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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

“They ain’t,” Binnie said. “That’s why we ’ad to keep ’er ’id in the tunnel.”

“This isn’t the parrot who can imitate an air-raid alert, is it?” Polly asked, afraid she already knew the answer.

“And the all clear,” Alf said, appearing with a large, rusty cage in which sat a gray-and-red parrot. “But we’ve taught ’er lots of things since then.”

It Is Over.

—LONDON EVENING NEWS HEADLINE,
7 May 1945

London—7 May 1945

THAT IS MEROPE, SHE THOUGHT, LEANING OUT OVER THE National Gallery’s stone railing to get a better look at the young woman in the green coat, standing there in Trafalgar Square. Oh, good. She wanted to do VE-Day. She raised her arm to wave and shout to her, then decided against it. She didn’t know what name she was here under. Probably not Merope. That name hadn’t become popular till the twenties. And she didn’t know what her cover was or if she was here with one of the contemps. A middle-aged man in an RAF uniform stood next to her on her left.

She lowered her arm, but Paige had already seen her begin to wave. “Do you see Reardon now?” Paige asked her.

“No, I thought I saw someone I knew.”

“You very probably did. I think everyone in England is here tonight.”

Past and present, she thought.

“Reardon!” Paige shouted, waving wildly. She glanced over to where Paige was looking and then back to where Merope had been standing, but she was no longer there. She searched through the crowd for her—by the lamppost, by the lion, over by the monument. But there was no sign of the green coat, which she should be able to spot—it was so bright. Or of her red hair.

“Oh, no, I’ve lost sight of her,” Paige said, scanning the sea of people. “Which way did Reardon go? I can’t see her anywhere. She—there she is! And there’s Talbot.” She began waving wildly. “Talbot! Reardon!”

“I don’t imagine they can hear you,” she said, but amazingly, they were plowing determinedly through the crowd and up the steps toward them.

“Fairchild, Douglas, thank goodness,” Reardon said when she reached them. “I thought I’d never see you again!”

Talbot nodded. “It’s bedlam out there,” she said cheerfully. “Have any of you seen Parrish and Maitland? I got separated from them. They were over by the bonfire.”

They all obediently looked in that direction, although there was no hope of recognizing anyone with the fire behind them like that. “I don’t see them anywhere,” Talbot said. “Wait—Fairchild, isn’t that your true love?”

“It can’t be,” Paige said, looking where Talbot was pointing. “He’s in France. He … oh, Douglas, look!” Paige grabbed her arm. “It’s Stephen! Stephen! I was afraid he wouldn’t get here in time, and he’d miss all this. Oh, Mary, I’m so glad he’s here!”

So am I, she thought. It was wonderful seeing him without the fear and strain that had been in his face when Paige was in hospital, without the fatigue and concentration he’d had when he’d been tipping V-1s every day. He looked years younger than the last time she’d seen him.