The girl was not uniformed like many of the maids in town. Her blue cotton dress was short like that of a child. Only her apron suggested that she was a maid, for it was the type that maids in towns often wore.

"You can reheat dinner for me, Jenny. I'll be in in a moment. I assume Mrs. Carpenter and Mrs. Appleton have taken their supper already?"

"Aye ser, though Mrs. Appleton still won't eat much."

"Take some up later and see if she wants more. For now, that's good, for Nat hasn't had his supper either. Please take him to the kitchen and see to it that he has sum't to eat."

"Aye ser." And Jenny looked at Nat. "This way please." And if he followed, she led him through a scullery into a kitchen. The walls were whitewashed, though some stains suggested it could do with some care. The wooden floor was well scrubbed though. There was a table and benches in the middle of the room. "Sit down. I'll heat he sum't." said the girl.

How the man interacted with the other employees was important to her.  They were not afraid of him, it seemed and they had respect for him.  That said a lot to her about how the place was run.   He also seemed very genuine interest in the health of his wife.  It wasn't just out of duty, it seemed.  More and more positives.  Nat followed Jenny carrying her backpack, not wanting it out of her sight.  She sat down and nodded, putting her backpack beside her.  "Thanks."  She looked around the kitchen, and after a moment, she asked.  "So, how's it like working here?"  She wanted to hear from one of them.

Jenny prodded the fire, added some coal and then took a pot from the table and put it on the stove. "Oh, it's good. I nivver worked anywhere else but home with me mam, so I suppose I cannot compare, but Mr. Appleton is good, and there's more food than at home and it's warmer too." She began to stir the contents of the pot. "Are ye from Whitby then? Mr. Appleton nivver said 'e was goin' to hire somebody. If I'd had known I would 'ave prepared more food."

She listened as much to the words but also to the tone of the girl's voice.  The body language as well.  The place would be safe, she decided more even than before.  If the girl had been afraid of the man or afraid of bad treatment, it would have shown.  That last bit of the concern of her own safety was washed away.  Now she had to decide when to tell her secret to Mr. Appleton.  Not yet, she wanted to show that she could be a trusted and hard worker first.  She had started out this interaction with her about to steal from him, after all.  So, that had to be fixed.

"I started in London, but traveled all over the place before landing in Whitby a few years ago."  She paused.  "I don't think he planned on hiring me at first."  She chuckled. "Don't worry about much for me.  I have been used to not eating much at all."  She admitted, though the smell of the food was better than most anything she had eaten in the last many years.

"Oh ye must eat well. It's hard work. Me brother's always very hungry at tea time. Just a moment, I'll just set the table for Mr. Appleton." She disappeared through a different door than the one she had come from and reappeared after a minute or so. Then she put some food on a plate, disappeared, and returned. "Ye can wash yer hands in t' scullery."

Hearing that they were generous with the food, she could already tell, she would eat better.  That was a huge plus to her.  She felt for her friends, like Old Nan, and decided to make sure some of her wages went to Gus to help take care of the older lady.  She would not have as much need for food money after all.

She nodded and went over to wash her hands.  Drying them, she looked at the bad shape they were in.  Thinking of how soft and beautiful her mother's hands had been.  Pushing that thought away, she turned back around and went to sit down at the table again.

Jenny put a plate of hot stew in front of Nat. It had some meat, potatoes, vegetables and grains in it. "There you go, and here's bread too if you need it." She sat down on the other side of the table and picked up a shirt she had been mending. "Are yer parents fine with ye movin' so far from home?"

The full plate of the delicious-smelling stew made her mouth water.  "Bread too?  Please, and thank you."  She dug into the stew right away.  It was still hot do she waved her mouth quickly with wide eyes.  Chewing more carefully, she got the bite down.  "Mmm this is might good stew.  You are a good cook." 

At the mention of her parents, she shook her head.  "My parents passed away.  That is why I traveled."  She shrugged, taking another bite, more carefully this time.

Jenny blushed a little. "Oh, I'm sorry... Well, we'll be like yer family now, then. Ye must come and meet me mum sometime. Our home is on the edge of the land. She'll look out for ye when she hears yer an orphan."

She was getting to know Jenny as much as Jenny was getting to know her.  A give and take of information.  She understood that part of things.  Figuring out how much to share was the key.  "I'd like that."  She nodded soaking a bit of the bread into the stew and taking a bite of that mixture.

"What all do you do here, besides cooking that is?"  She asked glancing up before taking another bite.