Play@YSDC

Queensway, Bayswater- London, England
7:00 PM - Monday, September 9, 1940

Phyllis waited for almost an hour watching the house after Brook left. The sun was starting to set and she was getting ready to call it a night when the front door opened and Major Steadman and Madeline emerged. The major was in uniform, and his wife was wearing a black dress.

OOC,[b]Phyllis[/b], please roll Hide if you don't want to be seen.

Hide,10% [dice]0[/dice]

Phyllis is right on the pavement when the door opens and there is no time to hide so she draws herself up and continues towards the house next door and raps on Doris's door. She nods politely to the couple,
"Lovely evening, are you off to a dance?" She says brightly.

"The theatre," replied Madeline, barely glancing in her direction and giving no sign of recognition. She locked her door, linked arms with her husband, and walked away to the south.

Doris opened her door a moment later. "Oh, good evening, dear," she said. "What brings you back?"

OOC,[b]Madeline[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll: [dice]0[/dice]

"Oh Doris!" Exclaims Phyllis, "I've got so much to tell you; you'd barely believe what's happening!" She lowers her voice, "I'm sorry I only knocked on your door so not to alarm your neighbours; you see, I'm secretly following them and must continue. Do you have a telephone, Dear? It's vitally important we keep tabs on all the Steadmans and now they've split up I'll have to leave Catherine Exeter unwatched next door."

"You mean that madwoman is right next door?" gasped Doris. "Yes, I have a telephone. You're welcome to use it. If you need to follow them, I can keep an eye on things here. Or perhaps I could follow them and you could stay here, but they know me. I'm their neighbour, after all."

"You have a telephone? That's marvellous. Yes, the mad woman is next door. It would be very helpful to know if she leaves. Could you keep an eye out and if she leaves call this number to let them know." Phyllis gives Doris Anna's details at the hospital.
"I'd better toddle off, I want to keep Mr and Mrs Steadman in sight. Thank you so much, Dear and good luck!" Phyllis turns and walks back down the steps to the pavement to follow in the direction of the Steadmans.

"Well, I was going to head to the shelter when the sirens go," said Doris, "but the bombs didn't fall around here the last two nights, so it should be safe enough. I'll call if I see anything. You're welcome, dear, and be careful!"

Phyllis followed the Steadmans to Queensway Station, which they entered. They went to the eastbound platform and waited until a train arrived. Once again, Phyllis had the dilemma that if she got in their car, they would probably see her. However, if she got in an adjacent car, they could get out without her spotting them and she could lose them.

Phyllis decides to enter the same car at the far end. She takes a seat and picks up a discarded newspaper which she pretends to read; she's far too excited to concentrate on the ads and propaganda inside.

Major Steadman and Madeline were too distracted to pay any attention to Phyllis. They remained on the train until the last stop, Liverpool Street Station, when they alighted. Phyllis followed them onto the platform, which was already filling with people carrying blankets and pillows, preparing to spend the night here to wait out the air raids. The Steadmans headed up an escalator, and Phyllis got on behind them. When they reached the turnstile, an elderly conductor stopped them. "Best to stay below," he said. "The sirens have gone while you were on the train. It won't be safe out there."

"Thank you, but we're on official business," said the major, indicating his RAF uniform.

"Very well, sir," said the conductor, and he let them pass.

OOC,[b]Major Steadman[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll: [dice]0[/dice]

Persuade,70[dice]0[/dice]

Phyllis breathes a sigh of relief as she leaves the train undetected.
"Now where? I wonder." As she climbs the long steps up to the surface.

When it's Phyllis' turn through the gate she says,
"I've got to go up to my friend's house and help her into the shelter; she's infirm and dotty and I know her little ways. We'll be all snug in time, don't you worry!" Phyllis crosses her fingers to cover the white lie.

"Right, make it quick," said the railway employee, stepping aside so Phyllis could pass. "The bombs will start falling any minute now!"

