"There aren't too many light duties you can do that don't involve standing, Rosie. For today, you'll just have to peel and cut the potatoes and carrots until I can think of something else," Miss Jenkins said.

She stood with a cloth flung over one shoulder, one arm gripping the back of a chair whilst the other rested on her hip. Esther had been right about one thing, she had been none too happy about it. Even as we approached the kitchen, we could hear her voice as her and Doctor Ealing had a discussion over the best way to approach the situation. Neither of them seemed to happy with the idea and I knew Miss Jenkins had been frustrated with my shoulder injury, this would be a whole other type of frustration. Not being able to use one arm was bad enough, not being able to walk made it impossible to find any jobs I could do around the house.

I had already been on thin ice, now that ice had started to crack and splinter beneath me and it was only a matter of time before it all shattered and I was left to drown with no one to save me.

"Yes, Miss Jenkins," I said, digging my nails into the wood of the table.

"Any idea how long you'll be out for?"

"Doctor Ealing didn't say."

"Great, another hoop to jump through," Miss Jenkins muttered.

I watched as she tore the cloth off her shoulder and threw it across the kitchen where it slid over the top of the counter and fell against the wall. She turned her back towards the counter and grabbed a bowl full of carrots, an empty bowl and a knife before sliding them across the table towards me. She then turned away from me and started to prepare the pie for the family supper whilst I started to peel the carrots. Miss Jenkins didn't even look at me as she worked, and I didn't blame her in the slightest.

Everything that had happened, had happened very quickly and in a very short period. The six months previously had flown by without incident and then Matthew turned up and it all went downhill rather quickly. I didn't blame Miss Jenkins being mad at me, I didn't blame Doctor Ealing for being mad at me. In truth, I was surprised to still have a position in the household after everything that had gone wrong. If Doctor Ealing turned me out without a reference I wouldn't be surprised, and I wouldn't so much as complain. Mrs Ealing would finally get what she wanted and as time went on, the more I knew it would happen.

It wouldn't take long before both Doctor Ealing and Miss Jenkins realised that I was doing more harm than good in the position I held. Why they came to that realisation, and I had no doubt that they would, Mrs Ealing would have gotten her way and I would be without a job. Although I hoped they wouldn't come to that conclusion, with the way everything seemed to be going, it certainly looked that way. My knee injury was just another obstacle to contend with after the countless others that had cropped up during the past few weeks. There were only so many obstacles the Ealing's would work through before it became too much, and they may have reached that tipping point.

"What are you doing down here?" Miss Jenkins said. She glanced towards the door as she moved across the kitchen.

"I came to get a glass of water, I also wondered if I could have a word with Rosie. It won't take long," Matilda said.

"If you must." Miss Jenkins sighed loudly and gestured Matilda into the room before turning and slipping through the door. Her footsteps echoed down the hallway towards the privy as she left Matilda and me on our own.

"She's not very happy," Matilda said, crossing the room and taking a seat in the chair next to me.

"She has every reason to. I've only been back at work after the influenza for a little while and now this. It's a miracle I'm still here," I said.

"You're a hard worker, despite all of this. Father knows that they all do."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I heard Father and Robert talking earlier, both of them seem to think you were lying about how you got the injury. Father said it looks like you've been struck, but the only other person in that room was Mother. They've no doubt reached the same conclusion I have and yet you refuse to say anything. Why?"

"I didn't lie."

"Rosie, I'm not an idiot and neither are they."

"It's the truth. I walked into a table and that's the end of it. No theories, no conclusions to be drawn from it. Nothing. It was an accident and there was nothing more too it than that. You can believe what you want but I didn't lie to anyone."

I didn't mean to snap. It just came out. All Matilda wanted me to do was confess that I had lied to Doctor Ealing, that Mrs Ealing had been the one to hit me on the knee. Only I couldn't do it. They may have figured it out or believed they knew the truth, but I would never admit to that fact. Mrs Ealing would punish me if I dare mention it yet couldn't if they had been the ones to figure it out themselves. Lying seemed like the only option I had to keep myself out of trouble and my head down until my knee recovered and hoping everything would blow over within a few days. With my luck, that didn't seem possible.

"Alright, I won't pry any further. Father and Robert are going to draw their own conclusions about what happened, you know that. You have a choice. You can tell them what really happened, or you can allow them to come up with an idea of what happened that may end up causing more harm than good. We both know that keeping a lie going for a prolonged period of time is only going to end in trouble."

"I told the truth, if they don't want to believe it then that's their choice. It's nothing to do with me."

"Alright, suit yourself. Just know that this isn't going away, no matter how much you may want it to."

I watched as Matilda pushed herself up from the table, grabbed a glass from the draining board and filled it with water. She then proceeded to fill the glass with water before slipping out of the kitchen. I listened to her footsteps as they echoed up the stairs and faded away until the only sound in the room was my own voice and the wind battering against the window just outside. Groaning to myself, I threw a cloth across the room and watched it fall to the floor in a heap. I dropped the knife onto the table and slumped back against the chair, running my hands over my face.

