Oh man you guys, I am so sorry for taking so long to update.

Well here it finally is!

Chapter 10- The Workhouse

My heart pounded in my chest and my breaths seemed to only be able to come out in jerks. It almost seemed like I couldn't move, like perhaps my feet were stuck to the frozen ground. I swallowed hard, struggling to get the lump in my throat to disappear.

You could turn around right now, you know. Go back to the shop.

And do what? Starve to death? No! Be strong now, you can do it. Just take a step.

I hadn't realized it before, but Ben was shivering; I needed to get him inside.

Even if it was inside the workhouse.

So I took in a deep breath, held my head high, and bit my lip. Pulling Ben closer to my chest I started down the road which seemed to be stretching longer by the second.

The only sound on the cold London street as I walked down it was the clomping of my boots- it made the moment even more tense.

Just keep reminding yourself- Its all for the best, all for the best. You wouldn't of survived much longer on your own. And it's just for a bit-few months or so…

When I got within a few feet of the door, I stopped. Was I to knock? Go in? I turned around as if someone on the street could give me the answer. When I turned back, the door had opened and there was a short, fat man with dark hair standing in the doorway. I gasped.

He chuckled, "Gave you a fright, now did I?" He laughed as if he was the funniest thing in the world. I just stood there.

"I suppose you're Eleanor Lovett?" He asked with an abrupt frown. I nodded, not really wanting to say anything. "Come on in,"

He opened the door and led us to a front room, all the while talking; not that I heard anything he had to say. Instead I took in the room. The ceiling, walls, and floor were all a dark shade of grey and the energy in the room was absolutely… dead. All there was was a few old doors here and there, a couple chairs that looked like they'd brake as soon as you sat in them, and a few candles to dimly light the gloomy room.

I frowned at the site. There wasn't anything else in the small room besides me, Ben, and the man. I hadn't noticed anything that the man was doing until he knocked on a door across the room.

My stomach was still fluttering, my breaths were still shaky, but I somehow managed to not pass out as I reached my hand up to stroke Ben's hair; it comforted both him and me.

"Mister? The new paupers are here," Said the man, his voice echoing in the dull room.

After his voice had finished bouncing off the walls, the room fell into silence. I yawned. I was way overly tiered. But here's one nice thought-how nice it will to be to fall asleep at night and not have to worry about Ben or I.

Moments later, out of the door came a tall, slender man, besides the similar clothing, completely opposite to the man that had welcomed us in. He had dark yellow hair that came out in splotches in the top of his head and face. The overall appearance of the man was…sickening. His eyes were too big for his small long face and his arms and legs reminded me much of a skeleton.

"Mrs. Lovett. Correct?" He asked taking three long strides toward Ben and me. I nodded again. "Speak girl!" He commanded. I narrowed my eyes in surprise at his sudden command- looks like we'll be great friends.

"Yes, sir." I mumbled a little mockingly.

He reached out his long arms that seemed just about as long as his legs. "Give me the child," I pulled Ben away from the man's reach and walked back a few steps.

"No!" I said back, pulling my eyebrows together even more.

"Mrs. Lovett," The short man spoke again "This is Mr. Patterson. He's the master of this workhouse. He's here to take your child to the children's receiving ward before he goes to join the other children in the regular children's ward."

"Children's ward?" I asked loudly in surprise. I took another few steps back from the men.

"Yes ma'am. That is where your son will be kept for your stay at this workhouse," The short man added, irritation rising in his voice.

"No! No one told me he'd be taken from me!" I shouted at them, becoming angry at the situation. Ben needs me. I don't trust anyone but me, and sometimes not even myself…

"Don't worry Mrs. Lovett." The tall man said with a slimy voice that reminded me a little too much of the Judge's. "Most of the time the older children take good care of the younger ones… well, the lucky ones at least," He walked closer to me, running a chill down my back. "Now, give me the child,"

"No!" I rejected, perhaps overreacting a little bit. "I'll leave this place before I let you take Benjamin away from me!" I said quickly, running out of breath.

Nonono! This is not suppose to happen…

"Ma'am. It makes no difference to us whether you stay or leave. It's you and your Benjamin that would be out in the streets."

My mind flickered to Lucy as I imagined Ben and I sitting next to her in the snow begging for money. I can't lead us out there.

I still wasn't going to give up without a fight.

