She smiled weakly at Oskar, attempting to shove the memories back into the recesses of her mind where they belonged.
They set off again and as they reached the crest of a hill, something caught Lily’s eye—a vibrant burst of color against the pristine white canvas of the hillside. Drawing closer, she realized it was a gaggle of children from the village they’d left, busy sledding down the steep slope.
“Look at them,” she whispered, her voice filled with a hint of longing. “They seem so carefree.”
“Bloody idiotic if ye ask me,” Oskar replied. “They could break a leg.”
“Oh, come on! Didn’t you do anything like that when you were a kid?”
“No. I didnae.” His voice was flat, distant, and Lily got the impression that it wasn’t something he wished to discuss.
“Hey, mister!”
Lily turned to see a boy and girl coming up the slope towards them. Their cheeks were red from the cold and both were wrapped in flimsy sack-like clothing. This didn’t seem to bother them at all though and their eyes sparkled with mischief.
Oskar frowned. “Ah, it’s the snowball thrower.”
“I’m sorry?”
“We met in the village earlier.” He lifted his chin towards the boy. “Ye need to improve yer aim, lad.”
The boy, a lad of around ten with a thick shock of blond hair, looked a little sheepish. “Aye. Sorry, mister.” Then he brightened. “Do ye want a go?” He indicated the sled he was dragging behind him. It was little more than a large piece of board with a rope handle on the front.
“I most certainly dinna want a go—” Oskar began.
“Yes, we’d love to,” Lily cut him off. She was suddenly filled with a wild kind of recklessness. The last few days had been fraught with so much fear and tension that she suddenly needed to let go, if only for a short time.
The boy’s face lit up, and he handed Lily the rope handle. “Hold on tight, miss!”
Lily sat on the sled and gripped the handle firmly as the boy positioned himself behind her. With a gleeful shout, he pushed her off, and she was off down the hill in an exhilarating rush. The wind hissed past her ears, drowning out all other sounds as she flew through the winter air.
A delighted laugh escaped her lips as she felt the sled gliding effortlessly over the snow and for those fleeting moments, she was transported back to her childhood, when worries and responsibilities were distant fantasies.
As the sled reached the bottom of the hill, she skidded to a stop. The other children were laughing and pointing, and Lily felt an exhilarating rush pulsing through her veins.
“That was a good one, miss!” a girl called, grinning widely.
“Not bad, was it?” Lily agreed. “I’d forgotten how much fun this is!”
She climbed to her feet to see Oskar standing at the top of the hill, glowering down at her.
“Oops,” she said to the group of children. “I think I’m in trouble.”
She grabbed the rope handle of the sled and began dragging it back up the slope, the children rushing ahead on either side. By the time she reached the top, they had gathered around Oskar, firing questions at him.
“Is that a real sword?”
“Can I have a look?”
“My da says I can start training with a sword next year.”
“Ye are a liar, Brian, yer da said no such thing!”
“He did so!”
“Are ye a soldier, mister?”
“How many people have ye killed?”
