Chapter Two
True to his word, Sir Foxwood woke me when we reached the also freshly painted doors of The Eve. It was a cheerful pale yellow building with white shuttered windows and a crisp navy door. A balcony stretched the length of the second and third floors, held up by graceful tapered columns. In carefully carved script, "The Eve Inn" was hanging above the front door. I smiled as I caught sight of an elderly couple lounging on a bench on the porch. The foul-tempered doorman opened the door and turned his nose up and grimaced as I jumped down unceremoniously from the carriage, still looking at the friendly façade of The Eve. English ivy trailed up the columns and rose bushes charmed the short walkway to the front door.
"This is all yours?" I asked, once I heard Sir Foxwood behind me.
"Yes," he smiled at the building with obvious pride. "We'll be using the service entrance. Redman, my bags."
I followed him around to the side of the inn, down cellar stairs, and through a plain wooden door to the kitchens and the servant's quarters. I looked around at the hustle and bustle surrounding me. It certainly wasn't much different than the castle. People were scurrying about to and fro, never sitting still. To an outsider, it would appear as though everyone was working at a frenzied pace, but when you were actually working, it did not seem that way at all.
"You aren't going to show me my duties are you?" I asked, and then cursed my rudeness for asking a question of my superior. When I was younger, they'd tried to teach me to be respectful and mindful of the rules, but it was an exercise in futility. My mouth always seemed to blurt things out of its own accord.
Sir Foxwood only raised an eyebrow at me before he answered, though. "No, I'm leaving you off with Midge. Do your best to pay very close attention to her and follow everything she says. I may have hired you, but if Midge says I should put you out, I'll have no choice."
"She gives you orders?" my eyebrows knitted together.
"Midge is a bit high strung...easily upset, but she's a fantastic cook. I deal with her temper tantrums because her food is simply divine, and she trains her staff well. I don't cross her."
"She's your employee."
"I don't cross her."
"I'm sure we'll get along famously," I grumbled. He shot me an alarmed look and I imagined the scenes unfolding in front of his eyes and snickered.
"Ms. Roberts, I don't want to have to release you..."
"Relax, Sir Foxwood, I'll be on my best behavior," I promised earnestly.
We came to a stop in front of the kitchen area, where I could hear a contralto voice booming out orders. Sir Foxwood shot me a warning glance before we continued on.
"Midge," he called. "Midge!"
"Aye? Sir Foxwood, is it?"
A short, stout woman with curly reddish-brown hair came into view. She had sharp dark brown eyes and a reddish complexion, probably because of standing over hot stoves all day long. Wearing a blood-stained apron over her standard brown shift with a large butcher knife in her hand, she cut quite an imposing figure. Squinting one eye at me, she spoke to Sir Foxwood out of the corner of her mouth.
"New lass for me to train, eh?"
"Yes, Midge."
"Age?"
Sir Foxwood stared at me mutely.
"I'm sixteen years," I cleared my throat.
"Can ye cook any?" she asked me, squinting both eyes at me this time.
"I can cook anything, just show me a recipe once," I nodded proudly.
"Hmm. Experience?"
"I worked at Greenwich Castle before―"
"She'll do," Midge cut me off, turning to Sir Foxwood. I restrained the impulse to tell her off for interrupting me and stood there patiently.
"Good, very good," he clasped his hands. "Ms. Roberts, Midge will show you your duties, and then you can meet everyone and get settled into your room."
I nodded and waved absently, looking around at the kitchen, where maids were now leaving with trays of food. Midge turned back to me a pierced me with her deep, dark brown eyes. She had forgotten the butcher knife was still in her hand and was now using it to point at me as if it were an extension of her hand. Eyeing it warily, I waited for her to speak.
"Your name, girl?"
"Oribelle."
She grunted. "Oribelle then, you're going to watch me make some of the most common dishes asked for on the menu. Then, you're going to meet the girls. You need to find a uniform so you can serve as well. Follow me," she gestured with the knife again.
Left with little choice but to follow the very portly Midge, I shadowed her footsteps and watched with great concentration as she prepared braised trout with ale bread. I committed every ingredient and step to memory and amazed her when I recreated the dish with no stress at all.
"You'll do just fine, you will," she murmured softly.
