Frederick read the signature first. “It’s from Pastor Miller.”

“What’s it say?” Charlie asked.

Frederick skimmed the letter. “Your home wasn’t hit. A zeppelin did drop a bomb on a warehouse nearby, but it happened at night when the building was empty.”

Charlie sank down onto his bunk. George sat down next to him. “See there, Mouse. Nothing to worry about. Everything’s fine.”

“Not everything,” Frederick said, continuing to read down the letter.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked. “Is it my brother?”

Frederick handed him the letter. “It’s not serious. Henry just broke his arm.”

“How?”

“Your father told Pastor Miller it was an accident. Henry fell running through the house.”

Charlie felt the anger he’d fought to bury after the fight in the tunnels clawing its way back to the surface. “He always says it’s an accident.” His hand squeezed into a fist, crushing the letter. “It never is.”

While they waited for Mole and Boomer to return, George tried to distract Charlie from the news about his brother.

“Come on, Mouse. How about one last game of poker in the dugout?”

Charlie pocketed his letter and reluctantly joined George, Thomas, and Frederick at the table.

“Just think, if this mission goes well tonight,” George said, dealing out the cards, “it will definitely end this bloody stalemate.”

Thomas fanned out his cards, careful to keep them close to his chest. George claimed it wasn’t cheating to look at an opponent’s hand if the chap was careless enough to show them to you.

Frederick placed two of his cards facedown. “If we can take Messines Ridge, we might be able to drive Fritz back to Germany.”

“If all the mines blow, we’ll drive them back farther than Germany,” George said, dealing him two new cards.

“They’ll all blow,” Frederick said.

Charlie tossed down one of his own cards. “I don’t know. Boomer’s concerned the tunnel the Germans broke through will collapse if artillery hits within yards of it.”

“It doesn’t help that our troops have been shelling the German trenches for weeks,” George complained.

“It’s a good strategy,” Frederick said. “With the increase in guns and infantry gathering on our front, the Germans have to know a ground assault is imminent. The constant shelling will keep them focused on what’s happening in our trenches and not what we might have been doing beneath theirs. It should gain us the element of surprise at zero hour.”

“That’s if our shells don’t trigger the mines before then,” George said. “The sooner we detonate those mines, the better.”

“And the sooner this war will be over, and we can get back to our lives,” Frederick said.

George dealt Charlie three new cards. “You headed back to London after the war, Mouse?”

Charlie did not hesitate in his response. “Yes.”

“What about your father?” Thomas asked.

“If Mouse can face Germans in the tunnels, he can face his father,” George said. “Right, Mouse?”

“I have to get my brother away from him.” He looked over at Thomas. “I never should have left. He needs me.”