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By Root 702 0

twentieth century. As she applied her make-up, Benny recalled a relevant passage; ‘Whereas most clothing now’ — the mid-twenty-sixth century — ‘tends to be fairly androgynous, in the first half of the twentieth century in the Anglo-Saxon territories clothing was used to emphasize sexual difference: women wore skirts, and low-cut blouses, that emphasized their breasts and hips. Men wore jackets with square shoulders and often wore hats, to emphasize their size and physical presence. This can best be seen in the military uniforms of the period (see illustration). Gender roles at all levels of society were more strictly defined anyway, with a —

’. Typical Summerfield prose, Benny mused: wandering punctuation, too talky, and it wasn’t really about anything.

Ace had once managed to get hold of that paper. She had been particularly taken with ‘Mods were so named due to their love of modernist poetry’. A mistake that anyone could have made. It was hardly fair, anyway. Archaeologists should be able to get away with generalizations and guesswork without representatives of long-dead civilizations coming along and laughing at them. The Pharaohs hadn’t phoned Howard Carter up and corrected him on points of detail, had they? No, they jolly well hadn’t. This period was as distant to Benny as the Hundred Years War was to Ace — the occasional error was bound to slip in every so often. Benny finished getting dressed and packed her belongings —

including the milk — into a small travel bag.

When Benny had finished, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen and the Doctor. Ma Doras was sitting at the kitchen table, mugs of tea ready for them. She was a stout woman nearly sixty years old, with great wide hips and thick ankles. As ever, a cigarette hung from her lip.

The Doctor was in the middle of an anecdote. ‘...and when he turned round they were all wearing —’

‘Morning, Celia. The Germans have all gone, trouble down at St Jaonnet. Something to do with the explosion last night,’ Ma said quickly. The old woman turned her full attention to the new arrival, apparently relieved that she didn’t have to hear any more.

‘I saw the explosion happen,’ Benny said. Ma didn’t look surprised.

The Doctor sipped at his tea, chuckling to himself.

Suddenly, his expression clouded over. ‘Celia is going now, Ma.’

The old woman’s expression flickered. ‘I’ll miss you, Bernice.’

It was the first time that she’d ever used that name.

Benny gave a thin smile. She would not be sorry to leave Guernsey, but would certainly miss Ma and Anne. Before she went, though, she had to ask a question. ‘Why did you help us? The Germans could have you killed.’

Ma Doras and the Doctor shared a conspiratorial look.

Ma spoke softly. ‘I can remember the last time the Doctor was here, a long time now. Back before the first war. He saved the islands then, and those of us who were there know what he had to go through to do it. There’s worse out there than Nazis, believe it or not, and there’s worse than dying.

That’s when Celia, my baby Celia, died. Will you tell me something now, Doctor?’

He nodded, and she continued. It’s going to get better, isn’t it? We’ll win the war?’

Benny watched the Doctor, expecting his usual knowing silence. Instead he spoke in a low voice. ‘It’ll get better, Ma, but it will get worse before it does. More islanders will be deported, tens of millions of people will die across the world, soldiers and civilians, men and women, Jews and Gentiles.

Great scars will be left on history, wounds that will take generations to heal. Terrible weapons will be built. But there will also be courage, technical innovation, hope for the future.

This will be the last war of its kind for a very long time. Anne’s children will live all their lives in peace and safety and so will their children.’

They had left shortly afterwards. Benny took one last look at the boardinghouse, then they set off for the crash site. After a few minutes it became obvious that the Doctor knew the way.

‘What is the size of the German occupying force?’ The Doctor sounded almost