“I’ll go wash my hands, then,” he said. He rose, careful to hunch over so as not to hit his head again, and stepped behind the screen. He poured water into the basin and used the sliver of soap to wash his hands, then dried them on a rough cloth. When he turned to leave, Joshua was blocking his path.
“If you want coal for the stove and straw for the floor, wake up early tomorrow and I’ll help you acquire it.”
King narrowed his eyes. “Do you mean steal it?”
“Shh!” Joshua looked over his shoulder, but apparently his sister was still telling Georgie what an awful father King would make. “That’s a last resort. We can pick up loose bits of coal that fall off the delivery wagons, but we have to go early.”
“And the straw?”
“Oh, that’s easy. We stop at a few shops and beg for the straw their shipments are packed in.”
“I can’t wait.” Now King would have to resort to begging for straw and chasing after bits of coal fallen from wagons. It seemed every day brought a fresh hell.
“Come and eat,” Miss Baker called, and King followed Joshua to the table where Georgie was already seated on the stool. Joshua took a chair, and that left nowhere for King to sit. Unlesshe was willing to take the chair Miss Baker might occupy, and he wasn’t ready to stoop that low yet.
“I’ll just stand, then,” he said.
No one even looked at him. The boys were watching as their sister placed apples on their plates and then took two sausages and cut each in half. She handed King an apple and half a sausage, and he waited for her to produce more, but instead she sat and put her hands together. The boys lowered their heads too.
Apparently, they were praying over this food.
“My lord, would you like to say grace?” Miss Baker asked.
King looked at her. He wanted to ask God to give him more food, and something edible at that, but he kept that to himself. He’d dined with enough bishops to know what to say. “For these thy gifts we are about to receive, let us be truly thankful.”
“Amen!” Georgie said, and bit into his apple.
Since he’d been given no fork or knife, King lifted the sausage and took a bite. It didn’t taste like any sausage he’d ever had, but he didn’t want to think about what that might mean.
“Do you think I might have a bath after supper?” he asked.
All three of them looked at him as though this was the most ridiculous request they’d ever heard.
“Why would you want a bath?” Georgie asked, wrinkling his nose. “Vi makes me wash once a week, and it’s the worst.”
“Shh,” Miss Baker said. “My lord, I’m afraid we don’t have a bathtub. We usually pull water from the common well down the street and wash with that.”
“I suppose that will have to do,” King said, biting into his apple. “Heat up the water after supper, and I’ll wash downstairs.”
Joshua gave him a look of warning, and King shook his head as though to say,What is it now?
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding, King,” Miss Baker said, voice icy. “I don’t work for you.Youwork for me. That means I don’t fetch water or heat it for you.”
King sighed. “Fine. I’ll do it myself.”
“Not with my coal, you won’t. If you want warm water, buy your own coal. You’ll have to fetch your own water, too.”
“There’s an entire bucket behind the screen,” King protested. “I saw it a moment ago when I washed my hands.”
“Joshua fetched that this morning for our use.”
“He can use it, Vi,” Joshua said. “We’ll draw more tomorrow. Then I can show him where the well is. He’ll never find it tonight and probably get his throat slit if he goes walking about.”
“We wouldn’t want that,” the termagant said. She really did not give any quarter. King was either beginning to hate her or admire the hell out of her.
“I’ll just take the bucket with me when I go downstairs, then,” he said, and took another bite of his apple.
Miss Baker met his gaze and held it, her blue eyes full of ice. He’d always thought he liked sweet, biddable females, but he was finding himself rather more attracted to Miss Baker than he expected. Something about her spirit, her backbone, her sheer grit, made him want to inflame her further. And when her cheeks were pink and her eyes sparking with anger, he started thinking about kissing her.
