20th February 1941

Bert woke up early in the morning and found an empty apartment. That Mary was not there because she was currently with a family a suburb. However, it surprised him a little that Elizabeth was not there. She left in the evening, but said that she would come back at night. At first Bert worried much, but he had gotten used to the fact that she just did not come home sometimes. Most of the time she was in the hospital to help- but sometimes she fell asleep on one of the roofs. But still Bert had a strange feeling... Something was going to happen.

This Monday, Bert was a chimney sweep and was greeted by a freezing cold outside. Frowning, he pulled on his coat and buried his face in a scarf Mary had once knitted. His first stop that day was a house in the all known Cherry Tree Lane, number 19 to be exact.

The Cherry Tree Lane, a street that was precious to him. This was due to the Banks family, who once lived in number 17. George Banks had died a few years earlier, Winifred lived with her youngest children, the twins John and Barbara, in the countryside, because they had a farm there. Jane Banks lived in a cozy apartment not far away and followed her mother's footsteps. And Michael... Michael was a soldier. Bert has learned this from Jane, but she does not know anything, either, because he wants to spare her all that has to do with it.

Head shaking, he pushed the evil thoughts away and rang at number 19 to do his job there. Inwardly, he hoped the work would distract him from the weird feeling.

In the early evening the chimney sweep was tired and when he arrived in his street, he noticed that the light was burning in his apartment. Either Elizabeth had come back at some point or Mary was already there. As soon as he was at the door, his attention was drawn to a shy "sorry". Bert turned around: behind him stood a young man holding a letter in his hand. He knew that expression, he knew that attitude, he knew those envelopes. `No!`

"Yea'?"

"Are you Mister Alfred?"

Bert swallowed: "Yea'"

"Here," the boy held out the letter, "for you, mister."

Without waiting for his answer, the young postman left. Now Bert stood there: alone in the dark, cold street, holding the letter in his hand. Should he open it now? Or in the apartment? Or should he burn it? No, he was not that cowardly! Determined, he opened the envelope and took out the parchment.

He did not read the letter correctly, just skimmed it. But a few words literally hit his face. An indescribable feeling came over him and he clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white.

With his eyes closed, he fell against the house wall and remained there for a moment. He felt sick at the idea that he might have to bring an unpleasant message to Mary or Lizzy. But he had to do it! So he energetically went in and climbed the stairs. Arrived at his apartment door, he took a deep breath and remained there for a moment before he opened it.

As soon as he entered the living room, Elizabeth greeted him with a "'ey'o".

She walked past him and put a teapot in the kitchen. There he saw: "Mary?"

"Hello Bert"

He did not answer. His thoughts were circling around the letter he still held in his hands. The Nanny, who was just cooking, did not notice it at first. However, this reaction was not hidden of the other lady in the room. Of course Lizzy would notice that!

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked, slowly approaching Bert. These words caught Mary's attention and she lowered the wooden spoon.

Bert studied the faces of the two: Mary looked at him questioningly, while Elizabeth looked worried. He was always amazed at what an incredible human knowledge she had and almost a sad smile slipped on his lips... But only almost. Because he knew that the message was not pleasant one. He was sure that Mary could somehow handle it. But with Elizabeth it was different…

With a last look at the letter, Bert took a deep breath again before looking directly at Mary and Elizabeth: "I was drafted... On March 6, I'm going to war and fight at the front..."

I finally managed to write the 7th chapter! Still have a slight writer's block but it gets better xD

In the meantime, by the way, I've done the last week of my 1st year of apprenticeship, changed the department at work ( :-( ) and made a short film.

As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I am happy about reviews! : D