Cora Cartmell: The first year

Chapter 5~ A maid

The next day at dinner, Rose was very quiet.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked her.
Rose sighed.
"I've been offered a job as a maid." Rose finally said.
"That's great!" Jack exclaimed. "Why do you look so sad?"
"It's in Mouth Bedford. Across the river." Rose said. "And I would stay there for about a week, just until I see if I like it."
Jack nodded his head.
"It's okay with you?" Rose asked.
"I suppose." Jack replied.
Cora let out a few coughs, and took a big gulp of her glass of water. It was very hot and stuffy in the Tenement, and Cora has begun coughing.
"Maybe Cora could go with me." Rose said.
Cora looked up from her pile of potatoes.
Rose smiled. "Would you like to come along? We will leave tomorrow."
Cora nodded.

_____

The next day, Rose had a small case packed with two extra dresses, one for her and one for Cora, their nightgowns, and their coats.
Jack stood outside with them, with baby Josephine and William being held in his left arm.

Finally, the cab pulled up.
"Mrs. Dawson?" The man driving it asked.
"Yes?" Rose replied.
"Mrs. Ryland has sent me to pick you and your daughter up. I'm Mr.Owens."
Rose nodded her head, and turned around to kiss Jack, and then the babies. Then Cora gave Jack a huge hug, feeling tears run down her cheek. She was going to miss Jack so much while she would be away.
Jack smiled and wiped some tears off her face. He hugged her once more, and Rose helped Cora climb into the cab.

Cora stuck her hand out and waved to Jack again.

She watched him, as the cab drove away, until she couldn't see anymore. Then she sat silently and stared at her doll, as they drove down the dusty road.

______

About an hour later, the cab turned a corner, and the horses came to a stop. The driver got off the seat, and opened the door for Rose and Cora.

Cora jumped out of the car and was shocked at the size of the house. It was beautiful and white, bigger than any house Cora had seen. It was probably even bigger than the Titanic!
"We get to stay here?" Cora asked the driver.
"No miss, you'll be staying at the servant's house right there." The man said, pointing to a small cobblestone house. Cora's spirit sank a bit, but then perked up, as she saw a boy, about a couple years older than her, running with a ball.

Cora skipped over to him, and waved.
"Hi." Cora said. "I'm Cora, what's your name?"
The boy narrowed his eyes. "I'm Eddie, but aren't you the new servant girl?" He asked.
Cora nodded, and Eddie laughed.
"My mother said not to play with the servants." He said, pointing to himself before running off.

Cora felt hurt. She wanted to play with Eddie, after all, she was a child just like him, and she didn't see any difference, but she picked up her doll, and walked back over to Rose, who was settling back into the house.

The servant house was beautiful, even though it was just a small room, with two beds, with not even a table.
The beds were on the right side of the room, and three chairs in the middle.
Cora placed her doll on the bed and sat down on it, and began bouncing up and down.
Rose laughed, and took her hand. "Let's go introduce ourselves to Mrs.Ryland." She said, putting on an apron.
Cora nodded, tied her apron on, and followed Rose.

As they entered the large house, a brush of cool air rushed over her. It was much cooler here, then in the city, Cora thought, but her heart ached from missing Jack.

Rose and Cora followed a man dressed in a suit to a fancy parlor where a strict looking woman sat on a fancy chair, stitching a sampler.
"Ma'am, Mrs.Dawson and her daughter have arrived."
The women looked up at Rose and Cora, but didn't smile.
"Mhmm." She said. "You can show them where to start off, Hawkins." The women said.

As they left the Parlor, Cora looked up at Rose and said;
"Who is that?"
"Mrs.Ryland." Rose replied.

