Page 45 of Strangers in Time

“Well, there’s a simple enough explanation. He might have stayed at work all night. He does that, you know. The Ministry of Food—”

“I already went to his place of work and he wasn’t there.”

“You… went to the Ministry of Food?” said an astonished Mrs. Pride.

“Yes, I did. The place was dark and empty.”

“That was not very wise, dear, to go there all by yourself. Think what might have happened.”

“I didn’t go alone, and nothing happened.”

“Well, as I said before, he might be out of town all this time.”

“No, Mrs. Pride, he’s not. What you’ve been telling me is clearly rubbish and I’m sick of it. So I am asking you to end this absurd farce right now and tell me the truth.”

Mrs. Pride shrank back under this direct assault. “Molly, dear, this doesn’t sound like you a’tall.”

“I am quite nearly sixteen years old. I am a youngwoman, notthe little girl you remember.”

Mrs. Pride put a hand to her mouth and her eyes widened. “It has been a difficult time, Molly. Desperately hard.”

“Well then?”

“Are you certain you want to hear this?”

“I am very certain that Ihaveto hear it, whether I want to or not. I should have heard it from you long before now.”

Mrs. Pride dropped into a chair. “You always were a most practical child.”

Molly sat down and looked expectantly at her.

“What I told you about your mother is true. Sheisin a sanatorium in Cornwall. I really hesitated to tell you.”

“Why?”

“Well, some might consider it shameful. And I have always been so protective of your mum. The dearest lady to walk the earth… before her… odd ways came on.”

Molly drew a breath. “And how long has she been at this sanatorium?”

“About four years now.”

Molly’s jaw went slack. “Four years! What on earth happened to her?”

“She started acting a bit strange before that, but your father believed we could manage things here. But then…” She stopped and looked down at her hands.

“Please just tell me!” implored Molly.

Mrs. Pride gave Molly a ferocious look. “It was the bloody Germans, at least partly. They came one night with their bombs. I was visiting a friend; it was my night out. But your father got your mother to the tube shelter not that far from here. And…” Mrs. Pride once more looked down at her hands.

“And what? Was the shelter bombed?”

“No. But in all the rush, your mother and father became separated. He looked all over for her, but the station was chock-a-block with folks, and it was also very dark. When the bombs stopped he kept looking for her. And he finally found her.” Mrs. Pride stopped speaking and traced her mouth with a shaky hand.

“Where was she?”

“He found her in a little room down a long, dark corridor, he told me. Some… excuse my language,bastardshad brought her there, no doubt taking advantage of her fear and confusion.”

Molly put a hand to her chest. “Some…”

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