I woke up before the sun as I had been the last three weeks. I was getting used to being 'Elodie'', quicker than most would, at least I how I would imagine most would. Still each morning as I opened my eyes I had to tell myself: You are Elodie now. You are Elle. You are a slave. After my little identity check I would run to the hut that housed Penny and Hilda. I would creep in quietly, so I would wake up Penny and avoid waking up Hilda. The three of us were in the same boat: all women, all slaves, all treated as dirt. Despite this however Hilda had a superiority complex, that Penny and I hated. Penny could be a bit crass, but she was my only friend now, and a rather good one at that.
The two of us would leave our wooden cots, and run to start our chores; leaving Hilda to possibly sleep in. An early start meant an early rest.
"Elle, those bruises on your face are nearly gone. Too bad I can't say the same for the back of your legs." Penny said a bit too cheerfully.
"Ha! You're one to talk, your hands are raw from Madam's tantrum yesterday. What did you even do?" I replied trying to keep the mood light, depite the rather unfortunate topic.
"Uhh" she sighed dramatically, "She said Queenie was looking depressed. So I had to pay the price. The only reason that pompous horse looks depressed is because she hates Madam!" Penny whined.
I quickly ran over to her and covered her mouth.
"Quiet!" I yelled under my breath, "If Madam had heard you just now you would have gotten worse than a few lashes on your palms." I scolded. "Gosh you would never guess I was the new one."
"You're hardly new, you've been here almost two years." Penny spoke back, disregarding my warning.
Many of my conversations with her let me gather bits and pieces of things I needed to know as Elodie. The first few days getting my chores down to a science was my priority. I really didn't want to be beaten again. In my endeavors though I relized, that I knew nothing of Elodie, or at least who she was. So by fishing in conversations I learned a few things about Elodie, I learned that Elodie used to be meek, and would hardly speak. I learnt that a bit too late, as I myself am quite the talker, and am too stubborn to back down from anything that Hilda could throw at me.
At first it was easy to just blame every little change on the cow kick. Personality changes and forgetting things like menial tasks; they were simply covered by the lie of the cow kick. Once the bruises began to fade, so did the sympathy. Each and every new experience couldn't be blamed on an old injury, all but Penny believed that I was faking it. So each conversation I had, allowed me to gather a little bit of Elodie's backstory. I got nearly everything from Penny and Hilda; I took insults from Hilda with a grain of salt. After all her condescension was how I learned about how the cow had managed to kick me. The original Elodie had to have been either very virtuous or just stupid to risk being kicked by a cow. A cow that she could easily have frozen in place. The original Elodie hated her good looks, because it meant that she couldn't avoid being hit on. Madam would beat anyone she thought was trying to seduce her son: so good looks got her hit on then just plain hit. My second beating after becoming Elodie was because of that pompous teenage flirt. I was slapped across my already bruised face for attempting to seduce her son. The reason behind my whipped legs was that Hilda told Master that I had refused to milk five cows. Other than those times though; I have avoided punishment.
"What is going on in that pretty little head of your's that you are ignoring me?" I heard Penny say.
"What...Oh, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind." I responded.
"Not much goes on around here what could you even have on your mind?"
"Well now that my face is looking less monstrous I need to figure out how much farm waste I have to put on myself so that the little tattletale won't approach me." I said, this was after all something I have been worrying about.
"Ha! Well if your gonna do it right you have to go big." Penny yelled with a mischievous smile.
Before I had the chance to empty the dirty straw from the chickens nest, Penny threw a handfull of dirty straw at my head. Complete with scattered chicken manure. I quickly brushed off my face, spitting out any bits that had gotten in my mouth. I traced a symbol to quickly clear the rest of the dirty straw before she could grab any more.
"There ya go perfect. Hard to make a move on anyone who smells that shitty." Penny said with a goofy smile plastered on her face.
"Just you wait Penny; You won't know when and you won't know how, but I will get you back." My threat merely made her roll her eyes.
We went about our day the same way we had been doing every day. Chickens, cows, Queenie, and a pond bath. As much as I wanted to punch penny for making me smell like chicken poop, her methods did work. The young master didn't want to be anywhere near me.
"Hey you ever wonder why we have to call Master, Madam, and Young Mastet by titles like that?" I asked Penny as she was rinsing out the chicken waste from my hair.
"Because they own us...?" Penny replied her answer seeming quite obvious to her, but she wasn't quite sure if that was indeed what I was asking.
"Well obviously they own us; but it's not like they're noble or anything. They don't even have last names." I said trying to make sense.
"Uhh I always have to explain the most obvious things to you." She said as she got the last bit of straw from my hair.
