Kit Carson arrives in war-torn Northern France as a new CARD member and is driven to Blérancourt headquarters.

The other Cards nickname Jessie 'Kit' and welcome her as their Library Card at the headquarters dinner.

Kit inspects the Blérancourt library and discovers the German army has destroyed nearly the entire book collection.

Kit convinces Anne Morgan and Dr. M.D. to let her hold a story hour for the village children.

Kit meets a soldier named Tom at a party for troops and they bond over their shared love of books.

Anne Morgan formally introduces Marcelle as CARD's newest chauffeuse after she completes her driver training.

Tom interrupts Jeanne and Henri's wedding reception to warn that the German army has broken through the front.

Kit sets up a reading tent for wounded soldiers at a makeshift army hospital during the German offensive.

Lewis arrives at the hospital to tell Kit that Tom has been killed in action.

The CARD members and villagers return to Blérancourt and begin rebuilding life for a second time.

Cookie dies of influenza while the pandemic sweeps through the recovering village of Blérancourt.

Kit receives a telegram from her sister Mabel telling her that their mother has died of influenza.

The Blérancourt library opens to great success and Eugene Morel offers Kit a job designing a library in Paris.

Winnifred Smythe arrives to inspect the library, praises Kit's work, and orders her back to New York; Kit quits.

Marcelle speaks at Wendy's Living Legends event at the NYPL and passes Kit's handkerchief to Wendy.

This pool traces the headline events of Kit Carson's journey from her arrival as a CARD librarian in war-torn France through her greatest professional triumphs. Kit builds relationships with the villagers of Blérancourt, brings story hours to their children, and falls in love with a soldier named Tom, only to lose him, her colleague Cookie, and her mother in rapid succession. A German offensive forces the evacuation of everything Kit has worked to build, but she returns and perseveres, opening a celebrated library that earns her national recognition. When her domineering former boss Winnifred Smythe arrives expecting to bring Kit back to New York, Kit instead quits and charts her own course toward Paris. Decades later in 1987, Wendy Peterson's research at the NYPL culminates in Marcelle honoring Kit's legacy at a public event, with the passing of a handkerchief bringing both timelines to a close.

The core arc of Kit's wartime mission and Wendy's discovery of her legacy.

Kit nearly steps on a landmine while wandering into a field during a roadside rest stop on her first day.

Marcelle comes to CARD headquarters at night asking for help for her sick younger brother Maurice.

Kit and Marcelle uncover Sidonie's late husband's history book in the library rubble and work to restore it.

Lewis teaches Marcelle to drive the Ford named Bessie, and Marcelle shows a natural talent for it.

Breckie shares her story of personal loss and two failed marriages with Sidonie, helping draw her out of seclusion.

Kit learns from Lewis that Madame Petit's twin daughters were separated by the war, with one still missing.

During a rolling story hour, Kit spots a severed German soldier's head floating past the window mid-reading.

Kit and Marcelle discover two orphaned girls, Victorine and Vivienne, hiding in the dangerous Red Zone.

Kit and Marcelle brave the German offensive to rescue Victorine and Vivienne from the Red Zone.

Kit and Cookie bond at the makeshift hospital over their shared status as salaried outsiders among the Cards.

Sidonie returns to Blérancourt after the German retreat and tells Kit she wants to train as a librarian.

The armistice is declared and CARD members and villagers celebrate the end of the war together.

An escaped German prisoner attacks Kit in the Red Zone, and Marcelle saves her by striking him with a jack.

Kit overhears Anne Morgan and Dr. M.D. discuss and then reject the idea of giving Kit a bonus.

Kit brings Marcelle to Paris to help design and open a new library for the working class.

This pool highlights the smaller but vital moments that shaped Kit's mission and the lives of the people around her in Blérancourt. From a near-fatal brush with a landmine on her very first day to the discovery of a damaged book that helps bring the reclusive Sidonie back to the world, these events reveal the human texture beneath the larger wartime story. Key relationships are built through driving lessons, house calls, and a rolling story hour interrupted by a gruesome reminder of the front's proximity, while Kit and Marcelle repeatedly venture into the dangerous Red Zone to reach two frightened orphaned girls. The courage of everyone involved is tested again during the German offensive, the influenza pandemic, and the postwar threat of an escaped prisoner who attacks Kit in the Red Zone. The pool closes with Kit's decision to take her work, and Marcelle, to Paris for a new chapter.

The everyday courage and quiet turning points behind Kit's story.

Wendy discovers the Under Two Flags CARD bulletins in the NYPL archives and becomes fascinated by Jessie Carson.

Wendy is caught by Roberto sneaking CARD documents out of the library and the two stop speaking.

Wendy visits the Morgan Library and Museum hoping to find more information about Anne Morgan and the Cards.

Kit proposes a rolling story hour to the two Annes, using cars to bring reading to remote village children.

Henri secretly asks Kit to deliver a collection of sonnets with a valentine inside to Jeanne Petit.

Kit overhears a colonel warn Dr. M.D. that the Cards should prepare to evacuate at any moment.

Kit sneaks Tom back to her room and they have sex, deciding she is done fearing for her reputation.

Kit persuades a reluctant Madame Petit to evacuate, convincing her she must stay alive for her daughter Jeanne.

Kit convinces a grieving Sidonie to leave her daughter's grave behind and evacuate with the other villagers.

Roberto gives Wendy Mary Breckinridge's autobiography as a gift on her two-year anniversary at the NYPL.

Wendy finds a paper inside Roberto's gift book announcing the death of a CARD member she identifies as Cookie.

Kit gives Marcelle her father's handkerchief after resolving to stay in France and secure the girl's future.

Wendy tracks down Marcelle Moreau, now eighty-seven years old and still living in New York City.

Wendy tells Roberto about the interrupted sexual assault she suffered in college that closed her off from others.

Wendy is promoted to program director at the NYPL and proposes a new speaker series called Living Legends.

This pool focuses on the pivotal choices and revelations that shift the direction of both timelines. In 1987, Wendy's accidental discovery of the CARD bulletins sets her on the path that will define her career, while her growing trust in Roberto helps her confront old wounds and open herself to love and friendship. In 1918, Kit's proposals for innovative programs, her decision to pursue a relationship with Tom on her own terms, and her determination to move reluctant villagers to safety all mark the moments where she steps fully into her own courage. The discovery of Cookie's death across timelines connects Wendy's research to the human cost Kit lived through, and the handkerchief passing from Kit to Marcelle seals a promise of continuity. Wendy's promotion and proposal of the Living Legends program ensure that Kit's story, carried first by Marcelle, will finally be told.