Page 19 of The Silent Songbird

“Mother, she can’t—”

“I am aware that she cannot speak. Eva, do you cook?”

She shook her head.

“Do you sew?”

Evangeline nodded, then shrugged. How could she tell her that she embroidered pictures on tapestries but had never done any mending and did not know how to make even the simplest article of clothing? Evangeline had to shake her head.

“Have you ever worked in a dairy, separating the milk and churning butter?”

Evangeline bit her lip. She had never done anything except read books, hunt, sing, and embroider. What kind of servant would she be? Would they send her away?

“No matter. We will find something for you to do.” Lady le Wyse smiled kindly at her.

“I shall see you later, then.” Westley stepped forward, bent, and kissed his mother on the cheek. He nodded to Evangeline. “Mother will take care of you.” He gave her a reassuring smile and walked away.

“And do not worry about the reeve,” she said quietly, for Evangeline’s ears only. “We are bandaging the scratch on his side and he should be perfectly well.”

Evangeline expelled a breath of gratitude.

They walked through the house and out the back door to a stone kitchen a few feet away. Inside, a woman held a large piece of some kind of bloody raw meat. “Lady le Wyse, good morning to you.”

“Golda, this is a new helper, Eva. Eva, this is our head cook, Golda.” Two other maidens working in the kitchen turned theirattention to Lady le Wyse. “Eva does not speak, but she hears and understands what you say to her. Do you have some work she can do?”

“Can she shell peas?”

Lady le Wyse looked at Evangeline. How difficult could it be? At least she couldn’t hurt anyone with a pea pod.

Evangeline smiled and nodded.

After getting Evangeline a basket of peas, Golda cocked her head to one side to indicate the door since her hands were occupied. “Lora, show her where the others are shelling.”

A maiden with brown hair tied with a gray piece of wool and small eyes put down her knife and left the vegetables she was chopping. She motioned for Evangeline to follow her outside.

Out in the sun, Lora led Evangeline around the side of the kitchen. “Why can’t you talk?”

Evangeline pointed at her throat and shook her head.

“Did you get your tongue cut out?”

Evangeline shook her head.

Lora headed toward a large shaded area. Three maidens, one of whom was Nicola, sat on stools while Sabina hovered nearby, smirking, and eyed Evangeline as they drew closer. Then Sabina drew an unoccupied stool up and sat beside one of the servants. Lora only stared for a moment, then walked back toward the kitchen.

“Everyone, this is Eva. She just arrived last night, and she can’t talk. I think she can hear what we say, but she can’t say a word.” Sabina spoke with a gleam in her eye, as if Evangeline were not even present.

“Westley brought her back with him. I suppose he felt sorry for her.” Sabina said the words in a hushed tone.

Evangeline sat on the stool, holding her head up as her spine stiffened. The other girls stared at her with wide eyes. She looked down at the basket of peas in her lap, picked up a pod, and stared at it.

“Should we ask her if she sliced off Reeve Folsham’s ear?” a blonde maiden asked.

“It wasn’t his ear, Cecily,” a dark-haired maiden said, and they laughed raucously.

Evangeline’s cheeks burned as she fumbled with a pea pod.

“You are all being rude.” Nicola, who sat on the other side of Evangeline, spoke up. “How would you feel if someone was laughing at you while you were sitting there listening?” She turned toward Evangeline. “Don’t pay them any attention.”