As I finally finish washing, folding and packing the children's clothing, I make my way down to the bottom floor where my chamber is. I manage to find an old briefcase for my own clothing and belongings and start to pack when the servants bell goes off. I make my way down the old wooden musty smelling hall to Sir Edward's office where he is packing the last of his dusty old books and bibles. The room smells of smoke from his cigar which almost makes me cough but I made myself hold it in because if Master thinks I'm sick then he won't want to take me on board the boat in case I make the others sick.I wouldn't stand if he decides not to bring me along to New Zealand anymore as I just cannot wait to get out of this dirty historical old house for the first time.
I am 14 years of age now and have never experienced being outside of the house gates expected for when I was just born. I would describe myself as hardworking, determined, positive, emotional and also a bit of a perfectionist. My mother got to keep me until I was the age of 6 and then we got separated to different parts of the house, I got moved to section B-2 and I mustn't leave otherwise I will be punished by my master, Sir Edward. Here I got taught to be a slave so that I could serve Sir Edward and his family. I make sure I work hard and do what master orders so that I don't get kicked out onto the street with no food, no clothes and no one to talk to. " Young Mary" says Master in his soft deep voice "as you know we will be leaving tomorrow to New Zealand for a fresh start and we will be bringing you, Jane, Sarah and Margaret." " yes master, and I am very grateful you have decided to bring me Sir." " That is great Mary but we have decided that we would bring along one other slave from section D-3 and we think that you will be very happy we have chosen this lady." My heart skips a beat and I think, could it be her? Could it be my mother?
I woke up to the deathly, sharp, piercing sound of the servants bell ringing in my ears. I rip up off my worn out straw bedding with a rush of excitement springing up and down my body. Today is the day! The day I finally get to meet my mother for the first time in 8 years! And hopefully this time we don’t get split up. I slid on my frock and shawl with a great feeling or enthusiasm and eagerness. I try to pull my dry, cracked fingers through my dense, matted blonde locks but its almost impossible so i just twist it up into a messy topknot. I passed Elnora, Sir Edward's 5 year old daughter on my way to see master and she seemed to be running quite fast but then she suddenly stopped and turned to face me. “ Mary, help me get away so that mamma can’t find me” she said is her squeaky baby voice. I could see in her eyes that she was scared, “ but why Elnora, we will be leaving soon the catch our ship to New Zealand”. “ I know, thats why I have to run away!” she wailed “I don’t want to leave!”. Before I had a chance to ask why, she ran off speedily down the hall again. I decided that I couldn’t go after her, as master would get angry at me for taking so long to come to him so instead I just continue walking. “Good morning mary” boomed Sir Edward “I would like you to go and help the other ladies in the kitchen to pack the rest of the food for the trip” “yes Sir” I whipped back in reply and with that I trotted off down the stairwell to the kitchen.
I got to the house’s main kitchen and expected to be kindly greeted “good morning” but instead I was welcomed by a bunch or scary, angry faces. At first I was in shock as to why everyone was giving me dirty looks but then I clicked. They were all jealous and angry at me because I got picked to go with the Edward’s family to New Zealand and they didn’t. A sudden feeling of guilt went rushing up inside me and I felt sorry for all the other ladies that have been given the boot. Just when I was about to explain to the ladies how sorry I was, I got distracted by the rushing sound of heels click clacking against the hard wooden floor coming towards the kitchen. It was Catherine, Sir Edward's wife and she looked pretty stressed and upset. “ good morning Ma'am, how are you this morning, is everything alright, you look a bit flushed?” Commented Alberta, one of the other slaves who work in our section. “No actually, everyone, listen up!” called Catherine. “I have lost Enlora, I have looked absolutely everywhere through the house and she is no place to be seen. Now if you have seen or heard anything about her in the last 20 minutes then quickly speak up now, as we are leaving to go to the port in half and hour.” after that my heart started to beat right out of my chest because I knew that I had seen her about 15 minutes ago but if I told Catherine the conversation we had then I would be sacked for sure! “Anyone?” spoke Catherine as she started to turn around to leave. “ yes actually Mrs, I have seen her!” I suddenly spoke without even thinking. “ Well then Mary would you care to hurry up and explain to me where she’s disappeared to then” she snapped. I led her out the room slowly but then stopped and realised I actually don’t know where Elnora has gone, I just know she wants to get away from the house.
