Chapter 46: Bad luck (2)
"You want me to catch chickens?" Annalise asked in disbelief as she stared at the tiny creatures already running away from her.
Annalise knew Mavis hated to repeat herself, but she just needed to be clear on the fact that Mavis, for some reason, wanted her to chase after chickens.
"Have you lost your hearing since you were away? I just said you are to catch the chickens and put them away. You are to also collect the eggs that are scattered all over. Since you were away for so long, this is your punishment. Returning a dress to the young master should not have taken so long. I had to get someone else to do your work," Mavis loudly spoke with her hands on her hips.
They were already short on maids since Rafael and the knights had returned earlier, giving her and Edwin no time to hire more maids to deal with the knights, so Annalise’s absence was not welcomed.
Annalise stayed silent since she did return later than she intended to. If not for Delilah wanting her dress and then Rafael wanting to speak with her in private, she would have been on time and wouldn’t be dealing with chickens.
Annalise couldn’t tell Mavis about what happened with Delilah and she didn’t want to share meeting with Rafael, so she would do as Mavis told her since she wanted to prove she could do her work well. However, Annalise couldn’t help hating using that her family had a farm as a story for herself. Then she wouldn’t be running around behind chickens because Mavis thought she was used to it.
Mavis liked that the fact that Annalise did not complain like the others would. Not that their complaints would change anything. In her eyes, she was going easy on Annalise since her first punishment was to have Annalise clean the second floor by herself.
If not for there being a few moments where Annalise got under her skin, Mavis would take her under her wing like Laura and Tanya. Maids who were loyal and do just as she said to listen around to what the guests were saying and then repeat it to her or to get rid of a maid she didn’t like, but could not just fire. In return for their loyalty, there was special treatment and better jobs offered like being picked to serve certain guests.
"I expect that by evening there will be a basket of eggs in front of me to be used for the young master’s breakfast tomorrow and there won’t be any chickens running around," Mavis said and then turned to leave so she could get away from the horrid smell.
"Who is the fool to let out all of these chickens?" Annalise muttered, feeling drained just by looking at them walk around. There were eggs in random spots. Some with no chicken nearby and some she could see under chickens.
Annalise dropped the basket in her right hand. Before she could collect the eggs, she needed to put away the chickens, which would fight her when she tried to pick up the eggs. She could already feel the feathers from the chickens flapping their wings against her. "Listen up!"
Rafael, who happened to be on the training grounds, looked around when he heard a woman giving an order he was about to give to the men. A contest was coming up, and since King Tobias might be paying a visit, he wanted the knights to be ready to show off the power of the Callahan knights.