Part 6

"Where are you going?" Wilkes asked sleepily the next morning, feeling Nanny leaving the warmth of the bed.

"I have to get up ... there are so many things to do ... we have a wedding to plan ..." her voice was soft and insistent.

He sighed. Hadn't they settled this last night? He tried to convince her to stay in bed for the day. "You haven't had a lot of sleep! Clarisse sent you here to REST... to catch up on your sleep ..."

"I am not, not, NOT staying here all day! I have responsibilities, things to do ... Eloise will be ..."

"Joseph and Clarisse are looking after Eloise, and they have Priscilla and Tom to help. You know she told you to think of yourself. Please, Nanny, think of YOU ... what YOU want ..."

"I ... I want ..." she paused.

"Yes?"

"I want you, Willy," she whispered shyly.

He smiled, then leaned over and kissed her again. "So you'll stay in bed today?"

"Only if you are in it with me."

"Nanny! I have to ..." he stopped at the sight of the mutinous look on her face. Then he sighed. "I'll order our breakfast."

An hour and a half later, Willy smiled in satisfaction at the sight of Nanny curled up under the covers, sound asleep. He had managed to slip one of his sedatives into her juice, and it had taken effect. Now she would get the rest she needed to help her cope with the demands placed upon her by himself, Eloise ... and her own sense of duty. Tightening the belt on his dressing gown, he sat down in the chair, rummaged quietly in the bag for his book, then began to read.

O o O o O o

"Hold that thought," Joseph whispered as he slid from Clarisse's arms and hurried to the bathroom. Damned age was getting him, he thought sourly, when he couldn't make it through the night without needing to relieve himself. Finishing his business quickly and efficiently, he made his way back to the bedroom.

Returning to the warm bed and his loving wife, Joseph let passion and romance pump into his system, and pleasure took on a fine, sharp edge. Their bodies tightened, subtly they quickened their pace, they were almost there when ...

"I THINK you should be careful that you don't squash the Queen, Mr. Joseph." A stern voice cut through their passion like a sword.

Incredulous, Joseph and Clarisse broke apart instantly, their breathing rapid and uneven. Joseph flipped to one side, making sure the covers were tucked up around them both. "Eloise?" he croaked, then cleared his throat.

"The absolutely FIRST thing I have to do every morning is braid Skipperdee's ears. Otherwise he gets cross and develops a rash. Sometimes I don't have time to do it, so I leave him with Nanny. Would you like to try to do it today?" Eloise stood beside Clarisse and held up the turtle.

"I ... I don't think so, thank you, Eloise," Clarisse said in a husky voice, her body still humming from Joseph's ministrations.

"Well, it sounds like you two are like Nanny in the morning ... she gets up feeling tired, tired, tired, puts on her kimono and skibbles over to slam the windows down shut so that we don't freeze, freeze, freeze! Then she stretches her muscles and feels fresh, fresh, fresh! Is that what you do, too? Are you stretching your muscles? Can I call Room Service from here?"

"Eloise, it is five o'clock in the morning!" Joseph gritted out.

Clarisse added, "Please, Eloise, could we all have a few more minutes ... rest?"

"Can we sleep with you? It's dark out there."

"Please, Eloise ..."

"Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Skipperdee, Weenie and I are scared, scared, scared!"

"I will NOT have a turtle and a dog in my bed!" Clarisse shuddered.

"Okay, I'll put them to bed on the couch, then come back to sleep in here with you." She skipped out, then was back in an instant. "Go wash your hands first, Eloise," ordered Clarisse, not wanting to think about how the girl had been handling the turtle and the dog.

Grumbling about the queen being worse than Nanny for handwashing, Eloise obeyed, heading for the bathroom.

"I'm glad you're not sick. It would be absolutely awful to be sick when you're away on vacation, wouldn't it? When you get sick, does the doctor come to see you, or do you have to go see him?" Eloise turned on the water and shrieked when it was cold, then giggled and ran back through the bedroom to get Skipperdee to put him in the sink. Then she came out into the bedroom again, and said, "Would it be all right if Skipperdee, Weenie and me, Eloise, brought in our blankets from the couch to sleep on the floor here? They might be lonely without me. Your Majesty, you don't like turtles, do you? I kinda noticed that. I like them, especially Skipperdee, and of course, he likes ME, Eloise. You're breathing kinda funny. Are you really all right?" Eloise paused on her way out the door to get her blankets.

