Roommates

Miss Priscilla led Marty over to the other girls who were emptying chamber pots and left her there. The school mistress gave no instructions. She said nothing as she turned and walked away. Marty stood there, her mouth open, ready to ask questions.

*Ohh no!* Marty was thinking. *Now what? I've never done this before!*

"Psst!" a tiny voice whispered.

Marty turned to see another young girl about her age. She was emptying the pots, too. After emptying them, she was carefully scrubbing them and placing them on a stack.

"If you don't get to work, Miss Priscilla will be real angry," the girl said quietly.

Marty walked over to introduce herself to the girl. "I'm Marty," she whispered as she picked up a soiled chamber pot. She hoped she would clean it as accurately and efficiently as Miss Priscilla wanted.

"I'm Megan," said the other little girl. She had pale blond hair and bright blue eyes. She was thin and slightly smaller than Marty. She looked like she didn't eat much. "I am one of your new roommates. I will show you how to empty the chamber pots. There is really nothing to it. You just have to do a good job or Miss Priscilla will punish you. You have to clean them ... like this."

Megan demonstrated how to clean out the porcelain chamber pot with a soapy sponge. After it was clean and spotless, Megan dried it with a towel. She placed the clean chamber pot on the large stack.

"I'm your roommate?" Marty asked in surprise. "Where are our other roommates? Miss Priscilla said I would have three."

"Their names are Rebecca and Hannah," Megan stated. "They're older, so they don't have to clean out the chamber pots. They have other jobs. They are helping in the kitchen."

"When will I get to meet them?" Marty asked as she was scrubbing a chamber pot just as Megan had showed her.

"It won't be long," said Megan.

"When we get done with the chamber pots, will we get to play? When do we start our schooling?"

"We never get to play here," Megan said quietly. "If we laugh or have fun, we are punished. We have to keep very, very quiet."

"Why?" Marty asked.

Megan glanced around cautiously before turning back to Marty. "Miss Prisicilla hates it," she whispered. "She hates the sound of laughter; she hates little kids. She says fun is the work of the devil. She says it's evil. We only have school days when someone comes to visit . I don't know what the people are called, but they check everything top to bottom. They ask questions- A LOT of questions. If we give them an answer Miss Priscilla doesn't like, we get put in the Bad Room all by ourselves until she says we can come out. Sometimes she doesn't give us food until the day after we are punished. You have to give the answers she tells you to when the people come."

Marty winced when she heard Megan's description of the boarding school and Miss Priscilla's punishment for the children. She hated this place already, and she had just arrived. She wanted to go home, but at home there was just mean Aunt Kiki. What was worse? At least here, she had Megan... and Megan was nice to her.

"I'm glad you're my friend, Megan," Marty said as she gave her a smile.

Megan returned the smile, then they resumed their work. Soon all the chamber pots were clean and they started scrubbing the floors. Miss Priscilla wanted everything spotless. Not one speck of dirt could be seen or they'd have to do it all over. Marty worked until her hands were raw. She'd never had to clean before. She had always had servants for those tasks. She'd never had to do so much in her entire life! She was exhausted.

"Time to eat," someone called out from the kitchen. They were being served gruel, just as Miss Priscilla had said.

Marty sat down next to Megan and quietly ate her food. Both children were starved, but the food was not enough to satisfy. Marty's stomach growled as the kitchen help took her bowl away. She was still hungry.

"It's time for afternoon chores," Miss Priscilla announced.

Marty tried to keep herself from whining. More chores? They NEVER got to play? Ever? She didn't know how Aunt Kiki had found this place but she hated it so much! She tried to keep the tears from falling down her cheeks, but a few slid out anyway.

She stood from her spot as all the girls one by one got up. Miss Priscilla was assigning the afternoon chores to them. Marty felt miserable but had to force herself to keep her mouth shut; she did not want to be punished for speaking out.

She did not understand how there could possibly be MORE to do. It just did not make any sense. They had already done a whole lot of chores and now they had to do more? Why couldn't Miss Priscilla let them go outside to play? What would it hurt to give them some free-time and a little fresh air? From what Megan had said, there was no free-time at all.

"Margaret Anne Saybrooke, you get over here right now. It's time you were given your chore," demanded Miss Priscilla when Marty hung back and hesitated. Marty was so tired and worn out; she only wanted to sleep.

"You will go outside and clean the chicken coops," said Miss Priscilla. "They must be spotless."

"What-? Chicken coops? I've never..."

"Don't dawdle!" Miss Priscilla insisted. "Get to work!"

And so it was that Marty spent the rest of that day cleaning out the chicken coops behind the boarding school. The odor of chicken droppings was profuse. By the time she was finished, Marty hated Miss Priscilla and her horrible school with a passion! She was almost ready to return to Aunt Kiki ... but she knew that living with her mean aunt wasn't a garden of roses either. All she could do was make the most of yet another terrible situation.

After a meager meal of cold sandwiches was served, Marty was allowed to bathe, then she was sent straight to her bed. She entered her little room and crawled into the lumpy cot. Every muscle of her tiny body ached.

She was about to close her eyes to sleep when Megan, Rebecca, and Hannah entered the room. They too had been sent to bed. "So, you're Marty?" Hannah said as she stood over Marty's bed.

"Hello," Marty said as she sat up quickly. "Are you Rebecca?"

"No, I am Hannah," the older girl said.

"It's good to meet you," said Marty, hoping that her other two roommates were as friendly as Megan had been. "I hope the four of us can be friends."

"Let's get something straight, Marty," Rebecca said. "We aren't your friends."

Marty frowned. "Why not?"

"Because we don't like your type around here. We saw the dress you were wearing. All fancy and frilly and covered with adorable ruffles. You think you're better than us!" Rebecca accused.

"No, I don't!" Marty gasped as tears filled her eyes. "I just want to be friends!"

"We don't like whiny little cry-babies!" Hannah said hatefully. "Now don't talk to us. We don't want to be seen with you!"

Marty angrily wiped the tears away. She hadn't meant to cry, but the girls were vicious. Megan gave Marty a sympathetic look. Marty longed to get Sara Beth from her suitcase under the bed, but she feared the older girls would make fun of her for sleeping with a doll. She would have to sleep without her best friend tonight. Marty couldn't have been more miserable.