Small Things Like These discussion

The girl being locked in the coal shed made no sense to me.
Did the nuns lock her in the shed as a punishment? Or to kill her by letting her freeze to death? But what sense did it make to lock her in the coal shed when you are expecting a coal delivery? Did she know there was to be a coal delivery and had friends lock her in the shed to try to escape when the delivery came?

I just assumed that not everyone in power knew about her being trapped there at the or knew that the coal delivery was coming. The head nun seemed so sure he would do nothing about it so perhaps she didn't even care about the risk of someone finding out. I supposed I didn't think too much about it.

Yes, she is being punished, Magdalene punishments were often brutal (watch the documenaries if you can stomach the detail). As for being found out, the system was so self-sure that being found out, or the odd escape, was not a major event. There was hardly anywhere an escapee could go, local people would probably have returned her. Again, documentaries confirm this, and the insistence of the Christian Orders to this day, that they were providing a valuable service to society, remains solid.

I like this

He showed up earlier than expected for the coal delivery.

Why was it the same girl both times? That is what puzzles me. She was not painted as being so full of spirit that a reader automatically assumes she is the worst-behaving one. (I could believe that of the other one, who dared to beg for rescue.)