Chapter 1

The minister of Saint Michaels was still a young man and only in his mid-thirties when the Bishop gave him the assignment to the Midlands to tend to a smaller church with severe financial difficulties. At first, John felt he was being punished because of the scandal with the choirboys just the past winter but everyone told him it wasn't his fault and he couldn't be expected to know everything that happened in the huge church which was filled with so many transient persons. In retrospect, he knew he should have been more attentive to the complaints of bullying by many of the members of the choir. His wife Gloria told him that the young director was a "Godsend" because of his social graces and his connections with influential people in the big city. He soon discovered the only reason the young man was there in the first place was because he was exiled from the Cathedral for exactly the same reasons of his downfall at Saint Michaels.

His own sister Doris had warned him that the young man was not of good character but he didn't want to cross his spouse without cause and opted to just ignore the rumors until it all blew up in his face.

The Bishop assured him it was only temporary and there was no need to "fret without cause". He had a gut reaction that the situation was exactly as he perceived it and the words were spoken merely in the service of excessive tact to spare his feelings.

The village was off the beaten track and that had its pros and cons but in his wife's opinion the cons were far too many for her to endure for any length of time. Their two small daughters were barely out of their playpens and required the investment of time that his wife was hesitant to spend at the loss of her writing club and the book-signing excursions that seemed to draw heavily on her time these days. For some reason, she had elected to be angry at him but had not as yet informed him of her basis for the anger. He was curious just in case it was something he could rectify if it involved a fault that he was unaware of without her input. Her sister Rose had tended to the small ones back at Saint Michaels but she was unable to pull up her roots and move to the country to continue in that capacity.

The first thing he did when they arrived at the new church was to put up a poster on the bulletin board advertising for a full time babysitter to tend to the two young girls who were already potty-trained and well-behaved. A few days went by and there was no response to the ad and his wife was due to leave for a conference in Oxford as a guest speaker. It was apparent that she had no intentions of not attending the meeting regardless of the fact they had a babysitter or not. It was concerning to him but he was not in a state of panic as yet since there were still a few days left.

The first response to the ad was from an elderly woman who had the faint smell of booze on her breath even though it was not yet midday and he could tell from her bloodshot eyes that she was in the advanced stages of alcoholism. He was overly polite but not in the least bit encouraging saying simply that a non-existent agency was already sending a person to fill the post. It was one of those lies he hated having to make considering his line of work but he did not want to give the creature any false hope.

When Friday rolled around, he knew he was in trouble as his wife was due to leave in the morning for the weekend trip. The phone message that a Miss Adams was coming over to interview for the position of babysitter was a relief to him and he hoped that the new applicant was more qualified that the first.

He had just finished his daily jog when the housekeeper advised that Miss Adams was in the drawing room. His wife was upstairs busily packing her valise for the train trip to the conference. He threw a towel around his shoulders to hide his sweat and went in to meet the prospective new nanny.

The girl was quite young and he quickly glanced at her CV to see if her age was stated. It was hard to believe the young thing was already twenty and he hoped she was in the habit of being completely honest in her responses.

"I am head minister John Stiffworthy and I expect you are Miss Adams come for the babysitting position?"

The girl looked up at him standing above her and he could see down the top of her blouse right onto the freely swinging boobs that were tipped with rose colored nipples. It was an inspirational sight for reasons other than religious thought.

"Yes, your worship, I am Alice Adams and I was born in this parish these twenty years past. My parents are Mary and Joseph Adams and they live on Waverly Place in their own humble home that saw the raising of myself and two other sisters who are both already married."

The girl spoke almost in poetic terms that he was entirely unfamiliar with but at least she was polite and calm in deportment so the man of the church decided to hire her on the spot.

She seemed gratified at his quick acceptance and inquired as to the location of their mother. Minister John explained that his wife was in process of removing to Oxford for a weekend of professional activity.

He explained the rules of the house and showed her to the small bedroom that would be hers as well as the main living areas and the kitchen which was the center of the house during the daylight hours. She advised that she would return within the hour with her bag after informing her parents of her new domicile. It was obvious that the pretty young thing had never left the nest before and this was all new to her.

His wife advised him that since the babysitter arrangements were completed she would be taking the evening train to the conference instead of rising at an indecent hour so early the next day. The man of the cloth was a little upset at her perfunctory departure but he hesitated to voice any objection in his desire for peaceful discourse.