Chapter 6

The days grew into weeks. The weeks, in turn, matured into months. Winter laid siege to the city, turning its polluted river into a brown-green path. Icicles hung from bare tree branches like fangs. The sky was almost permanently gray, going from silver in the early morning to unforgiving black each afternoon. Birdsong became a thing of the past. Every time the wind blew, it cut through the numerous layers of cloth people hid behind. Every five days or so, the snow that had been perfectly white until recently turned to brown sludge in the sewers. The next night, or close enough, a new layer took its place.

Such intense cold meant more work for the servants of the Van Dahl mansion, and more relaxation for its elite residents. Because each morning brought with it five new inches of snow, Sasha and Charles rooted themselves to the warm indoors and sent housekeepers out for anything they 'needed'. Twice Ruby had been forced to trudge through a blizzard to return Charles' library books (taking a few for herself in the process) and buying a pair of Prada shoes with Sasha's allowance. In addition, the more muscled members of the staff had to chop lumber regularly to feed the chimneys, and the maids had to sweep up the ashes almost hourly. Often enough, when the other servants weren't around, Ruby would go outside, take two axes, and sprout an extra pair of arms. By the end of her task, she would be sweating beneath her coat and a massive pile of wood would keep the fires going for three days.

As hard as it was, there was a light shining in the halls that hadn't been before: Oswald. He more than happily adapted to his new life, spending the morning with his father and the afternoons with Ruby. She hadn't asked him to. At first, she had even tried to shoo him away. But she might as well have asked the clouds to stop passing by. Oswald simply showed up, just a day or two after his arrival, and ask if she needed help. Somehow, he would always find her, whether she be peeling potatoes in the kitchen or ironing clothes in the laundry room. Eventually, Ruby accepted the idea that he wasn't leaving. She tasked him with a fifth of her chores.

During those quiet hours together, the two spoke. They exchanged questions, evading the subject of the past. Instead, they stuck to safe matters: favorite colors, films that they liked/disliked, and the weather. It was the most Ruby had ever spoken with a resident, even Master, and she silently looked forward to it. Oswald was wonderful company, always cheerful and ready to help. For maybe the hundredth time, Ruby wondered how the young man had maintained his innocence in such a wretched city.

One day, with the holidays come and gone, winter decided to have one last go at the city. Every window in Gotham was frosted, white as a blind eye, and the sky spoke of midnight even during dawn. Overnight, sidewalks turned to frozen cement rivers. Every moment spent outside was a battle between the warmth of one's body and the icy fists of winter. As a result, the servants had to work twice as hard to keep the Van Dahls comfortable. Especially Ruby, all the while hiding. She had just been deflating her extra muscles when laughter echoed through the halls, getting closer to where she worked. A moment later Oswald and Master waltzed in, carrying board games in their arms. Ruby's cheeks flushed with relief as she stood up. Suddenly, she felt self-conscious. Her hair was a brown-blonde-gray rat's nest. Her skin was glistening with sweat, and her uniform had damp patches beneath her arms and around her collar. Oh, and the ashes. She looked like Cinderella before any fairy godmother showed up. Still, she smiled and bowed. "Master."

"Ruby." Master's smile was warmer than any fireplace. His grin, however, quickly vanished when he looked at her state. "My God, dear, are you alright?"

"Yes, of course." Ruby smiled. Ignoring the fact that, even if she'd been lying in a puddle of her own blood, she would have claimed to be alright for the sake of not worrying him. "Thank you, Master. I deeply apologize for, well, this," She gestured to her disheveled self. "I've just been busy."

"Oh, dear, thank you." Master's smile returned, albeit with less force. Concern still darkened his inky eyes. "But are you certain you don't want a break? There are six other servants in this mansion, not just you."

"No, really, it's fine." Ruby didn't need to force her smile to widen. Master's worry moved her. He always treated his staff with kindness and respect. Not once had he yelled or snapped at someone wearing the uniform. The only time Ruby had seen Master grow angry at another servant had been caused by that servant stealing a silver spoon. Master always felt...fatherly. At least to her.

Ruby snapped back to reality. "Oh! Where are my manners?" She bowed again. "Would you two like some tea? Biscuits?" She winked at Oswald. "Or...caviar?"

Oswald's face lit up like a Christmas tree on steroids. "Caviar? Really?"

Ruby grinned. "I know a caviar-and-smoked-salmon recipe that will blow your mind." Master chuckled, patting Oswald's back, as the young man nodded like a bobble-head. "Yes! Yes, please!"

