The Flight of Gemma Hardy_ A Novel - Margot Livesey [31]
For the rest of the day I was so busy doing Cook’s bidding that I scarcely had a moment to think. Not until I was lying in bed, my bones aching with fatigue, did it occur to me that Mr. Donaldson had come to the village only to teach; when he lost his job he would leave. He and my box would vanish. I really was alone in the world.
chapter nine
Miss Bryant was right. My previous life had had its meagre pleasures. Now, when the other working girls went off to lessons, I was left to scour ovens, scrub pans, grate cheese, and chop onions. Mr. Milne, as he came and went, always greeted me loudly. I stifled the impulse to punch his belly and looked straight past him. Only the pigs, to whom I carried the slops morning and evening, were pleased to see me. I named them after my favourite characters: Anne, Heidi, Pippi, Thumbelina, Katie. While they ate, I leaned over the fence to scratch their rough skin but I couldn’t linger long. Throughout the day, usually when I least expected her, Mrs. Bryant appeared with her axelike smile, ready to find fault and hurry me on to the next task.
Besides the endless work, the other part of my punishment was to spend hours each day surrounded by the fragrance of fried onions and baked puddings. As I ate my bread and water, I reminded myself of the stories I had read in Will’s comics about prisoners who had been forced to eat their shoes, or things found crawling under logs. All these deprivations, however, were trivial compared with my concern for Mr. Donaldson, and the knowledge that I was falling further and further behind in my studies.
On Tuesday afternoon Mrs. Bryant dispatched me to clean the windows in the library. There were six of them, stretching floor to ceiling, the upper panes far out of reach, but I had learned not to question my duties. I was kneeling by the first one, wearily rubbing the glass, when a voice said, “Hello.”
I jumped to my feet, afraid I had been caught in yet another crime, and found myself facing the girl who had interrupted Mr. Waugh. Her pale skin only made her eyes look larger and darker. Several strands of thick brown hair had escaped her Alice band, and a greyish stain marked the bodice of her tunic. When she stepped closer, I saw that she favoured her right leg. “I’m Miriam,” she said, holding out her hand. “You’re Gemma, aren’t you?”
“How did you know?” No one had used my Christian name since I left Yew House.
“You told us the day you arrived. I agree with what you said about the third servant. People shouldn’t be punished for no reason.” She was still offering her hand. Slowly I held out mine. “You’re cold,” she said. “You poor thing.” She began to rub my chilly fingers with her warm ones.
“I’m a working girl,” I said quickly, wanting to fend off any misunderstanding.
“I know.” Her brown eyes didn’t waver. “I’m sorry you have to work so hard. It doesn’t seem fair.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I can’t do gym”—she gestured towards her leg—“so I have library duty. I check to make sure the books are in alphabetical order. It’s just something to keep me busy.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirteen, nearly fourteen. I was ill for a year, and then I did badly on arithmetic. That’s why I’m older than the other girls. How old are you?”
When I said nearly eleven, Miriam nodded and said she thought so. “It would never do to have a working girl in Primary Six. You seem very good at sums.”
So even my being moved up two years—how pleased I had been when Miss Bryant broke that news—was part of her scheme. But Miriam’s smile dulled my dismay. “I am good at sums,” I said, “but in other subjects I’m falling further behind every day. I’ll never catch up.”
“Yes, you will. The holidays are nearly here, and you’ll see, everyone slacks off. I’ll help you. Now we’d better get back to work. Mrs. B. often comes to check on me. She knows I’m easily distracted.”
I wanted to ask more questions: Why would she be at Claypoole in the holidays? Would she really help me? But she limped away to the far corner of the room and set to work as if alone; I followed her