Julia nodded, a pensive look on her face.
“And you can’t be looking at me strangely tonight at supper or asking me questions or anything. You have to act like everything is normal. All right?”
Julia seemed deep in thought. She didn’t answer.
“All right?” Emmy said again.
“I know how to be normal,” Julia said, crinkling an eyebrow.
From downstairs the girls heard Charlotte calling Julia’s name. It was her turn to set the table.
Julia stepped to the door and opened it. “I’m coming!” she yelled.
“Not a word, Julia,” Emmy murmured.
“I know how to be normal,” Julia said again, and was gone.
For the rest of the afternoon and evening Julia kept her word. She gave no indication at all that she expected to run away with Emmy that night, not even the slightest of nervous behaviors. They listened to the BBC for a little while after dinner. But there was nothing except news of air battles raging over the English Channel. Charlotte switched it off and the four of them workedon a puzzle. Finally, a little after nine, Julia was sent up to bed and Emmy joined her. Thinking Emmy was still having menstrual cramps, Charlotte thought nothing of it. She sent her to bed with another cup of herbal tea.
Up in their bedroom Emmy laid out on her bed what she could fit in the satchel. The coin purse that held the only money she had—all of her paycheck from her two months’ work at Primrose and the little bit Mum had sent with them—a package of biscuits she had taken from the pantry, changes of underwear, toothbrush and paste, and the brides box, which she wrapped in a shawl so that the corners wouldn’t bite into her side as she walked the five miles to Moreton with the satchel over her shoulder.
The envelope inscribed with Charlotte’s name she had already removed from the brides box and it now lay on the bed.
“What did you write in Aunt Charlotte’s letter?” Julia asked.
“The same thing I wrote in yours.” Emmy picked up the letter and set it on the nightstand so that Charlotte would see it in the morning.
“But you have to tell her I went with you. She won’t know I went with you unless you tell her.”
Emmy had hoped Julia would not think of this. But as she stood there staring at Emmy, she knew she would have to do exactly what her sister said. Julia and she had been together every minute since she’d opened the brides box and found the envelopes. She knew Emmy hadn’t written anything additional in the note to Charlotte. Emmy decided it didn’t matter. In the morning when Julia awoke, Emmy would be long gone. Charlotte would put two and two together. She would understand why inthe first part of the letter Emmy asked her to watch over Julia and in the postscript she told her Julia was coming along, especially since Julia would be there to fill in all the blanks.
“Get me the pen off the desk.”
Julia did as she was told. Emmy retrieved the letter, lifted the single sheet of paper out, and smoothed it onto the nightstand.
Underneath where Emmy had signed her name she added:
P.S. Julia has asked to come with me.
She put the note back inside its envelope and repositioned it on the nightstand. Then she told Julia to put on her pajamas.
“Why aren’t we sleeping in our clothes?” Julia said, frowning.
“Because they will wrinkle. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, do we?”
Julia shook her head gravely. Then she changed out of her clothes, draped them on the bedpost, and hopped under the covers.
Emmy had gotten into her own pajamas and was about to crawl into bed also when Julia sat up. “I need a drink, Emmy. I’m too excited. I’m thirsty.”
“You’ll have to use the loo if you drink too much.”
“Just a tiny sip, please? I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t have one. I’m too excited.”
Sighing, Emmy got up out of bed, opened the door, and headed downstairs. Rose had already gone to bed and Charlotte was locking the back door and turning out the lights.
A wave of guilt rushed over Emmy as Charlotte smiled at her and asked if there was anything she needed.
“Just a sip of water for Julia,” Emmy said.
