The War I Finally Won

Lady Thorton takes Susan’s fire-watching shift with Ada. They are standing on the steeple in the dark, quiet night when suddenly they hear the air raid siren and see planes approaching. A Messerschmitt, a German fighter plane, is shot down by anti-aircraft guns and plummets toward the ground. It crashes into the village’s main street. Lady Thorton and Ada run to see the burning wreckage and to help if they can.

As the wreck is extinguished, Lady Thorton peers inside the cockpit and sees the burned body of the German pilot still inside. She is extremely distraught. Ada understands that this is because Jonathan, Lady Thorton’s son, also died in a plane crash.

Lady Thorton asks Ada if she thinks Jonathan suffered. Ada remembers the pain when she once burned herself while cooking and does not know how to answer. Ada, unsure how to help, wakes Susan. Susan makes tea and sits with Lady Thorton. Lady Thorton sits up through the night, not saying anything. Ada wakes up in the morning with a sudden epiphany that she knows how to help Lady Thorton.