“We lived on the street for a few days, until they found us and made us go back to the workhouse.”
“May I ask how you ended up in the orphanage?”
Sarah pressed her lips together. “Rebecca used to have these terrible night terrors, waking the whole workhouse, and they didn’t know what to do with her,” she shared. “A few months ago, we were told that we were being sent to an orphanage.”
“Do you enjoy living here?”
“I do, since no one beats us here,” Sarah said. “I don’t mind all the chores, either. It’s better than what they made us do at the workhouse.”
“I know you are being trained as a scullery maid, but is that what you want to do?”
Sarah gave her a baffled look. “What else would I do?”
After exchanging a look with Mrs. Peters, Georgie asked, “What if I could teach you the skills to work as a lady’s maid?”
With a shake of her head, Sarah replied, “That is much too grand for someone like me.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Mrs. Hughes says if I am lucky I could one day work upstairs as a maid,” Sarah said, glancing down at her calloused hands. “But she says I need to keep my head down and get to work.”
“What if I taught you how to read?”
Sarah’s eyes shot up. “Do you mean it?”
“I do,” Georgie replied. “I want to teach all the girls here to read, assuming they want to learn.”
“I want to learn!” Sarah exclaimed.
Georgie smiled at the girl’s enthusiasm. “We can begin right away, but it might take some time before we acquire books.”
“A lady in the workhouse had a book, and she used to read to everyone at night by the hearth,” Sarah said. “She would read it over and over, but we didn’t mind.”
“Perhaps you will be reading your own book soon enough.”
Sarah’s eyes lit up. “I can’t wait to tell Rebecca. She will be so excited!”
Her words had barely left her mouth when Mrs. Hughes’s critical voice came from the doorway. “What is going on here?”
Sarah jumped up from her seat with a panicked look on her face. “I was just about to clean the floor,” she said, walking swiftly over to retrieve the bucket.
Mrs. Hughes frowned. “It appears as if you were dawdling, and you know the punishment for that.”
“More chores,” Sarah murmured.
Georgie felt compassion well up inside of her for the girl. “Do not fault Sarah. I asked her to take a break so I could become acquainted with her.”
“Why would you do such a thing?” Mrs. Hughes asked. “The girls are on a tight schedule and must complete their chores before supper.”
“When do the girls get to play?”
Mrs. Hughes laughed dryly. “There is no time to play.”
“Even for the little children?”
“Everyone is expected to contribute to the household, no matter their age.”
Georgie’s eyes roamed the kitchen floor. “The orphanage is clean and orderly. Surely the girls should be rewarded for their hard work.”