Joseph, furious that Clarisse had given in, turned heavily in the bed.

"Is there an earthquake!" Eloise cried from the living room, hearing the creaking.

"No!" Clarisse struggled to speak quietly. Fighting for control, control she had always had at her fingertips when necessary, she continued in a calmer voice, "No, it's not an earthquake. Eloise ... Are you sure you want to sleep on the floor? You DO have the bed made up out there ... and you're not so far away." She no longer cared that the little girl had been handling the turtle yet again.

"Well, maybe I will. Okay. I'm glad you're sounding a little better, now. Your breathing isn't so panty ... Nanny breathes like that when Sir Wil ..." Eloise stood in the doorway, Skipperdee in hand.

"Eloise ..." Joseph growled, and the little girl turned and went back into the living room. They heard her climb back onto the couch and pull up her covers.

After a moment, Eloise sighed heavily. Joseph echoed it. Clarisse stretched out on her back, knowing she would get no more sleep this night.

O o O o O o

Nanny moaned and rolled over in her sleep. Wilkes looked up from his book, then put it down and walked over to the bed. She had slept most of the day, so surely she would be feeling better now! Rolling again, Nanny muttered, "Willy ..." and her hand stretched out to him.

Taken aback, he reached out and touched it. She gripped it as if she would never let him go. Sitting down on the side of the bed, he began to smooth her forehead again, and she relaxed almost instantly. When he tried to get up, the frown appeared on her face again. At last, Willy undid the belt of his dressing gown, slipped it off, and slid into bed with her. She turned and snuggled into him, and with a smile of tenderness, he drew her close and closed his eyes.

It seemed he had just shut them when he came awake with a start. Nanny was staring down at him. "You drugged me!" she said.

"I ... I just wanted you to have a good sleep!"

"But ... but you drugged me ..." she sounded bewildered.

"I've never done such a thing before, and I assure you I fervently hope that I never will have to do it again, but it was for your own good, Nanny!" he argued.

"I see. Well," she peered at the clock in the dimness, "it's three o'clock. Is that night or afternoon?"

"Err, afternoon."

"Willy!"

"It was for your own good!"

Nanny sighed. Then she said hesitantly, "It's hard to follow your heart ... when your body is so, so, so old ... isn't it, Willy? But I'm listening to my heart ... and I'm listening to what's in yours ... and I want what I'm hearing. I love you, Willy. I love you so, so, so much ... Do you really want this marriage too?"

"Nanny, I fell in love with you ... YOU. Nanny. You're you again, now ... after months of being lost." There was a silence, then she started to speak. He shushed her. "I want the Nanny who prefers beer to wine ... the Nanny who would rather watch a boxing match than an opera ... the Nanny who dances and sings her heart out to a crazy song, and teaches another to shed her inhibitions and join in. I fell in love with that Nanny. The Nanny who peered at me from behind a half-closed door, who blushed when I spoke to her, who stammered when I listened. I love the Nanny who made me feel as if I were the most important person in the entire world. I ... I have never felt that before. I have gone for over sixty years, and never felt that I was the one special person to someone else. And now, you have given me that gift, freely and gladly. How could I not love you for it? Be yourself, Nanny. Be yourself for me ... always. Don't try to be someone you think I deserve, because the only woman I'll ever love or want or desire is you ..."

Nanny couldn't hold back her tears, but she allowed him to hold her close and comfort her while she cried for sheer happiness ... and then, spooned together, they slept again.

O o O o O o

"Your Majesty?" Eloise called from the living room.

Joseph groaned and rolled over, throwing his arm over Clarisse. She took his hand, kissed it, then called back in a low voice, "Yes, Eloise?"

"Weenie, Skipperdee and me, Eloise, are all hungry, hungry, hungry!"

Clarisse peered at the clock. "Eloise, it's not even six-thirty yet. You all eat at eight. Nanny told me."

"Oh." Eloise thought about that for a moment, then Clarisse heard rustling, and then Eloise was at the bedroom door, Skipperdee in hand. "Are you sure you don't want to braid Skipperdee's ears for him?"

