Page 53 of Neighbors at War

Satisfied that she had done all she could, Helen checked she had her own and Bobby’s identity papers and ran downstairs to the kitchen to look for food and whatever else she thought necessary to take.

In the living room she spotted the photo on the mantelpiece and a small painting her aunt particularly loved and always had nearby. It had been a gift from her husband that he had bought for her in St Malo on their honeymoon and Helen knew she must try to save it. She lifted the small painting from the wall, then studied the room for another picture to replace it with. Finding a framed photo of some of Sylvia’s friends whom Helen hadn’t known in one of the drawers of her aunt’s desk, she hung it on the nail where the painting had been.

Her heart ached as she looked at all the things her aunt had treasured. The book Aunt Sylvia had been reading each evening when she had fallen ill was still on the small table next to her armchair. Slipping on her coat, Helen decided to make the most of the deep pockets and picked up the book, along with another that she remembered her aunt reading. It comforted her a little to own some things her aunt had held.

A gentle tap at the front door snapped her back to the present. Helen ran to answer it, praying it wasn’t the officers testing her, pulled the door open slowly and peered around it. She was relieved to see her two friends.

As soon as they were inside the house, Babs took several cloth bags from inside her coat. ‘Mum said to bring these in case you needed them. How are you doing?’ She leant to one side and peered into the living room. ‘Are you anyway near ready?’

Their sympathy nearly dissolved her determination to stay strong. She had to think rationally and focus on not forgetting anything she might need later. ‘I’m not sure I’ve packed everything I should, but I’ve done my best. What if I leave something valuable behind?’

‘Mum said we mustn’t let you be very long,’ Peggy said apologetically. ‘She also said to remember that yours and Bobby’s safety is far more important than trinkets or photos.’

It was exactly what she needed to hear. ‘She’s right,’ Helen agreed, straightening her shoulders, knowing she daren’t allow emotions to overcome her common sense. ‘I have one or two things I need to fetch from my aunt’s room first, but I think I’m almost ready.’

‘That’s good.’ Peggy gave her an encouraging smile. ‘You’re doing really well, Helen. Truly you are. We know this is hard for you.’

Helen smiled, grateful to Peggy for her understanding, but she didn’t want to delay them in case the officers returned. She couldn’t bear to be the one to get these sweet friends into trouble.

‘I’ll be two minutes,’ she said, running upstairs, terrified she could be the cause of Peggy being sent to a prison camp if the authorities discovered that the confidentiality she had sworn to work by had been breached.

She pushed open her aunt’s bedroom door, and scanning the room, quickly opened her dressing-table drawer and took out a powder compact. Then, taking her silver-backed hairbrush, comb and mirror set that her aunt had received as a wedding present from her husband, removed the books from her coat pocket deciding to carry them instead. No one would think it odd to see someone carrying books. Helen then slipped everything she had collected from her aunt’s bedroom into her coat pocket. They were far too personal to her aunt to leave behind.

‘Bye, Aunty Sylvia,’ she whispered kissing her fingertips and touching her aunt’s headboard, feeling as if her heart was being ripped from her chest and she was losing her aunt all over again.

‘Helen? Are you coming?’

Hearing the tremble in Babs’s voice, Helen gathered herself and ran back downstairs. ‘I’m ready,’ she said aware that if they let her she would be tempted to spend the next few hours trying to choose other items to take with her.

Peggy glanced upstairs. ‘Where are the things you want us to carry next door?’

Helen pointed into the living room. ‘I’ve put everything in there.’

When the girls had gone to retrieve them, she finished putting the food and Bobby’s mug and small spoon and fork together in a basket. She hoped anyone seeing it might think it was just some shopping.

‘Ready?’ Babs asked from the kitchen door.

‘I think so.’ Helen held up the house keys. ‘Should I take these? There’s another pair I’ve left on the kitchen table for them to use. They were Aunt Sylvia’s.’

Peggy nodded. ‘I’d leave the front door unlocked, so there’s no need for them to break down the door, but keep one set so that you can let yourself in when this war ends.’

‘If it ends,’ Babs grumbled angrily.

The thought of the war ending and being able to move back in gave Helen hope. ‘You think I’ll be able to live here again?’

‘I hope so,’ Peggy said, motioning for them to leave.

‘Come along, you two,’ Babs said. ‘We don’t want to be here when they come back.’

No, Helen thought, terrified at the prospect, they didn’t.

Chapter Thirty-Two

PEGGY

Peggy was astonished to find her mother up in the attic, sweeping the floor. She stood at the top of the narrow staircase her mother always hated using and stared into the large room that covered the entire width and length of the house. ‘You’ve been working hard up here, Mum. You must be shattered.’

Her mother went to reply but was consumed by a sneezing fit. ‘The ruddy cobwebs are everywhere.’ Ida brushed her hand over the scarf she had tied around her head to cover her hair and shuddered. ‘You and Babs can finish off this cleaning, while I go and find something for Helen and that little boy to sleep on. Then we can sort out those bits of furniture in that corner. We need to make this place as cosy as possible for them.’