London, England

May 1943

Mavis Newkirk squinted at the paper beside her, trying to decipher the handwriting. It was nothing more than chicken scratch. In fact, it was worse than Peter's scrawlings.

"Everything all right, Corporal?" Captain Sinclair was behind her, looking over her shoulder.

"Who wrote this bloody thing?" Mavis asked, looking back up at him.

Sinclair cocked his head to the side and peered at it. "Hmmm. Appears to be Major Campbell. It is rather awful, isn't it?"

"Dreadful," Mavis agreed.

"Well, do your best. We have to have it all typed up properly and filed away. Do it for our grandchildren. How else will they know about what we did during the war if it isn't all documented?"

Mavis arched an eyebrow, a teasing smile on her lips. "Our grandchildren?"

She swore she saw his cheeks go red, but only for a split second. "Collectively, of course," Sinclair responded with a wave of his hand. "As I said, do your best. And quickly, please. We're expecting to hear from Papa Bear any minute."

Mavis scowled. Papa Bear. A relatively new contact, Papa Bear was the leader of an underground operation somewhere in Europe. She had only had two interactions with him so far, but that was enough. He was obviously an American, and cheeky as the day was long. He seemed awfully cavalier for a spy and Mavis couldn't help but think that he and his operation wouldn't last long.

"Oh I wouldn't want to miss that," Mavis drawled.

Sinclair smirked. "Stiff upper lip, Corporal." Then he tapped on the paper and went back to his office.

With a sigh, Mavis turned back to the paper. She picked it up and turned it to the side, and then to the other side, trying to figure out what on earth it said. She was making some headway when she heard the outer door open. She barely glanced up, expecting it to be one of the other girls. She almost didn't register the male form, but when her eyes caught the flash of stars, she started. Quickly, she jumped out of her seat and saluted. "Sir!"

The arrival, a two-star American general, nodded and returned her salute. Mavis stood awkwardly, wondering what she was supposed to do. They never had high-ranking visitors in their little corner of HQ. Any interactions with this particular department were performed behind the closed doors of the well-guarded offices upstairs. And they never included her.

Luckily, Captain Sinclair was out of his office in record time, saving her before she did something that made her sound like an idiot.

"General, sir." They exchanged salutes. Sinclair cast a wary eye toward Mavis. "We can use my office, sir."

The general held up his hand. "No need," he replied. "I'm not here to chat. I just wanted to check up on things." He turned to Mavis and smiled. Despite being old enough to be her father, Mavis was struck by how handsome he was and forced herself not to get weak in the knees.

"And you are?"

"Corporal Newkirk," Mavis replied, grasping the general's outstretched hand. Mavis searched his chest for some sort of name badge but found none.

"A pleasure," the general said with a nod. "Now, don't let me distract you. Carry on." Mavis looked over at Sinclair for confirmation. The captain nodded and she sat back down at her typewriter. "You too, Captain," the general added. Sinclair hesitated but then retreated.

Mavis focused on her paper and, when she thought she had finally broken through the awful writing, began typing out its contents.

She felt the general behind her and tried not to falter. He snorted. "Major Campbell is a good officer, but his writing is lousy," he said, clearly amused. "He doesn't even need to write in code."

Mavis looked over her shoulder and grinned. "I can crack codes, sir. This is on an entirely different level."

The general laughed and moved away. Mavis watched him from the corner of her eye as he idly flipped through random papers as he passed each desk.

"Is it just you two down here?" he asked after a few moments.

"There are two more girls," Mavis replied. "But one is on leave and the other is just upstairs right now delivering messages." The general nodded and went back to his casual snooping. Mavis wondered if she should try to stop him but the captain, watching from his office, didn't seem to mind. Mavis' curiosity tickled her brain. Not that she was intimately familiar with everyone connected to this operation, but she had never seen this general before. She wondered what he was doing here. He seemed to be waiting for something. Did he have to speak with Papa Bear?

"Speak of the devil," Mavis mumbled when, at that very moment, she heard a call from the radio.