Matilda was right, I knew that. Whether I told them the truth or not, Robert and Doctor Ealing were bound to come up with their own ideas of what happened, and I couldn't change that. I doubted that even telling the truth would stop the whirlwind from spiralling out of control. If I told the truth, it would only confirm their suspicions and make the matter that much worse. Nothing I could do or say would stop it all from coming down around me. For six months things felt as though they were finally returning to a state of normalcy but that had long since ended.

As time went on, the idea of leaving it all behind seemed like the best option. When I had agreed to take the trial position all those months ago, I thought it would be permanent. A job I could do that felt so different from the factory, so different from the past seven years of my life. Yet now I felt as though I was right back there. Wanting to leave and run from it all and to find a fresh start somewhere else. Perhaps Matthew making a reappearance in my life had been for the good; I had somewhere to go when I discovered I couldn't do it anymore. Matthew had even suggested I live with him.

Leaving seemed like the best way to escape it all and if Matthew was on board, very few questions would be asked. I just didn't know how to break the news to Robert, if he would ever talk to me again over how I acted. Even if leaving would be the best thing for me in the long run, I doubted anyone else would see it that way.

"Where's Miss Jenkins?" Esther asked as she dumped a pile of laundry into a basket next to the back door.

"She went towards the privy a little earlier on," I replied.

"Oh, right. Did I see Matilda just now or were my eyes deceiving me?"

"No, it was her. She was asking questions about earlier on. Apparently, Robert and Doctor Ealing have come to their own conclusions over what happened, and no one thinks I'm telling the truth about it."

"Ah. I thought I heard raised voices when I was collecting the laundry."

"You don't think I was lying, right?"

"It's not my position to say."

"As a friend, do you believe me?"

"I don't know, Rosie, I really don't. I know what Master Robert and Doctor Ealing believe to have happened and I'm not one to point fingers or make assumptions. Even if I'm not a Doctor, even I saw the mark on the back of your leg and as someone who has walked into tables countless times in the past, I know that you don't get a mark like that. Whatever happened is your business and I'm not going to turn around and tell you how you should be handling it. As your friend, I think you need to tell them about everything. Not just whatever may have happened today, but everything that has happened between you and Mrs Ealing over the past few weeks."

"I can't do that, you know I can't."

"So you've said. It's your decision to make."

Esther shrugged her shoulders and grabbed the basket of laundry, tucking it under her arm and resting it on her hip. She then left me alone with the bowl of carrots, a bowl of carrot peel and the knife. Sighing, I slammed the knife down on the table and pulled my bonnet off my head and dropping it in front of me. I ran my fingers through my hair and pulled loose strands out of the knot at the back of my head. They fell in front of my face and I left them there, my eyes fixated on a small burn mark on the table in front of me.

It felt as though I was just going around in circles trying to figure out the best way to face the situation head-on. At the factory, we accepted what had been thrown our way, no matter what it may have been. We dealt with every situation as it came, and we knew no one would trust us no matter how much evidence we showed them. It took the fire and Isabel's death for people to see what was really going on inside those gates. Telling Doctor Ealing the truth about what had happened, not only with the cane but everything else would only end badly and even with their assumptions I didn't think they would believe all of it. It would Mrs Ealing against me, a servant who had lied to them in the past. I couldn't win this one.

Sighing to myself, I left the bonnet on the table and grabbed the knife to continue with the job I had been asked to do. I didn't want Miss Jenkins to dislike me any more than she already did by not completing the work she had asked me to do when she left. Using the knife, I set about peeling the rest of the carrots, dropping the peel into the other bowl and leaving the carrots on the side. As I worked, Miss Jenkins reappeared from wherever she may have been and started to finish the supper preparations for that evening. She took the completed carrots away from me whilst I made my way through the ones that would serve as our supper.

"Tomorrow morning you can shell the peas for the supper. Mrs Ealing has asked for a light luncheon of sandwiches so you can help prepare those as well," she said.

"Yes, Miss Jenkins."

"It'll be tasks like that until Doctor Ealing gives you the all-clear on that knee. There isn't too much you can do without standing up, so it'll be kitchen duty."

"That's fine."

"I'm glad you think so," she mumbled.

Miss Jenkins turned away from me and continued on with preparations for supper whilst I peeled the rest of the carrots. As we both worked, Miss Jenkins found any means necessary to not look at me. Her eyes darted up to the ceiling when she turned to face me, and she never looked at me for longer than a second if she could help it. I knew her dislike for me was growing. I knew she didn't want me hovering around the kitchen for however long it took for my knee to heal properly. All the times Mrs Ealing had forced me to spend my workday in the kitchen had been enough of me for Miss Jenkins to bear. This would just tip her over the edge.

