“Canada,” Dash blurted. “I ferry planes with the ATA.”
“Well, you’re in the right hands,” the woman said brightly. “I’m Ruby. I’m from Manitoba. This is Gordon, and he’s from Ontario. We’re going to take you home.”
fifty-sevenDOT—Camp X—
A few hours of sitting beside Bill at Hydra turned into Dot’s next graveyard shift. She was working on four hours of sleep over the past twenty-four hours, but there was no way she would leave her post.
Midnight in Toronto was six o’clock in the morning over there. Operation Overlord was well underway. The largest amphibious invasion in history had begun before sunrise. Over one hundred fifty thousand Allied troops had landed, or were in the process of landing, on the beaches of Normandy, including more than fourteen thousand Canadians. Dot leaned closer to Hydra and let her brain soak in the sounds of war. She knew the Allied fighters were emerging from the sea and diving from the sky, and while thousands fell to the sand, never to get up, their friends roared past, pushing against the German machine, finding the worst and best parts of themselves in their courage. If only she knew whether Gus was safe among them.
There would be little communication for her to hear between their own troops. Everyone had a job to do, and no one would be asking or answering questions about it. Not until afterward.
But she did hear much more. German messages resonated through her headphones, including messages of surprise and shock at theintensity of the invasion. Occasionally, she caught a voice wavering over the miles and miles of sea, and her heart squeezed. She remembered almost two years ago, talking with Alice about the people on the other end, like the Menace. They’d thought about the Germans, Americans, Canadians, British, and others trying to survive. All those voices.
Fear sounds the same in any language.
Dot copied every transmission she heard until her hand ached. Whenever there was a break, she called for Gus. No one replied.
He’d been wounded.
He’d been captured.
He’d been killed.
She couldn’t bear to imagine any of it, but she could think of nothing else. And while she loved Gus terribly, she also knew that if any of those awful things happened to him, Dash would be left behind. There was no one else in the entire world that Dot could count on.
Many hours before, when Bill had still been in the building, an ache had started between her shoulders. Now it had traveled up to her neck. She scrubbed her forehead, trying to ease a persistent headache. She should have gone for supper, but it was too late now. She’d have to wait. The only part of her that had moved in all that time was her right hand as she tapped into the transmitter, adjusted the dial, or wrote down incoming messages. When she could bear the muscle cramps no longer, she stood and stretched her back.
Between bursts of Morse code, Dot’s gaze returned to the transmitter, like a magnet to steel. For the hundredth time that evening, she started tapping again.
... . . -.- .. -. --. / --. / -... . -.-. -.- . .-. / -.-. .- .-.. .-.. / .... --- -- .
Seeking G Becker Call home
... . . -.- .. -. --. / --. / -... . -.-. -.- . .-. / -.-. .- .-.. .-.. / .... --- -- .
Seeking G Becker Call home
A crackling broke up the static, and Dot held her breath as a reply came through.
-. --- - / -.-- . - / .-.. --- -.-. .- - . -..
Not yet located
Dot bit her lower lip, fighting tears. She had to keep trying, but exhaustion was taking over. Her head drooped and her eyes closed.
“Excuse me, Dot? Are you still in there? Your shift’s done.”
She startled awake and saw Thomas at the door. “Sorry. I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Not to worry. You’ve been busy, I imagine. I’ll go through the posts. You need to go to bed. It’s going to be a long couple of days.”
“No, I…” What if Gus replied? What if he answered and she wasn’t there? But she couldn’t tell Thomas what was happening. It was bad enough that Bill was in on it. She had no choice but to go. “I suppose you’re right,” she said.
“I imagine things will calm down and get into a rhythm later this week. By tomorrow afternoon we’ll have a clearer idea of where everyone is.”
He had no idea how much those words meant to her. “Yes. We will know where they are by then. Thank you, Thomas. Happy hunting.”
When she awoke hours later, she quickly dressed, impatient to call for Gus again. On her way to Hydra, she spotted a world of news headlines on Frances’s desk.
