A year of kindness and understanding,
a year of brutality and pain.
A year of adventure and surprises,
a year of terror,
and a year ... of love.

I would like to thank my dear friends,
Angel O’Hare, Karen Page, Joni W., Annette MacGregor and Holly H Heart
for their kindness, help, support, and input.

Education in the Hills
Chapter 31

By Penny Reed Cardon

December 26, 2004

Nobody should have to get out of bed at 4:00am. Being forced to leave the comfort of a warm cozy bed that early in the morning, should be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

I didn't even know potatoes came in hundred pound bags. At least, I'd never seen anything that size when I'd been out shopping with mom. A hundred pounds? That's more than I weighed for goodness sakes, but that's what we were set to work on, a hundred pound bag each. After we'd finished the first two hundred pound bags, Mr. Roberts and another man brought out another bag to be split between the two of us, three-hundred pounds in all.

Having had a taste of peeling a hundred and fifty pounds of potatoes in one day, we both knew we didn't want to do this for a week. For the rest of the week, we were very careful about asking permission, to move about the school.

With church services later that morning, and not wanting to mess up our good dresses; Mary Beth and I had dressed down for our first adventure as kitchen helpers; if you call a polo shirt and good slacks dressing down. Of course, since there was nothing in our closets that Mom would have called 'grubbies' or 'play clothes', we decided we’d just have to suffer with looking nice all the time.

After a quick change we caught up with the rest of the Black Sheep as they were on their way to breakfast. After breakfast, we went over to see Rachael before going back to the cafeteria building for the regular Sunday morning church service. Being that it was the day after Christmas, there was a special emphasis on the meeting.

The rest of the day was pretty much your typical Sunday at Immigration Manor. The boys were hogging the big TV, in the lounge, to watch the recent gladiatorial games, otherwise known as American Football. Meanwhile, the girls congregated on the other side of the lounge, where any number of subjects were being discussed; sometimes including the apparent need of resorting to a prehistoric, caveman vocabulary when watching the gladiatorial games. Naturally, some of the boys didn't watch the games, and some of the girls did. All in all I guess it was almost an even mix.

After dinner, Mary Beth and I were again at the mercy of the kitchen staff. We were again put into large aprons again, even though we’d changed back into the shirts and slacks from earlier, only this time heavy rubber gloves were added. Instead of peeling potatoes, we were taught how to load large plastic trays with dirty dishes. The filled trays were pushed onto a conveyor belt which took the trays into the biggest dish washing machine I'd ever seen. It was about thirty feet long, polished metal, with clouds of steam belching out of both ends, although mostly the steam was coming out of the other end. As messy as it was, handling the dirty dishes, I was glad that we were feeding the dishes in and not having to deal with the steam and the hot dishes coming out. Truth be told, I preferred dishes to potatoes.

Beca and Lizy were waiting for us to be released by our taskmasters.

"Hi there, have fun this evening?" Beca teasing asked.

"Could have been worse," I replied with a shrug.

"What do you mean 'it could have been worse’? My feet are killing me," Mary Beth complained.

"My feet hurt too, but at least we weren't dealing with the hot dishes and the steam at the other end," I offered.

"I guess you're right about that," Mary Beth conceded.

"If you want to stay away from the heat, you'd better behave yourselves from now on," Lizy warned us.

"Lizy, it sounds like you're speaking from first-hand knowledge?" I questioned.

Lizy appeared to be shocked that I would even suggest such a thing, "Me, working in the kitchen? Never! Well, only as part of a cooking class. Beca on the other hand-"

"You don't have to blab," Beca interrupted, appearing to be upset.

I slid my hand into Beca's, looking up I gave her, what I thought was, my best sad puppy dog eyes and asked, "Was my big sister a bad girl?"

Beca pulled her hand away before saying, "Forget it! I'm not telling you anything, so you can put away your sad eyes, Miss Potato Head."

"Miss Potato Head! Don't I look like a sad puppy dog?" I asked.

Beca looked down and with an evil grin said simply, "Work on it."

"So, why were you here to meet us?" Mary Beth asked.

"Oh, we were just in the neighborhood and thought we'd check up on you," Lizy started.

