'STARS HANG FOR PENELOPE'

|Chapter 2|

She starred dead into lively blue pools.

       She could see bits and pieces of firey bullets making their way through. The fire of anger almost reminded her of something, but it was irrelevant at the moment. She needed to remember how to breathe.  She felt as if her lungs suddenly grew wings and flew out of her rib cage.
       The middle aged Caucasian woman continued to stand there, tapping her foot impatiently. Penelope wanted to explain she wasn't a little troubled child but refrained for obvious reasons. She was already hanging from a thin string. And her observing the woman with a cat tongue wasn't helping. *'I should form some words'*, she thought. Her mouth did nothing still.
         The woman was very attractive. You could easily tell she was another Elizabeth Taylor in her younger years. She had unruly curls of shiny, yellow blonde hair; which was pulled into a messy bun. Her face was almond and slim, with a long neck attached. Pink plump lips, long lashes and flawless natural skin. She wore a beautiful green gown, with brown buttons, that flowed against her curves effortlessly. Penelope always wondered how an angel could walk the earth so close to her.
      "Didn't ya hear me girl? Why are you out here?" She was about to explode. Penelope had to think fast.
       " I was checking on the horse ma'am. Making sure 'ole sue was doing alright. I apologize for not informing you." She lowered her head to show her sincerity.
     " Also for not getting my permission..."
     " Yes ma'am" the woman nodded then looked towards the ground. She raised a brow.
      "Why do you have that wagon?"
Penelope was dumbfounded. She bit her lip.
        "That's my wagon that I let Jesse pull at the market! Completely off limits!"
        "Sorry Ma'am..." Penelope mumbled.

The woman held her hand up and told her to leave it where it was then come inside. Penelope let out a deep exhale, obeying quickly.  She dusted off her clothes and smoothed the wrinkles in her dress, patting her fro, before making her way into the house. She looked back and sent Mr. Mosley one more kind smile in response to his guilty one, before the wooden door slammed shut.
      "Go into the kitchen and help with dinner Penelope" the woman ordered before disappearing up the stairs.
    Penelope rolled her eyes in annoyance, before heading towards the gigantic kitchen. The kitchen was very old, and wooden like the rest of the house. It still held an elegant charm, with the wood being polished and smooth, along with a beautiful chandler hanging from the ceiling. Penelope thought that detail was a bit too much for her taste. Not that anyone would notice, with the mess currently taking up the kitchen covering it's beauty. Flour covered the counters and floor, along with pieces of chopped vegetables and pieces of rice. Penelope chuckled and looked to the woman she knew made the mess.
      "Mr. Mosley should see this great masterpiece"
       "Oh shush it nelly, why don't you start on the clean up?" The woman looked over her shoulder with an easy smile. She had white power contrasting against her mocha skin.
       " Do I get to get the left over batter from the cake?" She gave a toothy grin.
       "We'll see, now hop to it!"
        " Roger that Mama M" she saluted.
      She walked towards the small closet on the other side of the kitchen where the cleaning supplies was kept. *Broom, Mop, Duster, Rags, Soap Bars, Bucket*. She decided to sweep first.
     She grasped the small, wooden broom and dragged it over to the area closest to the slaving woman. She went with the flow of the silence for a while, moving the broom back and forth as needed to rid the mess. While doing so, her mind began to drift off to the times of her childhood, or the time before she was brought to the property. She realized it wasn't really a childhood once she saw how jess, and other children she's seen, were treated. The woman of her past memories wasn't much of a mother as a guardian angel. The woman taught her how to play her role in this life and that her past family wasn't worth remembering. She could remember being so bitter for a while, not being able to do what others did. Whether she was still or had mixed emotions didn't matter; that woman saved her life.
  '*Oh Penelope, you're going to be such a great girl....such a sweet little servant girl*.'