Phyllis made her way up to the surface, where the sun had since set, and soon caught up with the Steadmans. The major's limp had kept them from getting too far ahead. She followed them unobserved through the streets of East London, the darkness of the blackout concealing her, until they reached a bombed out house. They made their way through the rubble to a set of exposed stairs leading into a basement.

"Mother, we're here," called Madeline.

A minute later, Catherine Exeter emerged from the basement. She matched perfectly the descriptions that Phyllis had been given, and she hadn't changed her clothes from when Brook and Eugene had seen her last night. "Let's do this quickly, dear," she said.

"Yes," said Major Steadman. "The Luftwaffe will be here very soon. We haven't much time."

"I observed the sanitarium," said Madeline. "Anna Jerkins was there, all right, but it looks like she's spending the night there. We'll never get at her with all those people there."

"A pity," said Catherine. "Still, perhaps another night. What about Elizabeth Young?"

"Can't find any trace of her," said Major Steadman. "There's no official record of her. It's like she doesn't exist. There are others named Elizabeth Young, it's a common enough name, but none of them are the right age. I seriously doubt she's the same person as a little girl living in Scotland, though she does have a Scottish accent. Looks like we'll just find the nearest miscreant, then. Can't be too hard. There've been reports of looting the last couple of nights. Sometimes I wonder what this country is coming to."

Phyllis stands in the shadows, horrified. Her heart is thumping so loud she can barely hear over it; she is in so much danger the falling bombs are like autumn leaves in comparison. And there is no hope that Doris will raise the alarm; Catherine Exeter is never going to leave the house because she is already here.

And all her companions will spend a wasted night watching for the beast that will actually be prowling on the opposite side of London; right here where poor old Phyllis stands trembling with fright.

'Now you silly old bat, get a grip on yourself. You'll just have to wait here until they go away and then you can promptly turn around and get back down to that ticket collector. This is what comes of telling lies!' She scolds herself silently and then waits as motionless as she can, wondering what they want with that nice Miss Young.

"Let's go, then," said Catherine. The three of them headed down a darkened street. Phyllis wasn't sure which one, as all the street signs had been removed in case of German invasion and she was not familiar with the neighborhood. In fact, she couldn't be quite sure where she was now. especially considering how dark it was. At least the bombs hadn't started falling yet, but it was only a matter of time.

OOC,[b]Phyllis[/b], please roll Navigate.

Navigate,10 [dice]0[/dice]

Phyllis watches the three walk away into the gloom, breathes a big sigh of relief and turns to head back to the tube. But which is the way back? She can't remember the way through the rubble and the street is very very dark.
"Oh my, I am in a pickle." Phyllis tries to keep her mind off prowling beasts as she digs in her handbag. "My last stick of 'Autumn Rose' I won't be seeing any more of you before the war ends I don't suppose."

Without further ado she undoes a lipstick and draws a big arrow in the direction that the Steadmans took. "Let's see if you are as smudge resistant as Yardleys say. Now then, which way...?"
Phyllis grips her umbrella and handbag with determination and sets out into the dark oposite to to the Steadmans.
"I will walk for ten minutes and if I don't see anywhere I recognise I'll have to find somewhere to hide until daylight." She whispers to herself.

Phyllis wandered through the black streets, but she couldn't find her way back to the Tube station, nor could she find any other shelter. She was now hopelessly lost.

OOC,[b]Phyllis[/b], please roll Listen and Spot Hidden.

Listen & Spot hidden,listen 25 [dice]0[/dice] Spothidden 50 [dice]1[/dice]

"Hopelesser and hopelesser." Mutters Phyllis. "There don't seem to even be any shelters around here. Or people. No wardens, no police. Just, ouch, blasted brick!" She sees a bus stop and decides to sit for a moment.

Phyllis didn't hear the drone of the aircraft until they were nearly directly overhead. Incendiaries began to rain down from above, which at least allowed her to see a little, though she still had no idea where exactly she was. However, she knew she was somewhere near the Thames. She could smell it from here, and once she found the riverbank, she'd be able to follow it.

