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“Sara Spenser,” Christopher Johnson said. “She was hoping to speak to Sara.”

Charity noticed that Grace Higham’s face registered some shock or surprise…or maybe even some disappointment.

“Is there a problem?” Charity said.

“It was our understanding,” Grace Higham said, “from Sara herself, that she did not have any family left. That they, too”—she glanced at the patients on the porch—“had been lost to bombs.”

“The lieutenant has a friend who was friends with Sara,” Christopher Johnson tried to explain.

“Ann Chambers,” Charity said. “The writer?”

That registered immediately with Grace Higham. “Of course! How is Ann?”

“She’s missing—”

“I’m terribly sorry,” Grace Higham said.

“And I thought that Sara might have some idea where she is or maybe what happened to her. At the very least, just tell me the last time that she had seen Ann so I could try to retrace her steps.”

Grace Higham was nodding. But there was clear distress in her expression.

She looked Charity in the eyes with a piercing gaze.

“I’m terribly afraid that that will be a bit difficult,” Grace Higham said softly.

Christopher Johnson looked at Grace Higham and said, “If I may?”

Grace nodded.

“Sara,” Johnson explained, “never made it here to Higham Hills. We are, as you can see”—he glanced over his shoulder at the people on the covered porch—“quite full. She was taken to Manor House.”

“Which is…?” Charity asked.

“Another residence that has taken on responsibilities similar to ours,” he said. “It’s near Yardley Hastings, just south of Northampton. I would think you passed it coming up here.”

“We were informed,” Grace Higham put in, “that Sara was taken to Manor House with another woman—”

Charity’s eyebrows went up. “Really!”

“And that they had been injured not by a bomb directly but by loose bricks falling from a storefront. I was told that Sara’s injuries were mostly superficial but that she was having difficulty speaking. Apparently, some severe type of shock.”

“And the other woman?” Charity said.

Grace Higham was quiet, then looked at Christopher Johnson.

Johnson began, “Her injuries were far worse—”

“There was significant trauma to the head,” Grace Higham added. “The doctors were able to reduce the pressure on the brain, we were told, and believed that she was ready for recovery. And so she was picked up by the runners at Manor House and taken there.”

“Runners?”

“People who help out doing odd jobs. We have a few. They have many more. The Motor Transport Corps has been stretched rather thin, their vehicles in short supply, so Manor House does not bother relying on them.”

Well, Charity thought, they should soon have another ambulance at their disposal.

Soon as it is “re-allocated.”

Charity said, “You say believed that she was ready for recovery. That suggests—”