conscientious students,” Jack said.
Mom laughed. “Very nice to see. You look like you’ve been working far too hard.”
We looked at her questioningly.
“You’re both sweating, and it isn’t even that hot in here,” she said.
“We were sort of roughhousing a little bit,” I said.
“But we have been working hard,” Jack added. “Maybe so hard that we deserve a reward. Could we have a jelly donut before supper?”
“I think that might be … wait a minute, how did you know that I bought jelly donuts?”
I looked at Mom. She wasn’t carrying the bag—she must have left it at the front door. How could we possibly explain?
“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked. “The smell … I can smell fresh bread. Can’t you, Jack? Mom must have gone to the bakery … and she wouldn’t go to the bakery without buying her beloved sons their favourite donuts. Would you, Mom?”
“Of course she wouldn’t!” Jack added. “So … are there jelly donuts?”
She laughed. “Two donuts coming up for my hardworking boys.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
I LOOKED UP into the night through branches and leaves. There had to be a million stars. The combination of a clear, cloudless sky and the almost total darkness because of the blackout rules made them all visible. The moon was a sliver of brilliant white light, but it wasn’t bright enough to distract from or hide the stars.
I took a deep breath. It was clean sea air, but cool. I was glad I was wearing a sweater, but it was more the colour than the cold that had caused me to put it on. The sweater was black. Like my pants and my socks. The only things that weren’t black were my shoes, and the dirt I’d rubbed into them had helped to erase any traces of white canvas.
“Do you see anything?” Jack called up from the lower branches of the tree in which we both sat.
“Nothing,” I replied. I could see lots of things but I knew what he meant. Did I see our mother or anybody else coming out of the hotel?
It couldn’t be much longer. At least, I hoped it couldn’t be. We’d been sitting in the tree for almost two hours. It was a great place to see and not be seen. Who looked for people up in a tree at night?
I held on to a branch with one hand and looked at my watch to check the time. I turned my wrist back and forth, trying to catch enough light to see the hands. No luck. It had to be at least eleven. I was just grateful that Mom was working so late on a Saturday and not a school night, or we wouldn’t have been able to stay out and watch over her.
We’d followed her home three times already over the last two weeks. We obviously couldn’t do it every night, but when we could, we did. It was what Dad wanted, it was keeping her safe, and it was exciting—not just trailing her, but being out and downtown, especially on a night like this.
The blackout rules might have dimmed the city lights, but apparently that didn’t stop people from going out on a Saturday night. We were at least two blocks away from the nearest hotel down the way on Front Street, but I could still hear voices—talking, arguing, yelling and even singing … badly. The downtown strip was crowded with hundreds of soldiers and sailors. It was obvious that more than a few of them had had something to drink—maybe a lot of something to drink. Among the military personnel were the M.P.s—Military Police—who were there tokeep order. From what I’d been told, that was a losing battle. It was just a matter of time before a fight started. It could be between sailors and soldiers, or Americans and Brits, or the locals and the soldiers or maybe even between two best buddies who had drunk too much. Once started, a lot of them turned into full-fledged brawls. That made us even gladder that we were here to watch out for our mom.
My eye caught a movement at the sentry gate in front of the hotel.
“Can you see who it is?” Jack asked. Obviously he had seen something, too.
“I can’t see much … one person …
Mom laughed. “Very nice to see. You look like you’ve been working far too hard.”
We looked at her questioningly.
“You’re both sweating, and it isn’t even that hot in here,” she said.
“We were sort of roughhousing a little bit,” I said.
“But we have been working hard,” Jack added. “Maybe so hard that we deserve a reward. Could we have a jelly donut before supper?”
“I think that might be … wait a minute, how did you know that I bought jelly donuts?”
I looked at Mom. She wasn’t carrying the bag—she must have left it at the front door. How could we possibly explain?
“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked. “The smell … I can smell fresh bread. Can’t you, Jack? Mom must have gone to the bakery … and she wouldn’t go to the bakery without buying her beloved sons their favourite donuts. Would you, Mom?”
“Of course she wouldn’t!” Jack added. “So … are there jelly donuts?”
She laughed. “Two donuts coming up for my hardworking boys.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
I LOOKED UP into the night through branches and leaves. There had to be a million stars. The combination of a clear, cloudless sky and the almost total darkness because of the blackout rules made them all visible. The moon was a sliver of brilliant white light, but it wasn’t bright enough to distract from or hide the stars.
I took a deep breath. It was clean sea air, but cool. I was glad I was wearing a sweater, but it was more the colour than the cold that had caused me to put it on. The sweater was black. Like my pants and my socks. The only things that weren’t black were my shoes, and the dirt I’d rubbed into them had helped to erase any traces of white canvas.
“Do you see anything?” Jack called up from the lower branches of the tree in which we both sat.
“Nothing,” I replied. I could see lots of things but I knew what he meant. Did I see our mother or anybody else coming out of the hotel?
It couldn’t be much longer. At least, I hoped it couldn’t be. We’d been sitting in the tree for almost two hours. It was a great place to see and not be seen. Who looked for people up in a tree at night?
I held on to a branch with one hand and looked at my watch to check the time. I turned my wrist back and forth, trying to catch enough light to see the hands. No luck. It had to be at least eleven. I was just grateful that Mom was working so late on a Saturday and not a school night, or we wouldn’t have been able to stay out and watch over her.
We’d followed her home three times already over the last two weeks. We obviously couldn’t do it every night, but when we could, we did. It was what Dad wanted, it was keeping her safe, and it was exciting—not just trailing her, but being out and downtown, especially on a night like this.
The blackout rules might have dimmed the city lights, but apparently that didn’t stop people from going out on a Saturday night. We were at least two blocks away from the nearest hotel down the way on Front Street, but I could still hear voices—talking, arguing, yelling and even singing … badly. The downtown strip was crowded with hundreds of soldiers and sailors. It was obvious that more than a few of them had had something to drink—maybe a lot of something to drink. Among the military personnel were the M.P.s—Military Police—who were there tokeep order. From what I’d been told, that was a losing battle. It was just a matter of time before a fight started. It could be between sailors and soldiers, or Americans and Brits, or the locals and the soldiers or maybe even between two best buddies who had drunk too much. Once started, a lot of them turned into full-fledged brawls. That made us even gladder that we were here to watch out for our mom.
My eye caught a movement at the sentry gate in front of the hotel.
“Can you see who it is?” Jack asked. Obviously he had seen something, too.
“I can’t see much … one person …
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