Clarisse yanked the pillow out from under her head and slammed it down on her face, moaning into it. How had Nanny managed for over six years? SHE was starting to break at less than twenty-four hours!

"Your Majesty? Mr. Joseph? Weenie needs to go out."

"Guess we may as well start the day. We're not sleeping anyway," Joseph muttered in Clarisse's ear, lifting the pillow to do so.

Accordingly, they got up and dressed, and helped Eloise get dressed. The activity in their room had Priscilla knocking on the connecting door to find out if there was something they could do, and upon hearing that the threesome was heading out to the park to walk the dog, she said she and Tom would be right with them. Leaving Skipperdee in his bowl on the table, even though Eloise thought she could use the string from the drapes in the room as a leash for him, the five humans and one dog got on the elevator with Max.

"Lobby, please, Max!" Eloise said brightly, taking no notice of the fact that he was studiously ignoring her as usual. "We're all going out to walk Weenie. Nanny's too tired, tired, tired, so she ..."

"Yes," Clarisse interrupted the child, wincing inwardly at the display of bad manners, "but we can manage walking Weenie without her, can't we? Just this once. There ARE five of us!"

"I think it's absolutely great, and I bet Weenie thinks so, too, don't you, Weenie?"

The dog seemed to smile and nod, Clarisse thought. She shook her head. Lack of sleep must be getting to her.

Once they reached the lobby, Clarisse wondered just how badly Weenie wanted to go out. Eloise stopped to talk with Miss Thompson again, who, as usual, had a message with an invitation that Eloise declined, then she went and rang Mr. Salamone's bell until he appeared and pulled the bell out of her reach, agreeing that it was early for Weenie's walk, but yes, it was nice the dog had so much company. Eloise asked Joseph to lift her up to the clock, and, although unsure why she wanted to see it closely, Joseph did so. Eloise deftly opened the face and moved the hands ahead about ten minutes before shutting the glass and sliding out of Joseph's arms.

"I do that all the time for Mr. Salamone," she whispered, taking Weenie's leash back from Tom who had been given guard duty 'since it's your job to be a guard'!

Then Eloise bounced out the door, greeting the doorman cheerfully. "Good morning, Charlie!"

"Good morning, Eloise! Off to give Weenie his walk, are you? A little early ..."

"The earthquake woke him up this morning," Eloise said gravely.

Clarisse made a strangled noise, but Joseph was the only one to notice, and he winked at her wickedly.

Traffic seemed just as bad at this hour of the morning as any other time of day, so it took them a few minutes to cross the street. They passed a vendor of breakfast burritos who had a short lineup at his cart, and Eloise said, "We could get one of these, just to tide us over till breakfast, for Lord's sake!"

Looking dubious, the others lined up with her. Just as they got to the head of the line, Eloise spotted a friend on the other side of the park. "Gotta skitter! There's Maggie!"

She and Weenie started to run. Clarisse threw Joseph an exasperated look, then said, "I'll go. Don't get me one, I'm not hungry anyway," and she went after Eloise.

Joseph, Priscilla and Tom bought four burritos just in case Eloise changed her mind and wanted one, and started munching as they followed the other two across the park to where Eloise was introducing Clarisse to her friend Maggie who drove a horse and buggy for tourists. "Leo's her horse ... isn't he absolutely adorable?" Eloise said, stroking the horse's neck with Maggie at her side.

"Do you want your burrito?" Joseph asked, holding out the extra burrito to Eloise.

"No, no, no! That might spoil my breakfast!" Eloise shook her head. "That's what Nanny says." Joseph shrugged, then, after offering it to Priscilla who refused it, he split the last burrito with Tom. At that point Eloise added, "Besides, we don't buy anything from that man ... he's new, and not too many people like what he makes. Nanny said we should only eat things that we know where they came from."

The three who had eaten the burritos looked a little disconcerted, then Eloise said, "Is it time for breakfast yet? I'm getting really, really, REALLY hungry now!"

They all went back into the Plaza and up to the sixteenth floor to Eloise's suite, stopping off on the eighth floor for Skipperdee since Clarisse decided she didn't trust him alone in HER territory. Eloise ordered breakfast from Room Service, and when Bill brought it up, she fed Skipperdee his two raisins, and grudgingly ate her oatmeal so she wouldn't dry up.