I had just explained to Catherine what had happened 20 minutes ago in my conversation with Elnora and am now sitting in Sir Edward's office waiting to hear from Catherine. There was a sharp knock on the door and then Catherine’s head popped in through the door “Mary” said Catherine “ we need to have a serious talk.” “ Yes Mrs, have your found Elnora?” “yes, we were lucky enough to find her sitting on her tire swing out the back” Answered Catherine. “ That’s great news Miss. I apologise for not telling you” I said. “no Mary, don’t apologise.” Catherine butted in. “ It’s too late to apologise, we have already made a decision.” She spoke sharply in her plummy English accent. “ I am strongly disappointed in you young Mary. I am disappointed you didn’t come and talk to me and tell me what Elnora said to you in the hall. It would of saved us a lot of time and effort that we just don’t have at the moment and for that, I am not going to waste anymore time by telling you right now that we have decided not to take you to New Zealand with us anymore and you will be replaced by Alberta.” My heart dropped. My eyes filled up with tears. I have never felt so disappointed and depressed in my life. It felt like I had been stabbed in the back a million times. I felt confused, scared, upset, angry and a hole lot of other emotions gathering up inside me. Silence filled the room and a single tear ran down the side of my cheek. “ Don’t worry mary we have found you a place to go, you will be sent off to where you will meet your new master this afternoon.” “ But-but Catherine” I sputtered. “ I am so sorry miss, it would never happen again, I promise! Please take me with you!” “ No Mary I have told you once and will not say it again ok? now go finish up where you were in the kitchen earlier and help load everything onto the moving carts.” She glided out into the hall and left me to be.
I was outside with an arms worth of the children's luggage and could smell the historical smell of the house on the bags. The sky was filled with dark dull rain clouds and you could hear the sound of crunching leaves underneath our feet. “ That’s all guys, we have it all packed now ” a man called. The Edwards family said goodbye and farewell to all their friends and family and climbed up into the carriage. The horses started to trot off and they were off. A thought popped into my head. A crazy crazy thought but for some reason I knew I had to do it. Everyone started heading back inside but I stayed there for a few more minutes watching the horses trot off further and further away. Once everyone had left, I ran. I ran towards where the Edwards family was heading in the carriage and I didn’t stop. The horses had been pushed into a canter now and it was really hard to keep up. My heart beat fast and my chest started to ache but I kept running. it had been 5 minutes now since I had been running and my legs were really starting to feel the pain. The house was out of sight and the carriage was about 50 metres ahead of me. Suddenly up ahead it looked like the carriage had stopped and I thought I'd better slow down so they couldn’t see me. I was about 20 metres away now and stopped and hid behind a tree. I looked through the leaves of the tree where I was hiding and could see a massive boat! I couldn’t believe how big it was, I have never seen a boat in my life and certainly was not expecting that!
I looked back towards where the Edward family had their carriage parked but it was gone. Suddenly the boat slowly started moving. “NOOO!” I said aloud to myself and sprinted ahead. My shraw must of gotten caught on a branch of the tree because as I took off it ripped and came right off me. I couldn’t stop so I had to leave it behind. I noticed that the boat was still close enough so I could still make a jump. The boat was only 20 feet away now and I could see a familiar face. As I got closer I realised it was mum! she was standing up on the deck of the boat!
“MUM” I screamed! she turned around and instantly spotted me, she must of recognized my voice. She raised her hands to her face in shock. I looked at how far the jump was going to be and realised that it was way too far! There was no way I was going to make it! “ Mary!” shouted mum. “ don’t slow down, look at me, I know you can make it! “ I listened to mums words carefully. I was running at complete full speed now, I looked up at mum on the boat and jumped.
I am 14 years of age now and have never experienced being outside of the house gates expected for when I was just born. I would describe myself as hardworking, determined, positive, emotional and also a bit of a perfectionist. My mother got to keep me until I was the age of 6 and then we got separated to different parts of the house, I got moved to section B-2 and I mustn't leave otherwise I will be punished by my master, Sir Edward. Here I got taught to be a slave so that I could serve Sir Edward and his family. I make sure I work hard and do what master orders so that I don't get kicked out onto the street with no food, no clothes and no one to talk to. " Young Mary" says Master in his soft deep voice "as you know we will be leaving tomorrow to New Zealand for a fresh start and we will be bringing you, Jane, Sarah and Margaret." " yes master, and I am very grateful you have decided to bring me Sir." " That is great Mary but we have decided that we would bring along one other slave from section D-3 and we think that you will be very happy we have chosen this lady." My heart skips a beat and I think, could it be her? Could it be my mother?
I woke up to the deathly, sharp, piercing sound of the servants bell ringing in my ears. I rip up off my worn out straw bedding with a rush of excitement springing up and down my body. Today is the day! The day I finally get to meet my mother for the first time in 8 years! And hopefully this time we don’t get split up. I slid on my frock and shawl with a great feeling or enthusiasm and eagerness. I try to pull my dry, cracked fingers through my dense, matted blonde locks but its almost impossible so i just twist it up into a messy topknot. I passed Elnora, Sir Edward's 5 year old daughter on my way to see master and she seemed to be running quite fast but then she suddenly stopped and turned to face me. “ Mary, help me get away so that mamma can’t find me” she said is her squeaky baby voice. I could see in her eyes that she was scared, “ but why Elnora, we will be leaving soon the catch our ship to New Zealand”. “ I know, thats why I have to run away!” she wailed “I don’t want to leave!”. Before I had a chance to ask why, she ran off speedily down the hall again. I decided that I couldn’t go after her, as master would get angry at me for taking so long to come to him so instead I just continue walking. “Good morning mary” boomed Sir Edward “I would like you to go and help the other ladies in the kitchen to pack the rest of the food for the trip” “yes Sir” I whipped back in reply and with that I trotted off down the stairwell to the kitchen.
