Authors: K.C. Finn
Tags: #young adult, #historical, #wwii, #historical romance, #ww2, #ya, #europe, #telepathic, #clean teen publishing, #kc finn
The Mind's Eye (33 page)
try Ieuan first since he probably wasn’t quite as punishable an
offence as looking for Henri or my father, if indeed I were to get
caught. The advantage of now being upstairs was that all the
bedrooms had bolts on the inside of the doors, so I feigned
tiredness the day after the marriage proposal and shut myself away
for the morning. Leighton was at school, so I hoped there was
little chance of Mum stopping by to see what I was up to. I had
been very good this month, after all, and done exactly as I was
told. Until now.
I found Ieuan
sitting at a table in one of the bunk houses of the POW camp; they
were having one of their strategy meetings, which usually ended in
arguments about who was to blame for the latest tunnel collapse.
But this time there was a different atmosphere between the men in
their old uniforms that they had been wearing for months on end.
There was no belligerence between them. They seemed hopeful. Ieuan
sat across from a man who was usually only referred to as Wing
Commander, today he was giving his men a satisfied smile.
“
This could be it boys,” he said in a proud Scottish boom,
“our salvation has come.”
a crumpled square of paper from a hidden fold inside the lapel of
his tattered uniform. It was a tiny sheet with miniscule writing
upon it. He showed it around, I felt Ieuan leaning forward eagerly
at the mere sight of it.
“
The Gaullists are working to free us,” he explained,
producing a pair of spectacles to inspect the tiny print on the
paper, “of course their tunnels will be much sturdier than ours,
they’ve got the materials.”
“
Another tunnel?” someone questioned behind Ieuan. Everyone
shushed him.
“
Yes,” the WC answered with gritted teeth, “but as I say, a
much better one. It leads out into a village quite a way from here.
All we have to do is dig due north to try and meet it. It comes out
here two days from now if they keep up their speed.”
with excited nerves, but I could feel myself frowning. This was no
doomed attempt; this was a proper, full-blown escape. If he made it
out of the camp and into the rest of France, the consequences of
breaking out would be severe. Idrys had maintained that it was
sensible for him to stay put, but here these gents were, risking
their safety to get home and start fighting all over again. The men
in the camp reached an agreement that they would all help to find
the entrance to the new tunnel, but their smiling faces filled me
with dread.
I decided not
to tell Idrys anything that I had discovered yet; there was still
every chance that the plans of the prisoners of war would change
and therefore no need to worry him. He’d have enough trouble trying
to reign in Mam and Blod now that they had a wedding to organise,
after all. With the door to my room still locked I sucked up my
strength for another trip, my heavy heart settling on Henri as I
focused hard.
“
You shouldn’t be here,” he whispered immediately.
How do you know that?
I asked, a
desperate relief spreading through my whole body.
“
It’s for your own protection;” Henri answered angrily, “Gail
says so.”
found him after all. Henri was sitting in a dusty cupboard, his
knees almost up to his chest. A book was open across them and he
had a tiny torch which he settled between the pages, illuminating
his ragged trousers and sore, calloused hands.
Where on earth are you?
I
asked.
“
I can’t tell you anything yet,” he said sadly, “I’m trying to
get home.”
helping you?
“
Mum?” Henri asked. I felt his eyes flicker to the side as he
thought. “Gail is… your mother?”
She didn’t tell you
, I mused,
of course she didn’t tell you.
“
Why did she keep it from me?” Henri whispered.
Because that’s what my family does, apparently.
I felt the old resentment creeping into my
head.
What did she tell you about
me?
“
That the psychic trips were making you ill,” he said, “please
don’t make yourself sick for me Kit, with any luck I’ll be home
soon and-”
She’s lied to you,
I interjected.
Henri froze, I felt him rubbing his palms on his knees like he
always did when his nerves were up.
She
was the one causing my fevers. She’s afraid of people finding out
what I am, in case the government pick me up to work for the War
Office like her.
“
I suppose she’s trying to protect you,” he
murmured.
Don’t defend her,
I insisted,
seething inside. This wasn’t the time for his forgiving
nature.
And if she comes to talk to you,
don’t tell her I’m back in your head.
“So you’re really not in any pain?”
No more than usual,
I
replied,
I’m not even using my chair any
more. Bickerstaff’s got it at the moment.
“
He’s there?” I felt a rush of relief in Henri’s chest. He
felt thinner than he had been, more frail somehow. “Thank
God.”
fine. He and Blod are getting married.
“
I don’t know which to feel more sorry for,” Henri whispered,
half a laugh in his words. I laughed too, a warm smile overtaking
my bitterness for my secret keeping family.
you.
“
I should hope so,” Henri replied with a smile, “It would have
been much easier to get back to Norway from here, the Resistance
are struggling to arrange my passage to England.”
exactly?
“
Somewhere in France, I shouldn’t say more,” he answered,
“Look, don’t be too hard on your mother, Kit. She has all kinds of
contacts with the Free French; they rescued me when the Italians
were transporting me to Egypt. Gail directed me to all these
different safe houses until I could get to this restaurant. I ran
miles every day from one to the next, avoiding the German patrols.
I’ve been well looked after.”
running in my feverish dreams suddenly made far more sense to me. I
wasn’t sure I could forgive all of the secrets and lies my mother
had told Henri and me, but she had kept her word to help him to
safety and that was something I would always have to be grateful
for.
“
I’ve missed your voice so much,” Henri said gently, “I... I
love you still, you know.”
too Henri.
I felt him
tingle all over, a warm happiness rising in his cheeks. Then he
gulped and something awkward twisted his expression.
“
I think I might have told your mother some things I shouldn’t
have,” he mumbled, “she asked about us. It’s quite embarrassing now
that I think about it.”
