The Letter

They're just weeds, love, they don't belong anywhere.' Her granddaughter stuck out her bottom lip and furrowed her brow. 'That doesn't seem very nice. Everything belongs somewhere.

It was the small things she took pleasure in. The faint hum of a huge furry bumble bee busily flitting from one flower to another, oblivious to the fact that it was completing a task on which the entire human race depended.

but the sudden stark reality that things were never going to be the same again.

dark red stain on the floor that couldn’t be anything

Pogledala je svog supruga i osjetila uobičajeni nalet ljubavi od kojeg bi joj srce i nakon svih ovih godina jače zalupalo, a obrazi se zarumenjeli. Opazio je da ga ona gleda pa uzeo vrtlarske škare i odrezao veliku ružičastu ružu. Kratko je udahnuo njezin opojni miris pa je pružio prema njoj. Nije čula njegove riječi s druge strane travnjaka, ali nije nimalo sumnjala što je rekao. Volim te.

As she voiced all this out loud for the first time, she found a long-buried inner strength, and with it a conviction that her sanity and indeed her very survival depended on her walking away.

He had the terrible feeling that he had just lost something very precious. Something he had never owned but that nevertheless should have belonged to him.

She pined for Rick and the brief but happy life they had once shared, before his drinking had ruined everything.

given a new name, chosen by the nuns, a more

Why does this keep happening to me? Everybody I care about leaves me.

calipers. Mary had never had the heart to

Seated at her desk the next morning, Tina made a note of what she knew about Chrissie and Billy. She knew that Billy had lived at 180 Gillbent Road, Manchester, but did not know his surname. She knew where Chrissie had lived and the names of her parents, and that her mother had been killed in the blackout. If she visited Mabel Skinner’s grave, she would be able to find out her date of birth. Maud Cutler had said that Chrissie had been sent to live with Dr Skinner’s sister-in-law in Ireland – that must be Mabel’s sister. Tina felt an unexpected rush of excitement at the thought of playing detective. It was a welcome diversion from her other problems

as she breathed deeply, trying to lower her pulse rate. Rick

Chrissie lowered her voice so that he struggled to

All right there, mate?’ Clark jumped and turned round. He straightened up and looked at Billy, recognition taking a few seconds. Billy’s hair was shorter now, and his face was tanned. ‘Christ, you startled me,’ he said. ‘What have you got there?’ Clark held up the jar by a piece of tatty string. ‘Sticklebacks!’ For a moment his blue eyes shone with excitement, then they clouded over. He ran a wet hand through his red hair and swept it off his face. His freckles were more pronounced than usual, and for a moment Billy saw him as an eleven-year-old again. He felt his throat constrict, which made his next sentence a strangled croak. ‘We had fun, didn’t we, Clark?’ Clark snorted and set the jar of fish down on a large stone. He waded out of the water and sat down heavily on the bank. Billy edged closer and then tentatively sat down next to him. ‘Don’t get too comfortable,’ said Clark. ‘Look, Clark. Can’t we be friends again?’ ‘Can’t we be friends again?’ mimicked Clark. ‘We’re not in the school playground now, Billy.’ ‘Why did you come here?’ asked Billy. Clark thought for a moment. ‘To reflect.’ He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a brown envelope. ‘Here,’ he said, thrusting it into Billy’s hands. Billy opened the envelope and stared at the contents. ‘You’ve been called up?’ ‘Military training,’ explained Clark. Billy knew it was only a matter of time. Since Parliament had passed the Act in April, all men aged twenty and twenty-one were required to undertake six months’ military training. He didn’t know what to say. ‘Clark, look …’ He passed the envelope back. ‘How’s Chrissie?’ asked Clark, looking Billy directly in the eye. Billy was taken by surprise at the sudden mention of her name and picked at a blade of grass. ‘She’s fine, thanks. In fact she’s with me now, over there.’ Clark looked in the direction of Billy’s finger and Chrissie slid out sheepishly from behind a tree.

want to spoil things. I think she

I’m just pulling up these weeds.’ ‘Why?’ She thought about this for a second. ‘Well, they don’t belong here.’ ‘Oh. Where do they belong, then?’ ‘They’re just weeds, love, they don’t belong anywhere.’ Her granddaughter stuck out her bottom lip and furrowed her brow. ‘That doesn’t seem very nice. Everything belongs somewhere.