It was still dark as the two women and Nadi walked out of the servants’ quarters and walked on the path leading to the main house. There was a slight drizzle and they walked hurriedly to avoid the damp. The wet path glistened under the weak light of a single light bulb that shone from under the roof of the servants’ quarters.“Careful with your steps, Nadi! The path could be slippery,” Flora warned her daughter just as she walked close to her and shielding Nadi with her body.In a few minutes, the women were at the back door of the main house, shaking off the remaining raindrops from their clothes.“Do you think she’s here already?” asked Flora as she brushed Nadi’s head and dress with her hands.“It’s too early, maybe she’s still sleeping comfortably in her bed,” chuckled Eva.When they opened the door and entered the anteroom to the kitchen, they noticed that the kitchen light was on. Eva looked at Flora with an exaggeratedly scared expression to which Flora just smiled. They quickly

The guest drank some water and wiped his mouth one last time before folding his napkin neatly and placing it on top of the table. He stood up, holding on to the table as he did so to support himself.“Thank you,” he said, looking at Flora and Pablo before approaching the door that led to the entrance hall. Flora smiled at the guest and thought how weak he looked for his age. He looked overworked and the lines around his eyes were much more pronounced.“You’re welcome, Sir,” replied Flora and she walked towards the table to get the used plates and utensils. Pablo followed her and picked up the water pitcher and glasses. He was silent and Flora felt uneasy. The only noise in the dining room were the clatter of the utensils and the tinkle of porcelain as they were placed orderly in the food cart. When they were done, Flora came behind the food cart to push it back towards the kitchen. Pablo stood in her path which stopped her from pushing the food cart any farther.“Stop,” Pablo said, his

“That’s nice, Nadi,” Flora told her daughter, all the while feeling apprehensive that her daughter had seen the place where fishermen supposedly vanished. Flora hugged her daughter and kissed her head thinking of what she would do if her daughter suddenly disappeared. Flora knew that she could not live with herself if something happened to her daughter. “Did you enjoy your walk to the vegetable patch?”“Yes, Mommy!” said Nadi. “I picked leaves and flowers for Kay.” Nadi then showed Flora the bunch of small different colored flowers.“Oh, they’re beautiful, Nadi!” said Flora and smelled the flowers being held out to her by her daughter. “And they’re very fragrant!”“Fragrant!” repeated Nadi.“Yes, fragrant,” said Flora. “I have to go back inside, Nadi. Can you stay here and play with Dolly while I work?”“This is Kay!” said Nadi, hugging her doll.“Oh, sorry, I thought you said before that her name is Dolly,” said Flora.“No, this is Kay,” insisted Nadi and then she got off from Flora’s

Flora looked at Eva as she untied her apron at her back to replace it with a clean one from the drawer. Eva seemed relieved to be going out of the kitchen and her face was beaming as she went to the food cart to push it towards the dining room. Just before she got out the door, she glanced at Flora and smirked as if finally liberated from a prison where Flora was just about to start her sentence.Flora asked Rosa for permission to get food for her daughter and herself and Rosa gave her assent without looking. Flora took out two small servings of the dinner reserved for the servants and carried it to the anteroom. She saw her daughter role-playing with her doll and a broomstick, pretending to feed them using the leaves and flowers she had picked earlier. The plants had been battered and torn into smaller pieces by Nadi and placed in thin sticks to create her version of shish kebab. Nadi quickly turned when she heard the kitchen door open and her face brightened when she saw her mother

It was the first time for Flora to see the master’s other guests, having seen only Mr. Renan in the two days that she had been working on the island. The only sign that there were other guests at all were the flowing dresses that Flora saw in the laundry. Dresses that she noticed were unusually soiled as if whoever wore them had slept on the ground. Then, Flora remembered that that was after she saw that dreadful shirt that was all bloodied except for the sleeves. Flora recoiled at the memory. Seeing the master’s other guests awake at night and moving about, albeit at a distance, made Flora realize that the mansion was indeed inhabited by people whom she was serving. She had not seen the master since she had come to Orsica which felt unusual for her who had closely served masters and mistresses of small households in Malen. Seeing Mr. Dante’s guests in the flesh had substantiated the thought that the work that she was doing was really for the comfort and convenience of the master and