Ada Pritchard, or simply Mrs. Pritchard (née Rees) is the main antagonist from the book Blackout in the Blitz by Terry Deary. She is thin and light and has a long, sharp nose. She and her husband, Mr Pritchard, own a farm in Wales. The both, especially Mrs. Pritchard, are violent and rude, mainly to their helper, Tegwyn who is from North Wales, and to their to collies. Mrs. Pritchard also has a brother, Charles Rees who is a reverend in the village near the farm.
Biography[]
During World War II, Mrs. Pritchard and her brother Reverend Rees decide to take care about two children, Alf Turner and Sally Midwell, who are evacuated from Coventry, England, to Wales.
While waiting for the children, the siblings are thinking about which of the children they will take. Mrs. Pritchard refuses to take Alf, as she sees boys lazy and naughty. When the children finally arrive, Alf mentions to Mrs. Pritchard the black market, as his father owns a butchery and needs fresh meat. Mrs. Pritchard quickly changes her mind about Alf, but it is too late and she has to take Sally instead.
On the farm, Mrs. Pritchard and her husband behave badly to Sally: she has to work very hard and to sleep in the shed. At school, she confides to Alf who writes a letter to her parents, as Mrs. Pritchard reads all Sally's letters.
However, Reverend Rees reads it and informs his sister about it. Mrs. Pritchard then beats Sally violently. Meanwhile, Alf is able to meet the Pritchards and make a deal with them for his father: two sheep and two cows for £15 which his father will take some days later.
Alf and Sally make a plan to help Sally escape from the farm: she will ride a glider, made by injured soldiers from the near hospital, in the night when Alf's dad will take the meat from the farm.
Mrs. Pritchard suspects something and tells Reverend Rees to spy Alf, but they both don't learn nothing important. At the night, when Alf's father takes the meat to his van, Alf secretly tied a rope from the glider on the van. Meanwhile, Sally climbs up on the roof with the glider and her suitcase that is tied up to the glider with another rope. When the car leaves the farm, Sally tales off with the glider.
However, her suitcase hits Mrs. Pritchard's head. Mrs. Pritchard then catches the suitcase to stop Sally, but she is too light and eventually flies with Sally. Mr. Pritchard tries to shoot the glider, but Tegwyn hits him and Mr. Pritchard mistakenly shoots his wife into her bottom. She falls down and ended up into the fence around the farm.