Hope for Tomorrow by Winchester Catherine

Author:Winchester, Catherine [Winchester, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-02-11T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Once at the new house, Martha locked the older boys out of the house while she bathed the girls and then she lit a fire in the kitchen with the coal that John had bought. As the fire caught, she began to see what was here. She quickly found a pot that could be heated over the fireplace which she asked Mary to go out and fill from the well pump in the garden. Next she found a bath tub in the pantry which she dragged out in front of the fire. She kept filling the tub and Mary kept refilling the pot until the tiny bath tub was full of hot water.

While the water heated, Martha dragged the chest of clothes in from the front garden then set about cleaning the kitchen. The house had been left clean but dust had settled on the surfaces whilst it was unoccupied.

When the tub was half full, Mary was the first one in it and Martha scrubbed her until her her skin was pink. She washed and rinsed her hair three times using the old bar of soap until she was certain that it was clean.

They had no towels so Martha used a nightshirt that was in the trunk to dry her. She laid the night shirt over a stool by the fire so that it could dry a little before it was needed again. Mary looked through the trunk for clothes her size while Martha washed the toddler, who she had now been informed was called Ben.

Mary had found bloomers, a grey skirt and white blouse which fit, though they were a little too big, so she then dried and dressed Ben in a girl's shirt, since there were no clothes his size, while Martha washed the younger baby, Jack, who was then wrapped up in a man's shirt.

When they were dried, Martha changed the water, which was filthy. Next she washed the girl who had answered the door to her, Maggie before setting about the twins with her soap.

She then changed the water a final time and she put their old clothes on the fire to burn before she let the oldest boys, Alf and John wash themselves, while Martha took a bowl of hot water up to her mother and set about giving her a bed bath.

Mary and Maggie began exploring the small house which was luxurious compared to the two room house they'd had in town.

It had three bedrooms upstairs, none very big but at least the girls and boys could have separate rooms now. Downstairs there were two large rooms, a kitchen and... well Mary wasn't really sure what the other room was for. Maybe it was another bedroom?

She moved on and found an outdoor lavatory in the back garden, a wood and coal store and an outside cabinet which was filled with old or broken furniture.

When the boys were finished in the kitchen, she had a proper look in there. It had some pots, pans and plates, enough to get them started anyway, and she went to report her findings to Martha.

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