“Grace,” Mrs. Weatherford exclaimed from the parlor. “Goodness, child, what’s happened to you? We’ve been worried sick.”

It was in extreme times such as this that Mrs. Weatherford’s bossy nature held great benefit. Within the short side of an hour, Grace was dry with a fresh change of clothes and a hot cup of tea in her hand before tucking herself into bed.

Safe and warm beneath her quilt, she snuggled deep into her bed and made friends with the dark once more as it pulled her into slumber. But before sleep claimed her, she made a plan to use her time off from the shop to visit Paternoster Row the following morning. If she could see how the displays were set and the books shelved in those stores, she might have a stronger idea of how to properly direct her efforts.

Unfortunately, such well-laid plans dissolved with the news that met her the following day.

FIVE

Britain had officially declared war.

The prime minister made a special broadcast at 11:15 the next morning before Grace could leave.

She sat on the mohair sofa with Viv as Chamberlain’s voice filled the small parlor. Colin was no longer on the floor as Tabby was now with Mr. Pritchard. Instead, the young man perched tensely at the edge of the Morris chair beside his mother’s seat.

A tea tray sat on the center of the small table beside a vase of dahlias, untouched.

The prime minister relayed that Germany had ignored requests to pull free from Poland. Grace held her breath and prayed silently that Chamberlain wouldn’t announce the news they had been dreading.

But all the listeners in London holding their breath couldn’t stop his next words. “...consequently, this country is at war with Germany.”

Even though the declaration was expected, it hit Grace like a blow. How could something so expected carry such visceral impact?

She was not alone.

Viv dabbed at her eyes with a pretty lace-lined handkerchief she’d sewn before they left Drayton, and Mrs. Weatherford sucked in a breath. Colin immediately reached for his mother’s hand.

They were at war.

But what did that mean? Would they be bombed? The men conscripted? Food rationed?

Grace remembered her mother’s stories from the Great War and how difficult it had been. But those had simply been tales to Grace, ones without context for a life she could scarce imagine. And now that unfathomable world was about to become their new reality.

A shrill wail cut through the silence, the blaring of the air raid horn that had no end as its warbling cry rose and fell. The blood in Grace’s veins froze. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move.

They would be bombed. Like Poland. Overtaken by the Germans.