CHAPTER 38  

Dorothy stocked the fireplace in Mother Superior's office with more wood. And she tried to ignore the slice of strawberry pie right in front of her. There was a table with cookies and sweets and refreshments. The wonderful smell of the goodies was torture for Dorothy, who felt her stomach growl with hunger. This was also a form of punishment, while all the patients were eating a white paste that was almost spoiled, the nuns were splurging on food upstairs.

After Dorothy left, Mother went to the window to look out at the hospital courtyard where some patients, including Meg, were cleaning the floor. Everything there worked strictly to schedule like in a beehive and she was the queen bee.

"Serve me some more tea," she ordered one of the novices.

She examined the hospital's finances with deep concern. Expenses were high and keeping the accounts up to date was a challenge. The solution she found, apart from forcing the patients to work almost to exhaustion, was not to hire staf