Eventually Penny's sobs subsided. There was nothing she could do about her situation. Someone had once said to her "That which cannot be overcome must be endured." She could not remember who had told her that, and she suspected that it was not an original thought but something they had been quoting, however Penny made it into her motto. It had served her well through eighteen years of poverty, and it would have to serve her again, through her slavery. She would do her best to avoid whatever bad things befell her as a slave, but the bad things she could neither avoid nor overcome, she would endure. Although she felt that this would probably mean she had a lot of "enduring" to do.
So, determined to make the best of her dreadful situation, Penny looked round her new quarters. Unfortunately the best she could make of her situation at that time was to put the chair back in front of the window and watch the farm again.
There were more cows in the field. Penny was surprised, she had not thought that the farmer would have replaced them so quickly. But then thinking about it, she supposed that an empty field is an unprofitable field, so he would want to get it filled as soon as possible.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. The butler entered carrying a bowl. "I won't usually serve you your food" he told her "In future you will either eat in the kitchen or, if you are locked up here, one of the lower staff will bring it to you." He then handed her the bowl and left saying "I'll collect the bowl in about half an hour, have it ready."
The bowl was old and cracked. The food in it was leftovers. Some of it, possibly all of it, had obviously been swept into the bowl straight off of other people's plates. Some of it had been half eaten or contained bite marks. It had come from several courses, but no attempt had been made to separate the courses. There were potatoes, vegetables and meat in the bowl, on top of this there was a half eaten piece of cake, what looked like a couple of halves of tinned apricots, and some custard. There had been gravy on the meat, and that had got on everything, including the custard. It was a revolting mess.
Penny had not been hungry up until then. But the sight of food, even such a horrible mish mash as this, reminded her stomach that she had not eaten in over twenty four hours. So resigned to her new diet of leftovers, Penny ate. There was no cutlery, she had to use her fingers. Much of the food could be eaten this way, but things like custard, gravy, and mashed potatoes cannot, so she finished up by putting her head in the bowl and licking it clean, like a dog.
When the butler returned to collect her bowl he was also carrying a pint glass. "I forgot that you would need water too." he said, and handed it to her. The water in the glass was cloudy, and there were bits in it. The butler looked slightly embarrassed when he informed he "Mistress' instructions are that your drinking water cannot come from a tap, but must come from the duck pond." Then to Penny's surprise, he added "Sorry."
As he left Penny called out "Please don't lock the door." He told her gruffly that it was the mistress' orders that she should be locked in. When Penny protested that she might need the toilet later, he pointed to the bucked. Penny answered "But there is no paper. If I have to...you know... I'll need paper." He thought for a moment, then nodded and left.
A short while later he returned and told her "The mistress says that you can use this". Then he handed her a couple of old newspapers and left, locking her in. Penny looked glumly at the newspaper, then smiled. Before she used them to wipe her ass they would at least be something to read. They were days old, but it would be better than just watching the sheep and cows.
But by then it was beginning to get dark. There was a light in the room, a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling, but the light switch did not work. Although Penny did not know it, her new owners had left it there because in the winter she would be getting up before light, and not finishing her work until after dark, so would need light. But now, in June, it started getting light about four in the morning, and did not get dark until gone nine at night. So they decided that they did not need to pay for the electricity to light her room and had taken the fuse out. When the nights began to close in and she needed light to complete her chores, they would put the fuse back. But they were not going to pay for electricity just for their slave's comfort.
So with nothing left to do, and the light beginning to fade, Penny got into bed, pulled the sacking over her body, and cried herself to sleep.
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