All clocks and watches are to be advanced one hour … to accord with German time.
No person shall enter the aerodrome at La Villiaze.
The British National Anthem shall not be played or sung without the written permission of the German Commandant …
Persey baulked to read that the Reichsmark would be introduced to the island and the rate temporarily fixed at five marks to the pound and then read something that made her sit up straighter in her chair:
All British sailors, airmen and soldiers on leave in this Island must report at the police station at 9 a.m. today and must then report at the Royal Hotel.
Her hands shook and she laid the newspaper down as she thought of Jack. His story wasn’t that he was on leave, which would have been quite sensible now she thought about it, especially if someone who knew he’d gone to join up saw him on the island only weeks later. Jack’s story was that he hadn’t left at all, although he had been adamant they wouldn’t need to use that tale as he was only here for a short while and then he’d be gone with noone outside of Deux Tourelles any the wiser as to his actions if he kept a low profile. Only of course now German officers had already been inside the house, already seen him. Would the plan stay the same?
Right now, Jack was out spying. Just thinking the word made her chest tighten. He was going to attempt to lay low, down by the harbour, and watch the Germans’ shipping movements, while she was expected to see how many planes landed on the island and Dido was tasked with finding out where anti-aircraft guns were being positioned.
‘Oh God,’ she said to herself. She was counting down the days until Jack left. Saturday. He’d be gone by Saturday. Less than a week. Once she knew he was safely off the island she might be able to relax a little more. Although then they would be in the house without a man to protect them, should they need it, which she sorely hoped they wouldn’t. The important thing was for Jack to leave, safely picked up by the navy.
Persey read the final order on the paper three times to be sure she’d read it correctly.
The continuance of privileges granted to the civilian population is dependent upon good behaviour. Military necessity may from time to time require the orders to be made more stringent.
She put the newspaper down without even bothering to open the rest of it. All the news she needed was on the front page; everything else would pale in comparison.
As she was taking time off from singing in the evenings to grieve for their mother, Dido was relishing the idea of her part in Jack’s mission. She had declared it the very thing to keep her mind away from thoughts of the funeral. Jack had been clear that they were to commit as much as they could to memory and not to write anything down in case they were stopped and questioned by soldiers who were busy assembling checkpoints. Dido wasexcited to play her part in helping Britain, ‘no matter how small it is and even if they do nothing with the information,’ she had said.
Persey couldn’t really fathom what the British would do with the intelligence. The Channel Islands had been demilitarised, the British Expeditionary Force were hardly going to turn around and come back now, were they?
‘There are over four hundred and fifty Germans here so far,’ Mrs Grant surprised Persephone by saying as she walked into the kitchen with a basket of shopping.
Persey sprang up to help her, taking the heavy basket from the housekeeper’s hands. There was a copy of the island’s only other daily newspaper rolled up and she toyed between falling upon it eagerly for new information and ignoring it altogether. She couldn’t face seeing more orders, which it would inevitably contain.
‘That kind of information will please Jack. But how do you know how many soldiers there are?’ Persey asked as she started unloading the fresh bread, cheese and produce into the pantry.
‘I asked Mr Collins at Le Riches grocery store. He’s been supplying provisions for the troops.’
Persey turned and looked at Jack’s mother. ‘Has he now?’
‘That’s the look I wanted to give him, but as someone in the queue behind me muttered, everyone’s got to eat.’
‘They must be expecting more soon,’ Persey mused as she turned back to the shopping. ‘You weren’t making too much of asking were you?’ Persey said, thinking how easy it would be to look too curious and thus inadvertently draw prying eyes upon Deux Tourelles and Jack.
Mrs Grant unfolded that day’s newspaper. ‘Everyone was asking him something,’ she said defensively.
More aircraft had landed at the aerodrome since Persey last went past on the way back home after summoning the doctor. Without realising it, she’d become entrenched in her house ever since hermother had died, had not set foot outside the grounds of Deux Tourelles in two days. Today she had reason to step outside the boundary line, but found that she really didn’t want to. It was easier to stay inside, ignore everything going on around her; wait for Jack to leave and pray normality resumed soon.
Condolence cards had started arriving by hand and in the post, but in the excitement of Jack’s clandestine activities and the Germans’ arrival, she felt people inside the house had forgotten her mother too quickly. It wouldn’t have been this way if the Germans hadn’t come. Persephone didn’t want to forget her, but the pain of remembering her smile and thoughtfulness was too much to bear sometimes.
The undertaker had been kind enough to telephone to make most of the arrangements so far, but Persey had to visit for the final formalities that went hand in hand with a funeral. She steeled herself for that and also because she was going to try to do her bit to help Jack and take as much of a look at the airport as she could. She had done it innocently enough on the first day. So why did she feel cold whenever she thought about it? Because now it was spying – of a sort – and completely different; not at all innocent.
When she did go, she was unsure whether she should stand in plain view and make herself look less suspicious, or risk being caught hiding in the bushes. What would happen to her then? She decided to lay her bicycle down and pretend she was putting the chain back on if anyone came past, but she barely had a chance to decide whether or not to dirty her hands on the chain to give more credence to her story when a local car came past and stopped near her. Persey hadn’t been expecting a man in German uniform to step out of the driver’s side. In her naivety, she had assumed all Germans would be in German cars but they’d obviously already begun commandeering Guernsey vehicles.
The man walked towards her. She looked at him and was aware of her chest rising and falling before she made a concerted effort to still her breathing as much as possible.
Neither of them said anything for a moment or two but eventually they spoke at the same time.
‘Persephone,’ Stefan said.
But she had already started with, ‘Why are you here?’
He closed his eyes and then when he opened them it was to look past her, down the lane.
