The Able Sisters

Chapter 7

The winter months set in within the next few weeks, and the colorful trees and fallen leaves were replaced in a layer of thick, white snow. The temperature dropped, the sky got darker, and glimmering lights began to decorate the trees.

Sable recalled the first day it had snowed. She woke up cold and shivering to herself early one morning. The windows were clouded with frost, and the outside was eerily silent. Mabel awoke moments later and began shouting to her.

"SNOW! SNOW!" she screeched.

Label had rolled over and groaned while Mabel accompanied her sister to the window and they eagerly glanced outside at the beautiful blanket that had been left outside. The sun's rays were only beginning to rise, and the crystallized water reflected brilliant light.

They had spent the day building snowmen and drinking hot cocoa until exhaustion forced them to bed at an early time. The day had been so pleasant at the time, but now, Sable was already sick of the snow. It seemed everyone in her family was.

It was much harder to pick fruit and fish while trudging through piles of snow with cold wind rushing by. None of their coats were that warm, but they didn't have the money to replace it, and so they had to endure.

One morning, Sable was grasping fruit with her bare hands from a tree, clumps of snow falling down beside her while Mabel sat in the snow. Her younger sister was much quieter today, though when Sable asked if something was wrong, Mabel only shook her head and kept her quiet.

Sable was concerned for her sister. She was usually enthusiastic to help, but today, she was only glancing down at the snow and sitting near the tree. Sable finished throwing more cherries into her basket when Mabel began to cry softly.

Sable froze and knelt down next to her sister.

"Mabel, what's wrong?" she asked, staring into her younger sister's eyes.

Tears began to pour down Mabel's cheeks. "M-my hands," she complained, shoving her small blue hands out toward her sister. "Th-they hurt!"

Sable's hands were already freezing, but when she grabbed onto her sister's, they were even more cold. Mabel began to cry harder.

"It hurts!" she screeched. "Th-they're so cold!"

Glancing down at Mabel's hands, Sable could tell they shouldn't have been exposed to the cold so long. She quickly grabbed her pale scarf from around her neck and wrapped it around Mabel's hands.

"Does that help?" Sable asked, beginning to get concerned.

Mabel shook her head. "I-I can't feel them."

Sable frowned. "How long have they been hurting?"

"They're always cold. They hurt a lot today," Mabel explained, sniffing her nose.

"Let's go back and get you by the fire," Sable suggested. She reached down and lifted Mabel up, then grabbed the bucket full of cherries.

Mabel still wept quietly on the walk home, and when Sable finally reached the house, she rushed up to the living room where she had started a fire earlier that morning. Label was sitting on the couch sipping a warm beverage.

As soon as they entered and Mabel's cries began to echo the room, Label glanced up in concern.

"What's wrong with her?" Label asked.

"Her hands hurt," Sable explained. She set Mabel down in front of the fire and untangled the scarf from her sister's small hands.

"Hold them up in front of the fire," Sable instructed. "I'll get you some hot cocoa, okay?"