SNOWBIRD IS A STORY OF LOVE, HATE AND
JEALOUSY,FUELLED BY DEEP ROOTED SOCIAL
DIVISIONS IN EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY
STAFFORDSHIRE. IT IS THE STORY OF A GROWING
LOVE BETWEEN TWO ADOLESCENTS FOLLOWING A
CHANCE MEETING, HAPPILY IGNORANT OF THE
FIRMLY LAID FOUNDATIONS OF CLASS STRUCTURE
THEY ARE TRAMPLING ON. A COALMINER'S SON
AND THE COLLIERY OWNER'S DAUGHTER FIND A
SECRET HAVEN IN COUNTRYSIDE NEAR LICHFIELD,
UNTIL A TRAGIC ACCIDENT PARTS THEM FOR TEN
YEARS.
DANNY WILSON RETURNS TO LICHFIELD TO
ANNOUNCE HIS ENGAGEMENT, CHARLOTTE
FITZHARDING RETURNS FOLLOWING THE DEATH
OF HER AUNT, TO WHOM SHE WAS BANISHED. A
DECADE MAY NOT HAVE CHANGED THEIR FEELINGS
TOWARDS EACH OTHER, BUT NEITHER HAS IT
COOLED THE CAULDRON OF FURY THAT IS ABOUT
TO EXPLODE.
GERALD FITZHARDING HAS HIS SIGHTS SET ON AN
INHERITANCE, BUT HE IS THWARTED AND
THROUGH HIS INCREASING INSANITY HE THINKS
HE KNOWS WHERE RESPONSIBILITY LIES.
FOR CHARLOTTE AND DANNY, TROUBLE RETURNS
WITH A VENGEANCE.
"She was striding out now, away from the city confines
towards a spot in the normally lush , sweeping countryside
which lay between Lichfield and Burntwood. Today though,
freshly fallen snow crunched softly beneath her sturdy
leather boots. The cold air of the morning was warmed only
slightly by the winter sun which showed no sign of
penetrating the two inch deep white carpet which covered
the lanes and fields.
The briskness of her walk warming her more than the sun’s
milky rays, she was glad to be free for a while, of the
household she’d just left. A beautiful house, but from
within whose walls emanated a false morality, exuded an
artificial righteousness and decency; that in its very
existence created a parody of the elegance and grace it
sought to exemplify.
But for now she was free, and within ten long minutes of
someone who was beginning to shine like a halo in her
world. They would say, no doubting, that at fifteen years old
she was too young to speak of love.That two weeks in the
lives of two young people was no more than a speck before
their eyes. But though she’d never experienced it before, she
knew it with all her heart, she felt it with every step she made,
with every inhalation of the crisp air she breathed. It was
genuine, and yet as magical as the snow clad fields. And he
felt the same, she knew it.
She knew what he’d said that day, - that he’d called her
Snowbird, but she hadn’t wanted to embarrass him.
It was sweet, what he’d said.
But the clouds on their horizon were as dark and thick as
those that had brought all the snow. They were just two
young people from two different backgrounds, from two
families that would never allow themselves to bridge a gulf
for their children’s’ sake. She might be just a child, as her
father kept reminding her, but she knew that much.
And the new chauffeur, Fairbrother, it was plainly obvious
why he’d been employed. He might be as thick as a board
and she might outsmart him once, but she couldn’t do
so forever. It was simply luck that had sent him away with
father today, but restriction would follow, she didn’t doubt it
one little bit.
And what of Danny’s family ? she knew nothing of their way
of life, only what she’d been told. In their company her
confidence would melt like snow in the sun. She
had to face it, they both did, there was only one place they
could meet, for a while before authority came crushing down
on them like a roof fall in her father’s mine. The place she
was headed for now. It was their special place, where
nobody existed but themselves and which lay covered in a
cold but snow white beauty.
Snowbird.
She liked that. She loved it.
She saw him from a distance, a solitary figure, something like
an elf from where she was, hands in his pockets, with an old
cloth cap on his head from where his dark curly
hair wrapped itself around its sides. She wondered how long
he’d been there and whether the sight of her brought warmth
to his veins the way it had when she’d spotted him..."
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