"We were wondering how you were dealing with your week of punishment," Beca added.

"You know about that?" Mary Beth wondered aloud.

"But of course," Lizy confirmed.

"Let's see, what was the line?" Beca started, thinking for a moment she tried to use a different voice, as she continued. "What happened in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell, is a complete secret. So naturally, the whole school knows."

"Oh, that's just great," I bemoaned.

"Of course it is," Lizy stated cheerfully. "Haven't you had other students and maybe some of the staff remind you to send your request?"

"Now that you mention it-" I started.

"That's because everyone here cares about each other. Nobody likes to see someone else being disciplined, but we'll all help out if we can," Beca explained.

"Which reminds me, are you going back to the year A lounge, or were you planning to go straight to choir practice from here?" Lizy asked.

"Well, we were talking about just going to choir practice. That's before we ran into you two," I confessed.

"Have you sent your request yet?" Beca questioned.

"It's my turn, and I was about to, then we all started talking," Mary Beth admitted as she got out her PDA.

It was only a few moments before we received permission to move from the cafeteria to the auditorium, along with a stop at the restroom on the main floor of the administration building. Then the four of us started a leisurely stroll, chatting along the way about nothing in particular. As we were about to part company, my curiosity was piqued by something Lizy had said.

"Beca, you haven't told us why you and Lizy just happened to be in the cafeteria when we finished with the dishes," I stated, trying to get a little more information.

"Yes, we did," Lizy countered.

"We hadn't seen you for a while and we were wondering how you were doing," Beca added.

"You hadn't seen us for a while?" Mary Beth repeated Beca's statement as a question.

"True, it has been such a long time since yesterday’s Christmas concert," I added.

"You were wondering how we were doing?" Mary Beth continued.

"And-" Beca tried to say, but I interrupted her.

"And?" I asked, almost demanding.

"And we were wondering what you were planning to wear to the New Years Eve ball?" Lizy quickly blurted out.

"New Years Eve ball?" Mary Beth repeated.

"What New Years Eve ball?" I questioned.

"The - New Years Eve ball!" Beca replied.

"It's a tradition here, one of the few nights of the year that everyone’s curfew is lifted," Lizy informed us.

"We hadn't been told about a ball," Mary Beth beat me to the obvious reply.

"That's why we're talking to you. To tell you about the ball and about an unofficial tradition," Lizy continued.

"And what would that tradition be?" I suspiciously asked.

Beca jumped in here, to ease my suspicions, "Relax Munchkin. It's just that most of the students in year A don't usually bond with each other until near the end of their first year or into their second."

"You two seen to be the exception, to almost everything," Lizy teasingly added.

"So here’s the deal. Unofficially, someone from one of the older years will act as escorts for year A students to the New Years Eve ball, not separating the study partners from each other, it's more like double-dating," Beca explained.

"So, we were wondering if you two would like to go to the ball with us?" Lizy asked, somewhat formally.

Mary Beth and I stepped aside and quietly discussed the invitation. Beca and Lizy both seemed sincere, although I was a little skeptical; Beca is known as a joker. Nevertheless, we decided to accept their invitation.

I let Mary Beth, being older by a few months, speak for us. She wasn't quite as eloquent as I would have been, but her very formal acceptance was enjoyable to witness. Not having been informed of the ball sooner, we had no idea what we wanted to wear. Beca offered to take care of the arrangements for our gowns and we accepted her offer.

December 27, 2004

It was Monday morning, and the first day since we had arrived at the Manor, that Mary Beth and I were to attend classes with the rest of our classmates and learning what our new routine would be like. I know it sounds crazy, but in the three months we'd been here, nothing had been routine.

I found the new style of education an enjoyable experience. Mary Beth was certain that her brain would explode, because she was concentrating on one subject for an hour and a half, and then jumping to a different subject for the next hour and a half. Up until now, school life had been about half an hour on each subject; with a morning and afternoon recess thrown into the mix. Once a week, they'd add some art or music, when they could arrange for some volunteers to come in and help out.

'To me, recess and lunchtime at Whittier had provided a different kind of education. It was something between counter espionage, in which hiding and stealth were your best weapons, and being one of the slaves from "The Temple of Doom", trapped in a world of pain and torment.'

