“Well, I don’t have a family, so that’ll save you some ink and paper.” George placed his hand on the wad of bills bulging his pocket. “And I plan to spend every shilling of my wages and winnings.”

“What about you, Charlie?” Frederick asked. “Do you want me to write to your brother?”

Charlie nodded. He had far less to say, so his letter barely filled a page. The boys then lay back in the field and watched the sun creep higher in the morning sky while Frederick wrote a letter to his own parents. When he had finished, he folded his pages, and he and Charlie traded letters, both promising to deliver the other’s should one of them be killed.

“Everyone feeling better now?” George asked, stretching from his rest. “Because we have a brother to find, right, Tommy?”

“Right,” Thomas said. “Thanks, George.”

“Don’t mention it. Seriously. It makes me uncomfortable. Besides, nothing is going to happen to us. And when our mission is over and we get out of here, I’m giving this back.” He patted his jacket pocket. “And you can deliver it to your family yourself. Deal?”

“Deal. And if we do get out of here—”

“When,” George corrected.

“When we get out of here,” Thomas said. “I think you should come to Dover with me.”

George sat up. “Dover? What would I do in Dover?”

“After your experience in the tunnels, you’d easily get a job in the coal mines, or if you want, you could help James and me start our shipping business.”

“It’s going to be your family business. You don’t need me mucking it up.”

“You said you had experience working the London docks. You probably have more knowledge of boats than James and I combined.”

“That’s true.” George reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Still. Dover?”

Max rolled over in Thomas’s lap, and Thomas scratched the dog’s belly. “You said it yourself, there’s no one waiting for you in London except that bobby who chased us to the train station.”

“Fair point,” George said. “And his anger won’t have calmed while I was gone.”

Frederick closed his notebook and tucked his pen behind his ear. “All the more reason not to return to London after the war.”

“But where would I stay in Dover?”

“With my family,” Thomas said, “you know, until you’ve saved enough to get your own place.”

“Your parents wouldn’t want me around.”

“Sure they would. My sisters would love you, and Mum’s always happy to have company, especially company that helps around the house and compliments her cooking. And Dad’s happy as long as Mum’s happy.” Thomas moved Max off his lap and stood. “Think about it.”

George smiled. “I will.” But his smile faltered as they walked back to the tunnels. As much as he wanted to believe that Thomas’s family would welcome him into their home, he knew the truth. Every person he’d ever met had made sure he knew it: No family would ever want George.