Henrietta

Bewitched

~Chapter Six~

Mrs. Sally stared at Ettie longer than necessary, her disgust clearly shown on her withered face. Ettie simply pressed her lips tight and tucked her hands behind her back, forcing her eyes to look beyond the old woman's glower. Her heels clattered past Henrietta and she was inwardly thankful when Mrs. Sally turned to look upon the rest of the maids. In her hands, she held a large wooden bucket. It was simply an ordinary cleaning object but to them it was the sign of torture.

Not one of them liked to get the job of scrubbing floors. It took days to clean every floor spotless at Potent Keep. Ettie could hear Heather's breathing elevate a notch as Mrs. Sally turned yet again to face them.

"Henrietta," she snipped.

Heather let out a weighty breath and relaxed her shoulders to see Mrs. Sally extend her bony long arm to Ettie. However, Henrietta had known deep down that she would be the one to take the bullet for the rest of them.

"Serves her right you know," one of them, whispered.

"Silence, or would you like to take her place?" Mrs. Sally barked out to them.

The line of cleaning maids straightened out farther and Ettie stepped forward only to have the large wooden bucket shoved into her chest.

"The ball room, make certain that it is exquisitely cleaned. I want every inch of that floor spotless child. Now go," she commanded.

Without nodding, she simply held the bucket close to her chest and headed out to the yard. The wind whistled swiftly, its chilly air cutting right through her as she followed the fading path to the well. The day seemed calm and only a few scattered leaves rustled over the dying grass. Fastening the bucket to the hook, she slowly turned the handle to lower it down for some water. She turned and turned until the rope yanked signifying that the bucket hat hit its mark. It was difficult to gather the bucket out of the well and walk inside past a few doors and into the large ballroom.

Setting the bucket unto the floor in a loud thud, she flexed her fingers, feeling the blood return to them as she gripped the gold handle and squeezed down on the latch to open it. The door simply gave a loud groan but did not budge. It had not been used since Lady Lydia had died. A great many things had not been used since her passing. Wiping the stubborn sweat off her brow she rubbed both hands together had grabbed the handle ready for the hard impact her shoulder would take.

Seizing a deep breath, she squeezed down hard on the latch and let her body weight thrash hard against the door. It finally opened as dust rose finding refuge inside her nose and throat. She coughed out of reaction and swatted away the remaining dust in the air. Stepping inside she jumped to hear the heavy door close once again. The large ballroom was vacant of any tables, or decorations. It simply stood hollow and cold, with only the dust to settle over its large pillars and expensive marbled floor.

With silent steps, she made her way in deeper and stood at the center of the great room. Spider webs covered the large azure drapes, while only a small ray of light pooled into the ballroom. Nearing the windows, she gently unlatched them from the bottom struggling only a moment to pull them open. The chilly air gushed in and the sting of the cold enveloped her as she went about opening the rest of the large elongated glass windows. She had a very long day ahead of her.

***

Ettie wiped the sweat off her brow and flexed her fingers as she dipped her hands back into the bucket pulling the cloth from the murky brown water. Mrs. Sally always upheld her word and now she was determined more than ever to keep Ettie as far away from Henry as possible. Henrietta could not hate the old woman; she had absolutely no clue why Master Potent wanted Ettie away from his son. All she ever did was simply follow orders.