Page 116 of The Unknown Birds

“Right you are,” Rook agreed, smashing their son’s cap down over his eyes and snatching up his own before they rushed out the door and down the block to catch the Tube.

Once on board, the children took their seats with practiced ease, finding four together in the middle, where Rook could stretch his leg not too near the door. Mabel immediately went up on her knees and George turned sideways in his seat so they could both look out the window.

“First game?” an old man in the seats facing them asked, nodding to the children.

“It is indeed,” Rook told him.

“Beautiful day for it.”

“Are you an Arsenal fan?” George asked, almost bitterly.

“Me? No, lad. I support Tottenham.”

George grimaced as though Tottenham were somehow worse and turned back to his window.

Rook shook his head, amused, and reached for Ashley’s hand. She never got tired of feeling their interlaced fingers, holding tight for all they were worth.

The Underground took them all the way to Highbury Park, and Ash rounded up the children—snatching Mabel’s discarded jumper from the floor beneath her seat.

Even George seemed impressed by the size of the imposing stadium, though she did hear him mutter, “Bet Stamford Bridge is bigger.”

“Suppose we’ll have to take him to a Chelsea match next time,” she whispered.

Rook wrangled the boy around the neck and shoved his cap down over his eyes again.

As the two continued to wrestle, Ash recognized the familiar form of Cooper up ahead. “Coop!” she called, waving when the old runner’s face broke into a wide, bright smile.

“Well if it ain’t Ash the Flash. Heard you were a lady.”

Ash made a small curtsy and laughed when her old friend picked her up and swung her around.

“Mina,” he called, waving over a middle-aged Black woman with three half-grown children. “Come meet Rook and Ash.”

“Not the Ash the Flash,” Mina laughed, hugging Ashley like a long-lost sister. “The roar that came out of this man’s mouth when he found out you were a woman. I swear they could hear it all the way in Australia. I almost slapped him silly for being so surprised a girl could run and shoot.”

Ash chuckled and Rook put his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her tight.

“Did you really pretend to be a boy so you could go to war?” Cooper’s youngest, a girl about thirteen, asked with wide, incredulous eyes.

“I did, and do you know why?”

“You didn’t want to eat your Brussels sprouts?”

“No. Because girls can do anything boys can do.”

“Can’t play football,” she said.

“Sure they can. I played a Christmas match against the Germans myself.”

“It’s true,” Rook backed her up. “Scored the winning goal.”

“Not you, Dad?” Cooper’s middle son asked.

“Didn’t want to show off,” Coop demurred.

“Can’t play Association football,” his daughter grumbled.

“S’pose you ought to take that one up with your dad.”