"A dog has an owner, if they don't do anything, than that is all, owner and pet. When that dog is trained and serves a purpose, they are no longer a free loading pet, they are a work dog. The owner of a work dog is its master. A work dog works until it dies listening to its master the whole time." She sighed a bit sadly. "We are work dogs, they bought us for work. They are not simply an owner they are masters that rule our life. We call them master, because there is no higher title that can be given to them."
She turned and got out of the cold pond water. I walked slowly behind her, both getting dressed before we sat back down. We were in fhe same boat, but this seemed to hit Penny more than it did me. Perhaps it was because I had no memory of being bought or sold, there was no memory of sitting in a cell at a slave market. For all that could have gone wrong, the hell we lived in now didn't seem so bad. Though Penny's face seemed to drop with this conversation. I could tell she was holding something back, something that seemed to be crushing her.
"You need to tell me about it." I said sitting across from her.
I wasn't sure what weight was hanging on those shoulders, but my question had seemed to have added to it.
"I know you don't remember being sold to the market because you were so young." She started saying, "but my dad was the one who sold me first. Kept my older and younger sisters, but he thought my skill was creepy. I begged on my knees, I told them I would do anything as long as I could stay." silent tears started rolling down her cheeks, "even as a kid I knew about the horrors that women slaves often had to go through." Then her face went very pale. "You know this master is my third? I have been a few different kinds of work dog. I was young for the first house, Only about twelve, that didn't stop anyone though. I was a favorite of that master. Did you know I had a child when I was fourteen?" She had the saddest smile I had ever seen on anyone. For the first time I saw Penny wearing a mask that had been put on, shattered, and glued back together many many times. She was more broken than she ever let on. I kept listening.
"The master of that house didn't want me after I had given birth, and certainly didn't want a bastard child, so he sold both of us. The next Master was a noble, but was much the same. He was married and had many daughters, none by his wife, but she raised them all. His wife was unable to carry so instead he bought slave girls, who slightly resembled his wife... that is how he got all of those children. He would get one girl pregnant, hide his wife away, tell all of their friends that his wife was on bedrest, then in nine months he and his wife would have a child. They needed an heir though, but they had a total of nine daughters. I...gave them... twin sons." The silent tears flowed more numerous and her breath kept hitching. "My sons will be nobles though. No more girls will be brought to that estate to be made to fall pregnant, fall in love with a child, then have all of that taken away. I can only hope that the sons that were taken from me, don't end up the same as their father. After that I bled a lot, too much. That Master's doctor told me that I would never be able to conceive again." Her eyes looked dead as she finished talking.
I hugged her as tightly as I could. I pushed her head down into the crook of my neck. Her body was wracking with sobs, none of which made any sound. I had absolutely no words. There was nothing I could possibly say that could console her, but I knew she needed someone. I started rubbing her back, still holding her tight.
"Let it out. I am here. You are safe." This was all I could say. Anything more and I felt it would make things worse.
Hilda came tromping through the field towards the pond. I looked up to catch her eyes. She gave a sad nod, and got in the pond as quietly as she could quickly: cleaned herself, clothed herself and left. After a few hours Penny had cried herself to sleep in my arms. I was small and bruised, but I was strong. I carried her back to the hut that her and Hilda shared, and placed her on the bottom bunk. Due to my daily wake up trips I took to that hut, I knew that Hilda was bottom bunk. Hilda, for whatever reason, took the top bunk tonight. For how terrible of a woman she was, she did appear to have a sympathetic side.
I began walking back to my shed where I would sleep for three hours before having to wake up. I didn't know what tomorrow would bring after Penny told me everything, but I was too tired right now. It was something I could think about tomorrow.
The next morning I went to wake up Penny as I did most mornings, but as I opened the door Hilda covered my mouth and pushed me outside. She dragged me behind the hut and gave me orders in a whispered voice.
"Listen I know about Penny, but we need to let her keep that in the past. Don't ever bring it up ever again." She whispered sternly.
"But trauma needs to be..." I started.
"No." Hilda cut me off, "A slave doesn't get to work around problems, a mopey damaged slave is one that will go back to the market. I do everything I can to make myself an enemy so that poor child has something to focus her misery on. It is thanks to me that she has held everything together, and last night you tore it up. She will be utterly useless in her tasks if she cries. We are both going to report to Master that she was bitten by a curl snake and won't wake up today."
"Okay I will deliver the news." I didn't know what a curl snake was, but if it would help Penny then I would willingly lie to Master.
I turned heel and ran to the master's door. The Young Master opened the door with a yawn. I bowed, and kept my eyes fixated to the ground.
"Well hello beautiful. Have you finally come to your senses and want to crawl into my bed." Young Master said.
Each word he spoke gave me a cold chill down my spine. I knew him saying this would get me beaten again, I could handle that much though.
