The Last Train Home

Chapter Forty

For the next few days, Alec and I hid from news of the war and started to clear the branches from the tree so we could begin construction of the treehouse.

The news was reporting the return of several naval and civilian ships from Dunkirk, each one full of soldiers returning. I had yet to hear any news from Dad or anything from Eva about Anthony so I started to use the treehouse as a way to hide from it all. It worked to a limited degree since I couldn't think about the war when sawing through a branch halfway up a tree. The only time I really had to think about it was the evenings, but I used my reading lessons with Jonathan to help me.

I didn't want to think about the worst thing that could happen during the evacuation at Dunkirk or what could come with it. Too many things could go wrong and I figured that the less I thought about it, the less likely something would happen. Perhaps it was stupid of me to think that I could somehow influence the outcome of the evacuation, but I didn't want to think they would make it home only for that to not happen.

"If you cut down the next two branches, we should be good to go," Alec said, gesturing to the two branches above my head.

"Only the next two?"

"We don't want to strip the tree bare. We can cut other branches as we go, but these will give us a space to at least start to put the treehouse together."

"How do you know so much about treehouses?" I readjusted my position on the ladder so I could reach the branches above me with the saw.

"I said I wanted to build one for years so I know everything there is to know about potential treehouse construction."

"Or, you're just really excited and want to build the treehouse rather than have to wait a few more days."

"That too."

Alec laughed and grabbed onto the bottom of the ladder. I readjusted my position a little more so I was partially standing on the top rung of the ladder with my foot on one of the branches we had decided to leave alone. Once balanced, I reached up and grabbed onto the branch above my head, placing the saw into a small grove I had already made with a small pocket knife. We had marked branches that we wanted to cut down before we got started to make it easier when we used the saw. It seemed to work.

With the saw embedded in the grove, I shielded my face a little from the dust and started to move the saw back and forth until it cut right the way through the branch and sent it crashing to the ground below, missing Alec and hitting the grass beside him. He glared at me, but I shrugged and moved onto the last branch, following the same actions until that one too broke off from the tree and fell to the ground.

I leant back against the trunk and stared through the gaps in the branches that we had created. Through the branches, I could see the hills that surrounded us and the small farms that were dotted about all over. If I squinted, I could see the outline of the Goodwin farm and the brick chimney of the farmhouse. The sun shone just over the horizon, a sure sign that the warmer months were on their way and I could see the sunlight bouncing off the lake just a short distance away.

A little further away from the tree and the boundary line that marked the Thompson farm, a small figure made their way across the field and appeared to have something gripped in their hand. The figure looked like Eva, but it was hard to tell at such a distance.

"Are you taking a nap up there?" Alec asked, giving the ladder a little shake. I could have killed him.

"One, don't shake the ladder again or I will hurt you. Two, I think I just saw Eva on her way here."

"Why would she be coming here? I didn't think she knew where I lived."

"Who knows."

I grabbed onto the saw and moved my right foot back onto the top rung of the ladder, scrambling down the rungs and joining Alec on the ground. Alec moved the ladder and laid it down on the floor as I placed the saw with the rest of the tools and grabbed the two branches, moving them to the pile we had made throughout the day.