In Search of a Hero

Chapter 2: The Road Not Taken

Brennan squeezed herself into the last available seat on the crowded streetcar and tucked her handbag in her lap, along with the thick red folder that she'd carried out of General Cullen's office. Recent bulletins in the evening news programs over the wireless had been rife with stories of pickpockets and petty theft on Washington DC's crowded buses and trams and although she'd never seen even a hint of such activity, she was cautious nonetheless. She sighed and closed her eyes, and leaned back to rest her head against the window behind her, only to bump against the wide brim of the hat worn by the woman sitting next to her. She murmured an apology and sat up straight, then was jostled into a gentle sway as the streetcar jolted forward.

Two stops later, past the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Engraving, and the small public conveyance was filled to capacity, every seat taken and the aisles full of chattering government workers hanging onto straps and metal poles, all headed home after the long workday.

Brennan closed her eyes and tried to close her ears to the cacophony as a stream of foul-smelling cigar smoke blew in her direction. She needed a cup of hot tea and a headache powder, if one could be found in the women's boarding house where she'd been living since coming to DC. If she were lucky and no one had reserved the tiny bathroom on her floor, she might even get the luxury of a long, hot bath. If nothing else, she'd settle for the tea.

The afternoon had been interminably long. Her return to the typing pool after the meeting with General Cullen had been met with an explosion of questions, none of which she could answer. She didn't know why she had been plucked from relative obscurity to organize a bond drive with an injured pilot she'd never heard of. She had no idea which cities the tour would reach, or how long it would last. She certainly didn't know if any movie stars would be appearing on the tour, as well. All she knew was that she was to report to the Treasury department the next day, for what she hoped would be a set of thorough, detailed instructions.

Mrs. Bridges seemed to take Brennan's escape from the typing pool as a personal affront, and spent the remaining hours of her dominion over the younger woman muttering about what fate lay in store for girls who 'got above themselves' and threatening dire consequences for 'putting on airs.' By the time she was allowed to pack up the few personal belongings she kept in her desk, Brennan thought she just might owe this unknown pilot a kiss of gratitude for getting her out from under the old lady's thumb.

The streetcar was no less crowded when a tinkling bell signaled the stop that Brennan used. She squeezed through, clutching both the red folder and her purse close to her body, until she stepped onto the sidewalk to began the three-block trek to the boarding house. She hesitated briefly, taking a moment to enjoy the fresh spring air and the evening sky settling into dusk above her head. Despite the lingering headache and the uncertainty of her new assignment, a sense of freedom . . . of anticipation . . . surged through her. The meticulously-planned path she'd laid out for her life, rudely derailed and disrupted by the war and the closing of her degree program, now branched ahead into new and uncharted territory. Never one to enjoy the unpredictable, she found herself now strangely eager to meet the unexpected, to peer around the corner solely for the joy of discovery.

She headed home with a new lightness to her step.

The front door of the three-story, red brick townhouse was unlocked, a fact which her already-burdened hands appreciated and which gave her cause to hope that she might be able to escape upstairs to her room unnoticed by the group she could hear gossiping in the lady's parlour to the left of the door. Alas, it was not to be.

"Dr. Brennan!" The perky voice was as bouncy as the dun-colored ponytail swishing on the back of her head as a young woman bounded out into the foyer. "Oh my gosh! There you are!"