The Last Train Home

Chapter Twelve

"Don't you go tipping that water all over yourself. The last thing I want is water being trapped through the house," Mrs Goodwin said, eying up the pail of water Mr Goodwin had just filled.

"Not to worry, Barb. Sybil's going to be doing the lower windows."

"I wasn't talking about Sybil." Mrs Goodwin glared at her husband and then glanced towards the wooden ladder that he intended to scale to clean the upper windows.

"Have some faith, we'll get these windows clean in no time."

Mrs Goodwin didn't appear all that sure about his comment and pursed her lips, looking at her husband. I ducked my head to keep from laughing and tried to distract myself with getting my sponges and dusters ready for the task ahead. Since I had a select number of clothes until Mum's package arrived, Mrs Goodwin had forced me to wear a flowered apron to ensure I didn't get dirty or soaked. At least it had pockets which gave me the perfect place to store my dusters. Other than that, I looked like a housewife.

Under Mrs Goodwin's watchful eye, we started a task that both of us knew would take most of the day to complete. A thick layer of dust and mud-coated the outside of the windows and would take a good deal of scrubbing to remove. Whilst we worked outside, Mrs Goodwin would be going through and cleaning the inside windows to allow for more light to flood the inside of the house. At least with cleaning the windows it wouldn't look like the curtains are closed all the time even though it's obvious they're not.

I started with one of the windows that looked directly on the stairs as Mr Goodwin climbed the ladder to start on a window to his bedroom. After dipping the sponge in the water, I dragged it across the front of the window and cringed at the amount of mud and dirt that came off. My pail of water would need to be emptied every few minutes. It took several sweeps across with the sponge until I could see into the staircase, although there was still dust on the inside of the pane I could see the steps for the first time. Muddy water dripped down my arm and I was thankful for the apron since it protected my blouse.

Once the mud and dirt had been scraped off with the sponge, I moved onto the duster which I kept tucked away in my pocket. With it, I worked on removing any streaks from the water as well as the small muddy droplets that the sponge had left behind. With a good bit of pressure on the duster, I removed most, if not all of the grim and marks left by the water. Although I had only done one window, my shoulder ached and I flexed my wrist to stop any cramp from setting in. By the time we finished, I didn't think I would be able to even lift my arm over my head.

"You alright down there?" Mr Goodwin called from above. He readjusted his cap and looked down at me.

"I think I've done the first one," I said, rotating my shoulder to try and loosen it up a little.

"Plenty more to go! If you need to take a break at any point, go ahead. Don't go hurting yourself, now."

"I think I slept funny, it'll be fine once I get into the swing of it."

"Just be careful, we don't want to be sending half of you home when this war ends." Mr Goodwin laughed and slammed his sponge against the wall, sending a splatter of water across not only him but me as well. "Oops, sorry!"

"I'm moving away from you," I said, laughing. "I want to stay dry."

"Probably for the best or I might drop the entire bucket on your head and then we'll both be in trouble."

Mr Goodwin laughed and I grabbed my pail of slightly muddy water from beside me and moved in the opposite direction to the ladder. We were likely going to cross paths again the more windows we did, but at least I could avoid having a bucket on my head for a little while. Mrs Goodwin wouldn't be all that impressed with me if she saw me covered in water even if it had been her husband's fault rather than my own. If it could be avoided, then I was at least going to try.