Welcome Home (27 page)

‘He’s up there, collecting the last of his things. Go up, but this is the last time. I want him gone – and you too. I don’t want you to visit my shop again.’

Beth nodded, upset by the brusqueness of the man’s tone, but she knew it was nothing personal. It was fear – not only for Julien, but also for himself and his wife; they were all at
risk.

Beth tapped out the code and Rob opened the door cautiously, closing it swiftly when she had stepped inside. ‘You’ve heard?’

‘Only that he’s been arrested. Monsieur Lafarge looks awful; his face is grey and the look in his eyes is just terrible, poor man.’

‘I know. He’s asked me to leave, but I was going anyway. Obviously.’

‘Am I permitted to know where?’

‘Of course. You’ll have to know. About a mile out of town on the road towards Paris, there’s a tumbledown cottage in the middle of a small wood that doesn’t look as if
it’s been lived in for years. But best of all, there’s a cellar and the entrance to it isn’t very noticeable. Besides, I don’t think the Germans would search the wood unless
they had a reason. I think I’ll be fairly safe there.’ He smiled wryly. ‘As safe as any of us are anywhere.’

‘But it’ll be awfully cold, won’t it?’

‘No more so than where Antoine and his compatriots are living. They’ve got—’

‘Don’t tell me,’ Beth said swiftly. ‘I don’t want to know. How did you find the cottage?’

‘I’ve been cycling around the local countryside, looking for somewhere suitable in case I ever had to leave here quickly. And now I have to.’

‘Let me help you.’

‘No, Leonie. Thank you, but we mustn’t be seen together. You go home now and I’ll be in touch as soon as I can. We’ll use the oak tree for a while longer and then I think
I’ll have to find another drop box. Oh, and can you tell London about Julien?’

Beth nodded and then hugged him swiftly. ‘Take care,’ she murmured. ‘Stay safe.’

As she left, Beth paused in the shop and faced Henri squarely. ‘Monsieur Lafarge, I’m so sorry about Julien, but if I stop coming here so abruptly, it will seem strange. Besides,
Madame Détange will still need me to buy bread from you sometimes.’

The poor man ran his hands distractedly through his hair. ‘Of course, you are right. I’m sorry. I’m not thinking straight.’ He glanced at her with frightened eyes.
‘But Bruce is going, isn’t he?’

‘Oh yes, and he’ll only come back here if he really has to.’

Henri nodded. ‘Thank you,’ he said huskily.

‘It’s the very devil, in’t it, Lil? I don’t know where my children are. Oh, I know where Reggie is. He’s safe, I suppose, even though I
don’t like him being away. Shirley won’t say where she is even though she must still be in this country. We don’t really know where Frank is. Beth seems to have dropped off the
face of the earth and I – I don’t even know where my poor Laurence is buried.’ Her voice broke on the final words and she dabbed at her eyes with the corner of her apron. Lil put
her arms around her. It wasn’t often that Edie wallowed in self-pity, but on the rare occasions when she did, Lil was always there to comfort her.

‘Shirley’ll be fine, duck. She’s really enjoying herself and it’s brought her out of her shell. This war’s been a blessing in disguise for your Shirley. She looks
great and she’s got so much more self-confidence. I’d never have believed it, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. And as for Frank, well, I know he’s in danger but
he’s got a lot of mates around him. I’m sure he’s going to come through. We’ve got to believe that, Edie.’ She paused, but because the two friends were always honest
with one another, she was forced to acknowledge, ‘It’s your Beth I’m most worried about, if I’m honest. It’s just not like her not to write at all. Even the postcards
were better than nothing.’

‘I know,’ Edie wailed, for once giving way to tears. ‘And I can’t talk to Archie about it. If you so much as mention her name, his face closes up. But I think, secretly,
he’s worried sick. She was always his favourite.’

‘Oh now, don’t say that, Edie. Archie loves all his kids just the same.’

‘Well, yes, I know that, but there was this special sort of bond between the two of them. It was before you came to live next door, so you won’t remember, but he was at home when she
was born and he was the first to hold her. I reckon it was something he’s never forgotten.’

‘Well, I suggest you do try and talk to Archie the next time he’s home. Let him know you’re feeling just as worried as he is. It might help both of you.’

The beginning of 1944 brought a feeling of expectancy. Like Harry had said, it seemed that people felt, if not actually knew, that this year could be a turning point.

