decided tonight’s the night they’re going to attack us. If the reports are correct, there are bombs dropping all over London, and to be safe, we need you all to move downstairs into the basement. It’s huge, the whole length of the building, and should accommodate everyone. Please could you leave your seats in an orderly fashion and make your way downstairs until this raid is over.’
Around her, people started murmuring in hushed tones as they made their way out into the aisle. As Lizzie rushed down the stairs into the foyer, she noticed the real damage. The enormous chandelier had shattered all over the carpet, leaving glass everywhere, and pictures had also been knocked from their frames. Programmes lay scattered about, and a plinth with a bust of Shakespeare had toppled over and crashed to the floor. Following the crowd, she hurried down the next flight of stairs into the basement of the theatre. The bangs and crashes, as well as the wail of sirens, continued to filter in from outside. In the basement, though it was enormous, it still was quite a squeeze for them all to get in. She hoped the raid wouldn’t last very long. Downstairs there was very dim lighting, illuminating dark brick walls and a threadbare, brown carpet. Very different to the rooms above ground. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized the basement was an overflow storage area for the theatre – all around her, large flats from past shows were stacked up against the wall. A Roman scene, Victorian manor houses and pantomime sets all sat haphazardly gathered together along with an augmentation of bigger props, shelves of instruments, and also a practice piano and a row of costumes covered in plastic.
Even with the covering, she could see policemen’s uniforms, clown outfits, long frock coats, and crinoline dresses. Above the rail, shelves of top hats, flat caps and wigs of every description. The room smelled of a mixture of scenery and greasepaint mingled in with the dust. After a while, tired of standing, many of the audience sat down on the carpet as the bangs and crashes continue to roll above their heads, shaking the dust from the plaster and making the lights flicker on and off; while the wail of sirens reminded them that there was a war going on outside.
One particularly loud crash caused some brass instruments to fall down from a shelf, and people all around her gasped with shock. Lizzie covered her ears to drown out the sound of the crashes outside. She was amazed at how loud it was, even though they were all the way down in the basement, about ten times the sound of thunder. Her thoughts went to Diana, who was out there, in the midst of it. The sound of the bombing was hard enough, but what was also disconcerting was the cracking and creaking of the building above her head.
Suddenly, she feared a fire. What if some incendiary bomb came down on the theatre and set it alight, and they were all in the basement? She tried to put the thought out of her head and think of better things. She thought of her uncle Hamish and his tweed cap and coat, out on the land with his sheep. He was probably in front of the fire right now reading his paper. She thought of Fiona and Margaret, playing a game of Scrabble, innocent in this world, and her aunt Marion comforting and loving with arms that could hold her and make her feel the world was safe. She concentrated on the last dinner she’d had with her family. That last night when they’d all sat and eaten lamb stew together. She focused on the feelings she had had that night and felt insignificant and foolish that she had been so full of bravado, coming down to London to find her daughter and do war work. And though she hated to admit it, she’d actually been looking for a little excitement as well. She hadn’t been in any way prepared for the realities of war, crashes so much louder and tremors so much harsher than she could ever have expected or imagined. This was just the first wave. What was it going to be like if the Germans came back again and again?
All at once, they were plunged into darkness, and Lizzie noticed her heart started to quicken and her mouth was bone dry. What if she died down here,