“Yes, Matron. Please look after Rachel. I told how happy you were with her but she feels here is becoming like it was in Germany. She thinks we hate the Jews.”
“I’ll speak to Rachel. If I had ten girls who worked as hard as she does, I’d be a happier woman. Look after yourself, Sally.”
Sally thanked her and hung up.
“I’m glad you are staying home with us. You make nicer meals.”
“Tom Beck, Maggie is a wonderful cook.” Sally admonished her charge, but she was pleased he appreciated her efforts.
“I still prefer you being here.” He came over and gave her a hug before running off to play with Ruth.
Sally stared after him. You had to love the resilience of children.
“Where did Tom go? I told him to stay close to the house.”
Sally whirled around at the sound of Harry’s voice. “You gave me a fright, Harry. I didn’t hear you come downstairs. He’s gone to play with Ruth. He’ll be fine. Maggie will watch him.”
She saw the mutinous look on his face. “It is my job to watch over my brother.”
“Harry, you share that job with me. I am happy Maggie will look after him. I know you got a fright yesterday.”
“I am not scared. It is time I fought back. I won’t be a victim again.”
Sally put her hand on his arm, gently pushing him to sit down.
“Sit and talk to me, Harry. What happened yesterday was wrong, but there is nothing you can do to make it right. Just forget about it.”
“But they said they hated us.”
“Yes, they did, but they didn’t mean it. Enid is speaking from hurt, and the others the same. People say horrible things when they’re angry and upset. Try to forgive them. Now what are you going to do with your day?”
“I thought I might try to find a job like Rachel has. Not at the hospital, but maybe somewhere in town.”
“Excellent idea.” Sally hid her concern about the reaction he might get. “I think you should talk to Reverend Collins and see if he knows of anything you could do. But don’t forget you have to keep your studies up. It’s important.”
“Yes, Sally.”
Sally turned away to hide her smile. He may think he was a grownup, but sometimes he sounded and acted just like Tom.
It took Maggie a little longer to calm down. She was raging over the way they had treated the children.
“I swear to you Sally, if I had my hands on that Enid or Jane, I could rip their hair out.”
“Maggie! What would Reverend Collins say?”
“I don’t care about turning the other cheek. A slapped cheek would be good enough for them.” Maggie muttered. “Rachel doesn’t go for a walk anymore. She comes home from her shift at the hospital and sits in her room.”
“She’s just processing what happened. She’ll go back to normal in time, Maggie. She has you and me and Matron at the hospital who thinks Rachel is a gift from heaven.” Maggie didn’t look convinced, but she wasn’t as angry looking either when she left.
A few days later, Sally hummed one of Vera Lynn’s tunes as she took advantage of the beautiful summer day. She took the wash basket to the garden, hanging the clothes on the line. She listened to the birds singing, watched as the bees flew from one flower to another. It was such a pretty scene and so different from that playing out over in France. She could only imagine what a battlefield was like; the wounded men had tried to describe it but couldn’t find the words.
Once the clothes were all on the line, she picked up Liesl from her blanket on the grass. Snuggling her close, she said, “Why don’t we go visit Maggie and have some tea?”
Liesl giggled and tried to pull Sally’s hair.
“Tom, I’m going to Maggie’s for a cuppa. Do you want to come?”
“No thank you. I’m playing with my marbles.”
Sally rolled her eyes at Liesl making the baby laugh again. “Boys and their toys.”
“Maggie, how are we going to make cakes for the children with butter and margarine on ration? Powdered egg is horrible.”
Maggie filled her cup with watery looking tea. “Sorry, third time I’ve used these leaves. Why don’t you get a few chickens from one of the farmers? You have plenty of space and they don’t cost much to feed. Then you will have fresh.”
Tom’s shout interrupted Maggie mid-sentence. “Aunt Sally, come quick. They’ve arrested Heinz.”
“What?” Sally jumped to her feet, rattling the table in the process.
“Sally, calm down. The children must have it wrong. Why would anyone arrest Harry?”
“Don’t know Maggie, mind Liesl for me, will you?”
Sally didn’t wait for an answer but ran back in the direction of Rose Cottage. What on earth had happened now?
She stopped, as she saw two members of the Home Guard outside her house, one with a bayonet fixed to a gun. They wouldn’t look at her. She pushed past them into the house where a man she didn’t recognize had a gun pointed at Harry. She walked in front of Harry and pushed the man’s gun away.
“What do you mean by coming into my house and pointing that gun at a child?”
“He’s no child. He’s a German spy and he’s coming with us.”
Sally couldn’t believe her ears. “A spy? He’s a Jewish refugee.”
“He didn’t register with the police though, did he? And what’s he doing taking photographs? He’s an enemy alien, shouldn’t even have a camera.”
Sally groaned. The camera. She shouldn’t have lent it to the children, but they’d wanted to take photographs for their mothers. “It’s my camera, or at least my husband’s. I lent it to the children so they could take a picture for their mother. She, a Jewish woman, is stuck in Nazi
