“This is more important. Go wash that mud off and get dressed,” he said. “And bring your pajamas.”
“My pajamas—?”
“Yes,” he said. “We’re going to see the Queen.”
I called to the other men that the sky was clearing, and then a moment later I realized that what I had seen was not a rift in the clouds, but the white crest of an enormous wave.
—ERNEST SHACKLETON
London—19 September 1940
MISS LABURNUM RAVED ABOUT SIR GODFREY ALL THE way back to the boardinghouse in the chill dawn. “How thrilling it must have been for you, Miss Sebastian, performing with a great actor like Sir Godfrey!” she gushed. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of my favorite plays!”
Since they’d been doing The Tempest, Polly was glad Sir Godfrey wasn’t there to hear that.
“It’s been such an exciting night,” Miss Laburnum said. “I won’t be able to sleep!”
I will, Polly thought, but she didn’t have time. She washed out her Times-stained blouse, wishing she had a second one to put on. She’d need to get one from Wardrobe when she went to get her skirt.
She ironed her blouse more or less dry, ate a hasty breakfast of badly scorched porridge, and set out for work, hoping the Central Line had reopened—it had—and that Miss Snelgrove would believe her story about being unable to go home because of the raids, but when Polly arrived at Townsend Brothers, she wasn’t there. “She’s filling in up on fourth today,” Marjorie told her. “For Nan in Housewares. And she said for me to tell you that Townsend Brothers is moving up its closing time from six to half-past five because of the raids, starting tonight.”
Good, Polly thought. That will give me more time to reach the drop.
“Nan wasn’t hurt in last night’s raids, was she?” Doreen asked. “They were bad in Whitechapel.”
“No, Miss Snelgrove would have said.”
“Perhaps Nan pulled a flit,” Doreen suggested.
“No, I don’t think so. Miss Snelgrove didn’t seem cross when she told me.” Marjorie grinned. “I mean, more cross than usual.”
Doreen giggled. “At least she’s out of our hair.”
Yes, Polly thought, but not for long, and when Nan came back, Miss Snelgrove would expect Polly to have a black skirt and be able to wrap parcels, so in between customers, she totted up her sales so she could make a quick getaway at closing time. The raids didn’t begin till 8:20, but obviously the sirens could go much earlier. I’d best skip supper, she thought, and go straight to the drop from the tube station. I can’t afford to be waylaid by Miss Laburnum tonight. And when she got back to Oxford, she needed to get the list of siren times from Colin.
By four there was no one in the store. “They don’t want to be caught out when the sirens go,” Marjorie said, and Polly hoped that meant she could leave on time, but ten minutes before closing Miss Varley came in and wanted to see every single shade of stocking in stock, and, in spite of the earlier closing time, it was half past six before Polly had everything put away. She grabbed her coat and shot out of the store to the tube station, and then had to wait nearly twenty minutes for a train.
The sirens went while she was en route to Notting Hill Gate. She heard two women who got on at Lancaster Gate discussing them.
Good. She’d been afraid they might not go till later since the raids had mostly been over the East End. The ones over Bloomsbury must be early in the evening. And if there weren’t any delays, she’d have more than enough time to reach the drop before the raid started.
There weren’t any, and when they pulled into Notting Hill Gate, it was only a quarter past seven. She hurried up the escalator and across to the exit. The grillwork grates were pulled across it. “No one’s allowed to leave while a raid’s in progress,” a tin-hatted guard told her.
“But I must go home,” Polly said, “my family will be worried if I don’t—”
“Sorry, miss,” he said and planted himself firmly in front of the gate. “Those are the rules. No one’s allowed out till after the all clear. You go back down below where it’s safe. The bombs’ll be starting up any minute.”
No, they won’t, she thought, but it was clear he wasn’t going to relent, so she went back downstairs to look at the Underground map for other possible stations. Bayswater wasn’t close enough for her