Rooksnort and Sniktaw

Rooksnort and Sniktaw

Chapter Three

Ms. Morpheus's definition of "chores" was a bit misleading.

In the morning. Anna was roused by a rather rotund, rosy cheeked woman, who wore a scowl on her face. "Up an' at 'em!" she shouted in her harsh voice as she poked her head into the small room. She turned, and stomped off down the hall to knock on more doors.

Anna blinked her eyes. She could see through the small, grimy window that it was still dark out. She wondered what time it was. In the next bed, Abigail stretched and yawned. Anna pulled herself from the bed. Her back ached, and she strongly suspected this was due to the thin mattress.

Hanging from a hook on the back of the door were three grey dresses. If Anna had been disappointed at the yellow flowered dress, well… she held up a sleeve. The cloth felt like a potato sack. She closed the door, and slipped out of her pajamas and into her dress. She shivered. Why was this place so cold in early September? The dress was much too big for her, the sleeves reaching her finger tips, and the cloth was thin and scratchy. Anna glanced over at Clarabelle, who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Poor Clara, she thought. I must be strong for her.

With this resolution in mind, Anna strode over to Clarabelle's bed, and handed her the smallest dress. "Clarabelle, it's time to get up. We have to go do our chores now." Clarabelle complied sleepily.

Anna, Abby and Clarabelle stepped out into the hall. They had noticed the growing noise, but out here… it was like a riot. Children they had never seen before ran past, laughing, jumping on each other, stealing hats, calling each other rude names. Anna covered Clarabelle's ears.

They followed the crowd to a small, noisy room with long wooden tables and benches. The rowdy children sat down, and more servants came out and handed them bowls. Anna sat, waiting politely. "C'mon en get it!" the cook yelled. Pandemonium ensued. Children who had been sitting now jumped up from their seats, some clambering over the tables to get to the food. Anna was shocked. A sandy haired boy passed her, and grinned. "Come and get something, before it's all gone. Ye'd be the new kids, eh?" Anna nodded mutely. "My name's Aidan. C'mon!" He pulled Anna and Clarabelle's arms, dragging them over the table to the front of the line. "Budge it!" The kids moved aside. Anna was impressed. Aidan was pretty small and wiry, but the kids obviously obeyed him. They reached the large kettle where a stooped over lady was ladling out some strange whitish mush. Anna wrinkled her nose. "What is this?"

"Porridge," responded Aidan through a half full mouth. "Et up, it's good."

Anna sighed, and resigned herself to the lumpy mass in front of her. Clarabelle watched her intently. Anna's immediate reaction was to spit the nasty stuff out. But then, she widened her eyes. "Mmm… it's good, Clare. Eat!" Clarabelle spooned some into her mouth. Her face turned a greenish color, but she managed to swallow. "Yes, it 'tis."

A bell rang, and the kids got up, moaning and groaning. "What's happening?" Anna asked Aidan.

His face had become set. "Time for work. You girls will probably be filling and sanding, just the menial stuff. The boys have to do the harder stuff, like the sawin' and' carryin'"

Anna glanced over at Roger, with a worried expression. Aidan followed her eyes.

"Oh, don' worry about him. I'll get him a good job." Aidan puffed up slightly. "I've got connections."

They stepped into a large room, with light pouring in from the high windows. Anna squinted at the sight before her.

There was machinery, saws and belts. The air was full with sawdust. The room smelled of wood and metal, and a horrible burning odor that stung Anna's eyes. "Welcome," said Aidan, with a dramatic sweep of the arm, "to Rooksnort and Sniktaw's sign making factory."

Anna pinched herself, trying to wake up from this dreadful nightmare. "You need to go over there," Aidan nudged. "See that short, fat man? That's Mr. Rooksnort."