"I have come only to report to Master that Penny was bitten by a curl snake last night, and will be unable to work today; as she is unable to wake. She should be fine by tomorrow." I spoke in a monotone voice.
"If she was bit by a curl snake last night how did she sleep in her bed?" He asked.
"I carried her unconscious body across the field and into her hut." I responded.
"Oh I see you're strong maybe you can ~" the young master started but was cut off. His father put his hand on Young Master's face and pushed him aside.
"What are you doing here? Why have you not started your work?" Master began speaking, already visibly annoyed.
"I came to report that last night the slave Penny was bitten by a curl snake and is unable to wake today. She will be able to preform her duties tomorrow." I said explaining my attendance once again.
"BAH! These worthless slave girls. Not even worth the money. Go to work now, tell your friend she will do double the work tomorrow." Master said. He shook his hand as though I was an insect that was in his face. I turned tail and ran to the barn.
Hilda met me by the chickens, where Penny and I usually started our day.
"Did you tell Penny that we gave her a day off?" I whispered.
"Of coarse I did, it would be horrible if we all got caught in this lie." She whispered back.
I nodded than began work. I moved at least twice my normal speed, to make up for Penny not being there. I shooed the chickens out the door.
"Sorry chickens. Your therapist can't be here today. I can't understand you I hope you have a nice day." I told the chickens in a rush. I quickly gathered the eggs, cleaned everything out, refilled food and water, and made haste to deliver the eggs to the main house. I ran back to start my work on the cows. At some point in milking I noticed that my cow was next to the one Hilda was milking.
"Hey, what's a curl snake?" I spoke slightly above a whisper.
"You really don't have anything in your head. A curl snake is a worm that wraps itself around your ankle then bites you. They drink a small amount of blood, but the worm's bite leaves you asleep for about sixteen hours." She spoke louder than me, knowing that the Young Master wasn't anywhere near us.
We went about the rest of our day. Since Queenie couldn't have the daily therapy session that Penny normally gave her, I gave her a bit of a spa treatment. I brushed her coat until it shined, braided her hair, polished her hooves as best I could with a wet rag., and scraped of any eye boogers.
"Miss Queenie you look like a million dollars." I said, I didn't know if the horse could understand me, but she seemed satisfied.
I walked to the pond and cleaned myself, I got there several hours later than I usually would have, but I didn't want to give the masters any reason to punish Penny. Hilda was there cleaning herself, but I could tell she had been waiting for me. As soon as I got in the pond she started talking.
"I wrote your name on Penny's note. It says that you bribed me to let her sleep in. If she asks you milked half of my cows today. Don't bring up her past again; if she brings it up just listen to her, do not say anything." Hilda told me sternly.
"Why do you hide that you are a good person?" I asked her with a smile.
"Because that poor girl needs someone to hate, and believe it or not that man we call Master, is the kindest master she has ever had. She can't bring herself to hate him even if she tried. In her eyes he is merciful, because the title 'master' means you are allowed to do anything, and there are a lot of things he doesn't do. I learned her story while we were still in chains in the slave market. I don't know the specifics, but I know someone used her as a breeder, and that that is something she can no longer do. Most of the time when broken breeders are bought it is because master's can have their way with them, without the risk of bastard children." Hilda rolled her eyes. "Why am I telling you all of this? You already know how all of this works."
I didn't but I do now, something I wouldn't say out loud.
"Wouldn't it be better if she just had more people that loved her?" I asked.
"It doesn' matter if everyone loved her, she needs someone that she can pin her frustrations too, I am happy to be that person. Besides playing the bootlicker, who avoids the trouble maker, means I don't get beat nearly as often as you two. She was handling day to day life better than what should be expected, though she was harder on me back then. When you showed up she gave herself a goal to befriend the little white mouse you were." She explained. Her face still looked like she was scolding me, but her words didn't match.
I nodded my head and quickly washed myself. I ran quickly to the barrel of water so I could get a glass to Penny. Before I could though Madam caught me. She pulled me by the hair and began beating my back repeatedly with a riding crop. Each hit burned as I felt my skin become raw, and eventually bled.
"No matter how many times I tell you to stop seducing my son, you do it again and again! Now on my very doorstep! In my home!" Madam yelled. With each of her words came another hit. "Stupid!" Whack, "Ugly!" Whack, "Whore!" Whack.
I hit the ground and passed out. I don't know what happened after that, though with her anger I doubted it would stop with the riding crop. I don't know how long I was out. All I know is that I woke up to Penny's voice.
"Oh my god, what happened this time? There is so much blood. Can you even move?"
Penny's voice sounded frantic. I wonder just how bad it was. I felt almost numb, maybe it was because I was just waking up. Then I heard Hilda's voice.
