There were twenty-two women working in this building, which they called 'home', not counting the Madame and Vanessa. At meals they all sat around a few long, narrow tables in the basement near the kitchen. They laughed and joked and smiled and were beautiful, Vanessa was certain, decked in their finest because it was nearly night, and that meant it was nearly time for work for them.

Silent, Vanessa took it all in, listened to the things they said, not understanding most of it. The women were telling stories of men, most named 'John,' whom Vanessa assumed were customers, and they were using slang she didn't understand to describe something on their bodies, but she really couldn't tell. She ate her dinner, it being more filling and pleasant-tasting than she was used to, and glanced around the room the entire time. Many of the women stared her down when they thought she didn't notice, giving nervous smirks to her when they saw that she saw them doing so. Madame Valentina made an announcement at the end of the meal, to let them all know that Vanessa had begun there, as a full-time servant, that she was to help them and they were to let Madame know if there were any problems with her work there. Vanessa was instructed to stand to show herself, and the hunched back became apparent.

"She is not a normal girl, so you should all get used to this quickly; she is a girl nonetheless. Her back has some lump on it, you see, but she will be a hard worker anyway, won't you Vanessa?"

Vanessa nodded, face red. "My ears look strange, too," she confessed, eager to let everyone know if they were going to accept it. She pulled her scarf away, and the women whispered amongst each other.

"See then, she's not normal. Now then," Madame announced, clapping her hands together loudly. "To work, ladies!" As the rustling and bustling women left for the stairs, the commanding lady turned to her. "Vanessa, dear, you'll begin with the wash first thing after this storm blows past. In the meantime, let's dress you in something that better fits your sex, eh?"

---

Vanessa stared wide-eyed into the mirror. She looked…positively odd. The simple, deep blue sundress Madame provided her was tight on her body to the waist, with a flowing skirt instead of pants, and it tied in the front instead of buttoning up. There was no satin, no lace, no velvet, no metal embroidery, but it was still fairly pretty for a dress.

It smelled musty, since it was stored in a musty place. A messy pile of discarded clothing filled the rest of the chest in the basement, which Madame explained were ripped, stained, used beyond repair, and that Vanessa was allowed to use these items to build something onto the blue dress to hide her hump and her ears. Madame held scissors she'd cut open the back of the dress with, and the hump was cold in the air, naked. "A big hood would do. For the hump I mean. See what you can do, that will be your work for the night, sleep when you want. Don't let the customers see you; you're not what they came to see. Just wait around until you're needed."

There was a sewing kit and the scissors left there with her, and she sat in a chair, laying out the ruined items on the dinner tables, alone. Footsteps sounded on the ceiling, and she smiled and giggled, running her hands over the dresses they called ruined, but she still called beautiful. She stepped out of her 'new' dress and pulled her old clothing back on. A dress form in the corner had to be adjusted in to a much thinner size to meet her fit, and she spent time sewing up the dress to fit her frame better, studying the fabrics at her disposal to make a few modifications and add a little décor. She fashioned a purple-blue velvet hood, very large, and added it to the hole in the back, loose over where her hump would be. Strips of this velvet were sewn together to make a bodice, and she took silver thread detailing from the sleeve edges of a ruined dress to trim the hood and bodice, making for a finished project that she tried on and admired in the full-length mirror on the stone wall. Tying on a ribbon-trimmed velvet head-band, she felt like a different person, but didn't want to dirty the dress before washing up. She dressed in her rags and marched up the stairs to her room.

Blushing, she peeked round the corner of the upstairs door, and hid round corners all the way down the hall to her room, quiet as a mouse – a tall, odd mouse. She was careful to follow Madame's wishes, lest she ruin this good thing.

Once inside her little cell, she ran her fingers against the soft, smooth velvet on the dress in her lap and cracked the door just so, watching the beautiful ladies walk by, usually with a smiling man beside them.

---

Vanessa woke early, but was eager to start the day. She rushed to the bathroom to bathe before the other women arose, and then dressed in her new girl's clothing. The women had slept late, having gone to sleep after Vanessa had, for certain. The house was quiet, save the yawning sounds of waking women headed to the washroom. Stepping lightly, smiling, Vanessa wandered through the main rooms, open as they were, stopping to admire herself in a mirror. If it weren't for her posture, you'd almost think she WAS normal! Leaning back into her hump, Vanessa imagined what she'd look like then…

"Vanessa, gather the linens - they're laid out in the halls where they're needed - and take them out back, then head down to the kitchen to help; you're to start the wash immediately after breakfast,; you'll find what you need there," Madame commanded, stepping down the spiral staircase in the center of the house wearing another gorgeous, jet black gown. She studied the girl, who stood awkwardly in the center of the grandiose room, and stepped past her, statuesque. "Good work on the dress, darling. You look positively human."