We are in chapter 9 of January now. This is the chapter where things get better at

low-ed. Firstly, it's spring, so the ground and the kids' feet thaw. Also, the kids

start to get more time to play and more food. But more food and more free time is

because typhus is running through the school like a plague, killing around one

third of its inmates and keeping the teachers busy as nurses. There is quite

literally more food for each mouth because there are fewer mouths. Also,

Brockelhurst won't come near the school for fear of getting sick, so no one is

checking if the girls get an extra piece of bread. Jane is thriving, healthy,

making friends, planting a small garden herself, learning, as funerals with

little caskets happen in the background of her life. It is on a particularly

beautiful day that Jane thinks to herself. The world is pleasant and it would be

dreary to be called from it and have to go who knows where. Suddenly it occurs

to her. Death is bad and it is then with a pang that Jane realizes, Helen

Burns, the first friend she had at Load, the girl who she admired so much is

dying. And that sucks. And Jane realizes that it doesn't just suck for her, it

isn't just awful because she'll miss Helen. It sucks for Helen. Jane, late at

night, sneaks by the typhus room where most of the girls are dying and goes to

Miss Temple's room where Helen is dying separately from tuberculosis. Miss

Temple is off taking care of another dying child and so Helen is alone. Jane

crawls into bed with Helen. It is a death scene of tremendous care. Jane, your

little feet are bare. Lie down and cover yourself with my quilt. Jane asks if

heaven is real and Helen tells Jane. There is nothing to grieve about. We

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