Extract from "Treasures of the Snow"

Dani lay in the cart on a sack stretched across a soft mattress of hay, and gazed up at the sky, where tiny white woolly clouds floated like sleepy lambs in a blue meadow. He would have liked to look over the sides of the cart, but this was impossible, for he could not sit up; so he looked up at the sky while Annette described the scenery and events of their journey. Dani’s leg ached badly and when the cart jolted he squealed, but Annette soothed him with her talk, and it was nice being so important. “We are at the top of the village now, Dani,” she said, “just passing the church, and there is Emil, the dustman’s son, driving the cows out of the churchyard. Some naughty person left the gate open.” “Are the cows trying to go to into church?” enquired Dani. “No,” replied Annette. “They were trying to jump over the wall but it was too high; they were jumping over the gravestone instead. Here we are at the infant school, Dani, and there is the mistress scrubbing her step. I suppose it is her cleaning day and she has given all the children a holiday. I wish the master had cleaning days. Oh! Here is the mistress coming towards the cart. She has seen us , and I expect she wants to know how you are, and here come Madame Pilet and Madam Lenoir. They have seen us too. They were washing their clothes in the fountain. Back to Her Life Back to Home Page Back to Her Books