I got to the house’s main kitchen and expected to be kindly greeted “good morning” but instead I was welcomed by a bunch or scary, angry faces. At first I was in shock as to why everyone was giving me dirty looks but then I clicked. They were all jealous and angry at me because I got picked to go with the Edward’s family to New Zealand and they didn’t. A sudden feeling of guilt went rushing up inside me and I felt sorry for all the other ladies that have been given the boot. Just when I was about to explain to the ladies how sorry I was, I got distracted by the rushing sound of heels click clacking against the hard wooden floor coming towards the kitchen. It was Catherine, Sir Edward's wife and she looked pretty stressed and upset. “ good morning Ma'am, how are you this morning, is everything alright, you look a bit flushed?” Commented Alberta, one of the other slaves who work in our section. “No actually, everyone, listen up!” called Catherine. “I have lost Enlora, I have looked absolutely everywhere through the house and she is no place to be seen. Now if you have seen or heard anything about her in the last 20 minutes then quickly speak up now, as we are leaving to go to the port in half and hour.” after that my heart started to beat right out of my chest because I knew that I had seen her about 15 minutes ago but if I told Catherine the conversation we had then I would be sacked for sure! “Anyone?” spoke Catherine as she started to turn around to leave. “ yes actually Mrs, I have seen her!” I suddenly spoke without even thinking. “ Well then Mary would you care to hurry up and explain to me where she’s disappeared to then” she snapped. I led her out the room slowly but then stopped and realised I actually don’t know where Elnora has gone, I just know she wants to get away from the house.
I had just explained to Catherine what had happened 20 minutes ago in my conversation with Elnora and am now sitting in Sir Edward's office waiting to hear from Catherine. There was a sharp knock on the door and then Catherine’s head popped in through the door “Mary” said Catherine “ we need to have a serious talk.” “ Yes Mrs, have your found Elnora?” “yes, we were lucky enough to find her sitting on her tire swing out the back” Answered Catherine. “ That’s great news Miss. I apologise for not telling you” I said. “no Mary, don’t apologise.” Catherine butted in. “ It’s too late to apologise, we have already made a decision.” She spoke sharply in her plummy English accent. “ I am strongly disappointed in you young Mary. I am disappointed you didn’t come and talk to me and tell me what Elnora said to you in the hall. It would of saved us a lot of time and effort that we just don’t have at the moment and for that, I am not going to waste anymore time by telling you right now that we have decided not to take you to New Zealand with us anymore and you will be replaced by Alberta.” My heart dropped. My eyes filled up with tears. I have never felt so disappointed and depressed in my life. It felt like I had been stabbed in the back a million times. I felt confused, scared, upset, angry and a hole lot of other emotions gathering up inside me. Silence filled the room and a single tear ran down the side of my cheek. “ Don’t worry mary we have found you a place to go, you will be sent off to where you will meet your new master this afternoon.” “ But-but Catherine” I sputtered. “ I am so sorry miss, it would never happen again, I promise! Please take me with you!” “ No Mary I have told you once and will not say it again ok? now go finish up where you were in the kitchen earlier and help load everything onto the moving carts.” She glided out into the hall and left me to be.
I was outside with an arms worth of the children's luggage and could smell the historical smell of the house on the bags. The sky was filled with dark dull rain clouds and you could hear the sound of crunching leaves underneath our feet. “ That’s all guys, we have it all packed now ” a man called. The Edwards family said goodbye and farewell to all their friends and family and climbed up into the carriage. The horses started to trot off and they were off. A thought popped into my head. A crazy crazy thought but for some reason I knew I had to do it. Everyone started heading back inside but I stayed there for a few more minutes watching the horses trot off further and further away. Once everyone had left, I ran. I ran towards where the Edwards family was heading in the carriage and I didn’t stop. The horses had been pushed into a canter now and it was really hard to keep up. My heart beat fast and my chest started to ache but I kept running. it had been 5 minutes now since I had been running and my legs were really starting to feel the pain. The house was out of sight and the carriage was about 50 metres ahead of me. Suddenly up ahead it looked like the carriage had stopped and I thought I'd better slow down so they couldn’t see me. I was about 20 metres away now and stopped and hid behind a tree. I looked through the leaves of the tree where I was hiding and could see a massive boat! I couldn’t believe how big it was, I have never seen a boat in my life and certainly was not expecting that!
I looked back towards where the Edward family had their carriage parked but it was gone. Suddenly the boat slowly started moving. “NOOO!” I said aloud to myself and sprinted ahead. My shraw must of gotten caught on a branch of the tree because as I took off it ripped and came right off me. I couldn’t stop so I had to leave it behind. I noticed that the boat was still close enough so I could still make a jump. The boat was only 20 feet away now and I could see a familiar face. As I got closer I realised it was mum! she was standing up on the deck of the boat!
“MUM” I screamed! she turned around and instantly spotted me, she must of recognized my voice. She raised her hands to her face in shock. I looked at how far the jump was going to be and realised that it was way too far! There was no way I was going to make it! “ Mary!” shouted mum. “ don’t slow down, look at me, I know you can make it! “ I listened to mums words carefully. I was running at complete full speed now, I looked up at mum on the boat and jumped.