Then she proceeded to show the adults how she could stand on her toes, the different kinds of faces she could make "and Mrs. Thornton tells me my face will FREEZE like that!" she giggled, put a rubber band on the end of her nose, and walk limping like an orphan so people would feel sorry for her. She told them that sometimes she has a temper fit, but not very often, and that the last time was when her tutor, Philip, wouldn't write a note to Nanny from Sir Wilkes. "But he did," she added smugly.

While they listened, Priscilla was quietly cleaning up the suite, Tom was checking the latches on the windows, and peering down to the street, and Joseph and Clarisse were finishing their third cup of tea.

"One time," Eloise said impressively, "there was this absolutely most terriblest storm that came up and it rained and rained and rained and thunder was clomping into this water and all these people were drowning without air and absolutely no one was saved ... except me, Eloise!"

Priscilla nervously glanced out the window, obviously reassured that there were still no clouds in sight.

"Your Majesty? Mr. Joseph? Can I go see if Sir Wilkes is home? He might have gone out while we were outside, but I thought I should just run down to his room and check."

"Eloise, I ..." Clarisse began, but Joseph interrupted her smoothly.

"Of course, Eloise. But we expect you to come right back if he isn't there, is that understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Joseph. Thank you!" Eloise danced out of the suite, slamming the door behind herself.

"Joseph, you KNOW he isn't home," Clarisse said. "Why did you let her go?"

"Why not? This way, she won't suspect that we know where he is!" Joseph grinned.

Clarisse smiled back at him, leaning over to kiss him. "You are brilliant!" she said.

Their lips clung. Priscilla and Tom tactfully looked the other way. When the buzzer sounded continually at the door, Joseph and Clarisse reluctantly separated, and Priscilla hurried to open it.

"Hello! It's me, Eloise!" she said, skipping in. "Sir Wilkes wasn't home. Can I write him a note and push it under his door, so he'll get it when he DOES come in?"

"Good idea, pet," Clarisse said.

Getting her crayons and paper, Eloise stretched out on the floor and, her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth, she began to draw a picture, then print her letter. Joseph pulled Clarisse closer again, his lips on her cheek. "I love you," he whispered. "And I concede that yes, you ARE able to look after Eloise every bit as much as you are able to run a country."

"Thank you, Joseph," she smiled, turning her head to find his lips with hers. Their kiss grew passionate.

"Oh, my Lord, you two! Don't you EVER stop?" They jumped apart to see Eloise standing frowning at them, her arms crossed on her chest. "Well, at least you're not SQUASHING the queen this time, Mr. Joseph!"

Clarisse went scarlet, Joseph almost choked ... and Priscilla and Tom tried unsuccessfully to hide their knowing grins. Walking past, Tom said to Joseph out of the corner of his mouth, "She caught you in the act, eh, Jo ... SIR?"

Clearing his throat and glaring at Tom who slipped out the door then laughed loudly in the corridor outside, Joseph turned his attention back to Eloise who was studying Clarisse's face.

"You know, your Majesty, you don't have as many wrinkly spots on your face as Nanny does ... and your hair is different ... and you don't have the same large botto she does, or she used to have, until she got rawther sick ... and until she got sick she had more to fill her blouses ... but you have the same eyes, did you know that?"

"Er ... I have been told that, yes ... and I can see it for myself." Clarisse murmured, glad for the change of subject. Sneaking a peak at Priscilla, she saw that the lady's maid was still smirking.

At that moment, a strange look passed over Joseph's face. A second later, he lunged from the sofa and ran for the bathroom.

"What happened?" Eloise looked after him, wonderingly.

Clarisse's eyes widened as she heard the unmistakable sounds of retching from the other room, and she got up hurriedly. "Oh dear ... he's sick." Both Eloise and Clarisse ran for the bathroom, but Clarisse caught Eloise and stopped her. "Wait, Eloise. I, it might be contagious, whatever he has. You had better wait out here. Priscilla?"

When no answer came to her soft call, Clarisse looked around. Priscilla's face was white, and her hands were on her stomach as she hunched over. Then the door of the suite crashed open, and Tom staggered in, his hand over his mouth, and the other holding his stomach.

