Cheesebridge had become a much more accepting town after realizing the Boxtrolls were indeed not monsters. Everything seemed to be looking up for everyone. One concerned parent however was worried about his child. Lord Portley-Rind never payed much attention to his one and only daughter Winifred, but after the events in town and realizing how much he neglected her, he now switched into an almost overprotective mode. He would watch as Winnie went out and played with the Boxtrolls and her friend Eggs and thought about how unsafe the streets of Cheesebridge really were.
Pondering the problem and a way to solve it, he decided that the best thing to do was to hire a nanny to watch over his darling daughter. That way while he was busy with his business and his wife was busy with her social life, Winnie would still be safe and under careful supervision.
He knocked on his daughters door one morning as she lay sleeping in her bed. "Winifred, are you up, dear?" he asked quietly as he poked his head into her room.
The young girl rubbed her eyes as she sat up in bed. She stretched her arms and yawned before answering, "I am now. Morning father!" She smiled, thinking about how great things had been since her father payed more attention to her. All she ever wanted was for her dad to notice her, and now that he finally did everything seemed perfect, and she hoped it would stay that way forever.
As the Lord saw his daughter up in her bed all bright eyed and bushy tailed as usual, he stepped inside placing his hands behind his back and beginning to almost rock on his heels anxiously. "I have some very exciting news for you, my little angel!" Winnie leaned forward ready to listen. Her father cleared his throat before starting, "I have been thinking about how things have changed these last few months, and as your father I am always concerned for your well-being. Seeing you out and about all over town playing around with those Boxtrolls and that Egg boy, I get very worried. They are rather… Rough."
Winnie rolled her eyes, but still kept a smile on her face. The only downside to her father noticing her now was that he became a bit protective. He saw her as his fragile, proper, little lady. He didn't like the idea of her playing in the dirt and throwing bugs around or possibly eating them. As many times as she tried to assure him that it was fine, he was still skeptical.
"So that is why I have hired a nanny to look after you!" Portley-Rind gestured to the door and in marched a very small woman with dark brown hair wrapped up into a thick bun. Her outfit looked more like a maid than a nanny, and the uniform seemed as if it was one size too big for her. She had a very stern look on her face, as if she was annoyed with everything and everyone around her. She nodded her head towards Winnie as if to say hello.
Winnie's face fell instantly. This happened so suddenly and without warning, she wasn't sure what to say or do. Her first instinct was too be angry. She quickly stood up on her bed and announced her feelings, "I don't need a nanny!" Her hands were balled into little fists at her side as she stood her ground and stared daggers at the woman before her. The lady seemed unfazed.
"Oh, but you do, darling! When your mother and I aren't around to watch you, the nanny here will make sure you stay safe and out of harms way. Isn't that right, Ms…" he trailed, forgetting her name.
The lady refrained from rolling her eyes at her new boss as she finished, "Pepper, sir."
"Yes, yes, of course." he said as he patted her back. The lady's eyes shot open, surprised by the contact. He pushed her forward a bit as he slipped past her and back out the door. "You two aquatint yourselves, I must be off. Important town business to discuss in the tasting room today. Good day, ladies!" He shut the door behind him, and both Winnie and Pepper rolled their eyes.
Winnie hopped off the bed and approached the new nanny. She stood only under a foot shorter than the grown woman. "I don't need a nanny. I'm nearly twelve years old! I can take care of myself, thank you!" she turned away from the woman and crossed her arms, sticking her nose in the air.
Ms. Pepper was not very keen on the idea of being a nanny. It was either this or prostitution, and she was starting to wonder if she had chosen the wrong career. "Look, I don't want to really be here either, so why don't you be a good little girl and get dressed, brush your teeth, and i'll whip you up a nice breakfast. Alright?" her tone seemed condescending as she stood over Winnie with an incredibly fake and sarcastic smile on her face.
None of this went over the young girl's head, she was smart; Smarter than most of the adults in Cheesebridge anyway. She did what she was told though, and tried to think of a way out of it whilst Pepper wasn't around.
After she was dressed she made her way down to the dining room and sat at the head of the table. Not even a moment later Ms. Pepper brought in her breakfast: a cheese omelet with strawberries and blueberries on the side. "Eat up." she said as she set it on the table. The girl began eating as her new nanny stood beside her staring at the wall.
Winnie thought for a moment, then sighed. "Do you really want to follow me around all day? I don't even do anything that spectacular. My days are pretty boring actually." she lied. Every day was an adventure when she was with Eggs and the Boxtrolls, but with all this nanny business in the way she could lose out on all the great opportunities.
"Your father told me to watch over you and make sure you don't get into trouble. If you do I am to bring you straight back home, and I get my paycheck."
