Sandhill Street: The Loss of Gentleness

by Rob Summers

Chapter 8 The New Girl Fret

  “Excuse me, who are you?”

  The young woman in a maid’s uniform and a heavy sweater, carrying a rag and a spray bottle of some liquid, had been about to pass Reason in a hallway in Grace House. She came to a grudging halt. She was skinny and pale with long dark hair that shielded much of her pretty face. Half circles under her eyes. She looked at Reason sourly and said nothing.

  “Are you a visitor, and if so, what are you doing in one of our uniforms?” Reason asked. “Pardon me, but I’d like to know. I’ve never seen you here before. What’s your business?”

  “I’m working here now,” she said.

  “Oh, no you aren’t,” Reason said with a firm grin. “You’re obviously not a carpenter, and I do all the hiring of servants in this house.”

  The woman, who Reason now guessed might be past thirty, licked her lips and looked down at her toes. “He said I was hired. I’m supposed to help out. Don’t you know who I am?”

  “Who said you were hired?”

  The woman began to draw in sucking breaths like someone about to cry. “If I’m going to be badgered like this, I won’t stay here!”

  She turned and walked quickly away.

  “Who is that skinny woman I stopped in the hall?” Reason asked of Faith in the library.

  The mother of the nine Orchard children put down her magazine and looked up with a smile. “You mean the new girl Fret? I thought you hired her, so I issued her a uniform. She says she’s official.”

  “She certainly isn’t!” Reason’s dark eyes flashed. “And that’s even more troublesome now than usual, because Dignity and I have something in mind that we want to keep under wraps. This Fret could be a City plant.”

  Faith shook her blonde head. “They wouldn’t dare unless she had some kind of cover.” She laughed. “I mean how could they expect us not to notice an extra servant?”

  Reason had to admit this made sense. “Then who was she talking about that she said hired her? Grace? No, nobody would, she’s a whiner. What is she supposed to be working at?”

  Faith plainly thought the situation funny. “I didn’t assign her anything to do because I thought you had.”

  “You mean she’s just hanging around doing nothing?”

  “No, Joy got her to help him with the window cleaning.”

  Joy was Faith’s oldest son, a park ranger by profession, and had recently returned from a long vacation to Crown Mountain in New Jerusalem.

  “Oh, now I remember that she was carrying a spray bottle.”

  “She’s been here a few days now,” Faith said. “Actually, I think Joy is sweet on her.”

  At this, Reason’s breath left her, and she sank into a chair. “Oh, Faith, stop joking! And we don’t even know who she is!”

  “Well, she’s around his age and pretty, and if the truth be known, I think they’re doing more talking than window washing. I’m sorry, but I knew of nothing against her.”

  “And you’re not concerned about this?”

  “Not really,” the older woman said as she stood. “Why don’t we just ask Grace?”

  The old man welcomed the two women into his rooms and asked them to sit down.

  “Oh, Fret? Nothing to worry about, ladies. I hired her a few days ago and asked her to make herself useful, and about time I may say.”

  “But, sir, who is she?” Reason asked.

  “Who is she?” Grace looked at the women with a smile. “She’s who she’s always been, though I only recently gave her that name. Admittedly, she’s on trial, but she and I have had several long talks, and I believe she’ll suit us well.”

  “I’m relieved that she’s not employed by the City,” Reason said. “I had such imaginings.”

  “Oh, well, as for that, I believe she is still employed by the City,” he answered.

  Faith and Reason looked at each other in consternation.

  “She’s not Heavenite?” Faith asked.

  “No, she’s not. Perhaps she will be.”

  “Isn’t that risky?” Reason asked with a strained voice.

  “There is some risk, yes. I like to take risks.”

  Reason’s little face looked gray. “Sir, if I didn’t have the greatest confidence in you….” She could not finish.

