Unchaining Alice

Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Alice woke up the next morning feeling quite happy. She felt as though she had really put Sarah in her place and that she would no longer be so troublesome for the Alcotts. She hoped that was the case anyway. Otherwise she may have poked an already out of control flame.

She got back into her normal routine of cooking for the children and changing and feeding the babies. At nine o’clock they were settled into the schoolroom with Joseph. Alice got to work with sweeping the floors and washing the dishes. Later, she decided, she would clean the bedding and hang it out to dry in the afternoon sunshine.

After she’d just finished sweeping the ground floor of the orphanage, there was a knock on the door. Setting the broom aside, Alice made her way down the hallway to the door, silently praying that there was not a child on the other side of it.

Instead when she opened the door, the three Alcott sisters stood before her.

Annie was wearing her usual simple, feminine blue dress that she’d accessorised with a matching thin overcoat and a straw bonnet. Her outfit was perfect for the warmer season.

Kitty was dressed in a finer gown. The dress was royal blue and loose fitting around her slightly rotund stomach. Alice smiled knowing that there was a little baby on the way. Kitty might’ve been a little overly energetic, but she was a good mother.

Little J was dressed similarly in the way that she was expecting too. Neither sister was particularly obvious, but there was a slight protrusion. At the dinner the night before she’d learned that Little J’s given name was ‘Jane’ and that she’d always been known as ‘Little J’ so as not to confuse her with her aunt for whom she was named.

“Good morning,” Kitty chirped, inviting herself inside the orphanage. She was followed in promptly by her two younger sisters. Annie was last and mouthed ‘sorry’ as she passed Alice.   

“What are you all doing ‘ere?” Alice asked, closing the door behind them.

“Well, we’re all mamas … and future mamas,” Kitty added, nodding to a blushing Little J. “And we’re here to help you until … who was it again, Annie?”

“Mrs Eloise Brown,” Annie replied. “She was the best qualified applicant from the advertisement that I placed earlier in the week. I had a few quick responses and Mrs Brown had the best, and most, references. She will start in a few days once she has her belongings together. So in the mean time we’ve left our little ones with mama, Little J’s husband is minding their practice, and we’re here to help you.”

The three sisters decided to divide and conquer before Alice had managed to say anything. While the children remained in their makeshift schoolroom, Alice and the Alcott sisters had the entire orphanage spick and span. The laundry, dishes and sweeping had all been done and a beef stew was simmering away ready for the midday meal.

Surrounding the wooden bench in the kitchen, Alice poured the sisters cups of tea while they got into, what Alice thought was their main motivation in coming, a gossip session.