Once upon a Nursery Rhyme

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Baa Baa black Sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes Sir, yes Sir, 3 bags full
One for the Master,
One for the Dame
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

The next few days I did not let Connie out of my sight - I was paranoid that she was going to vanish if I left her but gradually I relaxed, I even managed to convince myself that I had imagined the whole thing. There were no more disappearances - it appeared that my plea had worked.

I got to know the lady that came and 'did' for Henry she was a cheerful woman, very down to earth, which gave me confidence that if I needed advice she would give me very sound advice and I felt she would keep my lack of knowledge to herself.

The sun came out and we were able to go out into the sunshine and enjoy the fresh air, I understood why Mr Hope had wanted someone active, Connie was a real live wire and certainly kept me on my toes. Once I relaxed I slept well at night - I was shattered.

At first I would wake at the slightest sound and creep into her room to check she was still there, but soon I slept right through

Most evenings after I had put Constance to bed were spent with Mr Hope and gradually I got used to calling him Henry, often in our conversations he would speak of his wife Clara, I could see he really loved her and would take her back in a heartbeat, I got the feeling he would do anything to have her back with him again.

He kept her portrait above the fireplace, which was a little disconcerting at first, I felt like she was watching me and probably disproving of everything I did, but it did give me an idea of what Connie would be like as an adult. I imagined him talking to her picture as if she were still with him, telling her about his day each evening after I went to bed.

I found Henry to be good company although he did like to explain things that I had absolutely no interest in whatsoever, that aside he was a good listener and loved hearing about what Connie and I did throughout the daytime, even then it was clear that Clara his wife was never far from his thoughts.

Although I felt I could talk to him about anything, for some reason I held back from telling him what had happened that first day, maybe I felt it was safest not to tell him I had allowed his daughter to disappear, besides I felt really stupid and in any case I had probably imagined the whole thing.

I had been here for just over a week, I was starting to feel confident in my role as nanny when it happened again- but this time with a difference- let me see if I can explain:

We had gone to the park during the morning but had to return home because it had started to rain, Connie had recently been given a farmyard set so we played with that for a while.

" Look Connie, Baa baa black sheep " I held up a small plastic figure, so we sang the rhyme together, well to be fair, I sang and Connie added " baa baa" as her contribution.

She was soon ready for her nap, I took her upstairs as normal and she was soon sleeping soundly, I sank into the chair next to her bed 'I'll just shut my eyes for a few moments' I thought, then I became aware that my feet were tingling.

'that's odd' I thought as the sensation started to creep up my legs......

The sun was warm on my face as I lay on the soft bed, I felt like I was lying on clouds, a niggling little voice said 'wait that's not right I should be at home on the chair.