Mr. Sam is Here

"Mary Poppins thought of the raspberry-jam-cakes they always had on her Day Out, and she was just going to sigh, when she saw the Match-Man's face. So, very cleverly, she turned the sigh into a smile – a good one with both ends turned up–and said: "That's all right, Bert. Don't you mind. I'd much rather not go to tea. A stodgy meal, I call it – really."
– Travers, Mary Poppins







The three girls had been hidden now far long enough – they had very disappointed opinions already of this Sam character and now, not only to think that he had the audacity, the gaul to bring them things, but they each noticed that there was some other person with them. A girl's voice had risen up for a greetings as well and mother, well, she didn't seem a bit surprised! "Enough of this," Paige finally said and yanked the arms of both of her sisters through the archway, scowls pasted on each of their faces, and were well prepared to do battle. Quite before they reached their mother, Mr. Sam had already intervened, taking a quick step inward, behind the coach, en route toward the kitchen where Mary had been comfortably sitting on a tall rotating chair. "First, please meet my daughter Natalie, she is also sixteen, I believe only a month or two off from your own birthday Caitlin." Natalie gave her hand to Caitlin before she could react. "I brought this gift box for you. I picked them out myself. Please, go ahead and open it now if you want to." Mr. Sam stood behind Natalie and was not quite what they had expected – he was neither short or stout or bearded. He did not wear a formal black jacket. He was so tall that he had to lean in forward to listen and his neck moved down at least a foot, like a giraffes, as he walked around to Paige and Rose to shake their hands. "Natalie has volunteered some time to help out this spring when she can and will also this summer. She is a premier cook and will be helping with all things in the kitchen when needed." Mr. Sam's blue eyes looked at each of them with what would be considered great clarity of purpose. "I do have these gifts for the two of you as well." He walked over to Paige and Rose, giraffe-like, but quietly, and handed them something like gift bags. Caitlin had opened hers up and pulled out a cookbook that said something like The Art of French Cooking at Home. Paige opened hers and held up a very large group of seed packets. "Ah, yeah, I remember those," Sam said, "we will begin planting as soon as we can. First, we will mix them with a little sawdust and water. We will have great fun." Paige shot a look to Mary expecting that her own bewilderment might surpass her own. "You could say thank you," Mary said, her own arms crossed, and perhaps wondering herself if she might receive a bag. Rose pulled out a very large book called Writing the Nature Journal on the Farm."  Mr. Sam's eyes lit up. "I had never even seen this book before, brand new. Most of these journal writing books are not geared specifically for farms!" He walked over to Mary and handed her a much smaller bag. "These were picked out by my wife. She said that you would fully understand" Mary pulled out of her bag one container of bath salts and another of lemon sage soap. "A very nice pick," she said, "maybe I will use it now!"