II
"Bella! Git your bony ass here, girl!"
You could hear Mrs T's voice echo in the valley, it was probably loud enough to cause a rockslide. I leaned against Nettie and inhaled her scent. Hay, fresh air and horses. Nettie flicked away some flies and shuffled her feet.
"Impatient, huh girl," I whispered and smoothed my hand down her neck. "Tomorrow. Just you wait, love," I gave her a little scratch, lifted the water pail and dragged my feet towards the house.
Mrs T was standing on the doorway, hands on her hips, her face drawn in straight lines. One horizontal for her thin mouth, one vertical between her brows.
"Where the hell have you been," the veins on her throat bulged as she screamed at me. Oh how I wished one of them would pop. I entertained myself with a vision of Mrs T's neck slashing open, blood gushing out and spraying all over her.
"Getting the water," I dropped the pail on to the ground. It sloshed and some water hit the ground.
"You half-wit!" she screeched and grabbed the broom. "You bring that water in and get another one, Mr Fells needs a bath tonight. And be quick at it." she slashed the broomstick at me and I figured it best to do as she said. For just one more night.
I made myself scarce after I had fetched all four pails of water, scrubbed the pans and stocked the firewood basket. Mr Fells was done eating and beckoning for his bath and I intended to be nowhere near when he started stripping was skinny and mean just like Mrs T and liked his liquor. Mrs T was supposedly his landlady but those two had been together for as long as I could remember. What joy they got from their union I had no idea.
As I climbed above the stalls and stretched onto the lean hay-filled mattress I banished the thoughts of them from my mind and concentrated on the next day. My big escape.