Effie

Chapter Twenty-Two

Effie was almost done with planting the flowers when Miss Murphey came out and grabbed her arm. Effie - scared - stumbled getting up and twisted her ankle in the process. Tears threatened to break through, but she wouldn't let herself cry in front of Miss Murphey.

Miss Murphey looked down at the flowers and shook her head. "You should be done already," she snapped.

Effie looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry, it's been a while since-" She stopped when she felt a sharp sting on her cheek and her head flying to one side. Effie stared wide-eyed at Miss Murphey. She just slapped her. Effie placed a hand over her throbbing cheek.

Don't cry, she repeated to herself. Don't cry. She bit the inside of her cheek to prevent her from crying.

"Don't speak with no permission! Do you understand me?"

Effie nodded slowly.

Miss Murphey smirked. "Good." She let go of Effie's arm. "Finish up. I want to be able to get rid of you early today." She grabbed the back of Effie's dress and pushed her to the ground.

Effie scrapped her knees and hands and knew that a few tiny rocks were lodged in them, but she didn't care. She was more afraid of Miss Murphey right now than a few unimportant rocks. She picked up her trowel and began to dig another hole. She worked faster than she was before from fear of what Miss Murphey would do to her if she didn't.

Finally, after another hour and a half, Effie was finished. Effie looked up at the sky and was happy to see the sun halfway down the sky. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and stood up to look over where Miss Murphey was standing with her arms crossed. Miss Murphey nodded.

"Good." She walked over and grabbed her arm. "Let's go!" She pulled her back into the building and into the dining room.

Just like at breakfast, Effie was sat at the back table and given another bowl of porridge. It looked worse than in the morning, but Effie didn't care. She quickly finished the porridge and waited until Miss Murphey noticed that she was done.

Miss Murphey came back to her and grabbed her arm. She pulled Effie up the stairs and pushed her into her room. She locked her door and left Effie sitting in the middle of her room.

Effie looked down at her hands and knees and saw blood drying. She whimpered and pushed her dress down over her knees so she couldn't see the blood. She hated feeling the dirt being caked underneath her fingernails. She hated feeling grimy. She needed a good bath but was afraid to ask for one.

Effie eventually stood up and laid down on her bed. She tried to close her eyes and fall asleep, but she couldn't. Suddenly, her door flew open and she saw Miss Murphey standing there.

She was not happy.

She stomped over to Effie and pulled her from the bed. She took her down the stairs and outside and led her over to where a large empty field was.

Effie saw two bodies laying side by side and gagged at the smell of rotting flesh. When she came closer, her eyes widened as she took in the scene. There were two shovels and two girls - dead. Effie noticed that they must have been dead for a while from the color of their skin and the smell. Effie hadn't realized that she stopped until Miss Murphey pushed her forward.

Miss Murphey grabbed one of the shovels and handed it to Effie. "Six feet. Got it? Now get digging."

Effie gripped the shovel tighter and turned to look at the body before her. She gagged and covered her nose and mouth to hopefully block the smell. She was pushed forward and was told to begin digging.

She choked down her tears that threatened to fall and pushed the shovel down into the ground. She dug for a long time until she was certain that the hole was six feet deep. She pulled herself out of the hole and looked at Miss Murphey. Her shoulders were aching and her legs felt as if they could buckle underneath her at any time.

Miss Murphey came over to her and looked down into the hole. She gave a satisfying nod and turned to Effie. "Put it in the hole," she told her while pointing to one of the dead bodies.

Effie looked at the body with horror. She was not about to touch a dead body. If she did, she was sure she would throw up. Effie heard Miss Murphey huff and push her closer to the body.

"Pick it up or you will be the one in the hole," she threatened in her ear.

Effie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She groped around for the body and grabbed onto something - maybe the body's arm. She pulled it backward and felt around behind her for the edge of the hole. When she found it, she pushed the body over the edge and opened her eyes when she heard a thump.

Effie refrained herself from gagging when she looked down at the disfigured figure below. Effie quickly grabbed the shovel and rapidly stuffed the dirt back into the hole and over the body. It took her shorter than before, but eventually the hole was filled and Effie's job was done.

Miss Murphey had a smirk on her face and grabbed Effie's arm. "You're done for now. It's even later than when I want to be in bed. Let's go. You'll finish the job tomorrow." She pulled her back into the building and into her room. Miss Murphey closed the door behind her and once again, Effie was alone.

Effie waited a couple of moments to make sure that Miss Murphey - or any of the other workers - didn't come into the room. She walked over to her bed and laid down. She gagged at the rotting smell that lingered on her, but there was nothing she could do about it. She closed her eyes and after a while, fell into a fitful sleep.