bags and began digging through the other. “It’s in here somewhere.”
“Miss Laburnum—”
“I know, we’re already horribly late. The train back was delayed—bomb on the line,” she said, giving up her rummaging. “Never mind, I’ll show it to you at rehearsal.”
“I can’t go with you,” Polly said, and tried to hand her back the bag.
“But why not? What about rehearsal?”
“I—” What excuse could she give? My fellow time travelers are here? Hardly. Some school friends? No, Merope had already told Marjorie Polly was her cousin.
Marjorie. “My friend who was in hospital—do you remember?” she said. “You were with me the night I found out she’d been injured?”
“Yes,” Miss Laburnum said and seemed to look at her strained face for the first time. “Oh, my dear, your friend hasn’t—?”
“No, she’s much better, so much that she can have visitors now, and I promised I’d—”
“Oh, but you can’t go to see her in the midst of a raid.”
In her worry over everything else, Polly’d forgotten all about the bombs falling above them right now. “No, no, I’m not going to visit her. I promised her I’d go to St. Pancras to tell her landlady the good news, and take her a list of things Marjorie wants her to bring to her in hospital.”
“Oh, of course. I quite understand.” She took the bag from Polly. “But you’ll be there tomorrow?”
Yes. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. “Tell Sir Godfrey I’ll be at rehearsal,” Polly said and hurried away. She had to get to Merope and ask her—
A hand clamped onto her shoulder. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Michael said angrily. “Why did you run off like that?”
“I told you, I needed to tell the contemps I promised to meet that I couldn’t come,” Polly said, but he wasn’t listening.
“Don’t pull a stunt like that again! I just spent the last three and a half weeks looking all over London for you. I can’t afford to lose you again.”
“I’m sorry.” And sorry you found me before I was able to find out—
“Michael,” she said. “When did you leave for your Dover assignment?”
“Right after I saw you in Oxford.”
Thank goodness, she thought. But this was time travel. He could have gone to Pearl Harbor flash-time. “You weren’t able to persuade Mr. Dunworthy to change your schedule back?” she asked to be certain.
“No, I never even got in to see him.” He looked curiously at her. “Why?”
“I wondered, that’s all. We’d best go find Merope. She’ll be worried.” She started off through the crowd, hoping she might be able to lose him again.
“No, wait,” Michael said, clamping a hand on her arm. “I need to know—”
“Polly!” Merope shouted. They both turned to look. She was coming down the escalator, elbowing past people to reach the bottom, to get to them.
“Michael! Oh, thank goodness! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. The man whose blanket it was came back and made me leave. He said it was his spot and that his wife had been waiting in line since noon to save it, and there was nowhere else to sit so I came looking for you, but I couldn’t find either of you anywhere, and I was afraid I’d never see you again!” she said, and burst into tears.
“Don’t cry,” Michael said, putting his arm around her. “It’s all right. You did find us.”
“I know,” she said, pulling away from him and wiping at her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I haven’t cried the entire time I’ve been here, not even when I found out you’d gone back to Oxford, Polly. I mean, I know you didn’t, but I thought you had, and that I was all alone here…” She began to cry again.
“You’re not alone now,” Michael said, handing her a handkerchief.
“Thank you,” she said. “I know. It’s ridiculous to cry now. It must be reaction. I’m sorry I lost our place to sit—”
“It’s all right, we’ll find another one,” Michael said. “What about the next level up, Polly?”
“We can try it,” Polly said and started toward the escalator.
“Wait!” Merope said, clutching Polly’s hand. “What if we get separated?”
“She’s right,” Michael said. “We need to decide on a meeting place. What about at the foot of the escalators?”
“Can it be the farthest level down?” Merope asked nervously, glancing up to where the muffled crump of bombs could be heard.
“Fine,” he said. “If we get separated again or anything happens, we go straight to the foot of the escalators on the lowest level and wait there for the others. Right?”