"Papa Bear to Goldilocks. Papa Bear to Goldilocks. Come in Goldilocks."

Mavis got up from her desk and moved to the radio. She slipped into the chair and put on her headset. "This is Goldilocks. Go ahead Papa Bear."

Sinclair emerged from his office and came up behind her. The general, too, drew near.

"The latest package is en route. And the ugly sisters are waiting on their princes in their new castle."

Mavis stifled a groan as she wrote down the message. Bloody codes. Whoever had thought of them needed to be taken out and shot. She knew what it meant, but it was so ridiculous for grown people to talk this way.

"Do we need to send a housewarming present?" Mavis asked.

"Would be rude not to," Papa Bear replied. "New castle is at 4-23 Gingerbread Lane. Princes should be there in a week."

"Roger that," Mavis said as she continued to write. Beside her, Captain Sinclair pulled out a map and traced his finger along to a certain spot. She forced herself not to pay too much attention to where exactly it was. Then he nodded and motioned for Mavis to hand him the microphone.

"And have you made any progress on sending your own presents?" he asked.

"We don't have a wrapper," Papa Bear replied.

Sinclair arched an eyebrow. "What happened to the one we sent?"

"He was in league with the Big Bad Wolf," Papa Bear growled. "He nearly stole our porridge but the woodcutter stopped him in time."

Mavis winced. Someone had messed up and there was sure to be hell to pay. She hoped it wasn't Captain Sinclair. She had grown used to him and it would be a shame if something like this got him transferred.

"I see," Sinclair said with a frown. He looked over at the general who muttered something under his breath. "Why didn't you say anything until now?"

"Wasn't sure if it was on purpose," Papa Bear said curtly.

"Fair point. We'll investigate, Papa. But SOP is to send any friends to the bridge precisely so we can find out such things for ourselves," he continued.

Mavis' mind went into overdrive to translate everything as it was said. The 'wrapper' was supposed to be a demolition expert. Whoever they had sent had been a double agent and he had been terminated. In such a case, the traitor was to be sent back to London for interrogation. But Mavis supposed that, in the field, not everything went the way it ought.

"Fine. In the meantime, we're out of the wrapping business."

"The war is young yet, Papa Bear. Do what you can," Sinclair replied.

"Roger that. Papa Bear over and out."

Sinclair set down the microphone and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Bloody hell. I suppose that's why you were here, sir?" he said to the general.

The general shook his head. "I had no idea. But, rest assured, I will be having a talk with Colonel Blithely. This could've blown the whole thing up before it even got started." There was murder in the general's eyes; it frightened Mavis.

"Mavis, I wanted this typed up. And contact Sergeant Forsyth to let her know we need to see General O'Malley," Sinclair ordered. "We need to move on this quickly."

"Right. Get together any relevant paperwork," the general said. "I'll meet you up there in ten minutes."

"Yes sir. Mavis, I need you in my office as soon as you've finished this." And with that, Sinclair hurried into his office. Mavis grabbed her notes and moved to the typewriter. She half expected the general to hurry off as well, but instead, she noticed that he was still at the radio. His hand hovered over the headset. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her, but she could have sworn she saw a bit of a tear in his eye.

The general seemed to notice her gaze and quickly cleared his throat. Mavis started typing, fixing her eyes on her paper. The General marched out of the office but paused in the doorway. "I hope you know how lucky you are, Corporal Newkirk," he said. "Not everyone has a chance to speak with Papa Bear so often."

Mavis furrowed her brow. What on earth did that mean? "Yes sir," she replied. The general knocked on the door frame and then went on his way.

"Are you done yet?" Sinclair called.

"Yes sir. I'm done," Mavis replied, hurrying with the last few keystrokes. She tore out the paper. Then, pushing the general from her mind, she scrambled into Sinclair's office. She had a feeling that she was not as lucky as the general seemed to think and that her interactions with Papa Bear were going to lead to many more panicked moments. But, maybe, it would bring its share of adventures too.