Connie Willis - All Clear

“But the retrieval team may have rung up,” she said, and hurried off toward Mrs. Rickett’s.

Mike watched her till she rounded the corner and then turned to Polly.

“You said you saw Eileen on VE-Day. Was she the only person you saw?”

“What do you mean? There were thousands of people in Trafalgar Square that night—”

“Was I one of them?” If she had seen him, it would be proof they hadn’t got out, that they’d still been there when Polly’s deadline passed.

“No,” Polly said. “I didn’t see you.”

“Did you see something else, something that made you think she was there because we didn’t get out?”

“No, nothing except that our drops won’t open and Mr. Dunworthy was worried about a slippage increase and was changing assignments to chronological—”

“But he didn’t change yours. And the fact that you didn’t see me there with Eileen means she’s right. She was there on a later assignment. Otherwise, I’d have been there with her. How did she look? Excited? Sad?”

“Not sad,” Polly said, frowning as if trying to remember. “Optimistic,” she said finally.

He looked hard at her, trying to decide if she was still keeping something from him. “You’re sure it was Eileen? That it wasn’t just somebody who looked like her?”

“No, I’m certain it was her.”

“Then why, when I left for Bletchley Park, were you so worried about Marjorie?”

“Because I did change what happened. And a nurse is in a position to save who knows how many lives—”

“But whatever she does, we know it can’t lose the war. You may have gone to VE-Day before all this other stuff happened, but Eileen didn’t. She hasn’t gone yet.

She went after I saved Hardy and after Marjorie was dug out of the rubble.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Polly said.

“Well, it’s true. Either we didn’t alter events or there was no lasting harm done,” Mike said. “I wish you’d told me all this before I left for Bletchley Park. I got worried after that encounter with Turing.”

“Turing? Alan Turing?” Polly cried. “What encounter?”

“He nearly ran me down with his bicycle,” Mike said. “He swerved at the last minute, and crashed into a lamppost. He wasn’t hurt, and neither was his bike, but when I found out it was him, it scared me to death. But thank God it didn’t do any damage. I’ll be right back.”

He ran inside to ask Mrs. Leary if he’d received anything while he was gone and then came back out. “No letter and no messages,” he said. “Where’s Eileen? Isn’t she back?”

“No, she must have got caught by Miss Laburnum. She’s doing the costumes for the play. We’d best go rescue her.” But as they came round the corner they saw Eileen running toward them, waving a letter.

“I thought you said there wasn’t any mail delivery on Sunday,” Mike said to Polly.

“You’ve had a letter from Daphne,” Eileen called excitedly, running up. “It came yesterday, but since it was addressed to you, Mrs. Rickett thought it had been sent to the wrong address, and she was planning to send it back. Thank goodness I saw it before she did.”

She handed it to Mike. He opened the letter and then frowned.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“The letter’s dated a week ago. She must have forgotten to mail it.” He began reading the letter. “She also misplaced the other address I gave her. That’s why she sent it to Mrs. Rickett’s. And—”

He stopped short, reading silently. “Oh, my God!”

“What?” Eileen and Polly said in unison.

“I don’t believe this. Listen to this,” he said excitedly. “ ‘You said to tell you if anyone came round asking after you. Two men came in to the Crown and Anchor last night, asking all sorts of questions. They said they were friends of yours and that they needed to get in touch with you and did I know where you were.” He looked up at Eileen. “Christ, you were right. The retrieval team’s here. They’ve been here for over a week.”

“I told you they’d find us,” Eileen said smugly. “Did she tell them where you were?”

Obviously not, or they’d have been here by now. “No,” he said, and told them he’d leave for Dover that night.

“I think we should go with you,” Eileen said, “or at least Polly should. She’s the one it’s the most urgent to get out.”

He shook his head. “I’m going to have to get the information out of Daphne, and she wouldn’t appreciate my showing up with another woman.”

“She wouldn’t need to go with you to the pub,” Eileen argued. “She could stay at the inn or—”

“The inn and the pub are one and the same,” he said, “and even if they weren’t, Saltram-on-Sea’s a tiny village. Daphne’d know about Polly within five minutes of her arrival. Besides, I have no idea how I’m going to get there.”

He explained about the bus service having been discontinued and the gasoline rationing making it hard to rent a car. “I’ll probably have to hitchhike, and it could take two or three days. Plus, it’s a restricted area. I’ve got a press pass, but neither of you do.”

Polly agreed. “The trains will be jammed with Christmas travelers and soldiers home on leave. Perhaps instead of going there, you should write to Daphne. It might be quicker.”

“Unless the retrieval team’s there in Saltram-on-Sea. Or unless she doesn’t know where they are. I may have to track them down after I’ve talked to her. I’ll phone you as soon as I’ve found them.”

“But if they’re in Saltram-on-Sea, how will we get there?” Eileen asked worriedly. “You said it was a restricted area.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Mike said.

Eileen was still looking anxious.

Eileen was still looking anxious.

“Don’t worry. If the retrieval team’s here, they can go back through to Oxford and get you all the passes and papers you need. Or they may decide it’s easier to set up another drop closer to London. Look, I’ll call you as soon as I know what the plan is.”

“How much money do you think you’ll need?” Polly asked, digging in her shoulder bag. “Never mind. Take this.” She handed him some money.

“What about you two?” he asked.

“I’ve kept back enough for our tube fares, and we’ll be paid the day after tomorrow.”

She handed him a handwritten list. “Here are the raids on London and the southeast for the next week. The Luftwaffe was concentrating mostly on the Midlands and the ports in December, so it’s not a very long list, and I’m sorry I don’t know more about the raids on southeastern England. I didn’t have those implanted. Oh, and when you get to Dover, you need to be especially careful. It was under bombardment for nearly the entire war. The list I made for you only goes to the twentieth.

If you think you’ll be gone longer than—”

He shook his head, folded up the paper, and put it in his pocket. “We’ll be back in Oxford long before that.”

“Oh! Wouldn’t it be heaven if we were home by Christmas?” Eileen said rapturously.

“It would,” Mike said, “but first I’ve got to get to Saltram-on-Sea, which means I’ve got to get to Victoria Station before the Underground shuts down. Are there any raids tonight, Polly?”

“Yes,” she said, “but not till 10:45.”

“Then if I want to be out of London before they start, I’d better get going.”

“Do you want us to go with you to Victoria?” Polly asked.

“No, you need to be here where the retrieval team can find you, in case they gave up on me. Is your play group still putting on The Admirable Crichton?”

“No, now we’re in rehearsals for A Christmas Carol.”