Regenesis

Mary and Abigail - Morning

Miss Minsk walked up the path to her house, admiring how the bulbs she had planted last year were now beginning to sprout forth their first timid shoots into the spring air. Her home was a modest double fronted four-bedroom detached house dating back to the thirties, with leaded windows and a well-maintained front garden with well-tended flower beds. She opened the front door, typical of the era with a dark wooden door and door furniture set high on the frame inside a small portico, and walked into the hallway, closing the door behind her. To her right was a wooden staircase leading upstairs and surrounding her were doors to the four rooms on the ground floor. Each door had been painted white but the handle still occupied its customary place for the era, slightly higher than would be chosen nowadays. To the right, in the crook of the staircase was an imposing coat-stand with an array of formal outdoor coats on hangers and beneath it were various shoes, all neatly polished and paired against the wall. Miss Minsk removed her coat and hat and hung them neatly on her own hanger on the stand and walked to one of the doors. Downstairs was a large kitchen with dining area for 6, a large sitting room and a separate study normally off limits to the girls unless they were practising a musical instrument or one of them had been summoned for discipline. It was this room which she entered first, where stood an upright piano, a desk with a computer and various items of furniture, including two upright chairs and one more comfortable one facing the piano. There was a music stand just next to the piano and a violin lay on an open case on top of the piano. Everywhere was spic and span with not a mote of dust to be seen, and the wooden block flooring shone up reflecting the light from the French windows which gave onto the back garden. The aroma of wood polish permeated the air and gave a sense of propriety to the whole place. Dominating the room was a fireplace, with a real fire grate, a few logs piled neatly on it, but for decoration only as the time for fires had now passed. She ran her index finger along the mantelpiece and examined it for dust. Satisfied that it had been dusted properly, she bent down to examine the skirting board, and arose rubbing her index finger against her thumb to rid it of the dust she had picked up. Armed with this evidence, she strode purposefully back into the hall and stood at the foot of the stairs. "Mary, come to the study immediately please." 

"Yes, Ma'am" came the faltering reply. 

"And bring Abigail with you." 

"Yes, Ma'am."

Whispers could be heard upstairs, as Miss Minsk retreated to the study, her shoes clicking noisily across the parquet. She settled in the desk chair and began to look at some paperwork which had been neatly stacked in a pile. Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs and approaching the study, where they stopped. A faint knock was heard on the door, and Miss Minsk announced "You may come in, girls." They both stepped in and stood side by side, before curtsying in unison.

"Do you know why I have called you in, girls?"

The two girls looked at each other anxiously and shook their heads. Both were somewhere between late teens and very early twenties, and identically dressed in the kind of uniforms worn by waitresses in 50s diners, but in a more subdued but distinctly institutional dove grey, complete with frilly white apron and a white band around their heads. "I asked you a question....I expect a reply.......do you know why I called you in?"

The older of the two opened her mouth to answer, and stuttered "No, Ma'am"

"I gave you explicit instructions before I left this morning. Did you clean this room first like I told you to?"

Both girls nodded and replied in unison "Yes, Ma'am"

"And do you think you did a good job in cleaning it?"

Again the two girls looked at each other quizzically. Again the older girl spoke first. "I....I think so, Ma'am"

By now both girls were visibly shaking and the fear could be seen in their eyes. Miss Minsk rose from her desk and walked across to the other side of the room.