saumensch: (secret smile)
[personal profile] saumensch
It's been a few months now, and Liesel feels like she's finally starting to settle into this city. When she'd first arrived on Himmel Street it had taken a while to get used to things, until suddenly it felt like home. It sneaked up on her, surprising her with how suddenly Mama and Papa felt like family, with how quickly Rudy wriggled his way into her graces and refused to let go. She hadn't wanted to like it at first, but in the end she hadn't really had much choice in the matter.

Darrow was a little like that, too. It's even more different than Molching had been, and there are days where she doesn't think she'll ever really understand it, but there are plenty of good things, too. There are people here who are very nice to her though she can't always tell why, and there are lots of books to read and the weather is truly lovely. She doesn't like school too much but she's managed to keep a low enough profile that nobody really bothers her that much, and at the end of the day she gets to come home to Green Gardens and read with Saoirse, or cook with Greta in the kitchen. Then there's the magic, which Liesel thinks has to be her favourite part. She's watched Baz and Simon do magic before, but even that hadn't been as delightful as floating around in the park last month.

The more comfortable she gets, the bolder she gets. There aren't too many rules at Green Gardens besides the obvious, and for the most part Liesel is left to her own devices. She's been in the library reading, and it's a long time before she realises that the sun has long sunk below the horizon and everybody else has gone to their rooms to sleep for the night. She packs away her books, putting the ones she'd borrowed back on the shelf where they belong, and starts to pad back through the halls, grateful that she's wearing socks and no shoes.

It's when she passes the kitchen that her stomach grumbles and Liesel realises that she must have missed dinner. If she were at home, Mama would have scolded her and told her that she would have to go to bed with no supper, but Liesel isn't going to be put off that easily. She's learned her way around the kitchens a little better since her lessons with Greta, so she looks each way quickly to make sure she's not seen before she slips inside and shuts the door behind her. Once she's alone in the kitchen, she's struck by how much choice she has. She's still getting used to how plentiful food is in Darrow, how many things beside pea soup there is to eat. She can hardly choose where to start, turning around slowly in the kitchen as her hands hover over each of the cupboard doors.

There's a noise in the hall outside, and Liesel knows the jig is up a second before the door opens, but she's reasonably confident she won't get in too much trouble. At the most she'll be sent off to bed and told not to wander, but she's already slipped two cookies into her dress pocket in case.

Date: 2017-06-14 04:21 pm (UTC)
letitbetrue: (015)
From: [personal profile] letitbetrue
By now most of the children are in bed, though some of the older ones are still in the common room, watching television or doing their school work, and Green Gardens, at this time, is quite quiet. Demelza is almost finished for the evening and she's sure if Simon or Baz were to find her at this point, they would usher her off, insisting there's nothing so pressing for her to do that it can't be left until morning.

But she has one more load of washing to transfer to the dryer and a few towels to fold before she feels comfortable leaving, and she heads into the kitchen, humming softly under her breath, then nearly lets out a little shriek.

"Judas," she breathes a moment later, her palm pressed to her chest and a laugh bubbling out of her. There's a girl standing there, one she recognizes, though whose name she hasn't learned yet, and Demelza hadn't expected to see her there, had expected to be entirely alone. "You startled me."

She's hardly angry, though, the soft laugh dying away as she comes into the kitchen, lips still curved into a smile. "Did 'ee need something to eat?" she asks. "I can find you something already made so we don't have to make too much of a mess. How does that sound?"

Date: 2017-06-15 08:34 pm (UTC)
letitbetrue: (007)
From: [personal profile] letitbetrue
"Sorry for what?" Demelza asks. "Tis your home, is it not?"

That's how she wants the children here to think of this place and she's sure that's how Baz and Simon would like for them to think of it, too. They've created this place to be an alternative to the home that already exists and Demelza doesn't fault the folks who run that place, they're only doing what they've been instructed to by the government, but she finds Green Gardens to be much nicer and she's certain that is exactly what Baz and Simon are hoping to achieve.

This is their home. And that means they can wander around in the kitchen whenever they like, just like Julia and Jeremy will once they're old enough.

