A New Face in Little Chestnut: Mrs Hazelwood Part 1

Mrs Hazelwood walked into the village, heaving her heavy suitcase. The bus had dropped her off just outside the village, but the walk felt very long and tiring.

When she reached the village, the villagers recognised her immediately as a new face, and all rushed to be the first to greet her!

The person nearest to poor Mrs Hazelwood was kind old Mrs Bramble, the hedgehog.

'Welcome to Little Chestnut, I'm Eleanor Bramble!' Mrs Bramble kindly welcomed her.

'My name is Karen Hazelwood.' Replied Mrs Hazelwood, as shy as a mouse.

'What a lovely name, Mrs Hazelwood! Are you here in the village on a trip or have you moved here?' Mrs Bramble asked inquisitively.

'I've just moved here, it seemed such a lovely place and I really wanted a change.' Explained Mrs Hazelwood.

'Excellent! I'm sure we'll be good friends.' Mrs Bramble beamed, and Mrs Hazelwood smiled back.

'What a lovely welcome, thank you, Mrs Bramble. I'm a wash lady so I'm looking for work?' Inquired Mrs Hazelwood.

'There is a vacancy at the hospital, what a coincidence! It's just up this main path, second on the left - they'll be happy to have some work and the pay is reasonable.' Smiled Mrs Bramble, only happy to help.

'Thank you so much, Mrs Bramble! I'll head there right now,' Mrs Hazelwood said, happily, before setting off down the road as people kindly greeted her and introduced themselves.

Mrs Hazelwood soon reached a pretty little cottage; although slightly rundown it looked very quaint. Politely, she knocked on the door.

Seconds later, a kind looking nurse arrived at the door.

'Hello! How can I help you?' The nurse said, inviting her in.

'I was directed to come here by Mrs Bramble - I'm new to the village and I'd like to apply for the job vacancy.' She requested.

'Which one?' Laughed the nurse. 'We are rather short staffed in all areas!'

'Well I am a wash lady, but I can cook and clean just as well, if that helps?' Wondered Mrs Hazelwood, aloud.

'Brilliant! You sound like the perfect candidate!' Said the Doctor, who appeared to be writing out some prescriptions for patients.

'R-really?!' Mrs Hazelwood said, sounding very surprised indeed.

'Yes, you're exactly what we're looking for. You're hired!' The doctor said, smiling.

'How wonderful! When do I start?' Mrs Hazelwood beamed.

'Whenever you can, preferably as soon as possible,' The nurse said.

'I can start right now, actually,' The little mouse said, happily.

'Great! I'll talk you through everything!' The nurse said.

Mrs Hazelwood was given a very short tour of the hospital (which was tiny), and Nurse Nightingale explained what she had to do.

Mrs Hazelwood quickly discovered all the villagers were very kind and awfully excited about meeting her - newcomers in such a remote village were rare.
'I'd better get on with my work,' Mrs Hazelwood said, scurrying to the washing tub.
The washing tub was in the upstairs of the hospital. There was a lovely view from the balcony, which Mrs Hazelwood enjoyed as she talked to old Mrs Cottontail who'd been bound to her bed since she'd taken a frightful tumble. Mrs Cottontail had been given the room upstairs so she could enjoy the beautiful view as staying in bed gets very boring! Luckily Mrs Cottontail didn't mind having the washing tub in her room as she was rather deaf anyway.

Mrs Hazelwood hung some of the washing inside.

Then she went outside and pegged lots of washing to the line.

Her next job was the sweep the floors - dust can make chest infections much worse!

Finally, she began work on a soup for the patient's dinner. To Mrs Hazelwood's slight inconvenience, the 'kitchen' was located in the ward, and the only facility was a stove - not even running water!

Nurse Nightingale offered to serve the soup, so Mrs Hazelwood could go and get the washing in from the line.

'My gosh, what a busy day - I do hope every day isn't quite as busy!' She thought to herself, as she un-pegged a towel and put it in the basket.
Finally, her first day was over!

To be continued (probably)...

You may have noticed something that Mrs Hazelwood seems to have forgotten..Where is Mrs Hazelwood going to be living?! Post your ideas in the comment box below!

Do you like having new purchases introduced like this? I think it's really fun :-)