Yes, for all time.
He stepped forward and grasped the staircase’s railing, looked up at her earnestly. “Is it a comedy or a tragedy?”
He doesn’t mean the war, she thought. He’s talking about all of it—our lives and history and Shakespeare. And the continuum.
She smiled down at him. “A comedy, my lord.”
There was an ungodly crash from the stage. “Alf! I told you not to touch nothin’!” Binnie shouted.
“I never! The scrim just fell down.”
“The scrim!” Sir Godfrey bellowed. “Alf Hodbin, I told you not to mess about with those ropes!”
“Don’t try to pick it up,” Binnie’s voice warned. “You’ll tear it!”
“Touch nothing!” Sir Godfrey roared, galloping up the stairs past Polly and out onto the stage, where she could hear Alf and Binnie both insisting, “I didn’t do nothin’! I swear!”
“ ‘They have all rushed down to the beach,’ ” Polly murmured, looking after him, and then turned and ran down into the theater and up the aisle to where Eileen and Mr. Dunworthy and Colin stood.
The three of them were standing very near one another, their heads bent, talking, and Polly thought of that first night when she and Mike and Eileen had sat in the emergency stairwell, catching one another up, making plans. “I’m going to get you both out of this, I promise,” Mike had said, and he had.
He’d died, and because he had, she’d wanted to do something, anything, to make her life matter and had gone to St. Paul’s to ask Mr. Humphreys to help her get a job as an ambulance driver. And because she’d done that, she’d found Mr. Dunworthy and despaired. And if she hadn’t despaired, she would never have been at the Alhambra when the Phoenix was hit, would never have rescued Sir Godfrey, and the drop would never have opened.
You did save us, Mike, she thought. Just as you promised.
She reached the group. Eileen had been crying. She wiped clumsily at her cheeks as Polly joined them, and then smiled at her. “Are you ready?” Eileen asked.
No, Polly thought. “Yes.”
“Are you certain?” Colin said. “I know how hard this must be for you. We haven’t a lot of time, but we’ve enough for you to say goodbye, if there’s anyone else you need to—”
I love you, Polly thought.
“No, I’m ready.” She looked back at the stage, where the children, Sir Godfrey, Mr. Dorming, and Nelson were struggling with the collapsed scrim.
“Should we help them?” Colin asked her.
“No, we’ll never get away if we do. Let’s go,” she said, and turned to start up the aisle, and oh, no, here came Miss Laburnum.
“It’s all right, you needn’t go for the carpenter, Polly,” she said. “I found him at last, and he’ll be here shortly. Is the scrim still stuck?”
“No,” Polly said dryly.
“No, no, no!” Sir Godfrey bellowed and Miss Laburnum looked down at the stage.
“Oh, good heavens! What happened?” She started down the aisle.
“We need to go,” Colin said quietly to Polly. “We haven’t got much time.”
She nodded. “I’m ready,” she said.
“Go?” Binnie, who’d been on the stage only a moment ago, said at Polly’s elbow. “Where are you all going?” and Miss Laburnum immediately turned and hurried back up the aisle toward them.
Alf jumped off the stage and tore up the aisle after her, with Trot—and Nelson, barking wildly—in his wake. “Are you goin’ someplace?” he called.
And now how are we going to get out of here? Polly thought.
“Has something happened?” Miss Laburnum asked, seeming to take in Colin’s ARP uniform for the first time.
“Yes,” Polly said. “I’m sorry to let you all down, but—”
“This is Polly’s fiance,” Eileen cut in.
“Are you going to marry Polly?” Trot asked him.
“Yes,” he said. “If she hasn’t fallen in love with someone else in the meantime.”
“He’s unexpectedly come home on leave, Miss Laburnum,” Eileen was explaining.
And has gone to work for the ARP? Polly thought, but Miss Laburnum apparently hadn’t noticed the oddness of that, or the sudden appearance of a fiance Polly had never mentioned before.
“Oh, my, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr.—” She looked expectantly at Polly.
“Lieutenant Templer,” Eileen volunteered.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Laburnum,” Colin said. “Polly’s told me about all your kindnesses to her.”
“Ain’t we gonna get to meet ’im?” Alf demanded.