The daily and weekly schedule was really quite simple to understand; two - ninety minute class periods in the morning and a thirty minute break before lunch. 'Ninety minute classes worked out perfect for me, I just matched my restroom schedule to the class schedule.' The afternoon schedule was one ninety minute class followed by a sixty minute class, and then sixty minutes of what they called study hall just before dinner. Study hall wasn't any given place or room, just some time to work on our ‘out of class’ assignments. Also, during the study hall time the teachers you had that day would be in their classrooms, to answer any questions you might have. I assured Mary Beth, that she would survive the new schedule and everything would be fine. Of course, I assured her that I'd help her with the homework.

Monday's classes were repeated on Wednesday, and Tuesday's classes were repeated on Thursday. Friday was set aside for specialty training and group activities. Of course, the Black Sheep had continued their Saturday morning group swimming, even though I hadn’t been able to join them while I was Sally. Now that I was back to my normal - abnormal - self, the Black Sheep were complete and we were once again the terror of the skies. Just kidding, we didn't terrorize anyone. Still it's probably a good thing that they didn't have anything at the school that was capable of flight.

Naturally, we still had choir practice on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings. Add to that, I now had orchestra practice on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The orchestra also practiced Friday evenings, just before choir practice.

Looking at the weekly schedule on the computer, it looks like we never had time to ourselves and that the daily life at the Manor was going to be boring. Nothing could be further from the truth. The teachers made each class enjoyable and there was always lots of interaction.

My appointment with Dr. Harris was postponed until the third of January, so I was still being greased twice each day; at least I wasn't going to squeak. Early in the week, my back started to itch. By the end of the week, the itching was driving me crazy and making concentrating in class difficult.

The evening of the thirtieth, we were again sent a message from Mr. Roberts recommending that we retire early so we'd be ready for our second day of service in the kitchen. That night we did manage to get a full night’s sleep, which was a good thing, because, as it turned out, there was no time for napping the next day.

December 31, 2004

'I still say that making someone get out of a warm bed at four o'clock in the morning should be considered cruel and unusual punishment.'

When we arrived in the kitchen, they had us start by peeling potatoes, no big surprise there, we thought. However, there were two surprises for us; first, there were five hundred pounds of potatoes to peel. The second surprise was that we had some help, Emily from year E and Ty from year H. During our conversation, around the garbage can, we learned that Emily and Ty weren't being punished for anything. They were there as part of a class in culinary arts, and would be assisting with breakfast. Surprisingly, the four of us finished the potatoes sooner than I expected.

Mary Beth and I were taking off our aprons, when Mr. Roberts stopped us. "Wait, stop, where do you think you're going?"

"Umm, back to our rooms," Mary Beth said, but it sounded more like a question.

"Oh no, not today. I know it’s Friday, but it's also New Years Eve, so you don't have classes today. That means today, you're all mine. We've got to prepare more food than normal. It'll be nice to have some extra help in the kitchen. Have either of you done any cooking before?"

"Why isn't today a normal day?" I timidly asked.

"It’s New Years Eve! Haven't you noticed that on holidays we don't fix your everyday routine meals?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"I noticed that the food was different on Thanksgiving, but that was just because of Thanksgiving, wasn't it?" Mary Beth asked rhetorically.

"We didn't realize that you did things different for every holiday," I added.

"Well, now you know. Each holiday we prepare food from a different culture. Today’s meals will be prepared using authentic German recipes. That is, the normal meals. Tonight's New Years Eve banquet will be grab and run food from all around the world," Mr. Roberts explained. "Any questions?"

I looked at Mary Beth, she looked puzzled and asked, "Grab and run?"

Looking back at Mr. Roberts, he explained, "But of course, we don't want to slow down the dance party with a sit down meal. Everything will be light snack food that you can grab and eat on the run, or in mid swing." He held out his arms and made like he was dancing.

We both giggled at his prehistoric dance steps. Smiling, I asked, "How can we help?"

"Now that's what I like to hear, willing victims. Let's start by changing those dirty aprons and thoroughly washing your hands. We don't want the dirt from the potatoes getting into breakfast, now do we? Once you've changed and washed, we'll pair each of you up with one of the regular cooks. You'll be their helper for the day."

