The Marvelous Magic of Miss Mabel Read Free

run to keep up. But as soon as they got home, Nanny Grimshaw’s smile returned, the way it always did around Mabel’s mother. It was like having two different Nannies in the same body, Mabel thought, except Nora always got the nice one.
    â€œI’m afraid we’re going to have to work on better listening,” Nanny Grimshaw reported with a sigh. “Mabel was rather out of control.”
    â€œOh, Mabel,” Nora sighed in disappointment. “You must pay attention to Nanny.”
    â€œSorry, Mama,” Mabel whispered, wrapping her arms around Nora’s legs. “I’ll try harder.” And Mabel did try, but it was so difficult to please Nanny Grimshaw.

    One rainy day when Mabel was almost five, she sat on the sofa, practicing her embroidery. Although Mabel attempted to follow Nanny Grimshaw’s directions, her fingers felt like slippery pork sausages. She kept pricking herself and tangling the thread, but Nanny Grimshaw made her sit there for two whole hours, embroidering the letter M .
    After Mabel lost the needle down the back of the sofa, Nanny gave an exhausted sigh and declared she had one of her headaches coming on. “I am going to my room to rest, Mabel, and you will do the same.” But Mabel had been sitting for so long it was difficult to lie quietly on her bed. What she wanted to do was go down to the beach and build sand castles, a tall one and a wide one, and see which the waves knocked over first. The rain pattered against the windows, and Mabel wondered if she could make a sand castle out of flour. Perhaps while Nanny napped she could try? Her mother was out in the greenhouse as usual, andDaisy had gone into town to buy lamb chops. If Mabel cleaned up the kitchen afterward, she was sure Daisy wouldn’t mind.
    Being careful not to spill, Mabel dumped flour on the kitchen table. She dribbled water over it, but the mixture wouldn’t stick together. Maybe she should mix sugar with water instead, Mabel thought, curious to see what would happen. Sugar felt grainy like sand, but that just made a slushy, sticky mess. By the time Daisy got back from the butcher, every surface in the kitchen was covered in white, crusty goop. And so, much to Daisy’s horror, was Mabel. “If Nanny sees you like this, you are going to be in so much trouble, Miss Mabel.”
    â€œIndeed she is,” Nanny Grimshaw said, standing in the doorway, her eyes narrowed and her mouth screwed into a tight knot. She made Mabel clean the table and the floor, then put her in the big tin bathtub and scrubbed her skin so hard it hurt. “No supper,” Nanny pronounced, sending Mabel straight upstairs to bed. “This is not how a young lady behaves.”
    To stop herself from crying, Mabel thought about digging a big hole on the beach and burying Nanny in it. But the lump in her throat came back when Daisy smuggled her in some bread and jam. “Oh, Daisy, you’re so nice,” Mabel choked. And it grew even largerwhen her mother, smelling of roses and kindness, sat on the edge of Mabel’s bed and gave her an extra-long good-night hug.
    â€œMama, Nanny is mean,” Mabel whispered, burying her head against Nora’s shoulder. “She holds my hand too tight and she scrubs me too hard.”
    â€œOh, Mabel.” Nora kissed her daughter on the forehead. “She holds your hand tight because she doesn’t want to lose you, and you needed a good scrubbing today.”
    â€œI don’t like her smile. It’s not a proper one,” Mabel added, which made Nora laugh.
    â€œMy nanny never smiled much when I was a little girl. Most nannies don’t. That’s not their job. And they have to be tough because they want us to grow up properly. It wasn’t until I left the nursery that I realized I loved my nanny.”
    â€œWell, I don’t love Nanny Grimshaw,” Mabel whispered as Nora left the room.

    A few weeks after Mabel’s fifth