Welcome to the Hamilton by Tanya E Williams

Author:Tanya E Williams [Williams, Tanya E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781989144183
Publisher: Rippling Effects

Chapter 18

Monday, May 16, 1927

“Hazel Greenwood?” Ms. Thompson’s voice rises with her head from her clipboard and papers. The girl called Hazel steps forward. The slight hesitation in her approach tells me I am not alone in feeling the jitters this afternoon.

“Ah, yes. Miss Greenwood, there you are.” Ms. Thompson gestures for her to follow. “Come with me, please.” The two of them disappear into the stockroom, and a few minutes later, Hazel emerges with a small pile of neatly folded fabric in her arms.

Ms. Thompson, referencing her list, calls out each name and issues each trainee two sets of maid’s uniforms, complete with a fringed cap and two starched white aprons. Louisa and I stand shoulder to shoulder as we wait for our names to be called, bound by blood and by purpose.

Ms. Thompson calls Jane’s name. Apparently delighted, she nearly skips into the supply room. She returns a few moments later with freshly pressed uniforms draped over one arm. She strikes a pose with her crisp white-and-navy cap already secured atop her head, garnering her a few chuckles before she returns to her place among the group.

Louisa’s arm, butted up next to mine, tenses in a fleeting display of what I imagine is annoyance with Jane’s theatrics. Ms. Thompson calls my name. I lift a foot and am ready to step forward when Lou catches me, my dress held tight in her fingers.

She hisses in my ear, “I think we will serve ourselves best by working together with Jane. As she suggested.” Louisa forces a smile in Jane’s direction.

The slight narrowing of Louisa’s eyes quells my instinct to argue. “Jane isn’t the sort of person we want as a friend. Nor do we wish to have her as a foe.” Louisa infuses false sincerity into an even broader smile to ensure her message has reached me.

“Miss Clara Wilson.” Ms. Thompson pops her head out of the supply room and scans the group. “Ah, there you are, Miss Wilson. Please step inside to collect your uniform.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The prickle of impending conflict shivers through me as I step forward. I find myself distracted as Ms. Thompson asks me about my usual dress size. She runs a finger along the labelled shelf, extracting all pieces of my new uniform before following me back into the narrow hall to call on Louisa, the final trainee to be summoned.

Their voices filter into the hall. Ms. Thompson comments, “You are a tall one, dear, but I think we have just the thing.”

The echo of rummaging boxes spills through the supply room door. “Ah, yes, here it is.” Ms. Thompson’s voice, breathless with the effort of her search, softens. “The last one.”

“It is meant to be, then,” Louisa says, and I can hear a true and pleasing smile in her tone.

“I am so pleased you view it as a good omen, Miss Wilson. I am afraid to say there is only the one. I will see how you get on and order another uniform to accommodate your taller frame by the week’s end, if need be.

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