"Exactly what is it that you think you are doing?" Abigail froze. She had been scrubbing the floors as the lady of the house had instructed her to do but the youngest daughter seemed to have a problem with this.
Abigail had learned long ago not to explain anything. She was to listen only and never speak. Absolutely never speak. She remained perfectly still on all fours, waiting, but nothing happened and just as she was about to resume her work a shrill voice broke the silence.
"Do you see mother! She is just here in the middle of the floor like the dog she is. I came in and this is what she was doing. She is so lazy. Why do we still have her here?"
"Now, now Stephanie, servants are very expensive and Abigail has been with us for a long time."
A long time is right. Abigail was now 18, well she would be eighteen in three days, and she came to work for these people at the ripe old age of three, after her parents and siblings died at sea. She grew up in this house of pain and torture and it was the only thing she knew. This behavior was her norm and she handled it as best as she could.
"Stop lying Stephanie. You saw me watching her work and you stopped her and quietly went for mother. You are my sister twit."
David thumped his younger sister on the forehead hard.
"Owe! Mother!"
"Stop being jealous as if you and I could be together. It is disgusting."
"I am not disgusting. This cretin that you pine for is."
"That is only because you don't allow her to clean herself. I still remember her beauty."
"Mother! Do you hear this?! You need to get her out of here now."
"Calm down Stephanie. And David I have warned you about staring at her as she works."
"I just want to be with her once Mother. I am not saying that I want to marry her. But I remember how beautiful her mother was and she was beginning to look just like her. I am sure…"
"Stop this right now David! I will not have… you will not.."
David rolled his eyes. "Fine mother fine, I always forget where Stephanie gets her jealousy from." David left his mother spluttering and his sister fuming.
Jennifer looked down at the still motionless Abigail and yelled at her at the top of her lungs. "Finish this floor now you stinking thing and get to your room. No dinner for you tonight since you can only destroy the peace in this house!"
It all came out in a rush so Jennifer was breathing hard as she pulled her youngest daughter from the room.
As soon as she had been given permission she started scrubbing again. When she was called stinking and told to get to her room she knew this meant she had to hurry and not be seen again so she redoubled her efforts. She finished the remainder of the floor in less than forty-five minutes, put everything away, and was in her room all in a little less than an hour.
Her room may not have been seen as a room to many but it was the only room she had ever known. It was actually outside the house, well more accurately it was under the house. It was a root cellar that had been started and never finished. They still kept roots down there. As a matter of fact it may have been more accurate just to call it a root cellar since Abigail could only claim one corner of it.
Her corner comprised of dirt floor, and walls, and two dirty blankets hung to separate her corner from the rest of the room. She didn't have any other clothes, not to wear in the house. She just wore the same thing over and over again until Jennifer, the lady of the house, noticed a tare. Then Abigail would be kicked and beaten for ruining her clothes and a new set, well actually a previously mended set would be returned to her from goodness knew where.
She had no personal belongings and she had no true memories of her real family. She only knew what she heard around the house and she never found a way to trust anyone here so she believed she knew nothing of them.
The truth was she was quite a wealthy girl. But she would never see that wealth. You see her father and Jennifer's husband, Chris, were business partners and Abigail's mother was an heiress. So when they went missing, now presumed dead, everything went to Abigail as the last family member.
Oh. But she did have an aunt, her father's sister, but she was always sick and asked Jennifer and Chris to care for Abigail. Her aunt visited her often, until she died when Abigail was five. And that was when things went down hill.
Jennifer did not want to care for a child that looked like the woman that her husband had been pining over for their entire marriage, but they couldn't just put her out because the money went where she went. So they decided to start having her follow servants around. By the time she was seven she could cook most dishes and she made up some pretty good ones on her own. She could clean the entire house and she knew a lot of gardening and landscaping techniques.
Abigail had not understood what pleasing her "family" would mean for her. All the servants except for the Gardner were fired and he learned his lesson quickly and had stop showing the little girl his job. His heart ached when she was punished for doing something wrong due to him but he needed his job.
And so Abigail became the main servant of the home. No one ever checked on her and Chris was her guardian so it worked out good for Chris and Jennifer.
Little did they know that their youngest daughter was about to ruin things for them.
Abigail slept for a short time. She had to always make sure that she did not dirty the house when she worked so she left the root cellar via the back door and she cleaned up using well water and homemade soap. She then used a small towel that she scrubbed clean by hand every day to dry off.
She was not allowed to clean her face or her hair but she had to have clean feet and hands. She was cleaning up now to cook dinner for the family. She cooked food and left it in the kitchen for Jennifer or one of the daughters to warm up. Abigail had also learned to have a backup dinner also ready, she usually fed this to the family for lunch or left it out as leftovers for Chris to eat. She had begun this practice when Stephanie purposely burned the food and it became Abigail's fault that the family couldn't have a hot meal without Abigail cooking another one.
Tonight she had to make a lasagna but it had to be with chicken and pesto because Jennifer did not like red sauce or red meat to be served when anyone of the family was dealing with their monthly visitor.
But she had to have lasagna.
"I am so tired of her. Why does she have to stay here?"
"Why are you asking me? Go ask mom or dad."
Stephanie hated talking to her older sister, Sonya. She felt that Sonya hated her. Why? She did not know.
"Fine Sonya. I will leave you to your hair."
"Good. But listen Stephanie. Abigail is making one of my favorites tonight if you do something to mess that up I promise you that you will not be happy for a good long while."
Sonya never even looked away from her mirror to look at her sister. Still the threat was sufficient.
Instead Stephanie went to find her best friend. They had been friends for longer than she could remember. As soon as he saw her he smiled broadly and she instantly felt better. He hugged her tightly. He always did and it always made her feel so safe.
"Hi James. How are you?"
"Much better now that I get to see you. What's wrong."
He always knew when she was upset, she never had to say anything. She sighed heavily.
"It is Abigail again, I am not sure why my mother keeps her around."
"I talked to my dad about that. She was the daughter of your dad's best friend and business partner. Dad says her family had a lot of money."
"They did? Really? Hmm."
James shrugged. "Maybe she will be chosen for the sacrifice this year. My dad said she is old enough, or will be soon."
A smile bloomed on Stephanie's face. Seeing her smile made James smile.
"What if she was volunteered? "
He frowned. "Would your family volunteer her?"
"Only one of us needs to. She might even volunteer herself."