The staff car carrying Kurt and his driver roared into the farmyard, a covered lorry following. It was not the usual truck that came to collect food. Raoul paused as he
crossed the yard towards the byre and frowned anxiously. ‘What’s he doing here?’ he muttered to himself. ‘It’s not the day for collecting anything.’

Beth had gone to the little tumbledown barn to broadcast to London. This was not a good time to have the Germans visit. And when the cover on the back of the lorry was flung back and ten or more
soldiers jumped down and began to run in all directions around the yard, searching the outbuildings and even heading towards the farmhouse, Raoul felt his heart leap in alarm. But he managed to
maintain a look of puzzlement on his face as Kurt strode towards him. The officer gave a polite little bow, though his face was serious as he said, ‘I am sorry for this intrusion, Herr
Détange, but my orders are to take the girl back for questioning.’

Raoul swallowed the fear that rose in his throat. ‘Questioning? Leonie? Whatever can you want with her? She’s only a young girl. If it hadn’t been for the war, she’d
probably still have been at school.’

Kurt gave a thin smile. ‘So we are led to believe, but we have received some information that leads us to think that she may not be all that she seems. Where is she?’

Raoul waved his hand vaguely. ‘Somewhere around. I’m not sure where. I don’t keep watch on her all the time. She’s a good little worker.’

‘So, you don’t know what she’s doing’ – he emphasized the final words – ‘all the time?’

Raoul faced the man squarely, but his heart was racing and his legs were trembling. ‘No, I don’t.’ He didn’t want to be disloyal to Beth – to betray her – but
he had others to think of; Marthe, Emile and all the resistance workers who were with his son.

Kurt was issuing orders. ‘Search everywhere. All the buildings and then the fields.’ He turned back again to the farmer. ‘Or is she out cycling?’

Raoul shrugged, managing to stop himself from glancing towards the shed where Beth kept the bicycle she used. He wanted to go to Marthe, wanted to comfort her and, most of all, he wanted somehow
to warn Beth. But he couldn’t; he couldn’t move. His legs wouldn’t work and, for a brief moment, he thought he was going to pass out. He passed a hand across his forehead as he
watched the soldiers searching his farm and listened to their shouts.

Oh, Beth, run, run.

In the little stone barn in the fields, set close to the sheltering hedge yet with a good view of the slope leading up to it from the farm, Beth finished her transmission and
removed her earphones.

It was then that she heard the shouting and looked out of the small opening in the wall to see a line of soldiers, spread out across the width of the field, walking slowly up the slope towards
her. And they were carrying guns.

Swiftly, as she had practised so many times, Beth packed the wireless back into its suitcase, pushed it into the hole in the wall and replaced the bricks. She glanced out of the window space
again. There was still time to pick up a handful of dust from the floor and spread it over the brickwork so that the hiding place was not easily noticeable. Then she pulled the bales of hay into
place and picked up the besom from the corner and whisked it backwards and forwards across the floor, moving to the door as she did so. Flinging the brush into the far corner, she left the shack,
squeezed through the hole in the hedge and ran down the slope. Now she was out of sight of the searching soldiers. She slowed her pace. Taking deep breaths, she told herself: Act normally.
They’ll glance into the shack but you’ve left no trace that anyone’s been there. She looked around her; where was the farm sheepdog who’d followed her up the field? There he
was, happily sniffing the hedgerows.

‘Jasper,’ she called. ‘Here, boy.’

She whistled shrilly and the dog looked up, his tongue lolling, then he bounded towards her. She patted his head and pulled gently on his silky ears. ‘Now, boy,’ she whispered.
‘You’ve got to look after me. Let’s play, eh?’

She pulled the ball, chewed with constant wear, that she always carried from her pocket. Jasper gave an excited bark, but she was no longer afraid of the soldiers finding her; in fact, the sound
might draw them away from searching in the barn too thoroughly. She threw the ball as far as she could and Jasper raced after it. She laughed aloud and clapped her hands, but out of the corner of
her eyes she saw the first soldiers pushing their way through the hedge.

The ball firmly gripped in his strong teeth, the dog was racing back to her to drop it at her feet. Panting heavily, he looked up at her with his soft brown eyes as the soldiers came towards
her, pointing their guns at her.

Jasper bared his teeth and growled and one of the soldiers levelled his gun towards the dog.