"Oh, my Lord," Eloise said softly. "They're all sick, sick, sick."

Hesitating only a moment was enough to ensure that there would be a great deal of cleaning to do in Eloise's suite. Clarisse shuddered as she pushed open the door to the bathroom to see how Joseph was doing. He was hunched over on the floor, groaning under his breath and cursing the food vendor in the park.

"Oh, Joseph ..." Forgetting about Eloise, Clarisse knelt beside her husband and put her arms around him to support him as he shuddered and retched again.

"Food poisoning," he gasped. "Had it ... before ... God, the pain ..."

Food poisoning? Clarisse turned to Eloise, trying to remain calm. The little girl was hopping in a circle, her eyes serious as she looked at Priscilla on one side of the room, Tom on the other, and Joseph in the bathroom. "Eloise? What does Nanny do ...?"

"When I'm TERRIBLY sick, Nanny waits on me," Eloise said importantly. "Sometimes I get SO sick that my head falls over and is wobbling until it's loose! Like Mr. Joseph's. Then we have to call my mother long distance and charge it. Nanny always says she would rawther I didn't talk, talk, talk all the time, but when I'm sick, I want to talk to Maman. She's in Paris now. She knows Coco Chanel."

"Is there a doctor in the Plaza?" Clarisse ignored Eloise's speech as she stroked Joseph's forehead and realized he had a slight fever.

"Oh, no, no, no." Eloise shook her head.

"Oh, dear." Forcing herself to leave Joseph, Clarisse went first to Priscilla and then to Tom to see if they were any better.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty," Priscilla groaned. "I'll try ... try to clean up ... in a minute or two ..."

Putting her hand on her lady's maid's shoulder, Clarisse squeezed gently, and said, "Don't give it another thought, Priscilla ... we'll deal with it."

Tom was writhing on the floor with the pain, and couldn't even speak coherently. Clarisse picked up the telephone. "Eloise? How do I get the front desk?"

"Why?"

"I need to speak with someone." Clarisse tried to be patient with the child.

"Why? And who?"

"I don't know who ... I don't remember their names."

"Well," Eloise said, "there's Miss Thompson ... she's the one who takes the messages. And then you could get Mr. Salamone who is the manager of the Plaza Hotel. He is the glass half-empty type, so he would probably tell you that there is absolutely no hope of finding a doctor, and that even if you did, the doctor would probably be too late, and then ..."

"Eloise?"

"What?"

"Never mind." Clarisse put the phone down for a moment, then picked it up and dialed 0.

"Yes, Eloise?"

"This is Clarisse R ... er, I'm calling from Eloise's suite ... I ..." Clarisse swallowed. This was ridiculous! She had spoken before hundreds of people! Why was it so hard to tell one person on the phone that her husband and two other people were ill?

"Oh, Nanny's sister. I didn't know your first name! Say, I saw the Queen of Genovia on television the other night. Did you know that you three all look alike? And HER name is Clarisse, too! Isn't that a co-incidence? I tell you, when I ..."

"Excuse me," Clarisse put on her most regal tones, and spoke crisply, "I have an emergency here. There are three sick people in this room ... My husband and two friends. I will require a doctor and a maid and possibly someone to help the Marshall's back to their room where they can be taken care of while I see to my husband and Eloise."

"Yes, ma'am!" came the quick retort, and Clarisse hung up without further delay.

"When my doll was in a terrible accident, they had to give her all this terribly dark medicine and when she came back home, she was weak, weak, weak, just like Nanny was when SHE came home from the hospital after her pewmonia, and she had to take cod liver oil. Nanny said it's rawther revolting, but good for you. Do you think we should give some to Mr. Joseph and the other two?" Eloise asked, hopping on one foot.

"Er, no. We'll let the doctor decide. Eloise, could you keep an eye on Priscilla and Tom while I check on Joseph again?"

"Well, I can't keep one eye on Prisla and the other eye on Tom 'cause they're rawther far apart, and I absolutely can't, can't, CAN'T stretch my eyes that far apart. I can CROSS them, see? But I can't make them go the other way. Can I look at one first and then the other one?"

