Chapter Text
It was a beautiful day in St. Mary Mead: The most beautiful one she had ever seen. The village was alive with people bustling around with their morning business. Women were doing their shopping while men drove carts with shaggy horses clip-clopping contently over the paved roads. The young, elegant blonde woman standing by the side of the wide road took in these sights with an excited smile, clutching the small handbag she held as if for dear life. The sun felt wonderful on her back, allowing one to be completely at ease. Still she found herself shaking ever so slightly in her light, burgundy dress, for today was incredibly symbolic and would determine the course of the rest of her life. She sorely hoped everything would work out for the best. However, after hearing a description of the man she was to be a guardian for, she began to highly doubt things would work out the way she wished.
A woman bent with age tottering across the street from the blonde found herself stopping in the middle of her errands to study this new face. She had never seen this woman before. She seemed too beautiful to be of English stock, she thought rather caustically. In fact she looked positively Welsh, perhaps even American. Whatever she turned out to be, the poor young filly did not seem accustomed to the way things were done in England by the state of her. Her long honey-gold hair was completely undone, hanging down to her mid-back, the old woman guessed. The dress she wore was lovely but not made by any tailor she knew within the village. The blonde turned her soft, mint-green eyes toward the old woman studying her and managed to show her a dazzling smile. The old woman smiled back and decided in that instant to make this girl's acquaintance, for the woman knew everyone in this village and if this young girl was here to stay then she must get to know her. The blonde seemed astonished to see a stranger crossing the street in a beeline toward her, but she kept very still and maintained a small welcoming smile on her face.
"Good morning, my dear. I could not help but notice that you are new to these parts," the woman said to the blonde, bowing her head slightly. The girl nodded and smiled.
"You are right, ma'am, I am new here. And I'm afraid I'm rather lost as well. I wonder if you could help me, miss-?"
"Ah, Marple, dear. Forgive me my rudeness. I shall try to be of service to you the best that I can," Miss Marple said, giving the blonde another smile.
"How do you do, Miss Marple? My name is Anya. I wonder if you know where an Inspector Slack lives? I really must find him."
"Oh? Inspector Slack?" A rather sly smile came to the old woman's face and she let out a chuckle. "Oh, I know him very well, my dear. He never mentioned to me that he knew such a beautiful young woman. How mysterious of him. Yes, yes, I know him well, though I'm afraid we are not entirely on the best of terms. I do believe he thinks me a nuisance as I am frequently at the sight of many of his cases and attempt to help him solve them. I do believe he thinks me rather nosy," she chuckled. The girl called Anya smiled and found that she rather liked this old woman from the start. She was an oddity compared to what she had seen and heard from other English women. Anya was quite pleased with this change from the witnessed norm.
"It is a rather strange thing to say, but he has never seen me before. Today will be our first meeting," Anya found herself admitting to the woman. Miss Marple seemed surprised.
"Is that so? Well, I can't imagine what prompted this sudden meeting, but it is none of my concern anyhow. Yes, I shall take you to the county police station. He may be out working a case. But if he isn't, the station is the only other place we would find him other than his home, I expect. Though I must admit I do not know where he lives. Well come now, dear, let us be off."
"Oh, I am very thankful to you, Miss Marple. I do apologize for interrupting your morning errands." Miss Marple waved her apologies off, tut-tutting her for her worries.
"Nonsense, dear, this is intriguing business. I was not on a very important errand anyway. I must tell you that I will be very pleased to see the surprise on his face at seeing me again," she chuckled. "He is never quite pleased to see me, but we do get along in our own way. Yes, my dear, you have brought me great pleasure," she assured. Anya smiled and took Miss Marple's arm, allowing the woman to direct her toward the station.
As it was not the shortest of walks, Miss Marple looped her arm through Anya's and took the opportunity to begin telling her about the history of St. Mary Mead, everything from when the first store was built to when automobiles began clogging the streets more than carts and wagons, and even when she remembered the first pavement being laid down to cover the dirt roads. Anya listened attentively, intrigued despite herself. She may as well learn about this place as she would be staying with this new man Inspector Slack. Well, of course, if he would let her. If not, she would still be his guardian, but she would have to stay in the background rather than the forefront.
Anya thought about her life up until this point as Miss Marple prattled on about the village. Anya was an angel though not your typical one. She had wings, but not a halo like humans imagined in their folktales. No angel in Heaven had a halo but did have wings that were twice the size of their bodies to allow them to fly quickly and carry twice their own weight if needed. And they were not delicate creatures, flitting about as children like human versions sometimes portrayed. The forms they called "cupids" always confused her.