The man led them out to a courtyard, where a pile of shirts sat in a bucket.
"Cora, your task is to hang this laundry up. Once you're finished, you can come find me in the kitchen. Now I'll go show your mother her task." He said.
Cora nodded, and walked over to the bucket, and lifted a shirt out, and hung it up.
She was practically sweating, when another young girl came walking towards her with another bucket full of clothes.
The girl smiled at Cora, and Cora smiled back.
"I'm Nellie." The girl said. She had short red hair, and was wearing a brown dress with an apron over it.
"I'm Cora." Cora replied.
"Are you new here?" Nellie asked.
Cora nodded. "My mother and I are Mrs.Ryland's new maids."
Nellie smiled. "I'm here until The first day of September. I live in New York City, and during the rest of the months, I work in a factory, but the people who work at the orphanage saw that I started coughing a lot during the summer, so I've been coming here since then."
Cora was confused. "You live in an orphanage?"
She asked.
Nellie nodded. "My parents died a few years back, and my sisters and I live at The Coldrock House in New York City."
Cora nodded.
Nellie bit her Lip, and began hanging some more clothes on the clothes line.
"My real parents passed away too." Cora said.
"What happened?" Nellie asked her.
"They drowned while on the Titanic." Cora told her.
Nellie looked at Cora with sympathetic eyes, and brushed her arm.
"I heard about that tragedy, I'm so sorry." Nellie said.
Cora smiled. "It's okay." She said.

For about an hour, the two girls chatted and hung up pieces of laundry. So far Cora was enjoying being a maid.

Just as they were finishing, Mr.Hawkins, the Butler, came over to Nellie and Cora.
"Nellie-Girl." He said. "You ought to go inside and set the table for dinner."
Nellie nodded. "Yes, sir." She said. Then she turned to Cora. "Bye, see you later!"
"Bye!" Cora said, waving.
"Miss Cora, Mrs.Ryland needs you to scrub the staircase." Mr.Hawkins said, leading Cora into the house.

He pointed to a bucket filled with water, laying at the end of the wooden staircase, with a sponge sitting next to it.
"Dip the sponge into the water, and scrub each stair as much as possible. Once you are done, you can help Nellie set the table." Mr.Hawkins said.
"Yes, sir." Cora said.
She bent down on her knees and began scrubbing the staircase.

When she had scrubbed about five stairs, someone hurried past leaving muddy footprints as they went. It was Eddie
"Hey! I'm cleaning this!" Cora called.
Eddie laughed.
Cora felt anger buried up inside her, and before she could think, she threw her wet sponge at Eddie.
"Owch!" He cried.
Cora giggled, thinking no one saw her, but just then she felt a flash of pain on her arm.
She turned around and saw Mrs.Ryland standing there. She had slapped Cora on the arm.
Corn gulped.
Mrs.Ryland picked up the sponge, threw it in Cora's bucket.

Mrs.Ryland glared down at Cora.
She grabbed The top of Cora's dress, so her face was close to hers.
"You will never behave like that again." Mrs.Ryland said. "Do you understand me?"
Cora couldn't speak. She slowly nodded her head.
"I said, do you understand me?!" Mrs.Ryland said once more.
"Y- Yes. Ma'am." Cora said.
Finally, Mrs. Ryland let go of Cora's shirt and she went tumbling down to the ground.

Cora stood up and dusted herself off, and hurried to finish scrubbing the steps.

When she had finished, she hurried into the dining room to help Nellie serve dinner before Mrs.Ryland scolded her again.

After Mrs.Ryland and her children had finished eating, Nellie, and Cora collected the empty dishes, and helped Rose wash them.
Then, Nellie grabbed a piece of bread, and handed one to Cora.
Cora used a knife to butter the bread, and then she and Nellie ate it, with more haste than manners.

It was now getting dark, and Cora followed Rose back to the small servant house. As Cora was getting undressed and into her Nightgown, Rose smiled at her.
"Did you throw a sponge at Eddie Ryland?" She asked.
Cora felt embarrassment burn inside her, and felt her cheeks turn red. She nodded her head, unable to speak.
Rose laughed. "Good for you." Rose said, laughing. "Just don't ever do it again."
"I won't!" Cora said, as Rose tucked her under the soft blanket.