While the World Is Still Asleep (The Century Trilogy Book 1) by Petra Durst-Benning

Author:Petra Durst-Benning
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781503953338
Published: 2016-02-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Instead of sleeping late the next morning, Jo was awoken by the chattering of her cotenants getting ready for the early shift. After a sparse breakfast of tea and a dry roll—everything in the kitchen compartments really was fair game for the pilferers—she went into the washroom. The water she drew into a dented, galvanized bucket with a piston pump was so icy that it hurt Jo’s back and wrists, which were already sore from the hard bed and the long hours on the punching machine. But to Jo, cleanliness mattered. She had never once missed her daily wash in prison. On the third day, the piece of soap she had bought for ten pfennigs disappeared. Everybody denied stealing it, of course. She had no money to buy new soap because her first wages would only be paid the Saturday after next. Purchasing a new dress would also have to wait, so she sewed up the only dress she had, taking it in so that it fit her again. Recalling Clara’s words, she asked a woman in the kitchen for some vinegar and used it to rinse her hair after she had washed it. The vinegar returned at least a little of the original shine, and one of the women offered to trim her split ends. Jo felt a great deal better about herself after that.

In her clean dress, with her hair freshly cut and washed, Josephine set out every morning to look for a better job. She had to be back in the Strähle factory by half past eleven if she wanted to eat something before starting work at twelve. Luckily, she did not have to walk far. The factories were lined up one right beside the other in Feuerland. Factories had shot up everywhere since she last rode through the area and now filled every gap. Sometimes, she hardly recognized the old streets. The air was still infused with soot, and carriages piled high with every imaginable product occupied the wide streets. New rails were being placed along the streets as well. Is Feuerland going to get its own station? Jo wondered. But she did not have much time to spare for such thoughts, and the answer did not particularly interest her.

She got the same answer everywhere she went. No. There was no job for her as a mechanic. The factories were geared toward skilled men who carried out all the necessary repairs and maintenance. The looks of mistrust, rejection, and condescension she got from gatekeepers, overseers, and factory owners themselves were all too familiar. But Josephine was far from giving up hope. Let those men hang on to their old prejudices. All she needed was one person willing to take a chance on her. Just one willing to cross that line and employ a woman as a mechanic. Someone like Gerd Melchior. It might take knocking on hundreds of factory doors, but she would eventually find the kind of employer she was looking for.

After a long

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.