“I can see that,” Nora said. She liked Rosalie. She was different from all the other girls Nora knew. She didn’t care about status, level of education, or money. She only wanted to know if you were a good person.

“We’d better get going or we’re going to miss the bus,” Betty said.

When she was safely back in her room, Nora pulled out her journal.

Dear Diary,

Today, I took the bus to Knoxville, the largest city around these parts (now I’m starting to talk like a local). My friends Rosalie and Betty came along, which made the outing more fun. Friends…such a foreign concept for me. Except for Anna, I’ve never really had any good friends. It seems odd at this point in my life that I should find some, and so far from home and my experiences.

Speaking of Anna, I had cause to think of her today. Rosalie and Betty were razzing me about a boy. He’s another scientist I’ve told you about before, my friend, Del. The girls insist he likes me, and not as a friend, but as a potential girlfriend. I tried to pooh-pooh the idea, but if I’m going to be honest about it, I suspect they’re probably right. He’s a nice guy and a gentleman, unlike so many of the boys I’ve met here and elsewhere. But I’m just not interested in him, or in any other boys for that matter.

Dear diary, is there something wrong with me that it’s Anna that makes my heart race and not Del? I fear that there might be.

Well, enough of all that. Things are ramping up here. I can’t say much about it except to say that the real work is commencing and I’m praying we’re up to the task.

More soon, dear diary.

Faithfully yours,

Nora

Mary folded her hands in her lap to keep them from shaking. She’d never seen anything like this place. She made note of the barbed wire fencing, the guard tower, the gates, and the very obvious military presence. Then there were the signs warning of the need for absolutely secrecy. Even if she had trouble making out the words, the message in the pictures was crystal clear. When the soldiers searched the bus and scrutinized her visitor’s pass, she wanted to run, even though she knew she’d done nothing wrong.

At the bus depot, men and women of every size and shape disembarked from a sea of buses advertising odd destinations like Y-12, K-25, and X-10.

She leaned over and whispered to Louise, “What are those places?”

“Don’t ask questions.”

Mary checked to see if Louise was kidding, but her expression was dead serious. They disembarked. “Where are we going?”

“The Castle on the Hill.”

“There’s a castle? In the middle of nowhere?”