Blitz Children

Chapter two

Elizabeth's eyes remain fixed upon the horizon, watching the sun fall into the horizon, the last breath of day before the darkness fell. A small blanket is wrapped around her narrow shoulders. According to one of the doctors, the blanket should help cure whatever shock she was feeling from the event. How a blanket could cure shock she did not know but it sure was keeping her warm.

Edward sits on the other side of the car, his eyes fixed upon Elizabeth's frame as he pulls his own blanket tighter around him. The temperature had dropped since this afternoon, the one brightly shining sun now blocked over by dark clouds of smoke.

Listening to the noise that's erupting outside the car, Elizabeth turns her head to watch as Margret argues with a petit woman who insists that Edward be sent to a different family than Lizzie.

A logical idea to the woman who believes that as he is not blood-related. He does not need to be with us. To the children though, it is like losing another part of their family. That's what Edward was not. He was family. He had being since the moment he moved into the house next door.

The woman's thin lips curve into a scowl, her dark brown eyes narrowing on Elizabeth's when she catches her watching them. A wave of panic washes over Elizabeth, her head quickly darting away from the woman and back toward the dim interior of the car. Dark brown leather seats stick to her hot skin, their rough exteriors neither comfortable nor relaxing to the children within the back. Small newspapers sit in two pockets that remain on the back of the chairs. Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder if they contained crosswords. She loved to sit and do them when she was stressed. It reminded her of her father, you see. It was their thing, sitting under the moonlight with a crossword, their laughter, and a nice hot cup of cocoa.

As the argument outside grows louder once again, Elizabeth finds her heavy eyelids slowly flickering closed, exhaustion from the past few hours finally kicking in. No. She could not sleep. She had to stay awake. Shaking her head, Elizabeth forces her eyes back open before sitting up straighter.

"Just go to sleep Lizzie," whispers Edward, shuffling across the chair towards her and tucking the small blanket that hung around her shoulders tighter around her body until she's toasty warm. Elizabeth simply shakes her head before wrapping her arms tightly around her body. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was her mother, the fear on her face every time the siren went off. But this time, she wasn't scared. She was...relieved. Perhaps that they'd managed to survive so long or perhaps because she knew it was all over. She could finally live in peace.

"I can't Eddie," she mumbles against the blanket, looking over at him and noticing the bags that have formed under his eyes from the lack of sleep he's gotten. Shuffling across towards him, the girl wraps her arms around his body before resting her head gently on his shoulder. "Every time I close my eyes I can see her and then when I open them and she's not here, I..." whatever she was about to say trails off as she takes a deep breath, closing her eyes momentarily before opening them wide again. She would not say it. If she said it then that would mean admitting it was true.

"I know." Edward carefully strokes the top of her head soothingly, his gentle touch calming as Elizabeth slowly finds her eyelids dropping again. She couldn't remember the last time she'd got a good night's sleep. All she could remember was being woken in the middle of the night by the sound of distant sirens. Sleep was all she wished for right now. It was the one thought occupying her mind. Sighing, Elizabeth gives in to the exhaustion, her mind wandering into a deep sleep. One that she could only wish would last forever.

It isn't until the car comes to a halt that she awakens again, her frame flying forwards into the chair in front of her. The soft fabric collides with her head, a sudden flurry of pain washing through her skull. One thing to remember, do not fall asleep in a car. It brings more trouble than it's worth.