Evvie

Chapter 1 - (Part 1) The Beginning

November, 1981...

Old Maggie trudged down the old worn, staircase slowly, carefully balancing her candle heading towards the kitchens. She set the candle onto the scruffy, kitchen table and shivered in the cold kitchen.

"Brrrr! Mighty cold out tonight!" She muttered darkly to herself and reached for kettle and walked over to the leaky kitchen pipe to fill it. It was raining heavily out and she peered through the dirty window into the dark, although she couldn't see a thing.

"Why oh why did I come to this awful place all those years ago? Aaah bless! I hate it but it's become home." She gave a small smile as she went to put the kettle onto the stove.

Maggie was the housekeeper of Windy Willows Orphanage. She was just 19 when she left London back in 1930 to take a position as a maid. She never went back, instead choosing to stay and make this tiny village her home. Since then she has seen thousands of children come and go at the Willows.

Maggie adored children and despite her grumblings, it was a joy to be "Mother" to all the children that stomp through the orphanage over the years. See Maggie was unable to have children which was a painful cross for her to bear. Yet she felt a bit of fulfillment being able to mother the orphan waifs that lived in that old mansion.

Windy Willows was built back in 1805 and was known as The Manor House then. Over the years, as it passed down from generation to generation bits were added on and enlarged until it came into the possession of the great great great (?) granddaughter of the original Lord and Lady of the Manor. She never married and in her latter years opened an Orphanage. She was wise enough to set it up that her inheritance will continue to maintain the poor children for generations to come. That is until the last warden swindled the money out of the trust and as rumor had it, fled to an unknown island.

Maggie poured herself a cup of hot water and added a teabag and a drop of milk. She had to remember to send Peter to the village to beg Mr. McCarthy the milkman to credit them another three bottles of milk. She sighed wearily, thinking of the bare garden thinking of what she may have to spare to barter for the milk. Alas, it wasn't as though they had much to barter with in the first place!

Suddenly she heard a pitiful cry. "Oye! What's that?" She got up and walked over to the window and peered out again. It was nearly 4:30 am and still quite dark out. The rain was pouring down and after listening for a minute she decided she must've been hearing things. Deciding to head back up the stairs to wake that lazy maid Julia she picked up her candle and was about to leave the kitchen when she heard the noise again.

"What the...?!" She went over to the back door and wrestled with the latch, as it tends to get swollen on wet days, lifted it and opened the door slowly peering out. Her jaw dropped open at the sight her eyes fell onto.....

(Ok so this is my first attempt at writing for public viewing! Is it any good? Shall I keep writing or give it up now? Please comment and let me know! Be nice cuz I might cry! Lol! JK! :D )