October was Agnes’s favorite month. She loved morning walks – and her job at the War Department allowed her to walk fifteen blocks every morning. She didn’t much care for the late afternoon walks home, but at least she had the children and a lovely meal from her mother-in-law to look forward to. But her morning walks! She’d walk down Locust Street to 13th Street, up to Arch Street, and then over to 5th Street into the new building. October days were cool and breezy. She could jump from side to side, crunching golden leaves under her shoes.
She loved her new job, six months she’d had a junior position as clerk to Dr. Dixon at the War Department. She had no idea how solving differential equations could possibly be useful to Dr. Dixon or the war effort, but she did her job to the best of her ability, solved the equations, and he seemed to be happy with her job performance. Thank goodness Norman had volunteered to serve with the Navy in England – otherwise, he’d never have allowed her to work. At least she could have an interesting job, her piano lessons, the children at home. And thank goodness for her mother-in-law – Victoria made life bearable for her.
Agnes wanted Norman to stay in England forever. She hoped the war never ended and he kept on drafting blueprints for Navy buildings in England, Holland, and France. Keep the Germans at bay, yes – but don’t defeat them, she hoped. And then maybe, after fifteen or twenty years, maybe the war could end without too many men dying … and without Norman coming home.
She walked into the War Department and up to her desk. Dr. Dixon had a long series of equations for her to solve that morning. She had no idea what he was up to – but why, she wondered, why was he conferring with a priest in the middle conference room?
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