Up and down the Nursery went Mary Poppins, tucking them all in. They could smell her old familiar smell, a mixture of toast and starchy aprons. They could feel her old familiar shape, solid and real beneath her clothes. They watched her in adoring silence, drinking her in.
Michael, as she passed his bed, peered over the edge and under it. There was nothing there, except dust and slippers. Then he peeped under Jane’s bed. Nothing there, either.
“But where are you going to sleep, Mary Poppins?” he enquired curiously.
As he spoke, she touched the door of the clothes cupboard. It burst open noisily and out of it, with a graceful sweep, came the old camp bed. It was made up, ready to be slept in. And upon it, in a neat pile, were Mary Poppins’ possessions. There were the Sunlight Soap and the hairpins, the bottle of scent, the folding armchair, the toothbrush and the lozenges. The nightgowns, cotton and flannel as well, were tidily laid on the pillow. And beside them were the boots and the dominoes, and the bathing caps and the postcard album.
The children sat up in a gaping row.
“But how did it get in there?” demanded Michael.
“There wasn’t a sign of it today. I know, ’cos I hid there from Ellen!”
He dared not go on with his questions, however, for Mary Poppins looked so haughty that the words froze on his lips.
With a sniff, she turned away from him and unfolded a flannel nightgown.
Jane and Michael looked at each other. And their eyes said all that their tongues could not: It’s no good expecting her to explain, they told each other silently.
They watched her comical scarecrow movements as she undressed beneath the nightgown. Clip, clip – the buttons flew apart. Off went her petticoat – swish, swish, swish! A peaceful feeling stole into the children. And they knew that it came from Mary Poppins. Dreamily watching the wriggling nightgown, they thought of all that had happened. How she had first arrived at the house, blown by the East Wind. How her umbrella had carried her off when the wind went round to the West. They thought how she had come back to them on the day when they flew the Kite; and how she had ridden away once more and left them lonely for her comforting presence.
Well, now – they sighed happily – she was back again, and just the same as ever. Here she was, settling down in the Nursery, as calmly as though she had never left it. The thoughts he was thinking rose up in Michael like bubbles in soda water. And before he could stop them, they burst right out.
“Oh, Mary Poppins,” he cried eagerly, “it’s been just awful without you!”
Her lip quivered. It seemed as though a smile might break out. But it changed its mind and didn’t.
“You’ve been awful – that’s more like it! This house is nothing but a Bear Garden. I wonder anyone stays in it!”
“But you will, won’t you?” he said wheedlingly.
“We’ll be good as gold, if only you’ll stay!” Jane promised solemnly.
She looked from one to the other calmly, seeing right down inside their hearts and understanding everything.
“I’ll stay...” she said, after a little pause. “I’ll stay till the door opens.” And as she spoke she gazed thoughtfully at the door of the Nursery.
Jane gave a little anxious cry. “Oh, don’t say that, Mary Poppins!” she wailed. “That door is always opening!”
Mary Poppins glared.
“I meant the Other Door,” she said, as she buttoned up her nightgown.
“What can she mean?” Jane whispered to Michael.
“I know what she means,” he answered cleverly. “There isn’t any other door. And a door that isn’t there, can’t open. So she’s going to stay for ever.” He hugged himself happily at the thought.
Jane, however, was not so sure. I wonder, she thought to herself.
But Michael went on cheerfully babbling.
“I’m glad I shook hands with the Sweep,” he said. “It brought us wonderful luck. Perhaps he’ll do the Nursery next and shake hands with you, Mary Poppins!”
“Pooh!” she replied, with a toss of her head. “I don’t need any luck, thank you!”
“No,” he said thoughtfully, “I suppose you don’t. Anyone who can come out of a rocket – as you did tonight – must be born lucky. I mean – er – oh, don’t look at me!”
He gave a little beseeching cry, for Mary Poppins was glaring at him in a way that made him shudder. Standing there in her flannel nightgown, she seemed to freeze him in his cosy bed.
“I wonder if I heard you correctly?” she enquired in an icy voice. “Did I understand you to mention Me – in connection with a Rocket?” She said the word “Rocket” in such a way as to make it seem quite shocking.
In terror, Michael glanced about him. But no help came from the other children. And he knew he would have to go through with it.
“But you did, Mary Poppins!” he protested bravely. “The rocket went pop! and there you were, coming out of it down the sky!”
She seemed to grow larger as she came towards him.
“Pop?” she repeated furiously. “I popped – and came out of a rocket?”
He shrank back feebly against the pillow. “Well – that’s what it looked like – didn’t it, Jane?”
“Hush!” whispered Jane, with a shake of her head. She knew it was no good arguing.
“I have to say it, Mary Poppins! We saw you!” Michael wailed. “And if you didn’t come out of the rocket, what did! There weren’t any stars!”
“Pop!” said Mary Poppins again. “Out of a rocket with a pop! You have often insulted me, Michael Banks, but this is the Very Worst. If I hear any more about Pops – or Rockets...” She did not tell him what she would do but he knew it would be dreadful.
“Wee-twee! Wee-twee!”
A small voice sounded from the window-sill. An old Starling peered into the Nursery and flapped his wings excitedly.
Mary Poppins bounded to the window.
“Be off, you sparrer!” she said fiercely. And as the Starling darted away she switched out the light and pounced into bed. They heard her angrily muttering “Pop!” as she pulled the blankets up.
Then silence settled over them like a soft comforting cloud. It had almost folded them to sleep when the faintest murmur came from Jane’s bed.
“Michael!” she said in a careful whisper.
He sat up cautiously and looked in the direction of her pointing finger.
From the corner by the fireplace came a little glow of light. And they saw that the folds of the parrot umbrella were full of coloured stars – the kind of stars you expect to see when a rocket breaks in the sky.
Their eyes grew wide with astonishment as the parrot’s head bent down. Then, one by one, its beak plucked the stars from the silken folds and threw them on the floor. They gleamed for a moment, gold and silver, then faded and went out. Then the parrot head straightened upon the handle, and Mary Poppins’ black umbrella stood stiff and still in its corner.
The children looked at each other and smiled. But they said nothing. They could only wonder and be silent. They knew there were not enough words in the Dictionary for the things that happened