Dido relented. ‘We only have one. It was our mother’s. Her things are … You might not want it.’
The German didn’t speak.
Persey asked, ‘Do we have a choice?’
‘I am afraid not.’
Dido sighed and looked to Persey for help but she knew there was nothing they could do. Persey nodded.
‘Thank you.’ The man looked at Persey again and then turned to follow Dido as she moved towards the stairs.
‘Should one of us go with her?’ Jack asked. ‘We’ve just left her alone with two enemy soldiers.’
‘Not you,’ Mrs Grant whispered to Jack. ‘You keep your head down.’
Persey pushed her chair back from the table but Mrs Grant had already made her intention to follow Dido clear and had left the room.
‘All right?’ Jack asked Persey.
She swallowed. ‘Yes, yes I think so,’ she said although she wasn’t fine really. Intense nerves made her voice shake. ‘I should have gone with Dido. Only I can’t seem to move.’
‘It’s actually more frightening than I anticipated,’ Jack said. ‘Isn’t it. Seeing them here. In that awful uniform and those boots. They look just like the photographs in the newspapers.’
Persey nodded but her stomach felt hollow through nerves and lack of food. Jack reached down and took her hand from her lap and held it, giving her a look of solidarity.
The men’s boots thudded dully on the stair runner and then they clunked noisily on the tiled hallway. Persey could take it no longer and although her legs felt wobbly she forced herself to follow them.
‘So …?’ she prompted as they made their way towards the front door.
The second man spoke. ‘You have one bedroom suitable for an officer.’
Her heart sank. She knew as much. But so soon?
‘You will need to start removing personal items—’
But the first man gave his colleague a sharp look to silence him. Why wasn’t he saying who he was? It poured doubt into her mind. Was she wrong?
He spoke softly. ‘My condolences to you and your sister on the passing of your mother.’
‘You don’t care,’ Dido said under her breath from behind Persey.
‘Thank you,’ Persey replied a little louder than she’d meant.
She looked at him and he looked at her before he gave a small smile and turned to leave. They closed the door behind them.
Dido and Mrs Grant entered the dining room first and resumed their seats although no one touched their food now.
‘They expect us to be grateful that they’re here? That we’re turfing Mother’s things out of her room? One day after her passing?’
Persey hovered behind her chair, clutching it, unsure if she wanted to sit or stand, unsure of anything.
‘And how presumptuous of him, just assuming we’re sisters. I didn’t tell him,’ Dido said angrily.
It was this that forced Persey into movement. She had to know now. She had to be sure. She let go of the chair back and turned, walking down the corridor and throwing open the front door. The men were already at the gate. Persey had expected to see a car but the men had arrived on foot.
‘Excuse me,’ Persey called. They stopped and turned back to her.
The first man looked at her and then turned to his colleague and told him something in German that Persey could neither catch nor understand if she had heard. The second man walked further on and waited at a distance.
