Come What May

Chapter 5

Saturday rolled around quickly and Mary had felt groggy and ever so slightly queasy from the moment she had gotten out of bed; but as she watched Jane and Michael bounce around excitedly, her pain seemed to ease – even if it was only a psychological effect. They practically scrambled over to the wardrobe like warriors in search of their coats and Mary's lips turned up into an amused smile.

"There's no need for such a beastly rush, Bert and his drawings aren't going to go anywhere!" She laughed.

Jane pulled out her coat and looked at the nanny with childlike seriousness,

"It rains a lot in the autumn, Mary Poppins; we want to get there soon, just in case it rains!" She explained as she threw her fluffy brown coat around her frame. Mary smiled at her reasoning.

"Well, that's very sensible of you"

"Do you know what Bert had drawn for us?" inquired Michael.

"I'm afraid not, he refused to tell me this morning…I think that means he's got something very special planned for us" she said with a smile, she had to admit that even she was feeling rather giddy about the prospect of this new adventure.

Once Michael was also wearing his coat Mary led the siblings out of their home – taking timid steps to ensure her sickness did not worsen. A herd of grey clouds had started to form in the distance over the towering buildings of London and Jane and Michael looked up at them with trepidation. The clouds seemed almost menacing – like a tsunami racing towards the shore, but they did not travel, instead they remained static – almost as if they were teasing the children with their potential to ruin the afternoon. But the sun still managed to peak through, like a tired glimmer of hope that was still fighting. But Jane and Michael managed to forget about the looming potential of a storm when they saw Bert standing proudly in front of a new set of drawings. His smile was big and childlike and the way he stood was purposeful, he made sure that he was blocking the view of one specific drawing – undoubtedly it was the one he wanted them all to jump into.

"'ello, you lot!" he beamed.

"Bert!" Jane cried excitedly, "We're ever so excited, Bert! What have you drawn for us?"

"Ah, now that is a secret" he said cheekily.

"It's going to be awfully hard to jump into the drawing if I can't see it, you know?" Mary reminded him.

"Well, try not to look at it too 'ard, I guess?"

"That makes absolutely no sense" she laughed.

"It does to me" he shrugged with a goofy smile.

There was a brief moment where Bert and Mary found themselves simply staring at each other, it could only have lasted for mere seconds, but the sheer magic of it all made it seemed like time had suspended itself for them. A sudden gust of wind whipped around them – carrying Bert's cap clean off of his head, but almost miraculously, Mary's hat didn't budge an inch. Bert retrieve his cap from the ground and smiled at Mary again.

"I guess now's as good a time as any" he suggested.

"I believe so…take my hand Jane -" she instructed and Jane obeyed, "—Michael you take your sister's hand" and he did so…reluctantly.

They all stood in a line and Mary took a few seconds to gaze down at the drawing so that she could transport them there, she somehow managed to do as Bert had suggested and did not study the drawing with much focus; all she could pick up on were the endless shades of pink and the stunning blue sky. She also spotted the small fair the Bart had promised the children – it lay hidden in the distance, like a lost secret waiting to be found.