"Ben needs me," I said, trying to calm down simply for the sake of convincing them. "He's not but a year and a half!" Ben through all of this was waiting quietly in my arms, not daring to speak at all around the strangers.

"I'm sorry ma'am. But this is how things in this workhouse work. You can see him every day at meal times and when you check out of the workhouse, he will be completely returned to you," The stout man said, his voice angry as if this was a waste of his time.

"You speak of him as if he's a piece of luggage!" I shouted a little too loud. Ben whined and covered his ears. "Sorry love," I whispered in his ear before turning back to the two men.

Without another word the skinny man walked over, took Ben under the child's arms and tried to take him from me. I gasped out of surprise and pulled Ben away from him before he could take my boy from my grip.

Changing from defensive to just plain angry, I leaned in the tall man's face and emphasized my words with spit. "Don't you dare touch Ben!" I shouted.

It was foolish of me to get so close to the skeleton man just to stress the statement, for seconds later, he moved quickly and snatched Ben right out of my arms.

My heart skipped a beat.

I gasped and did the first thing that came to my mind; I kicked him square in the shin with the hard tip of the boot I had on. "Give 'im back!" I shouted at him as if it would help.

The next thing I knew there was a sharp pain across my cheek as the man holding Ben took his other hand and stuck me across the face. The sting made me cry out as I bent over, the pain burning my cheek and crawling to my eyes. I looked up at the man from where I now stood, him towering over me even more. I tried my hardest to come up with something to say back, but for once, I was speechless.

I felt my cheek with my hand. It was warm. My hand glided form the cheek to my eyes as automatic stinging tears developed. I wiped them away as fast as I could and straightened back up, suddenly becoming aware that Ben was crying.

"Mrs. Lovett! Quiet your child!" The man holding him commanded "Or should I strike him too?" I was thrown off by his threat.

"Then hand him back to me!" I shouted back, trying to show that the hit hadn't shaken me.

"That's not an option," He said too calmly for my likings. I quickly regained my composure and took a few loud and determined steps toward the skeleton man still holding Ben.

"Give me my child," I growled. I was surprised to feel cold hands grab my wrists from behind. The other man in the room was able to grab my hands and hold them behind my back.

The tall man shouted something at me as I struggled to free my hand from the tight grip. But I ignored his cruel voice and yelled at him, "You have no right to do this!"

Tiredness finally caught up to me and tears stung my eyes as my mind raced. All it seemed I could do was scream useless statements.

"THIS IS UNLAWFUL!"

I struggled and tried to kick the small man keeping me from running down the man with Ben. He pulled me and somehow managed to push me through a door on the other side of the room. "BEN!" Tears began to burn my eyes. "BENJAMIN!" I shouted as I saw the boys face, red and wet, crying for his Mum, one last time before there was a door slammed in my face, and I was left in a small room, alone.

"NO!" I screamed.

My heart skipped yet another beat. My head started to turn and race as my mind struggled to sort out everything. My vision blurred for a second and I began to shake.

What had I just let happen?

I rattled the door handle, trying viciously to get back out to Ben.

"BEN!" I yelled, as if screaming his name would bring him back to me.

I turned around, hoping there would be another door that led out of the room. Nothing.

I was trapped.

My heart sank deeper.

I took in a shaky breath, struggling to get a hold of myself again. But the grip wasn't tight enough to hold me very long. Tears started to pour out. I covered my face with my hands and rubbed my eyes harshly, trying to claw my way back into the real world.

I let the breath that I was absentmindedly holding out in jerks.

Thought you felt like a failure of a mother then? How about now?

I hated to face it, but it was true. Ben was with some stranger, and I had let it happen.

I found myself enraged at myself. How could I let them take him so easily? Why didn't we just walk out of the door?

"Wot have I done?" I sighed out loud leaning up against the blank wall, sliding down onto the floor, and covering my wet face with my hands.

In the silence, the words that the man taking Ben away from me said finally became clear-

"We don't take any nonsense here, Mrs. Lovett. You'll learn this soon or be out on the streets,"

I wish I had known then that being out on the streets would have been the better option...

I gotta say, this chapter and the ones that follow were pretty fun to write. I did a crud load of research on workhouses and stuff like that, so hopefully its at least mildly accurate. =)

Anyway, one of the reasons I took so long to update was that I wanted to finish another poster before I posted this chapter, so to make the wait worth it go to my profile and check on the 6th link under forgotten memories!

Thanks everyone for sticking in there and reading!

Don't forget to let me know what you think!