Prologue: Upper Eastside, Manhattan, New York. September 1918 (Armistice Day)
The Manhattan streets glowed with orange as the lit streetlamps glowed off the damp cobblestones. It was a happy evening, the war had ended and our boys were coming home. Of course this wouldn't bring back the young souls that died in my arms, the solders starving eating their shoes in the trenches, or give them back their lost limbs and humanity, or stop the shell shock I suffer from every night I close my eyes. But for the rest of New York and America it was a celebratory evening, an evening of renewed hope, an evening for the rebuilding of lives. And I will not lie; I too partook in this celebratory mood. I was giddy and happy; I wrapped my arm around my date, and a tall attractive young man I had grown up with my whole life. Jordan Goldberg, he was sweet, kind, and survived the war unscathed, unlike my brother and I who saw the horrors on the western front first hand. But I pushed that out of my mind and we held each other on our way home. He smelt like tobacco and patchouli and it made me happy. We headed down an alley we used every day since child hood to make our way home. But tonight it ended differently. Tonight was supposed to be a happy night. That night everything changed.
London, August 1920
I had been living in London for two years; working at an inn that caters mostly to sea weary Whalers staying for the week or coal miners from the north looking to get some "fresh" air in London. It was an odd job; I was pretty much a housemaid, a cook, and a receptionist all in one since the innkeeper was an older woman and her husband was always in the pub, drinking what small pittance of money they made away week after week. So I was pretty much the only one who was able enough or responsible enough to work this job. But being the only responsible and able bodied employee at an inn that really only catered to usually drunk sailors and miners looking for fresh good time girls, and the odd eloped couple from Cardiff or Swansea, god knows where that is, was getting old and getting old fast. Thus my only option was to leave poor Molly to fend for her own and find my self a better job. It had been about a month since I was searching classifieds for jobs pertaining to well to do homes, when my boss came in,
" Ey, Charlie, take a look at dis" she said as she tossed a small staple-bound women's magazine on the table. It slid across the wooden surface and hit my elbow.
" What's this?" I asked as I wipe the potatoes starch from my hands. Molly heaved her large freckled frame on to the stool across the table. She sighed and cleared her throat,
" I was flicking through this here magazine, and found somthin' you ought to find interestin'" she said with a glint in her eye as her chubby hands reached for a paring knife and a potato, she began to peel the spud, I watched as her hands carefully and skillfully moved around the potatoes form. She looked up and exclaimed, " Well open the damned thing I ain't got all day!" I grab at the magazine with my starchy hands and flip through the thick paper pages till I reached one that was dog-eared. I scanned down the page and saw a classified that was circle in ink, and then starred. I look up at her and she smiles at me.
" Go on give it a look then," she said calmly as she began to peel another potato.
" When I said I wanted a new job I didn't mean immediately," I say worriedly, "I'll stay if you need me Molly." I clench the paper in my hand, a feeling of guilt pours over me. I look up at her, and she glares back at me, " wipe the sad sack look of yah face, deary" she squawked " I don't blame ya for wanting to leave, it's hard for yah 'ere, ure in a different place, working odd job, if I were ya I wud of left a 'ear ago." She smiled a yellowed tooth grin at me " Charlotte, 'Ur like a daughter to me, I love yah, this is better for you." I smooth my short black hair behind my ears and wipe the sweat from my palms. I read the ad,
Lady's maid and Nanny Wanted
The ad read. My heart began to pound as I continued. I read the rest aloud to Molly,
" They need a ladies maid and a nanny for a new baby," I read aloud " They pay 6 pounds a month, have living arrangements and are located on a local estate in Hampshire" I say, "This is absolutely perfect, hahaah" I danced round the kitchen, potato in one hand knife in the other. Molly let out a loud startling laugh and I hugged her. "Thank you." I said into her neck. She patted my arms, I looked at her, and her eyes were glossy and wet.
" It was the least I could do for ya, aftah all you've done fer me and my good for nuthin' husband." She smiled at me "Now go down to dat dere general store and call dem already!"
