny white specks swirled through the air before settling on the ground. Nora pulled her hood up and walked around the square curiously, noticing a few changes done in her absence before she stopped at the florist. She realised that she forgot to thank Clelia for looking after the cottage as she paid for a bunch of carnations and a candle.

On exiting the shop, she directed her steps towards the small, simple, medieval church, surrounded by the cemetery. Lighting the candle and organising the flowers into a glass vase did not take her long and she was glad-- she felt her grandmother's presence in the cottage so much better than here, in this cold, dismal place.

Nora returned to the square then, noticing that there were more than enough shops selling clothes should she need some. But before she bought anything, she would go through her luggage and the wardrobes in the cottage, she decided.

The only, tiny grocery store was her next stop. Today she would do with whatever it offered, but once she settled properly, she should do her weekly shopping in the three kilometers distant and much bigger town rather than here, just like her grandmother used to do.

Nora realised that she had stuffed her shopping basket with more cleaning products than food as she transferred it into a bag after she had paid for it, observing with surprise the large bunch of carrots she had just bought. She did not particularly like carrots. And she definitely did not plan to make them a side dish to the frozen pizza she bought for tonight. Oh well...

Shrugging, she walked into the snowfall again and made her way towards the parking lot, resolving to leave the bags inside Albert before joining Clelia for lunch.