Chapter 60 – I Won’t Give Up  

‘What should I do? Even after getting some fresh air during lunch, I still feel unwell…….’

Still, it was bearable for now. Eloise sincerely thought so.

Until the veteran worker Alicia uttered words like a bolt from the blue.

“Well, shall we try it ourselves now?”

“What?”

Eloise was startled, her face pale, and a hint of disappointment flashed in Alicia’s eyes.

“Why? Did I not explain it well enough?”

“No, Madame!”

There was no way her explanation was lacking. It was detailed to perfection.

Plucking chicken feathers? Eloise had thought it was just about grabbing a chicken and plucking the feathers one by one like pulling weeds. But the reality was completely different from her imagination.

Starting with the impossibility of simply ‘grabbing a chicken.’

When the workers barely caught a chicken in the coop and ‘snapped’ its neck, meaning its neck was ‘dangling,’ the women quickly dunked it in hot water and then hung it upside down.

This made it easier to drain the blood later, they said.

After that, the feathers had to be plucked quickly. Once the chicken started to stiffen, it became difficult to pluck the feathers, and the meat might tear.

In summary, the feathers had to be plucked swiftly but not too forcefully.

In short, it was a task that required considerable skill.

But Eloise’s difficulty wasn’t just because of that.

The chickens hung upside down on long poles had white feathers, and their heads drooped downward uniformly.

Naturally, they looked twice as long-necked as when they roamed the coop, and their appearance undeniably reminded her of cute ducks.

It was only natural for Eloise to feel uneasy.

“Alright. Now you can do it alone, right? It’s not a complicated task.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Just try it. Don’t worry about speed.”

Alicia, who had watched her work attentively all morning, took a big step back.

Finally, it was just Eloise and the upside-down, dangling white chicken.

“…….”

Fixing her trembling gaze on the chicken’s feathered chest, Eloise swallowed dryly, suppressing her uneasy heart.

‘This is a chicken, not a duck. A chicken, not a duck…….’

How fortunate it was that this factory didn’t handle ducks.

Even thinking that way, the feel of the limp chicken was truly dreadful.

“What are you doing? You need to hold the body properly. If you take too long, it’ll be harder to pluck the feathers.”

Even after being dipped in hot water, they retained a strange warmth…… they were alive just moments ago…….

“Hey, you don’t look well. If you can’t do it―”

“No! I can do it.”

Eloise answered resolutely and grabbed the chicken firmly.

The moment the lukewarm, mushy flesh clung to her fingertips, a wave of nausea surged from deep within her throat.

“Ugh……!”

Eloise dashed out of the workshop like a stone flung from a slingshot. There was no time to obey the command of her consciousness.

“Ugh, gasp, gasp…….”

A dizzying wave of retching overwhelmed her. The fishy chicken smell clinging to her hands only worsened her nausea as she unconsciously covered her mouth.

Fortunately, it was only dry heaving, and nothing came up, likely because she hadn’t eaten much lunch.

Wiping her mouth with her sleeve, Eloise straightened up and realized that the three women had followed her out.

Judging by their surprised expressions, they must have seen her retching uncontrollably.

‘This is the worst…….’

She had barely endured the first half of a tough day that had started earlier than ever.

Although she had been given a challenging task, she thought that if she made it through the first day, things would somehow fall into place.

‘But to show such a sight right from the start…….’

What if it looked like she was protesting that she absolutely couldn’t do such a lowly job, which was a desperate job for someone, just as Mr. Osborne had said?

She didn’t want to disappoint the people who had warmly and kindly welcomed her despite her clumsiness…….

While she was lost in such thoughts, Alicia, Melanie, and Pumpkin approached her.

Eloise bit her lip, feeling somehow guilty.

“Has the nausea stopped?”

“I’m sorry. I…….”

“If you can’t do it, go tell Mr. Osborne. The three of us can manage.”

“What?”

At those words, her clear blue eyes welled up with tears.

Her eyes, brimming with tears like jewels that didn’t fall down her cheeks, looked even more transparent and pitiful.

“I was just startled because it was my first time…… I’m sorry for disappointing you.”

“What?”

“But I didn’t come here with a light heart. I’ll try again…….”

Alicia, genuinely surprised, patted Eloise’s trembling shoulder and said.

