Call

Meg was reposing on the sofa, in and out of sleep, letting the worries of the day wash over her, sometimes more than one at a time, when an alarming buzzing noise jarred her fully awake. She jerked upright, thankful that she wasn’t on the bottom bunk of the Third Class passenger accommodations any longer or else she would’ve surely knocked herself unconscious on the bunk above her.

She looked around the living room and realized the irritating noise was coming from the telephone. A glance at the grandfather clock across the room told her it was past two in the morning. She assumed that meant it must be Charlie calling, and she gathered her wits and crossed to pick up the receiver as Jonathan had demonstrated for her, hoping she reached the device in time.

Clearing her voice, she spoke into the piece protruding from the wall. “Yes?” she asked. An operator, she assumed, said something that sounded like, “One moment please,” and then she