Chapters (57)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- POPULAR BOOKS FROM THE ERA
- When We Meet Again
- A Conversation with Caroline Beecham about When We Meet Again
- Discussion Guide
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“I want you to give me the baby.”
The woman edged away too, shrinking further behind the uniformed man.
“Stay where you are!” Alice shouted.
The woman froze, her hands pressed against her sides.
“How do we know it’s loaded?” the man in uniform asked as he inched forward. He was close to her now, barely six feet away.
She had nervously checked the mechanism several times in the privacy of her room at Penny’s, but there was no denying the power she felt holding the weapon, or her lack of fear. “You’ll know it’s loaded when the bullet hits you,” she said, moving the gun away from the woman and aiming it straight at him. “Don’t come any nearer.”
His laugh was exaggerated before it abruptly stopped. “So, how do you see this working?” he said, stretching himself taller. “There’s three of us and one of you . . . and we’ve got the baby . . .”
“Just give her to me, and I’ll leave you alone. I won’t bother you again. No one knows I’m here.”
“If we do that, we don’t get paid. What are you going to do about that?”
“I’ll get you money. Just push the carriage over here.”
The woman’s eyes darted nervously between the two men. “What do I do?” she asked, voice trembling.
“Why do you want her?” the volunteer soldier demanded.
She didn’t answer, and he exchanged a look with the other man.
If only she could get between them, separate the woman from the men, then she would have a better chance of reaching the carriage. The gun wavered in her hand, and she steadied it, pointing it directly at the uniform across his heart.
“Now don’t be a silly girl. You were already silly once before, weren’t you? It’s your baby, isn’t it?” He laughed. “That’s what got you into this mess.”
The other man joined in, mocking her as the woman stood by, bristling with fear.
After an interminable moment, Alice stepped forward. She didn’t care about their ridicule or what they thought of her. All she could think about was holding Eadie.
Forty-three
Theo was on his feet and running as soon as the two policemen disappeared through the front door. He cut through the side gate, heading toward the back of the house, George’s slow footsteps echoing behind him.
A gunshot sounded.
Then he heard raised voices and, as he rounded the corner, three strangers and a pram came into view.
And Alice, pointing a gun.
There was no sign of any gunshot wounds. He sighed loudly, relieved he wasn’t too late.
Her eyes darted over at him, then the others turned to look. For a second, he thought she was going to fire the weapon. Except that the man closest to her lunged, while the other one took off running toward the end of the garden.