The Factory Girl // Book 1 in the Rosie Grey series

Chapter Twenty-Two

When I reached the stable, Samuel was hanging around the entrance, placing an assortment of garden tools into a wheelbarrow and placing them just inside the doorway. He smiled upon noticing my appearance, his eyes running down my dress and lingering on the mud-splattered bottom. There was no doubt he was surprised, he didn't even try to hide it from his face, but the weather was a perfect excuse for the mud, and it was the truth. It wasn't as though I had thrown myself down on the mud as a form of entertainment.

"I was starting to wonder where you got to," Samuel said, leaning a pitchfork against the door of the stable.

"Sorry, I had to chase after a handkerchief," I said, laughing slightly.

"No worries. It's another cleaning job this afternoon, I'm afraid. Dr Ealing has asked for the carriage to be cleaned, no doubt for his ride into town tomorrow for work. It shouldn't take you too long, so you can finish your work early and have a break, it's been one crazy day for you, so I've heard."

"How did you find out?"

"I was cleaning the tops of some of the windows and overheard a conversation between Miss Matilda and Master Robert, they both seem to be under the impression that it was Alexander Warrington who had locked you in."

"Yes, he was Matilda's first assumption."

"Well, I'm sure Dr Ealing will find out who did it. In the meantime, the supplies you need to clean the carriage are already waiting for you. Just head around the side of the building and through the other door."

"Very well."

Leaving Samuel to the horses, I walked around the side of the stable and towards a smaller, square building tucked up to the side of the stables and close to the treeline. A giant, double door opened up onto a large, dark open space where the Ealing carriage sat, a sheet left on the floor. A set of buckets and brushes lay on the floor beside the sheet, the same brushes and buckets I had been using that morning to clean the windows. I was just glad that Robert wasn't able to scare me this time, seeing as there were no windows in the barn.

I pushed the sleeves of my dress and the shawl up my arms, leaving one of the large doors open as I plunged my hand into the icy cold water and seized up the sponge. The water was a shock, but after a while, I found the cold sensation somewhat relaxing. It calmed my nerves further than the deep breathing had and was also a constant reminder that, despite what Alexander of Mr Warrington may have said, I was still working for the Ealing's and nothing they did or said was going to change that. I needed that position, I needed a way to help my friends out and I wasn't going to let someone who resembled the foreman stop me from doing that. That man had ruined my life enough, I certainly wasn't going to allow anyone like him to do the same thing.

The atmosphere in the barn was calm, quiet, it gave me the opportunity to relax and think more than any of my tasks at the house had done. There was no one around to disturb me, only the sound of the window as passed through the trees, the creaking of the beams above my head and the splashing off the water as I washed down the exterior of the carriage. There was no bird song, no crashing of bodies or movement and no low conversations travelling from room to room to disturb me. It was just me, my thoughts and a giant carriage that needed to be scrubbed down from top to bottom in a matter of hours.

As I moved across the carriage, scrubbing the wheels and the body, my mind was spinning will all sorts of ideas about how I was going to come clean about everything. The Ealing family needed to know about the factory, it wasn't as though I could hide it forever, but admitting the truth was going to be a lot harder then I wanted it to be. Especially with Mr Warrington and his son out to get me. Scrubbing down the wheels, I wondered whether or not Robert would be the best person to admit it too. He had been the nicest to me, looked out for me when no one else did and was the one who had the suggestion for my placement despite only knowing me for a short time. Only, I wasn't entirely sure I could trust him.