Ruby bowed a third time. "Your wish is my command." With that, she disappeared into the kitchen. Oswald watched her with half-closed eyes, his smile wide. Elijiah watched his son carefully. Recognizing his expression. Never disconnecting his eyes from the young man's face, he spoke. "A fine woman, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes." Oswald replied dreamily. But then his eyes popped open. Color broke out across his cheeks. "OH! Oh, I, uh...oh, dear." He turned away, rubbing the back of his neck. Elijiah grinned knowingly, resting his hand on the young man's shoulder once more. "Come," he said, "we have a card game to play."

Ten minutes later, clad in a fresh uniform, Ruby was at the kitchen's door. After scrubbing away two layers of dirt and practically drowning herself in perfume, she felt somewhat presentable. Was she? One pair of arms was holding a tray loaded with tea, sugar cubes, salmon-and-caviar, and milk. The other pair was adjusting her vest, hair, and jewelry. Today's choice had been a ruby brooch shaped like a rose. Hanging from her ears were a pair of carnelian gems, framed in copper.

They were both red. The color of passion.

Ruby stopped. Where had that thought come from? Shaking it off, Ruby retracted her extra limbs. Smiling shyly. Before she could enter, however, Ruby had to make sure that she wasn't interrupting anything. Carefully, she knelt down and peered through the keyhole. Master and Oswald were seated at the sofa, laughingly playing card games. What was it? Go fish? Poker? To Ruby, they were all variations of the same game. But it warmed her heart to see them spending quality time together. When Oswald won a round, Master slid an arm around the young man's shoulders and hugged him. Ruby smiled softly. Waited for just the right moment, and finally found it. However, just as she leaned her shoulder against the door, footsteps clacked across the marble floor. Marching. Determined.

Ruby's good mood shriveled up like a daisy under ice. She remained hidden, eyes narrowing to slits.

"Elijiah." Grace's voice was firm and cold. Professional. "Brace yourself. I'm afraid we have some bad news."

'We'. It was always 'we'. Her and her two children. They worked off each other, blackening the next one's heart. The darkest type of union: one built on greed and corruption rather than trust and love. If Ruby had ever been forced to join herself with one of them...or, worse, all three...it was too awful to imagine. Ruby kept listening. Unable to tear herself away.

"Oh, dear." Master spoke, already prepared to help.

"Charles was at the public library today." Grace explained.

"Research for the novel I'm writing." Charles added. "I was reading some old newspapers and made an alarming discovery." Ruby had to resist the urge to burst into the room and call him a liar. She'd read some of his manuscript. He wouldn't leave her alone until she did, claiming that she seemed to be the only 'help' with a bit of brain in this house. It was a story centered on pirates. What insight could the newspaper provide?

That was when Ruby understood. This was all a ruse. An elaborate act meant to attack someone. And it couldn't be a servant. Grace had the power to fire them; she didn't because she was just too damn hooked on the luxury of having maids. So what poor, defenseless animal did these vultures want to disembowel?

In a moment, Ruby understood. Her heart began to pound.

"My dear," Grace said, "Oswald's not the nice young man he says he is."

Ruby didn't move. Didn't breathe. Couldn't.

"If we didn't lead such sheltered lives here, we'd know what the whole world knows." Grace continued. Took a pause for effect. Then, came the sound of a newspaper being unraveled. "He's a notorious criminal. We've been sheltering...a killer."

The tray crashed to the floor. Antique porcelain shattered in a rapidly-growing pond of hot tea. The salmon-and-caviar spilled, wasted, across the tiles. Ruby hurried into the saloon, not caring that she'd just destroyed some of the utensils that the Master's parents had left him. Not caring that she was acting in the exact opposite manner as she was supposed to. She had to know.

Ignoring the surprised stares of the Three Stooges, Ruby snatched the paper out of Grace's hands. Held it close, to avoid missing anything. But it was hard to do so: there he was, on the front page. 'The Penguin'. Cold, calculating eyes. Inky hair slicked in a peculiar, pointy style. Dressed in a fine tuxedo. Ruby stared hard, trying to recognize the man in the photo. He was the same as the Oswald she was starting to know...yet he wasn't. Physically, everything was still there. But all of the kindness was completely drained from his being. Probably had been for a long time.

All of a sudden, it was hard to breathe.

Ruby stared long and hard at the photo before turning to Oswald. He was quickly becoming blurry. Everything was. Seeing her teary eyes made Oswald want to bury a hole, all the way to the Earth's core, and dive into it. Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut and let his head drop. Elijiah, however, was frowning thoughtfully.

Grace, on the other hand, was doing her best to avoid smiling. Seeing the plain Jane maid on the verge of tears was just the cherry on the cake. "We could have all been raped and murdered in our beds!"

"Raped and murdered!" Sasha echoed.

