Free No Moon by Irene N.Watts Page A

will be the broom cupboard for you!” Nanny meant it too.
    The highlight of the season for me was our Christmas party, held in the servants’ hall on Christmas Eve. We pulled crackers and wore paper hats. Mr. Harris played the piano, and Mrs. Ransom danced with Lord Milton. So did Mrs. Porter! Nanny, festive in her black silk dress, danced with Mr. Briggs! To my surprise, Charlie Phipps, the footman, asked me to dance. I did not think he had even noticed me! I had never danced with a young man before. Each of the maids got a length of beautiful material, and Mrs. Wilson will make up new Sunday dresses for us all.
    We had the most wonderful time at home on Christmas Day. I had missed the family, despite getting to see them once a month on my day off. It was not the same somehow, hearing about the news instead of being a part of it all … looking at the twins making excuses for their latest piece of mischief, or watching our little George take his first steps, or having a quiet cup of tea with Mother when the washing and ironing were finally done for another week.
    I do miss sharing a room with my sisters. But I am settled now at Chesham Place and have come to enjoy the life upstairs and downstairs. Most of all, I like feeling grown up and independent and proud, too, when I can put a few coppers in the housekeeping jar!
    Mother cooked a goose for our Christmas dinner. Emily found the threepenny bit in her slice of Christmas cake, and Father brought home a pineapple from the stall, which was only a bit bruised. There was an orange for each of us, too. Kathleen and I had time to tell each other all that we had been doing. I am almost as tall as she is now!
    It is bitter cold, and it takes me a long time each day to stuff the children into the many layers of warm winter clothing they must wear. Two pairs of stockings each, both cotton and wool. Nanny’s only concession to the cold is to shorten our afternoon walks.
    This morning, I am just getting the girls ready for their walk, when Dean asks Nanny to come down immediately to see Mrs. Ransom. Nanny removes the key that unlocks the gates to Belgrave Square from the hook hanging above the mantel. She hands it to me, as though it were some precious heirloom. I am surprised she does not warn me not to lose it.
Has she begun to trust me at last?
    “Return in one hour, Gardener. There is snow in the air.”
    The first snowflakes begin to fall shortly after I have unlocked the iron gates of the small square. I spot two robins fighting over a crust on the frost-tipped grass under the great oak tree. But the children aretoo excited by the first snowfall of the season to keep still, and the birds soon scatter. Miss Alexandra has not seen snow before and screams with delight. I promise the girls that if the snow does not melt in the night, I will let them make a snowman next day. Meanwhile they content themselves with putting out their tongues–normally forbidden–to catch flakes, which fall more heavily by the minute.
    After our walk, we return home precisely on the hour to see a white-faced Nanny Mackintosh being helped into the new Daimler by Mr. Harris. He drives off quickly. Nanny does not turn round to wave to us, but sits with her head bowed.
What has happened?
    I am on my way upstairs when Dean stops me. “I am to take the children to the nursery,” she says. “Mrs. Ransom wants to speak to you.”
    Mrs. Ransom is writing notes on her meticulously tidy desk. She looks up as I come in. “There you are, Gardener. You have just missed Nanny Mackintosh. She has received some bad news, I am afraid. Her father passed away unexpectedly.” The big clock, which stands in the corner of her parlor, seems to tick louder than usual.
    “Mr. Harris is driving Nanny to the railway station to catch the afternoon train to Scotland. She will be away for at least a week. Lady Milton has decided that you are quite capable of managing the girls while Nanny is in Edinburgh. Roberts will take