Title: Growing Upside Down (Ch. 5 of 5)
Note: Takes place between Soul Music and Hogfather, contains light spoiler-ish material for the former.
Disclaimer: No affiliation with Terry Pratchett or Harper Collins. No money is being made from this.

"... and this is your room your G -- I mean La -- I mean Miss Susan; I do hope it will be all right, the previous governess thought it was quite comfortable, although I daresay that you might -- I mean --"

"It's fine, Mrs Gaiter," Susan said, cutting off her new employer in mid-witter. "Honestly, it's lovely."

"Oh! I -- yes. Yes. Well then I -- I expect you'll want to get settled in, then. The children, they're having their ah, their nap --" the woman looked at Susan with eyes that questioned whether Susan even approved of naps, "-- so you have time to, you know, to unpack before --"

"Yes, Mrs Gaiter. Thank you." Gently, Susan guided the nervy woman towards the door and finally was forced to close the door practically in her face. That her employer was so pathetically afraid of her might have been funny, except for the fact that Mrs Gaiter's fluttering and scraping might very well drive Susan mad.

She looked around her room; it was small, but very comfortable and private and in close proximity to the nursery. There was a window overlooking the street below, and Susan pushed the curtains aside to take in the view. The Gaiters' home was on a comfortably well-to-do street in one of the cleaner portions of Ankh-Morpork; below, Susan watched tradesmen and merchants pass as they hurried about their early-evening business. The sun was setting, and the reddish-gold light cast curious shadows along doors and windows.

A man in Assassins' black paused briefly, and the passersby flowed around him like water around a rock in a stream. Susan's breath caught; then he looked up at something overhead and she saw his thin moustache, beaky nose, and hard brown eyes. A tiny sigh escaped her; whatever dangers there might be in Ankh-Morpork, they were none of them here.

There was a movement out of the corner of her eye; she turned and saw a raven flying away. There seemed to be a small, shadowy thing clinging to its back.

She took a deep breath. Counted to ten. And pulled the curtains shut.