OOC,[b]Phyllis[/b], please roll Luck again.

luck,50 [dice]0[/dice]

For once, Phyllis welcomed the rank smell of the river. She followed her nose south, her pace quickening all the time as the sky began to be lit up in sooty orange flashes.

Phyllis reached the riverbank without incident, where she found an air raid warden on patrol. The warden was a young woman with dark hair, and she approached Phyllis. "You shouldn't be out and about in this, ma'am," she said. "Are you lost? Let me help you."

"Oh I'm so glad to see you! I know it sounds unbelievable coming from an old lady like me but I'm actually on a life and death mission and I must get to a telephone! I am rather lost too." Phyllis says with relief.

Persuade,70[dice]0[/dice]

"Right now it's your life that's at stake, dear," said the warden. "There's a phone in my warden's post, but I need to get you to safety first. After that, I'll head back to the post and call for you. Just let me know who you want me to call and what message you want me to pass along. Here, take my arm so we don't get separated in the dark. We're not far from a shelter."

Phyllis sighs but is much relieved to get to the shelter.
"Here is my message for Dr Anna at the Sanitorium." She writes on the back of a shopping list,
'Steadmans not going to the hospital, they are hunting in the East End tonight. I am now in the shelter at... please could you add this address and the time. Phyllis Cruckshank.' "Its as urgent as you can possibly make it' she tells the warden.

The air raid warden led Phyllis to St. James's Church, where she had sheltered for the last two nights. It was only a couple of blocks away. Reverend Giles Curry and Laura were already in the basement shelter. "Take care, ma'am," said the warden. "I'll get your message through." With that, she left.

"Oh goodness! I've been wandering around in the dark that long I got disorientated and never knew I was just here, Good evening, Reverend Curry, Laura. It's been an eventful day and no mistake." Phyllis sits thankfully onto a pew, accepts a hot cup of tea and proceeds to tell them all about it.

"And so we have a dangerous beast prowling about over our very heads and the Steadmans looking for some poor soul to be its dinner. We really ought to be very careful who comes down here and we must light up these rooms as bright as can be; the beast doesn't like the light apparently."

ooc,I doubt Phyllis still has her lamp after all her adventures- I forgot she had it. It's probably under the table in the cafe.

"Wh-wh-what?!" said Laura, quivering in fear at Phyllis's mention of the beast and the Steadmans. Phyllis recalled that Laura hadn't been here the night before and had not been privy to their discoveries of the last two days.

"Good evening, ma'am," rasped the reverend. "It's good that you made it here. It's far too dangerous outside."

OOC,You can still have the lantern. It's not the sort of thing you'd leave behind. Your handbag might even be big enough that you could carry the lantern inside it. Maybe it's bigger on the inside like the TARDIS. ;)

"Oh I'm sure we'll be safe enough down here, Laura. We should keep nice and quiet and I should still have..." Phyllis rummages around in her legendary handbag and pulls out her hurricane lamp rather tangled up in pink wool.

"Oh my, well five minutes de tangling is always good for the nerves, may I use your hands, dear, whilst the good reverend fetches some oil." Phyllis proceeds to untangle the wool, winding it on a skein around Laura's hands.

ooc,It certainly seems that way! Phyllis must have biceps of iron from lugging it around.

Laura nodded, and Giles fetched a flask of lamp oil which he used to light the lantern once it was untangled.

OOC,She does indeed! She has 15 STR, and it apparently used to be 16 when she was younger.

Phyllis lights the hurricane lamp and any other sources of light she can find. Once all are burning brightly she sits back down with a sigh.
"That's all we can do. I might suggest we stay here until daylight never mind when the all-clear sounds. I wouldn't mind a nap, just don't let anyone in without waking me first...." Phyllis' chin rests on her bosom and she starts to gently snore.

Phyllis was awakened by Anna shaking her, whispering: "Phyllis, Phyllis, are you awake?" Archie and Benjamin were with her.

OOC,You weren't supposed to read the other thread. I was planning to merge them into a new one, which I've just done. [b]Phyllis[/b] is moving to the thread linked below:

Revival