"Vanessa? You are not prepared? Are you not going to the office?" Grace asked as she sat next to me
"l am not feeling too well Grace"
"Why? What will Lord Quinn say?"
"Grace, my health comes first. If they want to punish me then they are free" l replied stubbornly
"l support you dear. l promise a word about this will not get to Lady Quinn. She will not know you are around because if words get out, she will only look for ways to make you work"
"Thank you Grace. I owe you one for this" l said weakly, forcing a smile
"And why are you not going to the office?" Danielle asked mockingly. l knew she is up to no good so l kept mute likewise Grace
"Ohhh so rat got your tongue? You can no longer talk? Just pray Lady Quinn does not see you if not, you are done for"
"Please can you mind your business. She is not going to office because as you can see, she is not feeling too well and about Lady Quinn, please do well to not let her know that Vanessa is in. Please" Grace defended
"Whatever. Just settle whatever you have with Lady Quinn before she uses you as a sacrificial lamb" Danielle said before strolling out
"And what is wrong with that girl?' Grace asked immediately Danielle left
"l don't know. She has been acting strange for a while"
"Beware of her. She might be on Lady Quinn's size"
"l will Grace"
"Alright! Let me join the rest but then, why is the head maid absent since all this while?"
"l don't know. l heard she went to visit her family. Was she brought here because of unpaid debt too?"
"l think so but the Quinns must have trusted her enough to let her leave their premises" Grace reasoned
"Probably..." l replied, sighing deeply as l fantasized about seeing my family too. Lord Quinn had indeed promised to check up on them on my behalf but we have not been able to meet since then. Grace left after promising to make the other maids comply with our plans to keep my presence a secret from Lady Quinn. l finally struggled to lift myself off the comfort of the bed after resting for a good amount of time. l cleaned myself and dressed in one of the dresses the head maid always prepare for me whenever l am to go to the office with the Lord. l laid back to catch some more sleep and prepare myself for what is to come later in the evening since Lady Quinn had promised to make me experience hell whenever l am back from the office.
"Vegetable, my Lady" l replied. Lady Quinn had oddly come to inspect the kitchen today. What she has never done in years. She searched the nook and crannies of the kitchen as of she is searching desperately for something or is it someone? She asked unnecessary random questions like what are we cooking for breakfast, which maids are assigned to which job and eventually, where is Vanessa. The already thick tension in the kitchen became thicker when she asked of Vanessa. Maids could not help but gulp and swallow nervously as no one wants to lie to Lady Quinn neither do anyone want to betray Vanessa.
Lady Quinn seems to notice the uneasiness of the maids and she concluded that something is fishy. She is a wise lady Lady so instead of forcing the maids to talk, she simply asked Danielle to take her to Vanessa's room. My heart clenched at her command and l felt useless and unworthy. l had told Vanessa not to worry and promised l will protect her alongside the maids from Lady Quinn but what now? 'I failed her! Woe to me!' l thought as l felt tears sting my eyes. Danielle seems to be happy to take Lady Quinn to Vanessa as she gladly led the way while Lady Quinn followed her happily like she won a lottery. l felt pity for Vanessa
The door to my room was flunged open, startling me out of my wits. l sat up on my bed immediately, my heartbeat racing to an unbelievable pace. Danielle was the first to step in, followed by Lady Quinn. My heart almost jumped to my heart at the sight of the Lady before me. My hands began to get sweaty as my body shivered in thorough fear. Damn! What am l going to face now? l am yet to recover from yesterday's torture
"Ohhh you have finally grown wings lowlife, you think you can do nothing in my house but sleep lazily? How dare you? Because you've been chanced to go to the office, you think you have power and position in my mansion? You are wrong maid, get up now and follow me! You have lots of chores to do for me. Stupid!" Lady Quinn ranted at the top of her voice frightening the hell out of me.
l dejectedly walked over to her as she stared disdainfully at me. What have l ever done to this woman to deserve this? She turned and left after looking over the room disgustingly like it is a refuse dump. l glanced at Danielle who looked unfazed and unbothered about what she did. l followed Lady Quinn who
walked directly to the huge mahogany door which is the exit of the mansion. She called a malemaid who was trying to clean one of the many wagons in the mansion
"Take this maid here to the estate field. Don't bring her back until dusk!"
"Yes, my Lady" The malemaid saluted, his sympathetic eyes sizing me up like he wants to figure out what l could have done to land in Lady Quinn's trap. The malemaid made me walk miles! He did not sugarcoat the experience l am about to have as he told me how stressful and demanding it is for a female to work on the estate field. He said only males are allowed to work on the field because of how strenuous it is to rear and maintain cows. At the mention of cow, l almost screamed in fear. Cows are creatures l fear since l was a child due to their huge physique and stubborn nature. It is known that only male work with cows as female are believed to not have the strength to control them unlike the male. Why then did Lady Quinn instruct that l should be brought to the field? ls she unaware of the common knowledge of monopoly or is she simply doing this to punish me in the worst ways? Tears laced my eyes but l tried to keep them in however, when l got to the field and saw where l will be working throughout the day, l let the tears fall. Only well built and experienced male were working on the field. There is not even a single female in sight. l shuddered at the thought of being overpowered by this male and raped to death and at the thought of the wild animal that had been rumoured to kill lately appearing. My limbs shook on their own as the hot, scorching sun bite hard on my soft skin. The male made me get to work immediately, instructing me to pack the dungs of the cows from their shed to the dump where it would be used for manure. The field harbour thousands of cows and l am to collect the dungs of each cow after which l will be taught how to make manure from it. l mentally shielded and encouraged myself before founding my way to the shed. The numerous huge creatures frightened me but the offensive and irritating smell of the dung got me puking. l am done for! l puked over and over again until l emptied my stomach of whatever food it contained. The male cared less about my vulnerable state instead they threatened to report me to Lady Quinn if l do not get to work immediately. l eventually got over the smell but l was unable to get accustomed to the animals. They kept hitting me with their hind legs whenever l stoop to collect their dung and l kept falling on the dung-plastered floor. By the time l was collecting the fifth cow's dung, My whole body had been covered smelly cow dung. The male would glance at me and laugh at my pathetic appearance but none did anything to make me clean. l later saw a small stream some metres away from the field where l managed to wash away the dung from my face, hands and legs but the ones on my pretty dress were not removable. l eventually mastered how to get dung without getting kicked by the animals. I worked nonstop till noon when the male rested for a while and grabbed a meal. l was not given any food rather, they made me work while they ate. when they were done, they told me to eat their leftovers or thrash it. l had no choice but to eat it since l was extremely weak and hungry after emptying my stomach earlier. I eventually collected all the dungs and l was shown how to make manure by one of the male. l began making manure shortly after.