The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2553 by Angharad Copyright© 2015 Angharad

---

“Did she give any reason for pulling out?” I asked Tom.

“Pippa took thae call but I’m sure if something had been said she’d hae said sae.”

“I’d have thought so too. I’m just curious.”

“Aye, sae am I.”

“If the other two drop out we’ll know something or somebody has happened.”

“Like whit?”

“Like they were nobbled or frightened off.”

“I mean if you were intent on doing us harm or anything else, how better than to have an insider feeding back to a larger group?”

“Tis a wee bitty far fetched.”

“Except that those sorts of things happen to us.”

“Us?”

“All right, to me.”

“Aye they dae that alricht.”

“Look I’m sorry, d’you want me to leave?”

“Leave? Leave whit?”

“Your house, I seem to only bring disaster and grief to you.”

“Aye ye do, but ye also bring love and life. I dinna ken hoo many times I’ve telt ye that m’ hoose is filled wi’ thae family m’ ain dochter couldnae hae given me. I’ll nivver tell ye tae gang, it’s yer hame f’ godsake.”

“Thank you, Daddy; I just need reassurance some days,” I said laying my hand on his.

“Aye, we a’ dae.” He took my hand and squeezed it gently.

All day Friday I was on tenterhooks in case another candidate withdrew, then I would have smelt a rat. On Saturday morning, I felt a little more confident, though was aware that we weren’t out of the woods yet. A withdrawal could be just a phone message away.

At nearly ten, the phone rang and I asked Jacquie to answer it, if it was a withdrawal I’d be very annoyed. It was one of the candidates but they couldn’t find us, just some big old house—Jacquie pointed out that was us. They then swore but five minutes later were parking their car in the drive. If they were a plant, they were very clever.

I asked Jacquie to keep the small folk away from us while were interviewing. The last thing I needed was Trish interfering in the employment process. She might be clever but she lacks understanding at times, or seems to.

A second car arrived and the first person waited for the second. They spoke briefly and walked towards the front door together. I wondered if they knew each other. The doorbell rang and I answered it.

“Uh—is this the right place for the housekeeper interviews?” asked a woman probably in her early forties. She was smartly dressed in a woollen coat and skirt with shoes of modest heel.

“Yes, do come in. Brrr, it’s cold isn’t it?” I said trying to appear friendly.

The second woman entered and I shut the door and offered to take their coats, which they divested and handed to me. I hung them on the coat stand behind the front door.

“Right, you are...?” I asked of the first one.

“Helen Manners,” she said smiling.

I glanced at the younger woman, who offered, “Lorraine Thorner.” Under her short coat she wore trousers and a fleece both in black. The older woman wore a checked skirt and plain cardigan.

“I’m Cathy Cameron, and I’ll be doing the interviews with my sister in law, Stella who’ll be down in a minute. Shall I just give you a quick tour of the place and then you’ll get an idea of what you’re in for.”

We started with the upstairs and I showed them the bedrooms on two levels, the attic rooms, then down to the sitting room, dining room, my study and the library, the kitchen and then the door to the cellar.

“It’s quite a big place.”

“It has to be, we have quite a few children between us. Coffee?” I asked switching on the kettle.

“Are you any relation to the Camerons who own the bank?”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, I just wondered how much cooking there’d be.”

“Not a great deal, we have a chef, so he does most of it, but you might be called upon to fill a gap if I’m not available and David is off.”

They both nodded.

“I have to warn you, the kids are pretty bright, so if you get the job they’ll be asking you all sorts of things.”

“Like what?” asked Lorraine.

“Like if you know anything about Quantum mechanics.”

“I don’t know anything about cars,” said Helen.

“It’s sub-atomic physics, one of my daughters is well into it.”

“She at university, is she?” asked Helen.

“No, she’s ten going twenty.”

“Ten?” they both gasped.

“She’s rather precocious.”

“So it seems.”

I handed them a coffee and invited them to sit at the kitchen table. Stella arrived and made herself a coffee then sat at the table as well where I introduced her.

“The reason I need a housekeeper is that I’m busy teaching at the university, Simon’s busy at the bank and Stella is a nurse specialist at the QA.”

“What d’you teach?” asked Lorraine.

“She’s professor of biological sciences,” responded Stella before I could swallow the mouthful of coffee I had.

“No wonder your girl is so bright, takes after her mum,” suggested Lorraine, I didn’t correct her.

The chat turned into an interview, yeah, I interviewed them together. Their references were fine and Jim had found nothing to indicate they were anything but okay. I pointed out that if we employed either of them there would be a confidentiality clause to be signed, primarily because we had children who could be harmed by disclosures. They seemed happy with that.

A half hour later I asked Stella to accompany me to the dining room. “I’m tempted to offer them both some work.”

“Is that wise?”

“I just thought it would give us extra cover for days off and so on.”

“Yeah, but how much will it cost?”

“Twice as much as one would.”

“What? You idiot,” she said smacking my arm.

“Follow my lead, okay?”

“Don’t I always?”

When it suits you, I didn’t say back to her. We re-entered the kitchen. “I have a proposition to put to you...”

It took some discussion and negotiation. Helen had her own house and didn’t really need accommodation, Lorraine did need somewhere to live. What we eventually agreed was that Lorraine would be available from seven in the morning until lunch time and Helen would do two until eight. They’d do alternate weekends from nine until twelve, longer by agreement if required. They’d have four weeks holiday but would be expected to cover the other at weekends if they were sick or on holiday.

Helen would get two hundred pounds a month extra as she wouldn’t be resident. Lorraine was happy with that. I also told them that if they were on duty at meal times they’d be welcome to eat with us.

They both accepted on the spot so we all shook hands and discussed starting dates. Lorraine could start next week and Helen the week after. I told them contracts would be sent to them and that we would organise a pension for them, which they would contribute towards but so would we. Details would be sent to them.

David arrived and we introduced them to each other. He smiled when he heard Lorraine was moving in next to him. She was probably eight or nine years younger but that’s up to them, I’m keeping well away from matchmaking.