"Come and sit," she invites. "I'll find 'ee something to eat. My name is Demelza, I don't think we've met officially yet, have we?"

Date: 2017-06-20 07:08 pm (UTC)
letitbetrue: (015)
From: [personal profile] letitbetrue
As she moves toward the ice box, Demelza casts a smile over her shoulder and says, "And they want for it to be yours as well."

It's not that easy, she's well aware of that, but she's quiet for a moment as she finds some cold chicken in the refrigerator, as well as lettuce and tomato and cucumber, then begins to prepare Liesel a nice sandwich that will ease her stomach pains and take her through the night. There are some biscuits as well and Demelza adds them to the plate, which she carries to Liesel along with a tall glass of milk.

"But I d'know how hard it can be to make yourself a new home," she admits finally, setting the food and milk down in front of the girl and then taking a seat across from her, snagging one of the biscuits for herself with a small smile. "When I were sixteen, I left my home and though it were for the best, twas all I'd ever known until then. I was taken in by a very kind man, though he didn't seem too terribly kind at first, and it was very difficult, trying to settle into a new life, trying to understand where I could go and where I could not."

Even once they'd been married, Demelza had struggled with that. She'd gone from scullery maid to lady of the house overnight and had no idea how to process such a thing. For months following the wedding, she'd still acted more Ross' kitchen girl than his wife. With obvious exceptions.

Date: 2017-06-23 04:25 pm (UTC)
letitbetrue: (011)
From: [personal profile] letitbetrue
"I didn't get a new mama or papa," Demelza admits, looking down and hiding a little smile. "But I did end up marrying the man I was working for, so twas still all for the best in the end. I got a new family all the same, as he had a wonderful cousin who then became mine and I made dear friends of the folks he already knew."

Not all of them, of course. She had tried so hard, but there were those who just wouldn't accept her as she was, a scullery maid who thought too highly of herself, someone who stepped beyond her station in life, beyond where she was supposed to be. But some of the people Ross knew had been so good to her and even the miners had readily and happily accepted one of their own as the new mistress of Ross' land. Sometimes she thinks she's the one who helped bridge the gap between the rich and poor, but she knows Ross has always been good to his workers, always in the mine with them, getting his hands dirty as no other mine owner had ever done.

"Saumensch," she echoes thoughtfully. Ross might have known what the word meant or, at the very least, which language it was, but Demelza isn't nearly as educated as her husband and there are those who would say she barely knows how to speak English. "What does that mean? I'm that sorry, I only just know English."

Date: 2017-06-27 02:53 pm (UTC)
letitbetrue: (011)
From: [personal profile] letitbetrue
It may not be a very polite name to call her, but Liesel doesn't seem to mind it terribly and so Demelza laughs softly, looking amused. And Judas knows she'd been called far more terrible names by her own father, the sorts of cruel insults she'd hardly even want to hurl at her worst enemy.

Well, perhaps George Warleggan would deserve such cruelty, but few other people.

"I've heard very little German," she admits, very interested in different languages, though she still sometimes struggles with her letters in English. The words of other languages sound strange and magical and romantic to her and she doesn't think she'll ever be able to learn them for herself, no matter how hard she might try. "Do 'ee speak it fluently? When I came to live with Ross, that's my husband, I didn't even know how to read or write my letters, but I learned with his help and it's gotten even better here, but I shall always be better at math. Numbers make sense to be sometimes when letters don't. I must doubt I could ever learn another language."

Date: 2017-07-06 04:48 pm (UTC)
letitbetrue: (007)
From: [personal profile] letitbetrue
"Well, if you ever find 'ee need help with your numbers, I'd be that happy to help you," Demelza offers and it isn't even because she works here that she thinks to suggest it. Helping people, especially children, is one of her greatest desires, one of the things that makes her feel most accomplished. It will be good practice, too, she believes, for when she must help Jeremy and Julia with their homework.

"Or if 'ee need another dinner when you've missed the meal with the others," she teases. "And perhaps you can show me how better to do my letters."

Demelza isn't so proud a person that she wouldn't learn from a child. She's of the mind, in fact, that children know much more than many adults and that there is plenty to be learned from them if only people would listen.

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