Ruby sniffled. "Don't flatter yourselves." She muttered too lowly for anyone else to hear. Elijiah watched his handmaid. She was staring at her feet, dazed. Elijiah had seen a few people adopt her expression after receiving the news of a loved one's death. His heart went out to her, and not for the first time. Ruby was his most loyal servant, and he'd given her the most trust. She was obedient, hard-working, and knowledgeable in her working field. But beyond that, Elijiah knew that she had a good heart. A scarred one, pleading not to have old wounds ripped anew. "Ruby, dear," he spoke gently to the handmaid, "may you please pass me the paper?"

Ruby sniffled. "Y-yes, Master." Without looking up from her feet, she folded the newspaper and held it out to Elijiah. As her arm passed Oswald's face, he noticed something strange in Ruby's skin. Just above the sleeve, where her wrist and hand were exposed, her skin was rippling uneasy. He quickly seized Ruby's hand. The maid stiffened. Stared down first at the hand, and then its owner. Oswald's expression was nothing like the one in the image. It wasn't smirking with victory, but broken down. On the point of weeping...for what? Ruby didn't dare thing it was for her. Yet Oswald held her hand, cradling it between both of his. Ruby watched, stunned, as his face reddened. Tears filled his eyes. "Please..." He trailed off, perhaps unable to say more. Ruby didn't reply. But she didn't pull away, either.

Master, meanwhile, had been eyeing the front page with interest. He finally spoke up: "They call you the 'Penguin'?" He didn't sound angry or upset. Merely interested, like Oswald was showing him some report card from years ago. Oswald stared at his father with hopeful eyes before turning to the rest of his adoptive family. He rose from the sofa, still holding Ruby's hand. Ruby let him hold it, even though his own hand was sweating coldly. That was all the proof that she needed that, whomever Oswald had been in the past...that man had stayed in the past. Ruby finally squeezed his hand. Oswald flashed her a quick, grateful smile before facing Grace and her children. "To be fair..." He gave a weak simper. "...I never raped anyone."

Ruby shrugged. That was something.

"Oh, now that's a relief, now isn't it?" Grace sounded so bitterly sarcastic that Ruby cringed.

Master spoke up. All heads turned as he...smiled. "My son has already informed me of his past, but he never said that he was famous." He turned to Oswald with a wolfish grin. "You're too modest, son!"

Ruby blinked. Oswald did the same, then smiled in relief.

Grace, however, wasn't so easily deterred. "Elijiah!" She snapped authoritatively. "You would let a dangerous murderer stay in our house?"

"It is the Master's house, Madame." Ruby spoke before she could stop herself. "Paid for in his name. Ergo, what he says goes." A part of her was screaming at her for talking out of place. She hadn't done that in a very long time, especially since Grace had moved in with her two atrocities. But now, something deep inside managed to block Ruby's fear like the moon conceals the sun during an eclipse. And now, looking at Oswald's grateful expression convinced her all the more that she'd acted rightfully.

For a terse few seconds, Grace looked simply shocked. It was like she'd forgotten that Ruby was capable of saying things other than 'Yes, Madame', 'No, Madame,' and 'Whatever you say, Madame'. But the surprise quickly melted into fury. "Be quiet, you!" Grace yelled. "You have no right to speak to me this way! Go back to scrubbing toilets, you're good at that!"

"Grace." For the first time in a while, Master's voice had a trace of iron in it. "That is no way to speak to another individual." His tone relaxed slightly as he continued, "Now, as for Oswald: you have no reason to worry. He's changed. Redeemed." He turned to Oswald. "You're not this man anymore, are you?"

"No, sir!" Oswald shook his head desperately. The tears had almost fallen. He glanced at Ruby. "Please. Believe me." Ruby answered by squeezing his hand again.

"How?" Grace stuttered, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "How do you know?!"

"I've looked into his spirit," Elijiah smiled, placing a hand on Oswald's shoulder, "and I've seen his beautiful heart." He glimpsed at the newspaper again. "Still...intriguing! You shall have to share some of these tales with me soon, my boy." A single tear finally made its way down Oswald's hollow cheek. He smiled, nodding in agreement. Ruby tucked some hair out of her eyes, feeling bashful but strangely relieved.

Seeing that she had lost this round, Grace spun on her ridiculously high heels and clamored out of the room. Her two children trailed after her like ducklings. Once they were out of earshot, in the safety of the back entrance, Charles spoke up. "What now?"

Grace turned around.

"Yeah," Sasha piped up, "what now?"

Grace stared at her children. The ones for whom she had done all this. Her only true allies. She didn't smile as she spoke, but her eyes were shining. "Plan B." She announced. Charles and Sasha frowned, sharing a confused look. "What's Plan B?" Sasha asked.

Grace smiled. Stepped forward. Combed Sasha's silk hair out of her eyes. "You are, my dear."

Understanding dawn in the girl's eyes. Smiling seductively, she nodded. Basking in the glory of what she would do. By this time tomorrow, that black-haired maggot would be out of their lives forever.