Anna followed the crowd of new children over to the man. He was short, and fat, bald but for a few strand of white hair brushed over the top of his head. The whiteness of his hair was made even more apparent by his glowing red face, which he kept mopping the sweat off of with a large handkerchief. He pulled a gold watch out of his vest pocket, and stared at it impatiently. With a wheeze, he began to speak.

You children have been brought to the Morpheus house. To repay Ms. Morpheus for her kindness in letting you stay here, you have been assigned a job here at the factory. Rooksnort and Sniktaw has a fine tradition of quality signs, and I expect you all to uphold that standard. The younger, and weaker one," he peered at Clarabelle, making her whimper, and pull closer to Anna, "will be sanding and filling sign edges. The older ones amongst you will be doing the harder work, like cutting, and drilling. You will be assigned to an overseer, who will teach you the task you are suppose to perform. It shouldn't be too hard, even for a group like you pansies," he chuckled.

Anna saw Roger start. She held out a cautioning arm. "Please sir," she asked, "when will we have time for school?"

Mr. Rooksnort looked at her, nostrils flaring. "School? You little worms want schooling?"

Anna nodded timidly. Mr. Rooksnort guffawed. "Please sir," he mimicked. Roger jumped forward. "You watch yourself, boy," said Mr. Rooksnort. "Cripples get thrown away here," he added with a nasty grin. "Gertrude! Aidan!" he called.

Aidan appeared at the door of the room up above. He swung his leg over the rail, and slid down. From the other direction stomped a rather mean looking girl, with short, straw-like brown hair. "You assign these workers their chores."

Aidan smiled at Mr. Rooksnort sweetly, but as he turned his back, Aidan made a very rude gesture. Anna gasped. He grinned devilishly at her. Gertrude saw this, and gave Anna a very sour look. She was rather heavy-set, with a scowl that looked pasted on. Aidan took some of the boys. "You there," he said to Roger, "you can help me upstairs 'til that arm heals." Aidan winked at Anna, then went about dividing the boys.

Gertrude turned. "You will all be taking turns sanding and filling in the edges. I run a tight ship, and don't have any favorites." She shot a look at Aidan's back, as he led the boys off to their work. "You there," she pointed at Anna, "'ere, start sanding." She handed her a bit of rough paper, and directed her toward the signs.

Anna started working. "It'll be fine, just fine," she thought to herself. "I'll just sit here, and imagine it all away. Or even better, I'll think I'm Cinderella, kept at work by her cruel Stepmother and her wicked step-sister… Ouch!" She looked down at her finger. She had nicked it with the sandpaper, and the tip was starting to bleed. She stuck it in her mouth, trying to suck away the hurt. Gertrude glanced over in her direction. "Get back to work!"

Ten long hours later, the children were excused for supper. This time the cook handed out a small portion of meat, and a boiled potato with cabbage. Aidan sat down beside her. "I do wish they'd pass out some salt," he joked cheerily. "All this mush is rather bland. The porridge could do with some too, eh?"

Roger sat down next to Clarabelle, on her other side. Anna turned to him. "How's your arm?"

"Oh, he's fine," responded Aidan. "He was with me all day."

Roger glanced at Aidan coldly. "She asked me, not you. And it's just fine, thank you." He went back to eating his dinner in silence. Aidan raised an eyebrow.

"Okay mate." He glanced from Roger to Anna, and stuffed some more of his smashed up potato into his mouth.

Anna fell into bed that night, her arms aching to the very core. Clarabelle and Abby were already asleep, from the sound of their peaceful breathing. Anna rolled over, preparing to do the same, but just then, someone rapped lightly on the door.

Anna jumped. "Who's there?" she hissed into the darkness. A sandy blonde head peered round the door.

"Hullo." It was Aidan. "D'you want to go exploring?"

Anna looked at him as if he were mad. "No. I'm tired, and besides, we'd get caught."

Aidan shrugged. "Suit yourself then. But if you ever want to see the old place…" he grinned, his teeth shining in the dark, "you know where to find me." With that, he was gone.