"Yes," Clarisse said, ducking into the bathroom again.

"And don't try to squash Mr. Joseph, your Majesty, just because he squashed YOU this morning!" Eloise shrieked across the room. "He's feeling rawther under the weather, you know, and sometimes you do silly things when you're feeling absolutely, terribly sick ..."

Clarisse's mind was a little easier in about half an hour. The Plaza Hotel had risen to the occasion, terrified that word might leak out about three cases of food poisoning in their establishment. Priscilla and Tom had been helped down to their room, and it had been confirmed that all three were suffering from a particularly fast-acting form of food poisoning. The good news was that it was unlikely to last more than twenty-four hours ... the bad news was that it was usually about eighteen hours before the victims began to feel better. Eloise's suite had been cleaned and deodorized, and Joseph had been put to bed in Eloise's mother's room which had a large, queen-size bed and a private bathroom close at hand. A maid had been assigned to check every half hour with Tom and Priscilla until they were feeling better, so Clarisse felt relieved not to have to continue worrying about them.

O o O o O o

"Your Majesty!" Eloise called from her bedroom.

Clarisse stroked Joseph's head as he groaned and curled up on the bed with another agonizing cramp. She went into Eloise's room with a sigh. This was about the eighth time Eloise had called her. "Yes, Eloise?"

"Will Nanny really, really, REALLY be back tomorrow?"

"Yes, she will."

"And Mr. Joseph will get better? And the other two?"

"That's what the doctor said."

"Will Philip have to come again tomorrow?"

Clarisse grimaced inwardly at the memory of the afternoon's session with Eloise and her tutor. She wondered why the young man put up with it, and couldn't understand why he hadn't realized that his response was exactly the one Eloise desired. Between the shouting during the so-called French lesson and Weenie's barking, it was a miracle that Joseph had even managed to be heard when he muttered that he was sorry he had ever heard of New York City. Poor Joseph, he was feeling dreadfully ill. Clarisse worried about him, hoping he would feel better soon. She realized his illness was made even worse because he was worrying about HER with no one to protect her should it become known that she was the former Queen of Genovia.

Eloise had not made it easy on her either. Clarisse had been dragged around the Plaza Hotel on the child's afternoon 'rounds' again, because Clarisse didn't feel the young girl should be on her own. Yesterday had been an eye opener, today had been even worse. Clarisse had been up and down the stairs more times than she could count, and learned more about the inner workings of the Hotel than she had ever learned about the palace in Pyrus. She was exhausted, strained because of her worry about Joseph, and more than a little annoyed that Eloise's mother didn't stay with her daughter and look after her as was her duty. At one point, Eloise had been chattering about the upcoming wedding between Nanny and Sir Wilkes, and Clarisse had attempted to say that she thought it might be better if Nanny was allowed to make more of the decisions. Eloise had refused to listen.

"No, no, no," she had said, shaking her head vehemently. "Nanny NEEDS to have an absolutely HUGE wedding! Sir Wilkes is a KNIGHT, for Lord's sake! It's EXPECTED! It would be rawther strange for a knight to get married to a lady and not have the whole CITY there! And she is going to wear a wedding dress that is absolutely divine, divine, divine, designed by ME, Eloise!"

"Your Majesty? I ASKED you a question! Nanny would say you're being rude, rude, rude!" Eloise tugged on Clarisse's skirt.

"I'm sorry," Clarisse looked down at her. "Eloise, you were asked to get into bed half an hour ago. Since then, I have been in eight times."

"Sometimes Weenie, Skipperdee and me, Eloise, we go to sleep right away. But not very often. Sometimes we get out of bed and go into the closet ..."

"Eloise, you have been to the bathroom, you have a drink of water by your bed ... I don't want to hear one more word out of you until tomorrow morning at seven o'clock, is that understood?" Clarisse was at her most imperious.

Eloise was impervious to the regal tone. "Why? What if aliens from Mars come and try to kidnap me?"

Clarisse turned and went of the room, closing the door behind herself. She found she was shaking. Hearing Joseph's wretched groans, she hurried into his room again. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she cupped his cheek with her hand, feeling heat on her palm. Tears came unbidden into her eyes. What was she to do? What if Wilkes didn't bring Nanny home for yet another day? She couldn't possibly cope! She was so tired and strung out, Clarisse could hardly think of what to do next.

