Too many days go by without seeing you, and I don’t like leaving our letters in the hollow of a tree, so look now, I’ve come up with a plan. Do you know Kitty, Len Wheeler’s daughter? She is always tending those ducks near the lane. She’s a sweet little girl, and I’ve asked her if she’d like to be our secret post box. She’ll be good and keep our letters in her pinny until they are collected. What do you think?

—Letter from Home Farm, Ratley