No, angels were fierce warriors of the skies. An angel who could not fight was deemed relatively worthless, and only just if they could manage to heal adequately. All angels could heal, of course, but there were those that possessed more skill in that field than others. Anya had no such skills in either department. She was not a skilled fighter, though she had passed all of her defense classes, and only just barely. She could heal, though needed real practice in the art as she was easily distracted and had not quite developed a good focus technique needed for the task. All in all, she was a rather lousy angel. Her kindness exceeded all others and she was well-liked despite her weaknesses, which seemed only a small recompense for all the problems her fellow angels enjoyed reminding her that she was at the center of.
Her mother was not at all happy to find out that her daughter was not even close to the angel she had hoped for. In order to please her, Anya decided to take up the task of becoming a Guardian, hoping it would increase her standing within her mother's eyes. Inspector Slack had been chosen randomly for her by the high Archangels, and so she had come to England and this small village to find and inform him of the arrangement. She could have been an invisible Guardian for their humans like many other angels chose, but she had decided that for her purposes, staying visible and being accepted by her human companion would bring greater pleasure to her mother. And so she decided to come down to the earth in a frail human form, her wings remaining invisible to all who saw her.
Now everything came down to her convincing this Inspector Slack of her being what she claimed. She did not know how she would go about trying to prove this fact to him but she would have to think of something for this to work. Her attention was diverted to Miss Marple as she realized that they had suddenly stopped and she had nearly pulled the poor woman from her feet.
"Forgive me, I am so sorry! I was off in my own thoughts, I did not intend to nearly knock you over!"
"Now, now, don't work yourself into a tizzy, dear. I understand completely for I do that now and again myself. Here we are at the police station. Since you are back from your thoughts, shall we go in?" she asked, smiling sympathetically. Anya smiled back and bobbed her head up and down fervently. Miss Marple nodded decidedly and started up the short flight of stairs to the white-splashed brick building crouching in front of them, a black placard announcing that they had reached the headquarters of the 'County Police'. The pair narrowly avoided being bowled over by a policewoman as she charged out of the front doors, apologizing profusely as she ran from a shouting voice that sounded like a very angry man. Was that the man she was supposed to meet? Anya wondered briefly, inwardly cringing at the vehemence behind that voice. Miss Marple saw the small cringe on the girl's face and pitied her. The poor child did not know what she was getting herself into.
They walked through the front doors into a madhouse. Police men and women were running to and fro whilst in the middle a tall man clad in a tight black suit with a high forehead and rather long pointed nose shouted at them indiscriminately, ordering them to do this and that, call this person and that person, don't do this or that. Anya looked to Miss Marple and saw the old woman jerk her head in the direction of the shouting man, looking at her knowingly. Anya's eyes widened. The shouting man was her human! Dearest mother, how was she supposed to pull this one off?
"Oh dear," she found herself saying. "He seems rather busy. Perhaps now is not a good time." Her voice quivered as she spoke and she couldn't help but feel like a complete coward in that instant. Her mother would be furious at seeing her in such a state! But what could she do? She was frightened of this man that she was supposed to be here to protect! And she hadn't even met him yet. At this point in time she didn't even think he needed an angel. He could scare any attacker off by just glaring with those wicked eyes!
The terror on the girl's face made Miss Marple feel rather badly about bringing her here. Poor dear, she knew absolutely nothing about the inspector, did she? What was she here for anyway? It couldn't be personal business. Who would have personal business with Inspector Slack? He was completely manic in her mind, a strict man who made everyone around him stressed and unhappy. Suddenly Miss Marple heard her name being called and looked up to see that the inspector was now heading for them. The girl beside her stiffened and Miss Marple could see her hands shaking ever so slightly.
"Good morning, Miss Marple. What business do you have here?" The tall dark man stopped in front of them, his eyes passing from the old woman to Anya, sizing her up quickly. His address was sharp and business-like. He seemed a man that had no time for laughter or fun things, Anya thought. Oh, why was he the one chosen for her?
"Good morning, Chief Inspector." Miss Marple, as usual, was not flustered by his brisk attitude, but seemed accepting of it as she had many times before heard and become accustomed to his brusque mannerisms. "This girl here asked me to take her to you. Her name is Anya and she told me she wished to see you."
"Yes?" The inspector's dark eyes shifted from Miss Marple to Anya and she suddenly found her deep green eyes captured by those dark irises as they seemed to probe into her very soul. This man was not to be trifled with and obviously was not one to believe in such mythical-sounding things as angels. She found herself opening and closing her mouth like a fish gasping for air out of water, and quickly tried to pull herself together as she saw his bushy eyes brows draw down with obvious impatience.
"Ch-Chief Inspector Slack. May I speak with you privately, please?" she asked. It was better to talk with him alone without even Miss Marple around. He must be the only one to hear what she had to say to him.
