Shay

Shay had never sat in a tub before. She had only ever washed herself by hand. To sit in the warm water was mesmerizing. Lily soaped her hair and massaged her scalp with her fingers. The feeling made Shay cry.

"Hey now, lass. Don't cry." Lily ran her hand gently over Shay's back in an attempt to ease the hurt. "You really haven't been treated well, have you now? Don't you fret. This is a good house. You're no the first he's brought home." She chuckled at some private joke, and then said, "What's your name there?"

"Sh... Sh... Shay."

"Shay now, is it?" Lily giggled as she continued to speak, "Strange name for a girl that is," she mused, and then added, "You know, I think it suits you." She tipped some warm water over Shay's head to rinse out the suds.

"What, what's his name?" Shay stared at Lily's face; afraid she might be reprimanded for asking this question.

"You don't know his name?" Lily grinned and gave her a puzzled look. "The master's you mean?"

Shay nodded and looked up at Lily in wonderment. "Is he the king? Will he chop off my nut?"

Lily roared with laughter and shook her head. "If he was going to chop off your head, do you really think he'd waste good soap and bath water on you, lass?" Lily continued to giggle and then added, "He's not the king but he'd make a gooden. His name is Master Thomas Lytton, and mind you, you call him master when he addresses you."

Shay's face filled with fear. "The hawker said he was my master." She sucked back a quick breath and added, "Does this master beat you?"

"No, there'll be none of that here. Like I said, Master Lytton is a gooden." Lily smiled and stroked Shay's face adding, "You're a pretty wee one, aren't you? Look at them big eyes. Green as the grass they are. Too big for your little face, but they'll be grand when we fatten you up." She beamed as Shay's face lit up. "There now. And a pretty smile to go with, I see."

Shay grinned harder. No one had ever been this kind to her. "I promise I'll do as you say. I'll call him master."

"You're a dear sweet thing, aren't you? Though it's not likely you'll see much of the master. I think they'll put you in the laundry the morrow. All the new girls go to the laundry to start." Lily screwed up her face in thought as she pondered, "You're probably a wee bit small." She thought on it some more, shrugged and added, "They'll put you to work somewhere, I'm sure." Lily then pulled Shay to her feet and asked, "How old are you, lass?"

"I don't know. The sweep's wife said I was a distraction and I would bleed soon. I don't know what she meant." A frown filled Shay's face before she added, "Because I never cut myself." She swallowed and hung her head. "Then she sent me away with the hawker."

"What's going on with ya, lass? Did he do this to you?"

Shay nodded. "He let two men hurt me. They hit me, then Master Lytton came and he caught them with his whip."

"Oh..." Lily sucked in her breath. "Oh... little one. Did they...?"

Shay lifted her head and peered at Lily. "They didn't touch me. Master Lytton was happy to know they only hit me. I think I'm called a virgin but I don't know what that is either. Do you know?"

Lily let out her breath and smiled. She prepared a cotton sack to wrap around Shay's tiny frame. "It's nothing to concern yourself with, at your age. Come on. Let's get you dried, dressed and fed."

*

Mrs. Pavey put a bowl of oats in front of Shay. She thought about giving her some stew, but by the looks of the child stew might have been too rich. Best to start her with wholesome plain food until her stomach got used to eating.

As she stood watching Shay eat, she caught movement in her hair. "Lily." Pavey tilted her head in Shay's direction. "This child is full of lice. Did you not see it when you bathed her?"

"What...?" Lily parted the top of Shay's head. "Oh, my. It's going to have to go. Goodness child, you must be scratching like a madman."

Shay had her mouth stuffed with oats. She scooped another spoonful as she chewed franticly to make room for more. Staring up at the two women, she wondered if she was going to get into trouble.

"Slow down." Pavey pushed the girl's wrist down before the spoon reached her mouth. "It's not going anywhere, but in your gob, so there's no rush." She smiled because the little one looked scared. "You'll make yourself sick by eating too fast, is all."

Pavey sighed and took another look at Shay's hair. "Yes. It's going to have to go. No amount of fishberry and lard is going to get rid of that lot." Pavey patted Shay lightly on the shoulder. "Hurry up and finish that." She pointed to Shay's bowl. "When you're done eating, I'm going to have to shave that head of yours. We don't want any lice in this house." Again, she sighed adding, "It's a shame because you got a good set of hair." Pavey stroked the child's cheek with affection. "Not to worry. It'll grow back."

Shay lifted her spoon, hesitated, and then looked up at Pavey.

"Go on now, eat up." Pavey waved her on.

Crumpling her brow before shovelling the porridge into her mouth, Shay wondered if the lady wasn't quite right in the head. Slow down, hurry up. She had a person all twisted up with her commands.

A LITTLE HISTORICAL INFO.

Towels were not available to most who lived in the 1800's. Food suppliers had started to package flour, sugar and other food stuff in cotton sacks instead of wooden barrels. These sacks were tightly woven bags and were turned into useful items that could be utilized around the home, such as cloth to dry themselves with.

Also, during my research for a lice remedy, I discovered that the Georgians, 1714 to 1837, which is part of the era my story is placed, used turpentine oil as a cure for many things, lice included. They even drank the stuff and we know how dangerous that is. So, since my story is on the cusp of the Victorian era, I did a search to find other methods that were likely to have also been used by the Georgians. I found out that if Victorians were infested with head lice, they visited the local bathhouse to receive an arsenic and quicklime treatment. This treatment burnt off the hair on their entire bodies. Arsenic!! No way was I going to have that done to Shay, so I discovered another common louse treatment, a mix of Fishberry, a climbing plant from India, mixed with lard was used to combat lice, however, shaving the head had better results.

The Fishberry fruit is the source of picrotoxin, a poisonous compound, which is why they probably used it against lice.

@unknown1052000 who is a fantastic researcher might do me the honour of putting on her research cap for verification. xoxo

Photo copyright. Dreamtime.