TL *Humaning the Best She Can*’s Reviews > The Deadly Life of Diana Penn (Cheviot Hills Time Travel, #1) > Status Update

“Penny for your thoughts?” Arthur offered as they waited for Fred to pick them up in his lorry.

“I’m just thinking about how quickly things can change,” Diana replied. “This morning, everything seemed settled, predictable. Now...”

“It’s rather like the war in that respect,” Arthur finished. “Long periods of routine punctuated by moments of chaos.”

I hope Jim is who he seems to be.. but also have a Feeling he's involved with an incident at the beginning of the book.

We shall see...

The station had the quiet dignity of a place long used to comings and goings. Low, soot-streaked stone buildings huddled beneath a canopy of iron girders and glass, its panes smudged with coal dust. Faded enamel signs advertising Cadbury Cocoa now shared space with government posters asking ‘Is Your Journey Really Necessary?’ and reminding the locals that ‘Walls Have Ears’.

😢

As exhaustion finally claimed her, Diana’s last conscious thought was of her mother’s voice that morning, proud and worried in equal measure. Tomorrow would bring new calls, new emergencies, new chances to make the connections she’d spent a lifetime avoiding.

Diana sank onto her narrow bed, still in her filthy uniform, too exhausted to undress. As sleep claimed her, she thought not of the horror of the night, but of Rose’s smile and her mother’s trembling hands. Perhaps caring for others wasn’t the weakness she’d always believed it to be. Perhaps it was the very thing that made living worthwhile.

The normality of life continuing was so far removed from what she’d just endured that it felt absurd—like stepping from a nightmare into a half-remembered dream. The kettle whistled on the hob, the wireless played in the corner, and the smell of toast lingered in the air. As if the world hadn’t come crashing down only hours before.

They walked together through streets they scarcely recognised, their uniforms torn and caked with dust, their hair matted with brick dust and dried blood. People stared as they passed, but no one stopped them. London had grown accustomed to such sights.

Finally, a gap appeared, and the face of a soot-streaked Fire Brigade officer peered through.

“How many of you down there?” he asked, his eyes taking in the scene.

“Two,” Diana confirmed, glancing at Rose, who was stirring beside her. “We’re both alive.”