He seemed to hesitate a fraction of a second before nodding curtly and stepping aside, holding his arm out to direct her to a small room that she assumed was his office. She looked back at Miss Marple and thanked her quickly before moving off in front of the inspector so as not to keep him waiting any longer. She entered the small room and waited for him to come in behind and shut the heavy oak door. She nearly expected it to sound like the closing of a tomb as the cumbersome door swung slowly on its hinges. He motioned for her to take a seat in the straight-backed padded chair in front of his desk and she did so, noticing that the shaking of her hands had become more pronounced as the time got closer for her confession. He sat down in an expansive black armchair behind the desk and rested his elbows on the surface, his piercing eyes pinning her to the chair as he watched her compose herself.
"What is this about, miss Anya? Do you have something to report?" She took a deep breath to compose herself and began.
"I have something of that nature, yes, Chief Inspector. You see, this may be hard for you to believe, but I am an angel. I was sent to be your Guardian and to stay with and protect you for as long as I am able." She stopped abruptly, seeing first surprise and then anger cross the inspector's face as his eye brows drew sharply together.
"Do you take me for a fool, miss? Is this some sort of practical joke? An angel? I do not even know you and you are supposed to be this, what, Guardian? And I am supposed to let you, what, stand at my back like a bodyguard all the time while I go about my business? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, and I have heard plenty in my time, I assure you. You may go, miss. I have no time for this nonsense." He stood quickly to open the door for her and she felt crushed for the first time in her life.
"Chief Inspector, please! I know this is difficult for you to believe but I cannot fail in this mission, I mustn't fail! Please, if there's anything I can do to prove to you-"
"I've heard enough! Please leave my office. I have actual work to do and normal people to interview. Good day to you, miss." He held the door open, staring her down as she opened her mouth for another plea. She snapped it shut as she saw the closed look of complete disbelief in his eyes. It was no good for the moment. He was not receptive to anything and could not be reasoned with at this time. She would have to be persistent in having him accept her as his angel. This would not be the last meeting. She would continue in her mission until she had thoroughly convinced him of her sincerity.
"Very well, Chief Inspector. Good day to you." She bowed her head to hide the sudden tears that had jumped to her eyes and hurried from his office toward the front doors. She lifted her head just in time to see Miss Marple stand up from the row of chairs off to the side, and worried at the reason the old woman had stayed.
"My dear, what happened? You were only in there for a few minutes! What on earth did you say to make him kick you out so soon?" Anya shook her head and apologized quickly to the old woman as she hurried out the front door and down the steps. She stopped once she reached the sidewalk and looked from left to right. Now what? she thought. She had nowhere to go, no money to buy food or lodgings for the night or however long it would take to convince the inspector. She was overcome with a sudden feeling of helplessness and covered her face with her hands in an attempt to stop the tears from falling.
"Oh dear, why don't you come with me? You don't look so well." Miss Marple was at her elbow directing her to the left and to wherever she was taking her.
"I thank you, Miss Marple, but I must go. I need to think about what I need to do now."
"This is not the last time you will approach him, is it?" Anya shook her head. Miss Marple sighed and continued to lead the girl down the sidewalk. "You will come to my house for tea, dear, and you will tell me everything, including why you're here and why you must see the Chief Inspector."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly. It is supposed to be a private matter kept between he and I-"
"My dear, right now whatever you have to say to him is falling upon deaf ears. So why not speak to ears that are willing to listen, and to an old woman who may have some advice for you?" Anya couldn't help but smile and allowed the old woman to lead her back to her home. Should she tell this woman everything? Miss Marple was different from anyone else Anya had spoken to in England, and seemed genuinely willing to help her. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt for the old woman to listen to her tale.
Nearly an hour later the two women were inside Miss Marple's quaint little brick house and being served tea by a sweet and plump maid-in-training named Bessie. Anya began her story slowly at the encouragement of Miss Marple, and soon she was pouring her life story out to the old woman, ending the tale with why she was on earth in the first place and why it was Chief Inspector Slack whom she needed so desperately to see. When she had finished the old woman sat there speechless, lost in thought, her watery eyes staring off into the small fire dancing beside her in the fireplace. After what seemed like hours she turned back to the young desperate girl sitting across from her and smiled. For whatever reason, she believed completely in this young woman's wild angel tale. She certainly looked like Marple's vision of an angel.
"I think you have a very difficult journey ahead of you, my dear. Inspector Slack is not a man to believe in such things as angels, as I'm sure you've learned already. Something must be done to convince him, but what exactly? That is the problem. Once he is convinced, I am sure he will accommodate you. In the meantime, you may stay here for as long as it takes."
"Oh, Miss Marple, I couldn't possibly-" She held up a wrinkled hand, silencing the girl swiftly.
"You will stay here and keep an old woman company while you figure out how to deal with your problems. And I shall help you with them, certainly. More tea, dear?"