Joseph groaned again. "Clarisse ..."

She bent closer. "I'm here, Joseph. I'm fine. It'll be all right ..."

"Charlotte ..." his voice died away in another groan, but he had gotten his message across.

OF COURSE! Clarisse jumped to her feet and got to the door of the room before realizing she had absolutely no idea how to get in touch with Charlotte. She had no idea how to get in touch with ANYONE in the palace. She had never had to 'phone home'. Was there only one number? Was there a switchboard? Coming back to sit on the bed, she bent over Joseph. "Joseph? Darling ... what is the phone number?"

Her only answer was more groans, and Joseph's writhing increased. Hurriedly, Clarisse stood up, looking down at him and chewing her lip.

"Your Majesty! A big bug is coming out of the closet and he's going to pick me up and EAT me!"

Clarisse closed her eyes, then, galvanized, went to the telephone. Dialing 0, she waited impatiently for someone to pick it up.

"Yes, Eloise?"

"This is Queen Clarisse of Genovia," she said, through with hiding. "I require the number for Charlotte Kutaway at the Royal Palace in Pyrus, Genovia, please."

"Is this some kind of joke?" The man on the other end of the phone started to laugh. "Right. You're the queen and you don't even know your own phone number? Give me a break." and he hung up.

Wide-eyed, Clarisse stared at the humming receiver in her hand, then her lips tightened. She hung up the phone, then picked it up once more.

"Your Majesty?" said a small voice.

Clarisse looked over at Eloise. "Yes, Eloise?"

"I'm sorry. And I can get you the phone number."

"Really?"

"Yup. I phone Information ALL the time, lots and lots and lots!" Eloise bounced over to the phone, picked it up and dialed three numbers. "Hello? This is me, Eloise. Her Majesty wants to ask a question." and she handed the receiver to Clarisse.

"Er, yes," Clarisse repeated her request, and this time was given the phone number which she carefully wrote down. As she hung up, she reflected, 'Well, who knew? Charlotte DOES have her own number!' Then she looked at Eloise, and gave her a quick hug. "Thank you, Eloise. You were a big help to me. You can be even MORE of a help if you go back to bed and go to sleep."

"But what if the big bug with enormously large feathers sticking out of his neck comes out and ..."

"Eloise ..."

"Okay. Good night, your Majesty."

"Good night, Eloise. We'll see you in the morning, and hopefully everyone will be well and Nanny will be home."

About to call Genovia, Clarisse heard Joseph up and retching again. She hurried into the bedroom and supported him, then guided him back to the bed. "So sick ..." he moaned.

"I know."

"Hate being sick ..."

"I know."

"Worried for you ..."

"Joseph, I'm a big girl now. I can manage, you'll be proud of ..."

"Your Majesty! YOUR MAJESTY! THE BUG IS COMING!"

Eloise's cry made Clarisse stop and grit her teeth. Tears came to her eyes again. She COULDN'T handle this! It was just too much for her!

Hurrying to the living room, Clarisse snatched up the telephone and dialed Charlotte's number, praying the woman would be in. Not until a very sleepy Charlotte answered did Clarisse think of the time difference between the two countries.

"Oh, Charlotte, I'm SO sorry!"

"Your Majesty? Your MAJESTY! I ... how may I help you?"

Clarisse pictured Charlotte sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes, and as ever, offering her help even before she heard of the problem. The tears overflowed. "Charlotte, I need you here! I'm so sorry to call, but I'm at my wit's end, and Joseph and Priscilla and Tom are sick ... and Nanny and Wilkes are away ... and I just don't know what else to do!" she almost wailed.

After a startled pause, Charlotte's voice came over the lines, "Your Majesty, it's all right, I can be there in a few hours. Will you be all right that long?"

"Oh, Charlotte, how can I ever thank you? Yes, yes, I'll be fine, I ..." Clarisse sniffed. "Oh, excuse me ..." she tried to laugh, but couldn't quite encompass it. "Thank you," she whispered again and put the phone down, then sat down and put her head in her hands.

Charlotte would be here as soon as possible. Relief was in sight.

O o O o O o To Be Continued