After a quick trip to the restroom, washing my hands twice, and donning a fresh apron, I was assigned to a Mrs. Chugg, an older woman, about five feet tall, short gray hair, and a very friendly smile. Mary Beth was assigned to assist a younger woman for the day.

For breakfast, Mrs. Chugg taught me to make potato pancakes; she even let me cook them, as the other students requested them. After all of year A was served, last as usual, Mary Beth and I were allowed to get our breakfast and go eat with them.

As soon as the upper years had been served breakfast and we had everything cleaned, we changed aprons again and started preparations for lunch. Mrs. Chugg taught me how to run a sausage grinder, and then she started chopping up a whole pig. Well, there was enough meat there that it could have been a small pig.

Once Mrs. Chugg filled a large bowl with cubes of pork, she add a bunch of spices. Then it was time for me to get to work. I had to mix the spices in by hand, so all the pork was coated evenly. After she was satisfied that I was doing a good job, she went back to cubing pork, filling another large bowl while I started grinding and filling sausage casings.

'It's a good thing they got me some long rubber gloves. That would've been really gross, otherwise.'

Between the two of us, we made about two hundred bratwurst. We had to hurry, because the brats had to simmer for an hour before they would be ready for grilling. The brats were served with grilled red onions, grilled sweet peppers, seasoned and baked potato wedges, and sauerkraut, if wanted.

Between lunch and dinner, Mrs. Chugg and I made a big batch of bread dough and set it aside to rise. I'd never made bread before, and found the experience to be a lot of fun. At least kneading the bread dough wasn't as gross as mixing the spices into the raw pork, because they had a big mixing machine to do the job. When I asked why we didn't use the mixer for the pork, she told me it would have pulverized the pork, making the texture all wrong for the brats, okay for hotdogs, not for brats.

Once the bread dough was set aside to rise, we started working on our dinner assignment, German Red Cabbage. I’m not sure why they called it red cabbage, the cabbage was purple. Anyway, we started off by chopping up six heads of this purple cabbage.

I can’t believe that someone was crazy enough to put a huge knife in my hands. That thing was as long as my forearm and almost as thick. Don’t they know with everything I’d been through, I could be a psychotic killer. Of course, Dad’s wasn’t there and neither was Black Bart, unless they were hiding them in one of the underground areas that I’m not supposed to know about, so I guess everyone at the Manor was safe.

While I was chopping the cabbage, Mrs. Chugg dug out some really funny looking black pots with three short legs. It a good thing she moving the pots, because I tried lifting one and barely managed to lift it a couple of inches off the floor. I was told they were made of cast iron and were called Dutch Ovens.

The Dutch Ovens were set on the gas stove, which was set for a medium flame. As the Dutch Ovens were heating up we put in some butter. When the butter was melted we put in the cabbage, some sliced onion, some sliced apples, sugar, vinegar, and water. As all that was starting to cook we put a bunch of other spices into something called cheesecloth, which we tied into pouches. One spice pouche were put into each the pots, along with the cabbage and then left to cook for just over an hour, stirring ever so often.

Mary Beth had been helping make some Kartoffelkrapfen, which I had to have someone spell for me. They were the little croquette things made of potato and they were cooked in a deep fat fryer. The red cabbage, the Kartoffelkrapfen, and smoked ham or turkey made for a very tasty dinner. Although most of the Black sheep were hesitant to try the red cabbage, the students form the older years seemed to enjoy it.

After the dinner rush was over, and everything was cleaned up and put away, everyone started on the grab and run food for the New Years Eve buffet. Mrs. Chugg and I were assigned to bake some mini hoagie buns and make some mini pigs in a blanket.

'So, that’s why we made the bread dough before dinner.'

While the bread dough was rising for the second time, we opened a dozen packages of finger sausages and put them in a large pot of water to boil. Mrs. Chugg told me that by boiling the sausages first, most of the fat would come out in the water, instead of into the bread while they're baking. After the sausages had boiled for about twenty minutes, we drained the water off and put them on some large cookie sheets, to cool in the fridge.

'Don't want to burn our fingers working with hot finger sausages.'