I don’t care,
I answered,
if there’s one thing she can’t get in the way of,
it’s me loving you.
“
Even if I’ve been living in a cupboard for two weeks?” Henri
asked with a chuckle. “I think I smell like the restaurant
downstairs.”
Even so,
I replied.
about Henri’s feelings for me had melted. As much as I had missed
him desperately, I hadn’t realised quite how much it meant to talk
to him until now. My hands felt wet at home like tears were
dripping onto them, but I forced my thoughts to stay with Henri and
his warm, smiling lips.
How soon can
you be home?
“
A meeting is happening here tomorrow,” he explained, “They
don’t usually tell me anything until it’s time to actually do
something. But I’ve been invited to the meeting, so that’s a good
sign I think.”
drop by.
“
Be careful,” Henri warned, “Gail might do the same
thing.”
I will be careful,
I
promised,
but it won’t stop me now.
Nothing was going to stop me from seeing that
Henri got home safe.
I composed
myself and washed my face after I finally let Henri go. We talked
at length about nothing at all until I slowly realised it would be
time for lunch at Ty Gwyn and tore myself away from the feel of his
smile and sound of his laugh. The Free French were in the business
of sending Allied forced home so that they could get back to
fighting against the ever-encroaching Nazi threat, so by the time I
left Henri I was almost certain that he’d be coming home sooner
rather than later. All the same, one tiny doubt remained in my
head, alerting me to the risks he’d have to take in order to cross
the channel safely.
Downstairs
there was a huge commotion at the table as we all sat down to
lunch. I had been clunking down the stairs and missed the beginning
of it, but the middle was clear enough to catch what was going
on.
“
Next Friday?” Mam bellowed, “And how do you propose we get
everything ready in seven days’ time?”
“
I’ve done most of it already on the phone this morning,” Blod
explained, “My old friends from school are coming tomorrow to fix
up the dresses, Steven’s still got his best suit and he’s had a
word with our preacher up at the chapel.”
“
He took pity on me,” Bickerstaff said with a smile, but I
couldn’t miss the bitter note in his words.
“
Don’t knock it boy,” Idrys replied with a warning finger,
“you’ve had a hard time of it, take what you can while people are
feeling generous.”
were buzzing around the table laden with lunch foods as Idrys, Ness
and I sat beside the doctor and started to tuck in. Bickerstaff
didn’t seem to like Idrys’s advice much but he was respectfully
quiet and gave the old farmer a nod.
“
But people won’t be able to travel up in time,” Mam
protested, “Your Auntie Gert and-”
“
Oh bugger them, I don’t want them yur anyway,” Blod said,
waving her off. She brought Bickerstaff a cup of tea and kissed his
scarred cheek gently. “Them aunties always cause trouble, nosey
things. Besides which Thomas is already coming up on leave next
weekend, and he’s the only one I really care about being
there.”
“
At least you don’t have to worry about my side,” Bickerstaff
added with a laugh that nobody returned, trying to hide their pity
for the man with no family ties.
“
No friends from medical school or nothing?” Mam asked, giving
him a kind smile.
blonde head. “I’m sure they’re all frightfully busy with the war, I
don’t expect they’d be free to make it even if it was six months
away.”
Mam didn’t
seem happy with that, she was clearly looking for backup to have
more time to prepare for the big day. She caught my eye over the
table and pointed a finger at me thoughtfully.
“
That reminds me Kit I invited your mother,” she began, “I
thought she might be too busy like, but she says she can make it.
Isn’t that great?”
“
Leighton will be thrilled,” I remarked, avoiding the
question. I definitely wasn’t ready to see Mum again so soon and if
she was here at Ty Gwyn there was no chance of checking on
Henri.
“
Well everything’s all right then, isn’t it?” Blod said
triumphantly, “Bampi, you’ll have to take me out today to see about
flowers.”
“
Oh good,” Idrys answered, “I was hoping there’d be even more
work to do today than usual.”
arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek before
strutting out of the room. Idrys watched her go, rolling his
eyes.
“
Bloody women eh?” he remarked to Bickerstaff.
“
Don’t get me started,” the doctor replied.
both of them, but they were actually right about Blod, if not women
in general. All Bickerstaff had done was ask the big question, now
his very life was in Blod’s hands. All in all he didn’t seem to
mind, in fact his bad moods were lifting more quickly than they
used to, giving way to more frequent happy moments as well as some
very thoughtful ones where he let Ness talk his head off about
everything under the sun.
After lunch
the men cleared out of the room slowly, leaving me with Mam and
Ness. I propped myself up at the sink to dry the cups and plates as
she washed them, watching her rosy face as she focused her eyes out
of the window on the frosty winter scene in the distance.
“
I bet it’ll be snowing by Friday,” she mused, “Blod won’t
have thought of that.”
“
I suppose you have to let them do it their way,” I mused. Mam
gave me a knowing nod.
“
It’s funny how she’s come back round to him,” Mam said as she
scrubbed out the butter tray, “I think he was about twenty five
when he arrived yur, strapping young doctor from England, you know.
All the girls were mad on him back then, Blod too. She talked on
forever about his big blue eyes; oh I was sick of it!” She passed
me the tray with a shrug. “And now yur we are, five years on and
suddenly they’re in love. It’s a mad world, innit?”
“
Very mad,” I agreed, thinking about all the mad things that
Mam didn’t even know were going on.
“
She went off him for ages, said she hated him,” Mam
continued, putting down her things and wiping her hands dry, “She’d
never go to the doctor when she was your age, not even when-” She
caught herself, looking at me carefully for a moment. “Well, not
even when she really needed him. But he always came yur if we
called him, you know? He’s been very good to our
family.”