Lizzie and the Lost Baby

by Cheryl Blackford

  DRY STONE WALL: A wall made from stones of different sizes and shapes. No mortar is used to hold the stones together.

  EVACUATE: To send people from one place to another to avoid danger.

  EVACUEE: Someone who is evacuated.

  GROUSE BLIND: Cover where hunters hide from the grouse they are hunting.

  HEATHER: A bushy plant with small leaves and tiny pink or purple bell-shaped flowers.

  HOB: A male ferret.

  HORSE BRASS: An ornament made out of brass used to decorate a horse. Horse brasses may be hung from a horse’s harness, over its forehead, or on its chest.

  JILL: A female ferret.

  KUSHTI: A Gypsy/Traveler word meaning “good.”

  MOOR: A large area of open, hilly land that can’t be farmed. Often boggy, moorland has few trees and is covered in grass and heather.

  NAPPY: A diaper.

  PETROL: Gasoline.

  POACHER: A person who trespasses on someone else’s land and steals game such as pheasants and grouse.

  PRAM: A four-wheeled baby carriage with a hood.

  PRIVY: An outdoor toilet.

  RATIONING: An allowance of something such as food. In World War II England, petrol, clothing, and food such as butter, sugar, and meat were rationed by the government.

  SATCHEL: A school bag (usually made of leather) with a buckle and shoulder strap.

  SHUN: To reject or send a person away as a punishment.

  STILE: A step or series of steps to help someone climb over a wall.

  TRAVELER: A person who moves from place to place and does not have a permanent home. Other names for Travelers are Gypsies, Rom, Roma, or Romani.

  Acknowledgments

  Lizzie and the Lost Baby is a work of fiction grounded in the reality of events that took place in England during World War II, when three and a half million people, most of them children, were evacuated from British cities and towns considered to be at risk from German bombing raids. The evacuated children were sent to live with strangers, often for the duration of the war. My father and uncle were two of those evacuees. Swainedale, the valley in my story, can’t be found on any map, but it most closely resembles Rosedale in the North York Moors, where my parents have owned a cottage for many years.

  Writing a book is a thrilling, arduous, exasperating, and lonely task, but I received abundant encouragement and assistance and owe thanks to many people. The greatest debt is to my parents, Ernie and Joan Connolly, first for nurturing my love of the Yorkshire countryside and second for sharing their wartime memories with me. Until I began writing this story I had not realized that my father was evacuated to the countryside and lived away from his parents for four years and that my mother stayed in Hull with my widowed grandmother and endured frequent bombing raids in a cramped bomb shelter.

  I am deeply indebted to Ann Rider, my editor, for her gentle insistence on subtlety and for helping me focus the story on what matters most—Lizzie’s emotional journey. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to my friend, mentor, and teacher, Jane Resh Thomas. Her emphasis on connecting the plot line to the emotion line helped me make this a better story. I “do my work,” but Jane inspires me to learn, experiment, and try harder.

  Thanks go to my agent, Tina Wexler, for loving this book and supporting me as I strove to make it the best it could be, and also to the generous Twin Cities literary community, especially Pat Schmatz and Kurtis Scaletta, whose enthusiastic support spurred me on. I am grateful for the unending encouragement and assistance of my fellow workshop and critique group members who read chapters, offered perceptive feedback, and cheered me on every step of the way.

  Ideas and inspiration came from Maggie Smith-Bendell’s memoir, Rabbit Stew and a Penny or Two: A Gypsy Family’s Hard Times and Happy Times on the Road in the 1950s. I can’t thank Maggie enough for reading an early draft of my story and encouraging me to continue.

  Becca Stadtlander’s sweet cover finally brought home the reality that this story would become an actual book! I am grateful to her for her delicious illustration.

  Last, but never least, special thanks go to my family: to David, who never complains about my whining and offers only support and encouragement; and to Eleanor and Ben, who when we uprooted them from their home in Yorkshire and moved them to America, accepted the challenge of their new lives—much as the evacuees did.

  About the Author

  CHERYL BLACKFORD grew up in the city of Hull in Yorkshire, England, which is famous for being one of the most-bombed English cities in World War II. Though she now lives in Minnesota with her family, she often visits the North York Moors, where this story takes place. This is her debut novel.

  Visit www.cherylblackford.com.