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Contents (71)
  1. Contents
  2. London—26 October 1940
  3. London—7 May 1945
  4. London—26 October 1940
  5. Bethnal Green—June 1944
  6. London—26 October 1940
  7. Kent—April 1944
  8. London—27 October 1940
  9. London—November 1940
  10. Kent—April 1944
  11. Golders Green—July 1944
  12. London—November 1940
  13. Kent—April 1944
  14. London—November 1940
  15. London—November 1940
  16. Oxford—April 2060
  17. Bletchley—November 1940
  18. Dulwich—Summer 1944
  19. London—November 1940
  20. Bletchley—December 1940
  21. Dulwich—Summer 1944
  22. London—December 1940
  23. Oxford—April 2060
  24. London—December 1940
  25. Saltram-on-Sea—December 1940
  26. London—December 1940
  27. London—December 1940
  28. London—29 December 1940
  29. St. Paul’s Cathedral—29 December 1940
  30. St. Paul’s Cathedral—29 December 1940
  31. Ludgate Hill—29 December 1940
  32. Blackfriars Tube Station—29 December 1940
  33. St. Paul’s Cathedral—29 December 1940
  34. The City—29 December 1940
  35. St. Bartholomew’s Hospital—30 December 1940
  36. St. Paul’s Cathedral—30 December 1940
  37. Croydon—October 1944
  38. London—Winter 1941
  39. London—Winter 1941
  40. Croydon—October 1944
  41. London—Winter 1941
  42. London—7 May 1945
  43. London—Winter 1941
  44. London—Winter 1941
  45. London—Winter 1941
  46. London—Winter 1941
  47. Kent—April 1944
  48. Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
  49. Dover—April 1944
  50. Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
  51. Wales—May 1944
  52. London—Spring 1941
  53. London—May 1944
  54. London—Spring 1941
  55. Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
  56. Kent—June 1944
  57. Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
  58. Kent—October 1944
  59. London—Spring 1941
  60. Croydon—October 1944
  61. London—Spring 1941
  62. London—Spring 1941
  63. London—Spring 1941
  64. Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
  65. London—19 April 1941
  66. London—19 April 1941
  67. Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
  68. London—7 May 1945
  69. London—19 April 1941
  70. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  71. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

He made it just past the corner before he collapsed, falling to his knees.

Colin was right. He said I’d get into trouble, he thought. I should have let him come with me. And he must have been unconscious for a few minutes, because when he opened his eyes, it was nearly light and the rain had stopped. He got heavily to his feet and then stood there a moment, looking confused. What had he—?

Oxford, he thought. I must get back to Oxford. And started down the hill to Blackfriars to take the tube to Paddington Station to catch the train.

The rain it raineth every day.

—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,
TWELFTH NIGHT

London—December 1940

MIKE STARED AT POLLY, SITTING THERE ON THE STEPS OF the Albert Memorial. “You were the historian we were talking about that day in Oxford?” he said angrily. “The one we couldn’t believe Mr. Dunworthy would let do something so dangerous?”

Polly nodded.

“Which means your deadline’s not April second, 1945. It’s what? When did the V-1 attacks start?”

“A week after D-Day.”

“A week—in 1944?”

“Yes. June thirteenth.”

“Jesus.” VE-Day had been bad enough, but D-Day was only three and a half years away, and if the slippage had increased enough for Dunworthy to be canceling drops right and left … “Why didn’t Dunworthy cancel your assignment if you had a deadline?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Polly said.

“But if he didn’t, then perhaps he was changing the order for some other reason,” Eileen suggested. “Because he was putting the less dangerous ones first or something. The Reign of Terror was more dangerous than the storming of the Bastille, wasn’t it? And Pearl Harbor was more dangerous than—”

She stopped, flustered, and looked down at Mike’s foot.

“It would have been more dangerous,” Mike said, “if I’d gone to Dover like I was supposed to. Eileen’s right, Polly. The assignments could have been switched for lots of reasons. And the fact that they didn’t cancel yours is a good sign Oxford doesn’t think you’re in danger.”

“And her seeing me at VE-Day might be a good sign, too. I could have gone there after we got back to Oxford. Because Mr. Dunworthy felt badly about our having been trapped. He knows I’ve always wanted to go to VE-Day.”

You may get your wish, Mike thought grimly.

He looked at Polly, who hadn’t said anything. Her expression was guarded, wary, as if there was still something she hadn’t told them, and he thought about her saying, “You asked me if I’d been to Bletchley Park.” Could she still be lying to them and carefully answering exactly what they asked and nothing else?

“Is the V-1 assignment your only one to World War Two?” he asked, and Eileen looked, horrified, at him and then Polly.

“Is it?” he pressed her. “Or did you go to Pearl Harbor? Or the end of the Blitz?” he asked, remembering she’d known all about those attacks, too.

“No,” she said, and looked like she was telling the truth. But then, he’d thought she was telling the truth before.