Two days had passed. Ruth had neither found work for her, nor she had bought Mrs Payne's medicines. She kept giving excuses like- 'Oh, I am so sorry, Mrs Payne, I forgot!', or 'The physician was not available.
She covered her ears when Mrs Payne coughed badly during the nights. Tears beat her will and streamed down her eyes now and then.
The money she had saved was getting exhausted with the speed of the running horse. In the next couple of days, she would remain with no penny in hand, no food on her plate and a tonne of guilt and disappointment in her heart.
Thea kept persisting about the job in 'the great manor'. But Ruth had already made her mind and would tell Thea straight NO.
However, with the passing time, the foundation of her resolve started cracking like the black soil cracked in the summer, due to lack of moisture.