Winnie huffed and sunk in her chair. This lady was tough, no wonder her father chose her for the position. Another idea then popped into her head, and she sat back up and finished her meal. "Alright, I'm full! Now how about we go out for a nice walk." she stood up quickly and began making her way to the front door of the house. Pepper shrugged and followed the girl closely.
As they stepped out and down the steps of the Portley-Rind mansion, they were quickly swept into the busy marketplace of Cheesebridge. Winnie payed close attention to make sure Pepper was still behind her. She was, and she was not struggling as bad as she expected. Being so small she could maneuver through a crowd pretty well.
Winnie searched the crowd for someone to talk to, to distract Ms. Pepper, but who? Then she spotted the perfect specimen. "Ms. Monte Cristo!" she waved her arms to get the tall woman's attention.
A lady with big, golden hair and a fancy dress turned at the sound of her name being called. She looked around for a moment then found Winifred approaching her. "Ah, Ms. Portley-Rind! How are you today?" Compared to both Winnie and Pepper, this woman was an oak tree. A very tall and busty woman with bright green eyes and a smile that was as bright as the sun. She seemed like Pepper's opposite in every way.
"I'm fine, thank you. I wanted to introduce you to my new nanny, Ms. Pepper." Winnie introduced. Pepper examined the woman before her, and was disgusted by her cheeriness. "Ms. Pepper, this is Madame Molly Monte Cristo." Winnie finished as she rocked on her heels waiting for her plan to fall into place.
Molly extended a hand to shake and Pepper hesitantly extended her own. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Pepper. Are you new to town?"
The smaller woman pulled her hand away quickly and remarked, "Unfortunately." Molly laughed at her joke, unaware that she was being completely serious. Pepper rubbed her hands together as if wiping off any germs the lady left on her.
"Well then you'll have plenty of new things to see while you are escorting Winnie around-"
"Oh, i've seen enough." Pepper murmured under her breath.
Molly continued as if she didn't even hear Pepper's comment, "My personal favorite spot in town is the abandoned factory down on Curd's Way, but that's just me."
Pepper's face contorted as she listened to this woman go on. "Abandoned factory? That's not at all skeptical for a woman of your class." Suddenly she noticed that Winnie was missing. She mentally slapped herself for getting distracted on the job. She turned around quickly looking through the crowd to find her, but she wasn't in sight.
Molly continued rambling, not even noticing Pepper wasn't paying attention. "Yes, well I only really like it for the people living there. The former Red Hats, and the man of my dreams."
The nanny turned back around to the annoying woman sharply. "Madame, did you by any chance see where Ms. Portley-Rind went?" she asked urgently. Just her luck, fresh on the job and she was already about to lose it.
Ms. Monte Cristo snapped out of her own thoughts and back to Ms. Pepper. "Oh, she was right here a minute ago." she put one hand on her hip and the other on her chin as she scanned around for the young girl.
Pepper groaned; As much as she hated this demon child, her stuck-up father, and this whole stinky town she needed this job. The last thing she wanted was to go back home to her snooty older sister, her boring brother-in-law, and their bratty kids. "So nice chatting with you m'am, but I must go find Winifred." sarcasm dripped on the word 'nice.'
She began walking away from Molly but the tall woman stuck by her side. "Let me help you!" she insisted, beginning to look over heads of the people in the marketplace. She was taller than even most of the men in town and could easily see over all the heads of the people in the marketplace.
Pepper stopped in her tracks immediately and shook her hands, "Oh, no, no, no, no! This is my job and I can do this on my own." She knew she couldn't really do it alone, but the thought of spending another minute with that woman was unbearable.
"No, I insist! Besides you're new, and I know all of the places Winnie and her friends usually play, as well as every other nook and cranny they could possibly be. I grew up here, you know?" Molly straightened her back proudly knowing she could be of help in this time of need.
Pepper was having none of it though. "Don't you have something better to do? I'm sure an upper class lady such as yourself wouldn't be up for running around town all day and possibly dirtying up your five hundred dollar shoes." she didn't even try to seem serious or nice in any way; It was nothing but stone cold sarcasm from the short lady.
The blonde had a look of shock on her face. Here she thought she had just made a new friend and she was already treating her like the ditzy, rich, bimbo everyone else assumed she was. Her face scrunched up as she towered over Pepper and gave her a piece of her mind, "See here, you don't know anything about me! You don't know anything about this town or Ms. Winifred for that matter! I could let you go off and search for her and watch as you have no luck whatsoever and i'll be sipping my merlot wine and laughing because you insisted in such a rude tone that you did not need my help!"
Pepper backed up step by step as the woman went on, "But because i'm such a nice person I will help you, whether you like it or not! Now come along, I know just where to look!" she quickly turned on her heels and made her way towards Milk Street. Pepper was a bit flabbergasted by the outburst, but followed close behind her, muttering under her breath.
"Oh, and by the way," Molly finished, "they're not five hundred dollar shoes, their three hundred."
