Chef, nodded and the whole staff firmly but quietly so it would not be heard in the dining room said "Happy Birthday First Miss."
Abigail could not help herself but smile before quietly saying "Thank you all."
Before anyone could say anything Butler Du, walked into the kitchen and snapped out "Everyone, get back to work, and you," pointing at Abigail, "Get over here now."
Abigail looked at Chef, and slightly shook her head before following the direction of Butler Du. It was obvious that he was already angry. Having already experienced his explosive temper twice before, Abigail had learnt her lesson and did not want to deal with it again. Moving towards him, she took the apron that was handed to her and slipped it over her neck and was finishing tying it around her back as she stopped in front of Butler Du.
Calmly while looking at Butler Du, Abigail said "Yes."
Before she could react, Butler Du slapped her across the face, before pushing her backwards into the corner of a bench behind her, which caused Abigail to fall to the ground. Within seconds Butler Du, kicked her five times, before picking up a jug and dousing her with water. "The young miss told me to tell you that, that is just a taste of the punishment that you will receive today for what you did."
Resisting the temptation to talk back to Butler Du, Abigail pulled herself to her feet, before looking him in the eyes and saying "Yes…"
Another slap hit her face, before Butler Du said "That is another thing. The young miss, told me to tell you, the correct address for me is Mister Butler."
Looking at the ground, Abigail said "Yes Mister Butler."
Abigail looked surreptitiously at Butler Du as he looked at the staff, before saying "The Master and Madam wanted me to make this absolutely clear to all staff that this person it not to celebrate her so called birthday. It is the Young Miss's birthday. If I hear another word said to this piece of trash about her so called birthday, I will follow the Master and Madam's directive and you will be immediately fired and required to leave within thirty minutes. You will be escorted from the property at the conclusion of that time, with what you have packed. Anything not packed remains."
Silence filled the room, before Butler Du said "Do you understand me!"
The chorus of "Yes Butler" from all the kitchen staff filled the room.
Abigail noticed the smile reach Butler Du's face, before he said "Now, go and wish the Young Miss Happy birthday and present the staff gifts to her. I have arranged that your share of the gift will be deducted from this month's salary."
Butler Du paused for a couple of seconds before he turned back and looked at Abigail stating "Now the Master wants breakfast served within twenty minutes, so the Young Miss has sufficient time to eat before she goes to school. Madam also told me to make sure that you do everything yourself, and if it is not to the Young Miss's standard, you can forget about receiving the money, which I say you do not deserve to receive from them for your meals for the next two weeks at school. And Finally, the Young Miss wants to know where you have put her homework that you needed to complete for her."
Resisting the temptation to close her eyes, Abigail responded, even calmly for her "Yes Butler. The breakfast for the family will be ready as requested. And I finalised the Young Miss's homework and left it in her study for her to collect."
Pausing for the briefest time, Abigail continued "Now Please let me go and arrange for the breakfasts…"
Butler Du, slapped Abigail again before turning and walking out of the kitchen. All Abigail wanted to do, because the kicks and slaps from Butler Du, were in the exact same location as her so-called sister and father had hit her, but this time harder. The pain was almost unbearable, but there was no way that she wanted to go hungry for the next two weeks at school, because it was the only decent meal that she had during the week.
Having taken the time, before dragging herself to her room where she had observed the shooting star before falling exhausted into bed, to have done most of the preparation work, Abigail moved to the refrigerator and removed all the prepared items placing them on the workbenches. The one thing that Butler Du had not realised is that the kitchen staff had placed out the pots and pans that she would need.
Within minutes she had the pots simmering with porridge, eggs for hard boiled eggs, toast sitting beside the toaster ready to toast at the last minute, and the griddle from cooking bacon, sitting on the stove heating up, while she finished assembling the fruit salad.