Hidden Identities

Chapter 7: Gwen

        Roger waves good bye and hurries off. As Ophelia and I enter the clearing that surrounds our house I spot five tall men. Their dressed in castle uniforms. The rest of my family is lined up in front of them. One of the men spots us.

        "Who are you?" he asks.

        "Run!" shouts Mama.

        I grab Ophelia's hand and we take off. Somewhere in the woods Ophelia leaves my side. I pray they don't find her. The Castle Men came before. They took girls from their homes and brought them to the castle to be slaves. I hear horse's hooves behind me and run faster. A hand reaches out and grabs my arm. I struggle to get away, but he's so much stronger than me. He pulls me onto his horse and we ride back to my house.

        Back at the house, the man who seems to be the leader asks me and Ophelia our ages.

        "We're taking her," the man announces, pointing at me.

        "No! Not Gwen!" Tatiana cries. "Take me instead."

        "No. I will go," I say bravely.

        "Pack your things."

         "Yes, sir," I reply. Keeping my head high I go into the house. I climb up the ladder to the loft and slowly begin packing away my things into a carpetbag. I go back outside and hug each of my family members good-bye. That's when I notice the other girls. There's three of them. Claudia, Ruth, and Sadi. I'm not really friends with any of them, but we've met. I'm tied up with them and we march away. I wave for the final time before my family disappears.

        "My name is Sir Alvari Palender. You will work for Her Majesty as kitchen maids. When we get to the castle you will go to your rooms and then report to the kitchen. You will work under Mary's supervision. If you are to show up late for work in the morning, out of uniform, or doing anything else that is prohibited then you will be whipped. Understood?"

        "Yes, sir," we chorus.

        After another hour of walking in silence, we reach the castle. We follow Sir Palender up the huge flight of stairs to the entrance. Then we follow him down a long hallway. There are doors on every side. It is, we're informed, the servants' quarters.

        Sir Palender opens one door and pushes Ruth and I inside. "You two will share this room."

        We put away our stuff in silence. When he returns we follow him down the hall some more and into the kitchen. A short woman with curly brown hair is sitting at the table. She jumps when we enter.

        "Sir Palender! How lovely to see you! I just finished this bread. Would you like some?"

        "This is Mary," Sir Palender informs us, ignoring her.

        "You must be exhausted after that ride. Let me get you some tea."

        "I must go now," Sir Palender says, striding out.

        The room is silent for a minute as we all stare at eachother. Then the door flies open and two girls fly in, chattering away. It's Zanni and Luna. I recoginze Luna from the forest. Zanni is Burumi's future wife. Sadi shrieks at the sight of Luna, then she runs forward and gives her a huge hug. They're sisters.

        "Enough!" cries Mary. "We have to start cooking for tonight. Quick tell me your names."

        "I'm Claudia." Claudia is fragile looking. She has thin brown hair and soft brown eyes. Her voice is a whisper.

        "Sadi." Sadi has bright red in two braids. She has a wide smile and freckles scattered across her nose. She looks just like Luna.

        "My name is Ruth." Ruth has brown hair in a braid that goes down to her waist. She is slim, but strong looking. Her brown eyes are big.

        "I'm Gwen."

        "Well, as Sir Palender," she blushes then continues, "As Sir Palender said my name is Mary. I'm the cook here and I'm in charge of you. No funny business. I take my job seriously. Now, we need to make dinner. Zanni, peel the potatoes and dice them. Luna, wash the carrots and chop them into slices. Sadi, knead that dough for the bread. Gwen, wash the fruit and then arrange it on a silver platter. Ruth, help me cook these chickens, and Claudia, make the broth for the soups. I will make the cakes. Hurry up!"

        The kitchen is suddenly a flurry of activity. I wash piles of grapes, strawberries, and pineapples. I slice them and arrange them into this weird shape with little white flowers tucked in here and there. After I finish with that, Mary commands me to then polish some glasses and silverware. Then Luna and I set the table.

        We set all the food on trays and the other house servants bring it all upstairs to deliver to the Queen in the dining hall. She has visitors tonight. While the Queen is eating an extravagant meal upstairs, we eat a plain meal of stew and bread downstairs.

        We're all very quiet except for Zanni, Sadi, and Luna. They laugh and talk all through dinner and all through clean up. At eleven o'clock we go to our rooms.

        I fall into bed utterly exhausted.