Chapter Twelve- Nana

Nana had served the Darling household ever since she was a pup. She had been found in the streets by Mrs Darling when she was abandoned by her previous owner.

Nana was born into a family of Newfoundlands and was raised until a year old at the property of the Depurets, a much loved and well respected family. She was born into a litter of five and was one of the oldest pups born.

Mrs Anita Depuret, upon hearing the arrivals, was overjoyed at the news of pups, but her husband was not so. Despite Anita's best efforts, it was to no avail that she could change her husband's mind about the pups. They had to go.

It was with a heavy heart that she raised the dogs until they were old enough to be sold, and ended up selling every last dog, apart from 'dog'. (What Mr Lawrence Depuret had called Nana before she was found). Distraught with the prospect of kicking 'dog' out, Anita had told her husband that she would not kick 'dog' out on the streets, nor let her leave the household until she had been sold.

'Dog' spent a much loved year with Anita, not so much Lawrence, and this is where she learnt the ways of being a nanny. As Mr Depuret disliked 'dog' very much, he sent her away every time he was in the room with her, and blamed her for anything that could go wrong. So, 'dog' decided instead of making accidents, she would help out around the house. Mrs Depuret praised her for every task completed, but Lawrence just looked the other way when a task was done and praised.

One afternoon, after Mr Depuret had come home from work, he decided that he would not bother Mrs Depuret upstairs and announce his arrival, but instead, find 'dog' a home. Unbeknownst to Anita at the time, Lawrence had a different plan to what he told her afterwards.

Picking 'dog' up in the hallway, he then walked out the front door and left her in front of a house down the street from the Depurets. Making sure she stayed where she was told, Lawrence turned around and walked home, telling Anita he had found 'dog' a home and they should celebrate by going out for dinner.

Anita was upset that she didn't get to say goodbye, but suffered her burden quietly because her husband was happy and she was there to serve and make him happy. She had always wondered what had become of her 'dog' but never knew.

When George Darling and Mrs Mary Darling had come home from a dinner outing, Mrs Darling heavily pregnant with Wendy, they found a small puppy on their sidewalk. Mrs Darling was overjoyed with the idea of a pet but George was a bit more hesitant with the new dog as it was a 'stray'. Mary finally persuaded George to let her keep it and they opened the door to their house to let the poor dog inside.

The dog stood on the sidewalk, at first unsure of its new owners, but with her sad blue eyes and saggy face, Mary knew she had to own this dog and never let her go. She gently coaxed the dog inside and showed her around the two storey building.

The dog grew up alongside Wendy, who was born shortly after, and they got along like old friends, completely ignorant that one was human and the other a man's best friend.

After the dog began to take care of Wendy, Mrs Darling began to joke about how the dog would 'nana' Wendy, and how they wouldn't need one if she kept it up. The joke began to stick with Mary and George and soon, when Wendy was calling the dog 'Nana' sure enough, the name had stuck.

Nana grew up taking care of the children alongside Mrs Darling, and after the births of John and then Michael, it was clear that Mrs Darling could not afford to hire human help for the time being, which was then the role of nana for Nana truly stepped in. Mrs Darling saw Nana's potential and taught her to raise the children as she knew how, with love, affection and treats.

Nana grew with the family as they grew and soon enough, even George stopped complaining about having a dog as a Nana, and grew to love her if not more than any other family member.

But of course, he would never admit it.

Mary's mother and father had trouble accepting the fact Nana was a dog, thinking that their daughter would at least have some sense, but after numerous attempts of offering their maids services they finally realised that Mary would not budge. Over time, the whole of George and Marys families grew to love Nana and wanted a Newfoundland of their own.

Nana looked up at her owner with sad eyes. She knew George was hurting and she mourned the loss of Mary herself. There was no one she loved more than the softness of Marys touch, or her gentle voice praising her latest efforts.

All Nana heard now was the soft praise of George, sometimes for no reason calling "good girl Nana" now and again.

Nana looked up at time to time to her owner, wondering when the children would come back from their adventures. Only she knew where they had gone for sure, and she hoped that they would come back to comfort herself and their distraught father.

George just sat slumped in his reading chair in the main greeting room, wondering if the police could do their job right for once. At their third meeting at his house, the police had claimed that there was no signs of entry and no struggles looked like they had occurred.

Mr Darling promptly told them where they could look again.

After the police had calmed George down, they had explained it looked like a suicide attempt as there was no markings or signs of struggle against the window pane or floor and the only marks was the cut to Mrs Darlings temple, killing her straight away. They explained that he could take comfort in knowing she suffered no pain and died instantly.

The police had to then leave the room and come back in half an hour.

After George had poured himself two more drinks, he found himself to become social again and the police entered the almost empty house once more. George listened to the police officers and wept quietly as the details unfolded, never quite grasping why Mary had wanted to fling herself out of the window.

When the police had explained what they had to do, George found himself pouring glass after glass of his most favourite wine, the only wine he would drink with Mrs Darling on special occasions.

After half an hour Mr Darling passed out slumped against the wall, Nana trudged to the linen press and grabbed a blanket, covering Mr Darling before grabbing one for herself and sleeping beside him for the remainder of the night.

When Mr Darling woke up in screams of agony, Nana rubbed up beside him and soothed him, coaxing him back to sleep.

That night George dreamt of windows and break-ins, troubling and twisting his dark, dark sleep.

The next morning, George awoke with a start. He sniffed the air and looked at the time.

It was six pm, and George smelt heavily of wine. He raised a hand into the air and ruffled his hair. He looked down to find Nana sound asleep beside him. He had slept for over twelve hours straight, and Nana had been beside him for every hour.

George smiled and then jumped as a loud bang shook the house. Nana woke up in alarm and started whimpering. George frowned and sniffed the air.

It smelt like smoke.

Mr Darling stood up in a hurry and reassured Nana everything would be okay. He ran outside to see the whole of his street already outside their doors, looking into the smoke of a bomb that had just dropped in the main city of London, not far from the Darling's home.

Mr Darling sobered immediately and packed as many things as he could into his suitcase. Packing a dress of Marys he bought her and one item that reminded him of his children, he then grabbed Nana and started to head towards his bomb shelter as every other family in London was starting to do.

Little did he know he would not survive the night.

The second great fire of London had just begun.