I was shown how to grease and flour the pans that the mini hoagie buns would be baked on. While I was doing the pans, Mrs. Chugg was rolling out the bread dough and making little bread logs, about four inches long. After I had all the pans ready, I started loading the bread logs onto the pans, spaced per Mrs. Chugg's direction. Two hundred logs later, everything went into the big oven.

We took a little break, before we started rolling out the rest of the bread dough into thin narrow strips. The strips were wrapped around the finger sausages. After all the sausages were wrapped, they went into the oven, with the hoagie buns. Less bread dough - less baking time.

At last, everything for the New Year’s party was ready, and Mr. Roberts called everyone together. "Congratulations everyone and thank you for all your hard work today. Somehow we managed to prepare three fabulous meals, put together a scrumptious New Years Eve buffet, and all in record time. I also want to thank our two young helpers. It isn't often we are privileged with two indentured servants who are; one, so willing to do whatever is asked. And two, do so without complaining or grumbling. Mary Beth, Matilda, we would like to express our compliments and our thanks. You two are welcome in our kitchen any time, and you don't have to get into trouble to come and visit us."

Everyone, except Mary Beth and I, started clapping; not for long, just long enough to be slightly embarrassing, before Mr. Roberts continued.

"Very well, I'm told there are some volunteers from year G on their way over, they will take everything over to the ballroom and arrange the tables. So it appears we have a free evening. Thanks again everyone, and Happy New Year."

"What did you do now?" Beca asked me from behind, startling me.

"Where did you come from, and how long have you been standing there?" I asked, as I climbed down from the worktable I'd been standing next to.

"We've been here long enough to know that you've been showing off again," Lizy answered.

"So what did you two do? I've never heard of Mr. Roberts complimenting any of the forced labor before," Beca added.

"I don't know," Mary Beth started.

"We did whatever they asked us to do," I added.

"We said please and thank you," Mary Beth continued.

"And we smiled all the time and were a little bit silly ..."

"… which made everyone else smile," Mary Beth concluded.

"Oh sure, whatever," Lizy mumbled.

"Be nice, Lizy. Now then, are you two ready to go to your first New Years Eve ball, or have you been working so hard, that you need a shower before the ball?"

I looked at Mary Beth and she looked at me. I giggled as she wrinkled her nose and pulled a, ‘something smells bad’, face. "Shower first, definitely a shower first," I replied.

As we were leaving the kitchen, I noticed Beca and Lizy each pick up a couple of large cloth bags, with the hooks of hangers poking out one end. "What's in the bags?" Mary Beth asked, beating me to question.

"Clean dresses," Lizy started.

"We figured if you didn't want to shower, you'd at least want to change into clean dresses …" Beca continued.

"… but, being that you want to shower, you can change in your rooms rather than in a restroom stall," Lizy added.

"Thank you, that's really nice of you," I offered.

"Probably something in pink, with lots of frillies," Mary Beth teased.

"More like white fuzzies," Lizy snickered.

"White fuzzies?" I inquired.

"Never mind, let's get moving. We don't want to miss the party," Beca said, encouraging us to move faster.

Lizy took Mary Beth into her room. Beca told me, while I was in the shower, she would get my clothes ready for me. I grabbed a fresh pull-up and disappeared into my bathroom.

I could tell my back was getting better, because the almost warm water didn't hurt any more. The water felt good and helped kill the itching, so I stayed in the shower a little longer than usual. I heard Mary Beth complaining about something, as I was toweling dry. Slipping on my robe, I left my bathroom. "What's going on in here?" I asked.

"Have you seen what they want us to wear to the party?" Mary Beth demanded loudly. She was wearing her robe as well.

"Not yet, why?"

"Well, take a good look," Mary Beth almost screamed, grabbing a frilly white blouse off my bed.

Lizy was giggling; Beca was trying to keep a serious expression, but seemed to be losing the battle.

"That blouse doesn't look too bad," I told Mary Beth.

"You're right, it wouldn't be bad as a blouse, but this is your dress; ALL OF YOUR DRESS." Mary Beth screamed.

"But, that won't even cover my pull-ups," I said nervously.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that, because they said we have to wear diapers, CLOTH DIAPERS."

