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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

A man hurried past him, carrying a spray of holly.

We’ll be home for Christmas, Mike thought. He pushed through the station door and headed for the line of red phone booths along the far wall to call Polly and Eileen. Would it be better for him to go back to London and get them, and the three of them go to Edgebourne together, or should he have them meet him there? That would be faster, and it would mean Eileen and Polly were safely out of London sooner. But if something went wrong and they got separated …

Maybe he’d better go get them. That way they’d all be together and—

What am I talking about? he thought. All I have to do is get to Edgebourne and tell them where Polly and Eileen are, and they can have another team go get them. Tonight if they want. Or the night I left for Saltram-on-Sea. This was time travel. Eileen and Polly were probably already in Oxford. In which case all he needed to do was get back to Kent and tell the retrieval team where they were the day he’d left.

He looked up at the departures board. There was an express leaving for Reading in six minutes. He limped over to the ticket counter. “One way to Reading on the 6:05,” he said.

The ticket agent shook his head.

“Or on the next train east I can get a space on.”

“No departures during a raid,” the agent said, and pointed up at the high ceiling, where a sudden buzz of planes was becoming a dull roar. “You’re not going anywhere tonight, mate. I’d find a shelter if I were you.”

Happy Blitzmas!

—CHRISTMAS CARD,
1940

London—December 1940

THREE NIGHTS AFTER MIKE LEFT FOR SALTRAM-ON-SEA, Eileen asked anxiously, “Shouldn’t we have heard from him by now?”

Yes, Polly thought. They were at Mrs. Rickett’s. The sirens hadn’t gone and the rehearsal for A Christmas Carol didn’t begin till eight, so Eileen had insisted on their waiting till the last moment to leave for Notting Hill Gate, hoping Mike would phone, but he hadn’t.

“I doubt if he’ll phone before next week,” Polly said reassuringly.

“Next week?”

“Yes. He may not even be there yet, given all the wartime travel delays and no bus service from Dover. And the retrieval team may not be in Saltram-on-Sea. They may be in Folkestone or Ramsgate, or they may have gone off looking for Mike after they spoke to Daphne—”

“In which case it might take Mike days to locate them,” Eileen said, sounding relieved.

“Exactly,” Polly said, not mentioning that it didn’t matter how long it took Mike to contact the team because this was time travel. If he did find them, all he needed to do was tell them where she and Eileen were and a second team could have been at Mrs. Rickett’s immediately after Mike left for Victoria Station. Which meant either he hadn’t found them or something had happened to him, and she had no intention of telling Eileen that. It would only frighten her, and Polly was already frightened enough for both of them—correction, for all three of them.