They return to the house and Mrs Postlethwaite puts them in the parlour and instructs them to spend ‘the lords day’ reading their Bibles in silence. Billy looks at the words but doesn’t really read them, instead he thinks of his loving mother back home and how she’d put a stop to his inhumane treatment if she only knew.
Being young, they frequently break into chatter only to find themselves being silenced by their strict guardian within minutes. The only break from Bible study is whilst they eat the Sunday roast Mrs Postlethwaite has prepared and later in the evening when they’re being scrubbed in the old tin bathtub in front of the fire. The bristles of the brush are hard and Mrs Postlethwaite isn’t shy about using it, but being scrubbed clean also means a brief moment of relief from their constricting corsets.