  He placed his hand on hers. “Fret’s been in Power’s pay for years,” he said, “but she’s never been happy. She came to me and asked for some way to—well, to go on living. You see how thin she is, and if not for me, she would have gone on wasting away. Also, you should consider that she has some good notions about how to protect this household from its enemies. Someone who has seen as far into the enemy’s methods as she has may prove invaluable.”

  “I trust you, sir,” said Faith, “but could she at least be kept away from Joy?”

  He considered. “Why don’t you ask him that?”

  “Certainly,” Reason said. “Look, I wouldn’t be so intense about this, but…” She withdrew the abominometer from a skirt pocket and showed it to him. “…it reads 85 now. It keeps creeping up. Of course, I don’t know exactly what it signifies, but I think it probably means we’ll have to take action soon, and when we do, I wouldn’t want Mr. Power to know our every move.”

  “I would think that would be a problem only if you were to make some move that you would be ashamed of,” Grace said, and gave her a piercing look. “Do you have something specific in mind?”

  Reason was uncharacteristically confused. “Nothing absolutely, no.”

  “Then let me move on to some good news that I’m going to share with everyone at the dinner table tonight. I’ve received a message that His Majesty’s Ship the Gloria Dothan is expected in our vicinity sometime within the next several weeks. She may even visit this City. Her mission is military of course, but her presence also relates to the Naval Ball we’ve been invited to.”

  Reason looked at him guardedly. “Sir? Pardon me, but the City is landlocked. Could this be some little boat that would come up the river?”

  “No, dear, this is a battleship of His Majesty’s navy, a 10,000 gunner. Our river would scarcely suffice to fill her water tanks. Just trust me that, if her Captain decides to dock here, he will do so.”

  Reason was used to being astonished by the forces of Heaven, so she acquiesced in this. “But won’t our navy want to keep some distance? If they dock here, the City authorities might try to expel them or even to capture the ship.”

  Grace laughed heartily. “The City authorities ought to be happy just to avoid trouble with the Gloria Dothan. If they try anything, they’ll regret it. As to her mission, you’ll recall that I promised you and Dignity a battle?”

  Reason recalled this but was confused. “But with just one ship, sir? Shouldn’t Heaven send a fleet?”

  “That would be overkill. The City is unprepared and has very few people in uniform.”

  This was too confusing and disturbing for Reason to wish to hear more. She stood. “That’s good to know,” she said. “Thank you, sir. I think we’ll just go now and do as you said. We’ll ask Joy about Fret.”

  They found them near a window, kissing. Faith cleared her throat and they parted, a little, but far from being embarrassed, Joy kept his arm around Fret as he turned to them.

  “What’s up, Mom?”

  “Your father and I would like to get to know your new girl,” Faith said pleasantly. “Maybe she can join us at dinner this evening, rather than eat in the servants’ hall.”

  “How much do you know about her?” Reason put in sharply. “Are you aware that she isn’t a Heavenite?”

  He looked down at Fret with a foolish smile, then to Reason again. “I like a little mystery in a woman,” he said. “Anyway, Fret and I have had some long talks, and even though she doesn’t want to tell me much about her past, I can tell she’s all right.”

  Fret suddenly got out from under his arm and stepped away.


  “I love him,” she said as she retreated to the nearest door, “but I can tell this is going to end tragically. Couldn’t you just leave us alone?”

  This sounded melodramatic enough that Reason smiled in spite of herself. “As long as you cause no trouble, we’ll not only not bother you, Fret, we’ll be positively kind to you. We just need to be sure you have nothing to hide.”

  Fret put her hands over her face and ran from the room.

  “Now I’ll never find her,” Joy said irritatedly. “When she wants to be by herself she just disappears. She’s got some hiding place in the house, and not even Honesty has figured out where it is.”

  “Everything seems to weigh against our friend Fret,” Faith said, “except that Grace says she’s all right. It reminds me of how bad things looked for Obscurity when she first came here.”

  “I’m keeping that in mind,” Reason said.

  “Yes, don’t rush in and judge her,” Joy said gruffly, and leaving them, he went to search for Fret.