"What's this all about Beca," I asked a little angrily.

"It's really very simple and if Mary Beth had stopped to listen, we'd have explained it to her. You see, it’s tradition that the youngest students dress up as Baby-New-Year for the New Year's Eve ball," Beca explained.

"It’s tradition is it?" I stated, as I sat on my couch. I invited Mary Beth to join me before I continued. "Well this is one tradition that I plan on breaking. I have no intention of going to a ball, New Year's Eve or otherwise, dressed as a baby."

"But you have to. There's no time to get anyone else," Lizy pleaded.

"No way, no how!" Mary Beth said flatly, folding her arms across her chest.

Both Beca and Lizy started laughing, not hard but definitely laughing. "You two aren't as much fun as Chad and Becky were last year," Lizy complained.

"Fun? What are you talking about?" Mary Beth asked.

Before anyone else could answer, I figured it out and explained. "It's a prank, MayBee. We were almost the subject of a cruel prank. Beca, I thought I could trust you."

Mary Beth looked horrified, as her mind proceed what I'd said.

"A prank yes, but not a cruel prank," Beca professed.

"What do you mean, not a cruel prank?" I asked. "You dress up a pair of students as infants and parade them around in front of the whole school? Sounds like a cruel joke to me."

"It’s not cruel because we've never taken anyone to the ball dressed as a baby," Lizy replied.

"What?" we chorused.

Beca knelt in front of us, as if pleading for forgiveness. "That's right, no one has ever been embarrassed or humiliated. This is Immigration Manor after all. The joke is in the attempt to get them dressed that way. The challenge for us is in talking them into it. Before we let anyone out of their room dressed as Baby-New-Year, we confess that it's a joke, and then we help them look as elegant as possible for the ball; top hat and tails, or beautiful evening gowns. Lizy, go get their gowns."

Lizy disappeared into Mary Beth's room, returning moments later with two long formal evening gowns. The dresses were better than anything I remembered seeing in the closet. The best part for Mary Beth and me, came when Beca and Lizy did our hair and makeup. After they were done, I could have applied for a driver’s license, because I looked like I was eighteen. Too bad I'm so short.

What was really fun, was to watch the transformation that Beca and Lizy went through. As it turned out, Joseph was my escort to the ball and Mary Beth was escorted by Eliot.

All things considered, it was a fabulous evening, or was it a fabulous morning, I so lost track of time. I remember that just before midnight, most the lights went out. They had a big digital clock counting down the seconds. Everyone counted out the last fifteen seconds, getting louder as each second passed.

When the count went from one to zero, everyone started screaming and yelling Happy New Year. Then they started hugging and kissing everyone around them. I'd never kissed so many people in my life.

'I really enjoyed kissing Joseph, but it was kind of confusing. I mean, I know that Joseph is really Beca, and that Beca was born with boy parts, and I know that I'm Matilda, a girl, but I've got boy parts too. So am I a girl kissing a boy? Or am I a girl kissing another girl? Or am I a boy kissing another boy? I'm so confused.'

And then Mary Beth started kissing me and I forgot all about being confused. All I could think about was the butterflies in my stomach and wondering how were they making the ballroom spin around.

Mary Beth and I danced together for a long time after the room stopped spinning. Anywhere else, two ten-year-old girls dancing with each other might have looked strange, but this was Immigration Manor.

Somewhere in the very early hours of the AM, total exhaustion overcame me and I took my small self off the dance floor to an empty chair. I had to sit down. I don’t remember anything after sitting down, except being cradled in someone’s arms. I remember being outside in the cold winter air, while clinging to someone for warmth. The last thing I remembered that night, or was it that morning, was being tucked into bed and someone kissing my forehead.

~ ~ ~ ~

'What a way to end 2004;
It was a year of discovery, and a year of fear.
A year of kindness and understanding, and a year of brutality and pain.
A year of adventure and surprises, a year of terror, and a year ... of love.

They say that nobody can predict the future, all I can guess about my future at Immigration Manor with Mary Beth is that it promises to be full of hope and excitement.'

HELLO 2005

* * * To Be Continued * * *

Comments are gratefully appreciated, either left below or sent to me at
[email protected]