I finished peeling the remainder of the carrots, dumping the peelings into a bowl and leaving the carrots on the board for Miss Jenkins to deal with. Not wanting to interrupt her as she worked, I stayed seated at the table and gripped onto the knife handle whilst staring blankly at the wooden board in front of me. The carrot had the stained the board a funny orange colour and the tips of my fingers had been dyed slightly. I placed the handle of the knife onto the board and pressed it against the wood. Resting one finger on the blade of the knife, I pressed it as hard as I could into the chopping board.

"If you can manage it, you can take the peelings out to Samuel. I'm sure he can find something to do with it," Miss Jenkins said. She had spoken so suddenly, that I had jumped and sliced my finger along the side of the knife.

"Yes, Miss Jenkins," I said.

Dropping the knife on the table, I sucked the cut on my thumb, so I didn't get any blood on my dress. I used the cane to push myself up to a standing position before grabbing the bowl of carrot peel from the table. Blood continued to trickle from the cut on my finger as I hobbled across the room and pushed open the back door. Miss Jenkins usually kept it open with a brick and even with the bad weather creeping up behind us she had left it open. With the bowl in one hand and the cane in the other, I stepped out into the grounds and followed the gravel path towards the vegetable patch.

Blood trickled from my finger and dropped onto the gravel beneath me as I followed the path. I spotted Samuel leaning over his vegetable patch with a spade in hand as he dug away at whatever might have been lurking beneath. I had never been much of a gardener, having not seen one in seven years, but I didn't think it was possible to grow anything when it rained as much as it did in Winter. Watching him work, I wondered if there was any point with digging up ground that would become waterlogged within a matter of days.

"Hello, Samuel," I said. I nudge the gate open with my foot and shuffled into the vegetable garden.

"What happened to you?" he asked, leaning against the top of his spade.

"I walked into the back of a table, it should be alright in a few days."

"May I ask what's in the bowl?"

"Carrot peelings, Miss Jenkins thought you could find a use for them." I lifted the bowl out towards him.

"I'm sure the horses will enjoy them. Did you really walk into a table?"

"Yes, though Doctor Ealing and Robert don't seem to believe me."

"I'm sure they have their reasons, Rosie. From experience, you usually don't end up needing a cane to walk if you simply walk into a table."

I knew I couldn't lie to Samuel. He had been the only person to figure out the truth behind my burn and he never asked any more question than necessary. He had allowed me to hide out in the stables after Isabel died and just left me to it rather than get me to talk about it all. Lying to him just didn't feel right after everything he had done for me. I knew telling him would be best, that at least someone would know, but I didn't want him to have to carry that information around with him. Telling the truth to him made sense, but I didn't know if I could stand it if he had to carry the burden of that information around with him.

"I can't tell you the truth. You wouldn't believe me anyway," I mumbled.

"Humour me." Samuel leant his spade against the small wall that encompassed the vegetable patch. Sighing, I leant back against it and rested the grip of the cane in my hands.

"Mrs Ealing struck me with a cane."

"You have to tell them, to stop her doing it again."

"I doubt that will do anything." I paused. "Matthew has said I could live with him if I wanted to leave service."

"What will you do?"

"I don't know. They have done so much for me and I don't want to disappoint them, but after what Mrs Ealing did, I don't know If I can bear it anymore."

"You have to do what's best for you, Rosie."

"So everyone keeps telling me."

"You should get back to the kitchens before Miss Jenkins strings me up for taking away too much of your time."

"I highly doubt she's fussed."

"Come on, off you go."

Samuel nudged my foot with his as he pushed himself off the wall and grabbed onto his spade to begin his work. I sighed to myself and used the cane to stand back up. Leaving the bowl on the side on the wall, I nudged the gate open with my foot and followed the gravel path back up towards the house.

Nudging open the door to the kitchen, Miss Jenkins stood with her hands pressed into the back of her chair. Her knuckles were turning white as she caught sight of me entering the room. Esther glanced at me from the corner of her eye but didn't say anything. Both looked nerves.

"What's going on?"

"Mrs Ealing is in your room, she seems to think you're hiding something."

~~~

A/N - We are back! Honestly, it was a little bit of a shock to see we were up to Chapter Twenty-Nine whilst I'm working on Chapter Thirty-Three, but we knew this was coming... I'm working on having a cover made so I should be able to release that soon.

Also, we are sooo close to getting 10K on TSG, literally like 500 reads away. To get that by the end of the year would be a dream!

Question time! Do you think Samuel will keep the news about what actually happened to himself? Do you think Rosie was right to tell him or to snap at Matilda Also, predictions on the end?

Comment below!

Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to hgjluvkwrld who is starting to make their way through TSG! It's good to see you xD

First Published - December 3rd, 2019