CHAPTER 2 — WHEN THE WINTER CLOSED ITS HAND

The snow did not stop.

For six days, Millstone Valley remained trapped.

The road to the nearest town vanished beneath ice and snow.

The supply wagon never arrived.

Coal became scarce.

Firewood became expensive.

And food disappeared from the shelves of the general store.

But the greatest problem was not food.

It was clothing.

The poorest families had entered winter with coats that were already too thin.

Children went outside wearing sweaters with holes in the elbows.

Some had shoes so worn that snow entered through the soles.

One little boy named Tommy wrapped a flour sack around his shoulders whenever he walked outside.

His mother tried to hide her tears.

“We’ll be all right,” she told him.

But she knew they wouldn’t be.

That afternoon, Mary walked through the snow carrying a large bundle.

She knocked on the door of the Wilson family.

When the mother opened it, Mary handed her a thick quilt.

“Where did you get this?”

Mary smiled.

“From things people didn’t want anymore.”

Inside the quilt were dozens of tiny pieces of cloth.

Blue.

Brown.

Red.

Green.

Some were so old that they looked almost colorless.

But stitched together, they formed something strong and warm.

The next morning, Mary returned with three coats.

Then four pairs of children’s trousers.

Then mittens.

Then blankets.

Soon people began noticing something strange.

Every child who visited Mary’s house left wearing something warmer than what they had arrived in.

The same neighbors who had once laughed at her began whispering.

“Where does she keep all this?”

Mary simply pointed toward her boxes.

But she still wasn’t finished.

Because she knew the winter had only begun.