The leaves fell to the frosty ground one by one and blew gently away in the icy wind. Winter left Poplar with a sheet of ice on the roads and pavements and mothers clutching their children's hands as they gingerly crossed the roads.
Sister Julienne stood just around the corner from the school ready for Timothy to meet her after he finished for the day. Shelagh was home looking after a poorly Angela so she'd offered to step in and help. Just down the road from her stood a group of teenage boys standing in the snow, holding out their hands and shouting "Rock, paper, scissors" and then the smallest boy hung in head and turn his back on the boys to face the road. She then saw the determination in his eyes and his small legs attempt to run across the road to the other side. But in the middle of the road he lost his balance on the ice and slipped in a heap. Sister Julienne saw the other boys run in different directions, more than likely to avoid the consequences should the police find them. So she carefully made her way over to the young boy crying and clutching his leg to his chest.
After accessing the boy's graze and leg, she decided the best thing would be to leave him where he was and find Doctor Turner with the car to go back to the surgery. She stood up ready to leave but caught a glimpse in the quickly falling snow of a moving vehicle, and the distant memory of recognition. Realizing the vehicle wasn't slowing down, she quickly made to move the young boy to the safety of the path. His body was heavy as he reluctantly wanted to move on the ice again but unaware of the danger. Once she had successfully moved him to the side of the road, she turned back to pick up her nursing bag in the middle of the road thinking she had time to grab it.
But she caught her feet in her habit as she bent down, and then it hit her.
She fell down, instantly gone by the collision.
The driver eventually cut the engine but sat still for several minutes. He hadn't seen her, her slight frame and light clothing made her blend into the heavy snow. His mind on the phone call he had received from Nurse Franklin to help assist them, he didn't see her until he heard her scream. He reached for his door and swung it open, his body on automatic as his mind raced.
Then he saw the body as the crowd around her parted.
Had he...? Was it...? The man shakily made his way over to the Sister lying on the floor, her limbs in opposite angles and blood stains on her thick winter clothing. The sweaty, limp hair on his forehead flopped over her face as he lent over her in agony. How could he have done such a thing? Her body now becoming stiff and lifeless, that beautiful, motherly smile he wished to see when she saw any one of his family, never to be seen again.