"No, please, don't go!"
The nanny looked at her with her nose wrinkled.
"Goodbye, Mrs. Banks.", she said. She tried to go through the door but the mistress blocked it with her body, spreading her arms.
"Please, please, you can't go now...Is it because of the money? We could make an agreement! Oh, no, please, consider it...", she begged.
"I have already considered it and I assure you that I would rather go into the cage of the lion of the Zoo than spending one more minute in this house with those monsters you call children."
"Please, Elly, don't do this to me..."
"I said goodbye!"
With a push, the woman moved Winifred aside and left the house, having the consideration of closing the door behind her, almost hitting Winifred. Mrs. Banks leaned on the door and placed her hand on her head.
"Oh, goodness...", she whispered.
"Three weeks. That's a new record.", Helen whispered to Mrs. Brill.
"What am I going to do now? Oh...When George knows this...", she raised her head and looked at the stairs. "Jane! Michael! Come here!"
It looked like they had been listening in the upper floor because they went down the stairs almost immediately. Their expressions of regret softened up their mother but she still looked annoyed.
"What happened this time?", she asked them.
"It wasn't our fault, I promise.", Jane explained.
"She found our salamander and thought that-", Michael added but Winifred interrupted him.
"Wait, what? A what?"
"A salamander.", Michael replied. "We found it in the park. It looked lost and hungry and we took it here."
"But we didn't know where to leave it, so we put it inside a jar full of water."
"And Elly wanted to drink."
"We said no and tried to hide the jar."
"But it fell to the floor and broke. Her books were soaked and the salamander...well, it flew to her head.", Michael tried to repress a laughter.
"Oh, children!", Mrs. Banks sighed.
"We didn't want that to happen, mom!", Jane said. "And she threw it through the window. We've tried to find it but-"
"Alright, alright...", Winifred walked around the hall, covering her mouth with a hand in thought. "Your father won't like this...This is the fifth nanny in two months..."
"Seventh.", Michael corrected her.
"Seven already? Oh, dear...", Winifred stopped her march. "He is going to be furious when he knows that...And now we have no nannies to take care of you..."
She turned to the door of the kitchen but the maids had surely imagined that she wanted to recur to them because they immediately fled. Winifred sighed and continued walking around.
"I-I would take care of you myself but we have organized lots of protests and meetings this month, I can't miss them...Oh, when your father knows it!"
"You can hire another nanny.", Michael proposed.
"Yes, yes, of course. I have to find a substitute immediately...Your father never approves my choices...I should wait until he comes home..."
She stopped suddenly. George was always complaining about her indecision. That was her chance to prove that she knew how to manage a house! Yes, the other nannies had been a disaster but she was sure that she could find the perfect nanny for the children herself. And if he saw that she had quickly solved the problem alone, he would have to recognize that he was wrong about her bad judgement, and she had been waiting for years for a chance to make George recognize he was wrong about something!
"Yes! I'm going to find a new nanny myself!", she said aloud.
She walked to the living room, practically forgetting about the children, and rushed to take a pen and a sheet of paper. She wrote for about half an hour, in which she took her time to think, walked around the room to inspire herself, ripped at least two drafts, until she left the pen on the table and re-read what she had just written. Finally, she smiled.
"Good.", she whispered.
She got up and rushed to dress herself to go out and publish it.
Wanted a nanny for two children, aged 9 and 8.
Reliable, disciplined and firm.
References and experience with children will be
highly valued.
Salary to be agreed