Mary's Path

All afternoon she ran with arms full of firewood to the various fireplaces. The atmosphere in the kitchen changed as dinner approached. Mary thought that the chaos was growing, orders were being called out, stews were moved, meat was fried.

Mary felt the kitchen air filled with scents irresistible to her empty stomach. It smelled of meat and fish and rich broth. She saw a man standing by a bench and creating a tower of candied fruits.

Mary had never seen the food she saw in the kitchen. Roasted piglets, pheasants sewn together with sheep to resemble a mythical beast, sausages in such long rows that it could have been enough for an entire company. Everything was cooked in the chaos that was the kitchen.

Just before dinner was served to the royal family and their guests, the kitchen was filled with even more people. There was waiters and lackeys who would make sure that all the food was brought up to the table in the right order.

Mary made sure to stay out of the way. Dinner lasted almost four hours. When the last dish was brought up, everyone in the kitchen seemed to lose all energy. Mary saw everyone being pulled towards a door at the other end of the kitchen and she saw how Jossi, who had helped her in the morning, waved at her to come along.

Everyone was sitting down at one of the many tables in the room, and Jossi made sure That Mary got a seat next to her. Mrs. Karrots stood up at one of the tables and the murmur of voices fell silent.

“Time for table prayer,” she said, and everyone clasped their hands and lowered their heads. “We thank our father for making sure we have food on the table and a bed to sleep in. We promise to work hard so that we earn his gifts. Amen.”

As on a given signal, the lid of pots and carotenes on the table was opened and the smell of food filled the room. Mary saw that the stews contained meat and vegetables and there were baskets of bread and barrels of cheese and butter.

Jossi handed Mary a plate filled with food. Mary just nodded because her mouth was already full of food. The meat tasted good, and the bread was soft and fragrant. Mary, who had not eaten since the night before, was starving and could easily eat all the food she had been given.

After everyone ate, baskets of fruit was passed around. Mary took a big red apple and put it in the pocket of her skirt. She was so full that she couldn’t eat anymore, but she didn’t know when the next meal would come.

After sitting for a while, Mrs. Karrots stood up, which was the signal that dinner was over. Once again, the kitchen was filled with people. Now it was time to clear up after dinner and prepare tomorrow’s breakfast.

Mary was tasked with first to rake out two of the fireplaces and filling them with new firewood. Then she had to carry in water with which she filled two tubs.

When the sun started to go down, the kitchen seemed to calm down and it looked clean and organized. No food were on the benches anymore, the utensils were put away and everything was cleaned and both the floor and the pots were shining in the last evening light.

Mary had filled the tubs with water and was waiting near Mrs. Karrots for what would happen next. After a while, Mrs. Karrots turned around and looked at Mary.

“You have worked well today my friend and you have made sure not to get in the way. You will be an asset to the kitchen. That’s good,” she said, and Mary was delighted with the praise.

“Jossi will show you to your room. Kitchen maids rarely get their own room, but you are the youngest here and no one has a large enough room to share with a third person. I hope your room is good enough for you. I expect you to work just as well tomorrow,” Mrs. Karrots said.

“Thank you, ma’am. It will certainly do just fine, and I promise to work just as well tomorrow,” Mary said and curtsied.

Soon after, she swept through the corridors tightly on Jossi’s heels.

“It’s forbidden to have men in the room” Jossi said, looking over her shoulder. “You don’t have to worry about that for a couple of years, I guess. The room should be tidy and clean, sometimes both Mrs. Karrots and Mrs. Meata do inspections of the rooms. If you ask me, Mrs. Meata is a real bitch, so you better make sure to stay in her good side” Jossi continued.

Mary nodded and followed the woman as she desperately tried to remember the way they were walking. Jossi stopped in front of a door.

“This is your room, toilet and bath are two doors further in that direction,” she said, pointing. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning, so you don’t get lost. Okay?”

Mary nodded and Jossi left her outside the door. Mary opened the door and walked inside. The room was minimal. At one side stood a bed, next to the bed stood a dresser with a candle on it, and at the foot of the bed stood her chest.

The walls were whitewashed, and the room had no windows, the ceiling so low that a grown man would need to bend his knees to fit inside. But Mary was too tired, and her hands hurt too much for her to think about such things.

She went in and closed the door behind her. There could be two people in the aisle that formed between the bed and the other wall, but it would be a squeeze. But Mary was alone when she slipped out of her dress and hung it over the chest. She quickly crawled into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

The days that followed flowed into each other. Mary worked hard with all the tasks that Mrs. Karrots gave her. She carried firewood, brought in water, scrubbed pots and raked ashes.

She made sure to work quickly and stay out of the way of all the people who worked in the kitchen. As the days passed, Mary realized that what she first thought was chaos was instead a well-oiled machine.

Everyone knew what to do and everyone worked quickly and efficiently. Mary became another cog in the machine and soon it seemed as if her time with the Lady and Kopa had just been a dream. But the knife she constantly wore hidden in the skirt folds reminded her that it had not been a dream.

Her grief for her parents had been eased. She was mostly too busy or too tired to cry, but the heavy knot in her stomach remained. She just tried not to think about it, it was as if it had always been there.