"Oh no... this was my fault." I heard her say under her breath. I then heard foot steps running away.
I was laying on my side in the dirt. I tried to sit up, to assure them that I was fine, but that backfired. Pain shot through every part of me. I fell back down into a slough. I coughed which caused dark wet blood to come from my mouth.
"No no stay still." Penny said softly, "We have been looking for you all day, not even Master knows where you are. How did this happen?"
"Madam.." was all I could manage to say before coughing again.
I looked down at my body, I could see blood on more than just my back. My knees and calves were bloody and caked in dirt, and my left hand was smashed. Penny lifted up my shirt revealing that my whole torso was purple.
"How bad?" I whispered, trying my best not to cough again.
"None of us have ever looked this bad. Your hand has to be broken in several areas. You have a few broken ribs for sure, that's probably why you are... coughing up blood. The back of your clothes are caked in blood too." Penny answered with a tone that was both sad and terrified.
I heard familiar footsteps approaching and heard Hilda's voice.
"I got water to clean you up a bit. This is going to be cold... and it will probably hurt." She said.
Hilda put a stick in my mouth to bite into, rather than scream. She poured water over my back, neck and legs. She then tore a piece of her clothing off and dabbed it on the wounds that had dirt in them. I snapped the stick in my mouth in half. Quickly Penny put another in my mouth. I couldnt take it anymore, once again I started to fade out of consciousness.
I heard Penny yelling "No Elle, Elle, stay with us stay Awa...!" But I was too tired to hear the rest.
When I woke up again I laying on my side on my wooden cot, in my shed. I could hear voices coming from outside.
"That vile whore was seducing our son, I couldn't let her get away with that." I heard Madam say.
"A broken slave gets no work done. She is useless now. Now she needs to be tended to. She won't be worth anything until she has been healed, we can't sell her like this. And we can't afford a replacement." I heard master say back.
"Ahh you have fallen for her looks too! Is that why you carried her back and let that other slave bandage her?" Madam retorted, somehow jealous even now.
I looked down at my broken body and saw that I had in fact been bandaged, though it wasn't any form of sterile, but it was better than nothing. My hand had several makeshift splints to hopefully keep my fingers in place. I tried once again to stand up, but I found myself needing the assistance of a wall. I hobbled to the door, and gave an apology befitting a slave.
"Master, Madam, I apologise for offending you. If you would allow me to recuperate inside the barn I may be able to preform my duties with the chickens and Queenie, with some assistance." I said, though it ended with me coughing. I coughed into my arm, which just added a splatter of blood to my freshly cleaned arm.
"Pshh no one will be assisting you. If you are lucky one of your little friends will bring you water." Madam said, promptly turning and walking away. Master trudged behind her seeming to agree.
I hobbled back to my cot and laid down. I hissed and tears ran down my face as the pressure of my body pushed against the wooden cot. I laid there for hours, falling in and out of sleep before I heard somebody walk in. It was pitch black, but I could already tell it wasn't Penny.
"You got beat because you went to the house to pass on the message didn't you?" I heard Hilda's voice say.
"Better me than you." I said.
"No, it's not! The young master never would have even tried to flirt with me. I wouldn't even have been punished!" she yelled obviously frustrated with herself.
"Listen Hilda I am told my skill is a rare one. Even if I get beaten to a pulp, they won't off me or sell me, because they would need two slaves to do my job, and they can't afford that. As incredibly useful and capable as you are, not all farms have banshees, which means you could be replaced. If you are replaceable you are disposable. You in my condition would be put down. It doesn't matter that Young Master flirted with me, he would have told Madam that you flirted with him or Master, just for his own entertainment." I said softly and slowly, to keep myself from coughing.
"I...I...I", Hilda tried to say something, but the words evaded her.
"Besides Penny needs someone to hate, remember? I will be fine in no time, I'm young, I'll bounce back."
With no words left to say, Hilda lifted my head up gently and poured some water down my throat. Silently still she tore apart my stale loaf of bread and fed me small pieces. She got up and left, silently. I wondered what look she had on her face as she walked away.
A bit later I heard Penny walk into my little shed.
"I asked a crow that is nesting behind the barn. He said that the madam hit you with the riding crop until you passed out, also after you were on the ground, then repeatedly kicked you in your chest and stomach, then stomped on your hand several times. Then she left... she left you." I heard Penny's voice hitch at the last part.
"It's okay, I have you. Hilda might be a bit of a pain, but she did feed me." I felt bad that I had to speak poorly of Hilda. "I am more sorry for you. I get to lay around all day while you and Hilda do all of my chores. Now you need rest if you are going to do all of my chores without symbols." I told her in a lighthearted voice. I couldn't see her leave, but I hoped that what I said would make her feel a little better.