‘She intended to leave, only she didn’t make it off in time.None of us did. We knew you were coming, of course. Just not so quickly.’
‘They forge forward with intent,’ he said.
‘They?’ she queried.
‘We. We forge forward with intent.’
‘Towards England?’
He nodded. ‘That is the plan.’
‘Think you’ll be dining at The Ritz in a month’s time?’ she scoffed.
Stefan shrugged. ‘I sincerely hope not.’
‘Really?’ she asked, her interest piqued. ‘You’re an intelligent man. Do you honestly think,’ she continued, ‘that no one here is going to stop you; that no one is even going to try to resist?’ She was genuinely interested in what he thought. ‘Do you think no one is going to break your pointless curfew law? We can do the same amount of damage at midnight as we can during the day.’
He sighed. ‘It would be so stupid. Resistance, here.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘The size of your island,’ he said simply. ‘The layout of it. Should a band of resistance fighters form, where would you hide? Where would you plan? Where would you get weapons?’
Persey didn’t speak, her eyes downcast thinking of the truth in what he’d said.
‘We do not anticipate resistance in the Channel Islands, on any serious level,’ he continued. ‘And if there is any, I am sorry to say it will be stamped out with force.’
His words made her shiver.
‘Why would you resist?’ he asked.
‘Why wouldn’t we resist?’ she countered.
‘I mean, what cause do you have?’ he enquired. ‘You are being treated well. We are, so far, existing together side by side in close proximity. There are, of course, rules to be followed as part of an Occupation but they are not unfair rules. You come, you go, and you live much as before. We do not drag you from your homes,out into the street and shoot you or …’ He looked around for inspiration. ‘Or steal your children away when you are sleeping. We respect you.’
‘And what about the Jews?’ she asked, stopping him. ‘Do you respect them?’
‘I do,’ he muttered almost inaudibly and then louder, ‘Of course I do – they are no different to us. They are human.’
‘Really?’ she asked. ‘But the rest of your kind don’t; pushing a particular kind of anti-Semitic hatred around until it takes permanent hold; punishment for simply existing.’
Stefan raised his eyes to her. ‘Be very careful who you say that to,’ he said gently. ‘You may think it. But you cannot say it.’
‘Is that what you do?’ she asked, stepping forward although not realising she had done so. ‘Do you think it, but not say it?’
He glanced at the door as if someone might be on the other side, but Persey knew full well there wasn’t. No one would dare leave their room now.
A vacuum of silence lay between them. Eventually he pushed himself away from the window, stepped towards her, which only served to confuse her, before gently lifting his jacket from her shoulders. She’d forgotten she was wearing it.
‘I must go to bed. And so must you,’ he said. He walked towards the torch on the dressing table, reached out to pick it up, thought better of it and left it where it lay. He looked at her, a look laced with meaning before he left, pulling the door closed behind him. He knew it had been her being chased. She just hoped he didn’t know it had been Jack as well.
She had hardly slept since Stefan had been in her room but with the clocks adjusted to Berlin time and with her blackout blind left on the floor simply because she was feeling rebellious, her eyes stung with tiredness. She wished she’d put it back in place. She had awoken from her none too restful sleep far too early.
From the sitting room window, Persephone seethed with angeras she watched the Germans requisition her father’s beloved Wolseley Series II from the garage. Her teeth were clenched so tightly she was in danger of breaking one of them.
Dido entered the room, dressed in black for their mother’s funeral and adjusting the net that drooped from her hat. In stark contrast to her outfit, her lips were painted a rich shade of crimson. The sisters hadn’t had time to talk about the events of last night and Dido glanced behind her, closing the sitting room door.
‘What happened?’ Dido whispered fast. ‘Jack’s still here, I heard him in his room. And I’m sure I heard Stefan’s footsteps in the hallway. Did he come to your room last night? Tell me, quickly.’