"Is there anything else you wish me to learn today?" I asked, politely. Midge seemed to respect me, but I didn't want to offend her in any way on the first day and create a lasting negative impression.
"Nay, you should be fine for tomorrow if you can just watch and learn as such," she shook her head. "After the supper rush is through, I'll introduce you to the serving-girls. For now, just acquaint yourself with the kitchen and try to stay out of everyone's way."
"Yes ma'am," I nodded.
"Call me Midge."
"Yes, Midge."
"Scurry along then," she said, smiling a half smile at me.
As I set off to learn where everything was kept, I let my mind wander as I hadn't been able to in the castle. It seemed as if I would be getting off to a good start at the Eve. Maybe cleaning the princess's boots had been good for something. I'd only ever been shown a task once, if that, so I'd had to learn quickly. Whenever she saw fit to acknowledge my incriminating presence, Mother never let me forget that my very life depended upon her charity, so there was no room for mistakes.
Walking out of the spice pantry, I bumped into a girl who looked to be more or less around my age. She was tall and slender with a mop of riotously curly ginger hair and muddled hazel-green eyes that peered at me curiously.
"So sorry," I mumbled.
"No it's alright. I wasn't watching where I was going," the girl smiled apologetically.
"I seem to have gotten lost...where's the way back out of the kitchens to the servant's quarters?" I questioned.
"You're the new lass everyone's talking about, then?" she asked me.
"Aye, I am," I nodded.
"I'm Rosalind, but everyone calls me Lindy" she said, sticking her hand out.
"Oribelle," I smiled, taking her hand. "Where I used to work, they called me Sugar Brown, but Belle will do."
"So, Belle, you wanted to know how to get back to the servant's quarters?" Lindy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Aye...I'll be able to remember my way around tomorrow, though," I answered.
"Well, for now, just follow me. I haven't a new roommate yet; you'll be sharing with me. Isn't that lucky to have met me already?" Not stopping for an answer she continued on. "Lucky I'm on a break too, otherwise you'd be stuck in the spice pantry for a while. It's all right though; I was lost my first few days here. I've been working here since my family died of the fever when I was but ten years old. I'm seventeen now. Wouldn't think of going anywhere else, though. I love The Eve like it's my own..."
I got the impression that Lindy liked to talk, and liked to take charge. She had an open face and a sparkling personality that masked any pain and suffering she had experienced when her family died and left her alone in the world. She walked with a bounce, and I imagined she stayed excited, even when working.
"...So she left the Eve and I had a room to myself for a whole month, but now you're here! I didn't like being alone, there was no one to talk to, so I'm pleased that I have someone else to share the space with," Lindy finished telling me of her last roommate.
"Well, I'm glad that I'm sharing with you, you seem like a very friendly person," I smiled. That must've been the first truly gracious sentence that's come out of my mouth since...well, since.
Lindy swung the door open to reveal a room about the size of a small storage closet with two beds stacked on top of each other in one corner and a small chest of drawers in the other. There was one candle-holder and a Bible on top of the chest.
"The other girl left that Bible here, I can't read," Lindy explained. "I like to look at the pictures though..."
"I read," I admitted.
"Really?" she raised both eyebrows. "I didn't think...um...people not like...um...I don't want to say the word, I don't like the word...I'm sure you don't either...um..." Lindy faltered.
"It's okay; you can say it like that. As long as you don't actually call me a moor, I won't get angry," I shook my head. "And yes, I wasn't supposed to learn how to read, but I'd sat in on enough of the Princess's tutoring sessions to pick it up myself."
"The Princess?"
"I used to work in Greenwich Castle."
"You were the Princess's lady-maid?"
"For a while...then I became a kitchen girl. The Queen did not like me much and put me in the kitchens where no one could see me."
"Oh," Lindy said softly and fell silent for half a second before she chirped back to life. "You don't have any belongings?"
"Nay, just the clothes on my back."
"Well since there's nothing to see in here, let's find you a uniform and meet everyone else. It must be past nightfall by now."
"Alright," I nodded and followed her out of our room.
I could feel that things were going to be a lot better than cleaning my sister's tiara from now on. Sure I was still a servant, but at least I wouldn't resent it everyday, and I had a friend already. The kitchen manager respected me. My employer...maybe he liked me; he didn't leave me stranded, that was for sure. I could call The Eve my home...for now.