Come What May

Chapter one

Mary always regarded herself as an intuitive person, yet for the past few weeks she was simply unable to find the source of her unease. The winds had been blowing softly, so softly that she could not fly with them. Prior to these nervous sensations she had left London to become the nanny of a single parent family on the outskirts of Bristol; she was there no longer than a month, yet the West wind had simply carried her straight back to London with no new clients to attend to. She was left standing at the door of her Uncle Albert's house and that's where she'd been since. Of course, Mary was glad for the company, she loved her Uncle and it put her mind somewhat at rest knowing she would always be there to stop him from floating up to the ceiling; but she had never had to wait for her clients before. Never. And that was what she didn't like, the unfamiliarity and the sudden change in nature of her duties, she had always been someone who preferred a bit of structure, with her line of work it was something that came as second nature; but she never anticipated that she would feel so lost by the slightest change. She slumped back into the worn armchair that sat out of place in the spare bedroom. Her head fogged with questions and potential answers.

"Could there have been some kind of mistake?" Uncle Albert suggested doubtfully.

"What do you mean? What sort of mistake?"

"Maybe you just followed the wrong wind?" Even Albert didn't believe that.

"Don't be ridiculous -" She responded calmly, "—I'm only capable of following the East and West winds to my clients" Uncle Albert went to suggest something further, but Mary politely answered his question with, "And yes I most definitely took the East wind to my last job and I am positive that the wind changed whilst I was there...I just ended up here when I landed." Mary looked down at the floor quizzically.

"Did you perhaps miss your newest clients?" Albert suggested with a carefully tone.

"I'm almost offended by that notion; I would never make such a sloppy mistake." She commented. Albert scratched his head with thought and rocked gently on the balls of his feet.

"Maybe you're supposed to return to a family you've already worked for?"

"Highly unlikely" She stated.

"Well, you did work for a large family in London right before you moved on to Bristol; maybe they didn't learn their lessons?"

"How impertinent of you, Uncle Albert"

"Sorry, my dear, I just want to help you figure this out." He said quietly. Mary sighed.

"I know, I'm sorry" There was a brief moment of silence, with their tense thoughts making the air around them feel thick.

"What about that other family? The one with the young boy and girl?"

"The Banks family?"

"Yes! That one? Maybe you need to return to them? How long has it been?" Mary thought hard about her uncle's question.

"It can't have been longer than six months -" She paused briefly, "—I left the Banks family and moved on to the Clark family in York, then back to London with the Harrington family before finally moving down to Bristol...they can't have forgotten their lessons in less than six months, it's simply not fathomable" Mary rubbed her temple in frustration.

"It could be something more trivial? Do you have any sort of unfinished business here in London?"

"Not with my clients" Mary replied simply as her cheeks began to flood with red. Uncle Albert raised his eyebrow at her curiously, but one of her stern looks kept him quiet.