Page 60 of Neighbors at War

‘You live here with your family?’ he asked in German, looking over her shoulder at the hallway and kitchen beyond.

‘I do,’ she replied in English but gave a nod in case he didn’t understand what she said.

Hoping he wasn’t going to offer to walk her to work, or even back home again, she tried but failed to think of a way to bring Tony into the conversation without voicing her thoughts. She stared at him waiting for him to fill the silence.

His face reddened and he stepped from one foot to the other. Peggy was relieved to see him look uncomfortable but said nothing, hoping he would leave.

Eventually he gave a nod and a tight smile. ‘Goodnight, Miss Hamel,’ he said again in his native tongue. ‘I hope to see you again in your office.’

Not wishing to encourage him, she said, ‘Goodnight, Captain,’ and closed the door.

She watched through the mottled glass panel in the door as he hesitated before turning and walking down the steps. Seconds later the front door slammed in the next house. Peggy let out a groan, and it was only then that she realised she’d been holding her breath.

The kitchen door opened a touch, then fully as her mother came out to join her. ‘I couldn’t hear much,’ she said. ‘Especially as he spoke German, but I didn’t like the tone of his voice.’ She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. ‘I have a horrible feeling Peggy, my girl, that the captain has taking a fancy to you.’

Peggy was thinking the same thing. ‘I wish I could disagree with you, Mum,’ she said miserably. Why was it that just when it seemed as if things might be getting a little better, some other torture was foisted on them?

‘Has he gone?’ Babs whispered from the landing.

‘Yes,’ Ida answered. ‘But I have a nasty feeling he’ll find an excuse to come back soon.’

Chapter Thirty-Seven

HELEN

December 1942

The next couple of months dragged for Helen. So far no one had come to inspect the house, but each of them was on constant alert, especially when Captain Engel made one of his impromptu visits. Helen hoped that the Jerries’ attention had been diverted from her disappearance, what with everything else that had happened. Whatever the reason she was relieved to have been left in relative peace with Bobby.

But Peggy had seemed troubled recently. Helen had tried to broach the subject with her friend but Peggy had brushed off her concerns, insisting there was nothing wrong.

She decided to ask Babs if she knew anything. Babs agreed. ‘I’ve noticed how distracted Peggy’s seemed for weeks now, but she insists she’s fine, just tired from long hours at work.’

‘Do you believe that’s all it is?’

Babs had shrugged. ‘No, but I know my big sister well enough to know when to drop the subject.’

Helen assumed it probably had something to do with the German officer who kept coming to the house under different pretexts, but he had never asked to come in, as far as she was aware, and Peggy always spoke to him on the doorstep.

Helen felt a little better discovering that Peggy had given the same amount of information to her as she had to Babs. She had suspected for weeks that the Hamel women were trying their best to keep any bad news from her and, although she appreciated their efforts, she would rather they treated her as they did each other.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Bobby dropped his wooden train on his toe. She saw his face crumple in pain, and, scared he might be about to scream, Helen dashed over to him and took him in her arms, hugging him to her to muffle his cries.

When he calmed down, she gently lifted his foot and, slipping off his sock, inspected his big toe. It was red and would probably have a bruise by the following day. Her heart ached for him and that he was spending most of each day cooped up in an attic with only her for company. She gently blew on his toe to soothe it, unintentionally making him laugh. Delighted to have amused him, she did it again. Their game lasted for several minutes and by the time he grew bored and returned to playing with his train, Helen felt a lot better.

They might be cooped up in here, but they were together and relatively comfortable.

That evening, soon after Bobby had fallen asleep, the attic door opened and Babs appeared. She scanned the room, then, seeing him sleeping, smiled and rested her hand over her heart. ‘He is angelic,’ she whispered. ‘I hope if I have children one of them is just like Bobby.’

Helen didn’t like to point out that with Babs’s naturally pale blonde hair rather than her own auburn and Richard’s almost black, that wasn’t very likely. ‘I’m sure you will.’ She noticed a glint of excitement in her friend. ‘Has something happened today?’

Babs grinned. ‘It has. Mum said to come down if you can. She received a Red Cross telegram with news from her cousin.’

Helen thought of the one she had sent to Richard so many months before, telling him about Bobby and letting him know she was happy for him to respond. She pushed the thought aside, not wanting to think about why he had chosen not to reply.

‘I’ll be down in a couple of minutes,’ Helen said, needing a little time to calm her emotions before joining them.

‘Don’t be too long or Mum will think you don’t want any supper.’