Summary
“Chamberlain Announces”
Willie wakes up the next morning to a sunny day. Tom goes to wash Willie’s pajamas and bed sheets, as he has wet the bed again. A day of work—digging a trench for the Anderson shelter—lies ahead of them. Tom gives Willie clothes that Mrs. Fletcher had dropped off the night before. It is Sunday so they are going to church. They meet the vicar, Mr. Peters, who instructs Willie to place the red hymnbooks out on the benches. Willie momentarily questions the color of the hymnbooks, as his mother always told him that red is a sinful color. Tom is helping Mr. Peters place a wireless radio in the room.
As the service begins, the church is crowded with people, which makes Willie nervous and reminds him of how he would often be whipped by his mother after church. Willie recognizes some of the townspeople he met the day before. The vicar begins the service, and the organist starts playing a hymn with which Willie is not familiar.
After hymns and prayers, Mr. Peters turns on the wireless, where the Prime Minister, Mr. Chamberlain, is delivering the message that England has gone to war with Germany. He instructs the people to continue with their jobs and duties. After the speech, Mr. Peter invites everyone to pray. Announcements are made to organize the people for the day. The service ends and Tom tells Willie to go home and turn the kettle on. Tom has brought Mr. Fletcher back with him for tea and discussion of the trenches that are to be dug that day. Willie prepares himself by wearing his old clothes. He is not used to doing work on the Sabbath.
Willie and Mr. Fletcher’s two teenage sons work on digging the trench. Willie becomes absorbed in the task. One of the younger Fletcher sons, George, comes by to collect worms from the dirt. There is a confrontation between George and Willie, where George calls him a “townee” and asks him why he is wearing a jersey.
The trench is completed and the men add steel sheets inside of it to form the back of the shelter and the doorway. The Fletchers leave and Willie and Tom finish up by covering the trench with earth. Tom leaves for a village meeting and Willie continues adding earth, again becoming absorbed in the work. It is almost dark when the boy from the post office appears in front of him.
“Zach”
The post office boy introduces himself to Willie as Zacharias Wrench. He offers to help Willie cover the trench. Zach is also an evacuee and he talks to Willie very exuberantly, using many sophisticated words. His friendliness takes Willie aback; Willie is surprised that Zach could like him.
Meanwhile, Tom Oakley is going to his meeting at the village hall. There are many people at the meeting and Mrs. Miller is shocked to see Tom has showed up. Since the death of his wife, Tom has rarely participated in town social activities. The townspeople discuss how to organize for the war. Tom volunteers for fire-watching duties, which surprises everyone in the room. Tom goes home and finds Zach and Willie hanging out together in the trench. The three go inside for tea. Zach tells them that he has been staying with Dr. and Mrs. Little for about a week. It is late, and Zach asks if he can come over again tomorrow to play with Willie. Tom runs a bath for Willie and then tells him a story from Genesis before bed.
“An Encounter Over Blackberries”
The next day, Tom and Willie are outside inspecting their work on the shelter. Willie feels a burst of energy, which is new for him; he is used to staying still. Tom encourages him to race Sammy to the gate. Sammy wins easily, and Willie feels like a “sissie.”
Zach comes over to play with Willie, and shortly after George Fletcher comes by, inviting Willie to pick blackberries and have a picnic with him and the red-haired twin girls from town. Zach asks if he can join and George agrees, even though he secretly resents having to socialize with strange “townees.” His mother has put him up to it.
Zach and Willie meet George and the twins, who are named Carrie and Ginnie. The girls are upset that George has invited the evacuees. The children pick berries and then have a picnic. Carrie asks about Willie’s scarred leg and Willie says he fell. While the children talk, Willie stays mostly quiet to listen. He learns a lot about what Zach, George, and the twins like to do. When they inquire what Willie likes to do, he does not know how to respond. Finally he replies that he likes drawing. George walks Willie back home, and they find that Tom has furbished the shelter. As Willie falls asleep that night, he is pleased he has gotten through another day socializing with other children his age.
Analysis
In these chapters, Magorian paints a more intricate picture of the various people in the community, introducing us to some of the younger characters. Willie’s interaction with children his own age sparks in him a new sense of individuality and confidence. Never before has he been encouraged to express himself. He is surprised to find himself feeling energetic. He has a hard time answering what he likes to do. Being away from home and his abusive family situation is, for the first time, allowing him to form a sense of identity.
Willie’s new friend Zach also helps Willie develop a new self-esteem, as Zach is the first person who has ever wanted to be his friend. Like Willie, Zach is an evacuee. Other than that, the boys do not have a lot in common. Willie is quiet, while Zach is chatty. Willie can barely read and write, while Zach has a large vocabulary. At this point in the book, we are not yet sure of the role of Zach in the story, but the boys’ quick friendship clearly foreshadows that Zach will be playing an important role.
The scene at church is somewhat of an awakening for Willie, who witnesses how rather than being a place of torment and punishment, the church can serve as a meeting grounds for the community. All of his previous notions of what is good and evil—as imprinted by his mother—are thrown to the wayside, such as the use of the “sinful” color red on the hymnbooks and the fact that everyone does work on the Sabbath.
At such a momentous time as the outbreak of World War II, we are shown how life in the countryside is conducive to community organization. For example, the Fletchers come and help Tom with digging the trench. It is a time when everyone must pitch in—even Tom, who previously has been so reclusive.
Outstanding times like these also bring their fair share of challenges for both the evacuees and the people of Little Weirwold. The twins and George at first dislike having to spend time with the weird kids from London. It seems like they have nothing in common. But slowly, through their picnicking, everyone opens up more and begins to see that they can still have fun together, despite their differences. These chapters, especially “Chamberlain Announces,” demonstrates Michell Magorian’s tendency throughout the book to illustrate her characters with crisp detail. The church scene is one where many people of Little Weirwold gather, and the author takes care to describe their physical attributes in a way that makes the story come alive, such as depicting Mrs. Hartridge’s eyes that are “creased with laughter” and Mr. Barnes as “brick-faced” with a “starched white collar.” These simple descriptions deepen our understanding of who these people are.