“Well, it’s your first time, so it’s understandable to be startled. And why apologize to us? We’re not the bosses here.”

“…….”

Contrary to her expectation of being scolded, the tone was kind.

As Eloise blinked blankly, the rounded tear drops rolled down her cheeks.

“It’s your first day anyway. Aren’t you here to see if it suits you or not?”

“Yes, Miss Bailey. It seems like this is your first time with such work, so there’s no need to overdo it.”

“If you tell Mr. Osborne that you want to find something easier, he’ll understand. You’re still so young.”

At Pumpkin’s final words, Eloise’s shoulders noticeably twitched.

Wanting to find something easier. In truth, she had been thinking that all morning.

But Eloise couldn’t deny that just a few months ago, she had been grumbling that she’d rather have a job that made her sweat than stringing beads all day.

‘Even if I find an easier job, there will surely be other hardships there.’

No, earning money couldn’t be entirely easy in the first place.

That was evident just by looking at her father, who struggled day and night to find a way to make money. Above all…….

‘What I really wanted was good people, not easy work.’

When Eloise finished her thoughts and looked up, she saw the worried faces of the three women. Her small fists clenched tightly.

“I, I want to try again.”

“Miss Eloise, are you sure you’re okay?”

“……I’m okay.”

I won’t give up on the new job, leaving him, or returning home safely.

Eloise reaffirmed her resolve and smiled with a determined face.

“It’s work that brings laughter, not screams, to people’s dinner tables.”

* * *

“Ahhh!”

Eloise let out a sharp scream.

Occasionally, there were chickens that flapped even after being dipped in hot water, and this was already her second scream.

“Don’t be surprised. These are birds that run around even after their heads are cut off.”

“Indeed, they’re great birds. Be careful not to get scratched by their claws, Miss Eloise.”

The workshop was stuffy because the large pot for dunking the chickens constantly emitted hot steam.

Eloise barely answered as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

“……Yes, I will.”

Her eyes were also filled with some kind of liquid, whether it was sweat or something else.

‘It’s just meat. Happiness on the dinner table…….’

Amidst the swirling steam, Eloise desperately muttered to herself, trying to forget that these chickens were alive just moments ago.

Otherwise, the indescribable guilt and remorse would torment her heart.

The skin of the fully plucked chicken was a pale pinkish white.

It looked like an unknown creature, something that couldn’t be imagined as it originally was, something that couldn’t be named…….

“Alright, I’ll take them!”

When four chickens had been thoroughly plucked by the busy hands of the four women, a man from the back who disassembled the chickens came to take them.

Technically, they worked in the same workshop, but there was no contact except when he came to take the chickens.

Alicia had hinted that the factory owner placed great importance on employee morals, especially between genders.

There was a cautious atmosphere about even exchanging greetings between unmarried men and women, as causing a scandal would lead to immediate dismissal.

In fact, Mr. Woodley’s departure from this place was due to such a background, but Eloise, unaware of the circumstances, could only nod while awkwardly brushing feathers off her clothes with a forced smile.

Of course, her mind was busy amidst all this.

‘I mustn’t let it be known that I’m living with a man. Everything will be over then!’

She was unintentionally ending up in situations where she had to lie.

Yet, Eloise tried to stay positive.

Finding a job quickly and meeting good people were indeed fortunate things.

Oh, it was also a relief that the place for plucking chicken feathers was quite far from the slaughterhouse, so she didn’t hear any horrible sounds.

Although plucking chicken feathers wasn’t easy, at least she wasn’t catching chickens, twisting necks, or gutting and chopping them up…… it wasn’t that kind of work.

Unlike the bead factory, working up a sweat and being in a collaborative environment made time feel like it was passing faster than expected, which was something to be thankful for.

“I’ll head in first.”

“Oh, Miss Eloise, you finish early, right?”

“It must have been tough on your first day. Rest well without thinking about anything.”

“See you tomorrow, Miss Eloise!”

Feeling proud and relieved by the warm farewells, Eloise left the factory and took a deep breath of the fresh air.

And at that exact moment, she realized just how terrible she smelled.

‘Ugh…….’

The thought of having to cross a busy street and pass through a square in this state was despairing, but she didn’t have time to scream and quickly started walking.

She had to hurry. She needed to wash thoroughly before Ansel Blaine returned.