to resort to the Overseas Programme. They can’t have heard of them in the States.”
“But wouldn’t it be cruel to inflict the Hodbins on another country?”
“You’re right. We can’t afford to alienate our allies. We’ll need all the help we can get before this war is over. You still haven’t heard from their mother?”
“No.”
“I’m surprised. I thought she’d be the sort who’d want them back for their extra ration coupons. On the other hand, this is Alf and Binnie. Do let me know if you hear from her. In the meantime, I’ll keep looking for someone to take them. You’ll be here until the fifteenth, is that right?”
“Yes,” she said and told him about going to London after that. “My cousin works in a department store in Oxford Street.”
“Selfridges?”
“No,” she said, though she seemed to remember Polly mentioning Selfridges, too. “It sounded like a man’s name.”
“A man’s name…” he said thoughtfully. “Peter Robinson?”
“No,” but as he said it, she thought, One of the ones Polly mentioned began with a P. Not Peter Robinson, but she’d know it if she heard it.
“A. R. Bromley?” the vicar said. “No, that’s in Knightsbridge. Let me see, what’s in Oxford Street? Townsend Brothers… Leighton’s… but I can’t think of any…” He brightened. “Oh, I know. John Lewis?”
“Yes.” That was definitely it, and she was fairly certain Selfridges was another. And when she got to Oxford Street she could find the one that began with a P. Polly was bound to be at one of the three, and she could ask her where her drop was, and go home.
If the retrieval team still hadn’t shown up by then. It had occurred to her that they might be waiting to pull her out till the fifteenth, when her departure wouldn’t be noticed in the bustle of the Army’s arrival. But when she got back to the manor, the Army was already there. A staff car and a lorry were parked in the drive, and the next day soldiers began stringing barbed wire along the road and around the wood, making access to and from the drop impossible.
On the seventh, Lady Caroline sent for the vicar. Eileen showed him up to the dustcover-draped sitting room. “Has Mrs. Hodbin written yet, Ellen?” Lady Caroline asked Eileen.
“No, ma’am, but this came in the morning post.” Eileen handed her a letter from Theodore’s mother.
“She says she can’t come fetch Theodore after all,” Lady Caroline said, reading it, “and she wants us to send him home on Monday by train as we did last time.”
Oh, no, Eileen thought.
Lady Caroline turned to the vicar. “Have you found a new billet for the Hodbins, Mr. Goode?”
“No, not yet. It may take several weeks to—”
“That’s quite impossible,” Lady Caroline said. “I’ve promised Captain Chase he can take possession Monday morning.”
“This Monday?” he said, sounding as shocked as Eileen felt.
“Yes, and the Hodbins clearly can’t stay here. There’ll be no one here to care for them. They’ll have to go home till you can find them a new billet. They can go to London with Theodore.”
Alf and Binnie loose on a train, Eileen thought. Visions of toppled luggage, rampaged dining cars, and yanked emergency cords danced before her eyes.
“No,” the vicar said, obviously imagining the same disasters. “There’d be no one to meet them.”
“We can telephone Mrs. Hodbin and tell her they’re coming,” Lady Caroline said. “Ellen, go place a trunk call to—”
“They haven’t a telephone,” Eileen said.
Lady Caroline looked annoyed.
“Couldn’t you take them with you to Chadwick House, Lady Caroline?” the vicar ventured. “Only until I find a place for them?”
“I couldn’t possibly impose on my hosts like that. If you aren’t willing to let them go alone, you must accompany them, Vicar.” She frowned. “Oh, dear, that won’t work. Monday is the Home Defence meeting in Hereford, and it’s essential that you attend. Someone else must accompany them instead, Mrs. Chambers or—”
“I’ll take them,” Eileen said. “Begging your pardon, ma’am, but I’d planned to go to my cousin in London when I left here. I could escort the children.” And with you paying my way, I’ll be able to save my money to pay for lodging and food till I find Polly.
“Excellent,” Lady Caroline said. “It’s the perfect solution, Vicar. Ellen can take them, and the only expense to the Evacuation Committee will be the Hodbins’ fares. Theodore’s mother has sent his ticket.”
The vicar must have seen the stricken look on Eileen’s face, because he said, “But if she’s going as the children’s