“We can’t fight her on everything, Alice. We stopped her from going to medical school, which just didn’t make sense to me, even if she might have been a good doctor. I’m sure she would have. And now she wants to do her patriotic duty and serve her country when we’re at war. I’ll tell you something. If we tried to stop her on this, she’d walk right past us and out that door anyway.” He had seen it in her eyes that night, and he wasn’t wrong. Nothing was going to stop Lizzie. She had no reason to be there, and nothing worthwhile to do at home. She was going where she was needed, which actually sounded like the right idea to him. She was the youngest of his children, and just a girl, but she had more guts than any of them.

Lizzie called in sick to work the next day and went to the recruiting office. It was jammed, and she had a three-hour wait before they called her number. She signed up and filled out all the papers she had to. She had brought her nursing certificate with her, and proof that she had graduated as a registered nurse. They told her to come back in two weeks for her physical. She would be notified after that if she was acceptable to be inducted into the army, then given a date to report for four weeks of instruction and training in military protocol and procedures. She would be sent to a military base after that. It all sounded very simple and very direct. She notified the hospital the next day, and told them that her leaving would depend on whether she passed the army physical, but there was no reason why she shouldn’t. She was athletic and in good health. The nursing supervisor was impressed when Lizzie told her she had enlisted.

“I guess others will too eventually. It’s brave of you, Elizabeth.”

“Not really,” Lizzie said quietly. “It just felt like the right thing to do, for a lot of reasons.”

She called Audrey and told her that night.

“I just hope they don’t send you anywhere too far away,” or where she’d be in danger. Audrey hoped they’d keep her in the States. Lizzie thought it was likely they would, but she was willing to go anywhere. “I’m going to miss you, if I can’t see you.” Audrey doubted that she’d be able to leave her mother again. Ellen’s health had deteriorated sharply since Will’s death. The shock of it had hit her hard.

“Will I have to salute when I see you?” Audrey teased her, trying to make light of it. She was sad thinking about Lizzie going away.