Polly looked through the pages. “Waterloo…” she murmured. “… St. Paul’s… Marble Arch…”
Colin nodded again. “It was hit on the seventeenth of September. There were over forty casualties.”
I hope they don’t plan to stand here and go through the entire list
, Eileen thought, looking at her watch. It was already half past three. Even if they could get in to see Mr. Dunworthy immediately, they’d be at Balliol at least an hour, and if Transport closed at five—
“… Liverpool Street,” Polly said. “… Cannon Street… Blackfriars. Good Lord, this is every tube station in London!”
“No, only half,” Colin said, “and most of them only had minor damage.” He handed her another set of pages. “I also listed the dates so you’d know when not to be in them. I know Mr. Dunworthy doesn’t want you in the ones that were hit at all, but they’re only dangerous for that day, and how are you going to get anywhere if you can’t go to Victoria or Bank?”
“A man after my own heart,” Polly said and grinned at him. “Don’t tell Mr. Dunworthy I said that.”
He looked horrified. “You know I wouldn’t, Polly.”
Hmm
, Eileen thought.
“Is the list of air-raid and all-clear siren times here?” Polly asked, leafing through the pages.
“I haven’t finished it yet,” he said, “but here’s the list of London landmarks that were damaged.” He handed her the rest of the pages. “Did you know they bombed Madame Tussaud’s Waxworks? And did you know it knocked the statue of Churchill over and took off Wellington’s ear, but neither Hitler nor Mussolini got so much as a scratch? I call that unfair.”
“Yes, well, they got theirs later,” Polly said, looking through the pages. “Thank you
, Colin. You’ve no idea how much help you’ve been.”
He reddened. “I’ll have the list of siren times to you in an hour or two. Where will you be?”
“Balliol.”
He dashed off.
“Thank you again, Colin! You’re marvelous!” she called after him. “Sorry,” she said to Eileen as they started walking again. “He’s been a wonderful assistant. All this would have taken me weeks.”
“Yes, well, it’s amazing what a motivation love can be.”
“Love?” Polly shook her head. “It’s not me he’s in love with, it’s time travel. He’s constantly after Mr. Dunworthy to waive the age requirement and let him do an assignment now.”
“And what does Mr. Dunworthy say?”
“You can imagine.”
“Being in love with time travel may explain why he’s helping you with your prep,” Eileen said, “but it doesn’t explain why he blushes whenever you look at him. Or the way he says your name. Face it, Polly, he’s head over heels.”
“But he’s a child!”
“He’s what? Seventeen? In 1940, seventeen-year-olds are lying about their age and joining up and getting killed by the Germans. And what does age have to do with anything? One of the evacuees at the manor when I first arrived wanted to marry me, and he was only three.”
“Oh, dear, do you truly think—?” Polly looked back up the street. “Perhaps I’d better not ask him to help me with any more research.”
“No, that would be cruel. He’s trying to please and impress you. I think you should let him. You’re only going to be here—how long?”
“Two weeks, if the lab can find me a drop site. I expected them to have found one by the time I got back, but they still haven’t.”
“But they’ll find you one eventually, and then you’ll go to the Blitz—is this one real-time or flash-time?”
“Real-time.”
“And you’ll be gone how long?”
“Six weeks.”
“Which is an eternity for a seventeen-year-old. By the time you come back, he’ll have fallen in love with someone his own age and forgotten all about you.”
“I don’t know, I was gone nearly that long last time…” she said thoughtfully. “And just because someone’s young, it doesn’t mean their attachment’s not serious. On my last assignment—” She bit off whatever she had been going to say and said brightly, “I think it’s much more likely he’s trying to impress me with his research skills so that I’ll help him convince Mr. Dunworthy to let him go to the Crusades.”
“The Crusades?
That’s even more dangerous than the Blitz, isn’t it?”
“Far
more dangerous, particularly when one knows where and when all the Blitz’s bombs will be falling, which I will. And it’s less dangerous than—Sorry, I’ve been doing all the talking. I want to hear about your assignment.”
“There’s nothing much to tell. It’s mostly washing up and dealing with children and irate farmers. I’d hoped I might meet the actor