‘No, no, don’t. Please don’t. He won’t hurt you.’

She put her hand on the dog’s head and soothed him. The animal looked up at her and she was sure there was a question in his eyes. ‘It’s all right, boy,’ she
murmured.

‘
Raus
,’ the nearest soldier to her said and gestured with the barrel of his gun that she should walk up the field. Beth shrugged, but, deliberately, she turned to her right
and began to walk to the gate at the far side of the grass field and away from the barn.

‘This way,’ another soldier said gruffly in poor French. Beth turned her winning smile on him and said slowly, ‘This is the quickest way back to the farmyard.’ And
without waiting for him to argue, she set off with Jasper trotting obediently at her side, though her shoulders were tense with fear. At any moment she expected to be shot in the back.

When she arrived in the yard, she avoided meeting Raoul’s anxious glance and, smiling, she went straight towards Kurt. ‘Hello, Major Hartmann. Have you come for supplies?’

Kurt did not return her smile. Instead, he said abruptly. ‘Get into the car, Fräulein, if you please.’

Beth feigned puzzlement, although now she had guessed why he was here.

She shrugged and did as he asked. He climbed into the back seat beside her and his driver started up the engine. She had no time even to say goodbye to Raoul and Marthe. The only one to utter a
sound was Jasper, who barked frantically and struggled to chase after the car as it swung out of the gate and roared up the lane. But Raoul held onto him. He knew that the soldiers would not
hesitate to shoot his dog.

‘It’s all right, boy,’ he murmured, but in his heart he knew it was anything but ‘all right’.

He went into the farmhouse to find his wife waiting for him, tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks, her apron to her eyes. ‘What will happen to her?’

‘I don’t know,’ Raoul said flatly, ‘but I fear the worst if – if they torture her. I don’t think she’ll hold out.’ They stared at each other until
Marthe whispered hoarsely, ‘What about Emile? Can we warn him?’

‘Antoine,’ he corrected her gently. ‘And yes, you’re right. Somehow, we must get word to him.’

‘But how? You have no idea where he is, have you?’

Raoul shook his head.

‘And don’t trust that lot in the village,’ Marthe said, with sudden strength in her tone. ‘I think it’s one of them that’s said something to the Germans about
Leonie. We’ll just have to wait until Em— I mean Antoine – comes here again.’ It was hard for a mother to rename her only son.

‘But he’s only just been here – last night – with the message that she was to send this morning.’

‘Do you think she got it sent before they found her? It doesn’t look as if they found the wireless.’

‘We can only hope she got through, because if she did, there should be a drop in a couple of nights and a Lysander to pick up two airmen.’

‘And do you know where that is to be?’

Again Raoul shook his head. ‘They change it each time. But I might hear the planes coming and I can go out and look.’

Fear shot across Marthe’s eyes, but she said nothing. She would not stop Raoul going out after curfew if it was to warn her son, even though she feared for them both. They were all in this
fight together and whatever it took, she would help them rid her beloved France of the invaders.

Kurt took her to the town, where the Germans had established their headquarters for the area. Through his shop doorway, Henri Lafarge saw the vehicles roar up to the building
across the street and his heart constricted. He still had no idea what had happened to his son. It had been four weeks now since Julien’s arrest and he’d heard nothing. Henri believed
his son had been taken somewhere else, though where, he didn’t know. The soldiers who still came into his shop to buy bread and cakes, when there were any, were pleasant enough and he and his
wife had never been questioned. He wondered if Julien, whose codename was Edouard, had been so badly treated that he had broken down under interrogation and had betrayed Leonie.

Henri shuddered. He hoped not; he wouldn’t want to think his son had done such a thing, however badly beaten he had been. His mind shied away from imagining what Julien might be suffering.
He was amazed that he and his wife had not been arrested too. Apparently, the Germans didn’t think to suspect the polite, helpful man they saw most days when buying bread! And yet they knew
full well he was Julien’s father.

The man stood in his shop doorway. The window, smashed on the night of Julien’s arrest, had been boarded up. Henri could no longer display his wares in the window. Not that there was very
much to put on show nowadays, he thought morosely. Then he saw Rob cycling down the street and he stepped back into the shadows of his shop, hoping that the agent was not paying him a visit. But
Rob leaned his bicycle against the wall, just as Beth had done so many times, and stepped into the shop.