She had no idea how long she had been standing there when she felt a hand on her arm and turned. It was Édith. Reluctantly she left Alain and followed Édith across the landing. As soon as she entered Édith’s bedroom joy swamped her. She knelt by Aimée’s bed. She was asleep with her teddy bear in one hand and the thumb of the other hand in her mouth. Claire tucked the covers round her daughter and blew her a kiss. Leaving the room, she told Édith, ‘I think my heart will burst with happiness.’
‘I think first you should wash, and then you should sleep. I have made a bed on the settee. Sleep downstairs tonight and tomorrow we will clear Frédéric’s things out of his room and-- Claire put her hand on Édith’s arm and shook her head. She looked back at Aimée, ‘We will see you in the morning, little one.’
Édith went into her room and Claire downstairs. She undressed and washed in the chilly kitchen, then scuttled back to the sitting room. Édith had laid her nightdress in front of the fire. She put it on and switched off the light. Falling into her makeshift bed, Claire cried with happiness. Finally, exhausted, she fell asleep.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Claire heard Édith talking to Aimée. She leant against the wall at the bottom of the stairs and listened. From what Claire could hear, Édith was counting Aimée’s toys, and Aimée repeating the numbers after her. Some words sounded similar, but others, especially when Aimée lost interest, were gobbledygook. Claire put her hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing when Édith began speaking in a whisper and Aimée copied her. She couldn’t hear what her daughter was saying, but she sounded indignant. Claire hoped she wasn’t being cheeky to Édith.
Quietly she climbed the stairs. The door of Édith’s bedroom was open and Aimée was sitting on her bed. When Aimée saw her, her eyes lit up. With her forefinger to her lips, she crept across the room taking exaggerated steps, whispering, ‘Shush Mummy. Man poorly.’ Then she took hold of Claire’s hand and tried to lead her downstairs.
Claire was torn between wanting to see Mitch and going with her daughter, until Édith said, ‘Alain is heavily sedated; he will not wake until later today, maybe not even then.’ Édith went into his room and dipped a flannel into a bowl of water that stood on the bedside table. She wrung it out and gently wiped Mitch’s face. ‘Spend today with your daughter; she has been waiting to see you for a long time. I will attend to Alain.’ Smiling at her daughter lovingly, Claire picked her up. Then, sitting Aimée on her hip, she carried her downstairs.
That afternoon, when Aimée was having a nap, Claire asked Édith how Alain had got from the Pyrenees to where Pierre found him.
‘The Maquis group that the doctor asked for help took Alain to a nearby farm. Alain’s leg had started to heal, but he could not walk, so they covered him with old seed sacks, borrowed a cart, and took him to the next farm. While farmers took Alain as far as they dare in the back of carts, trucks and trailers, messages went from one Resistance or Maquis group to another, as far as Paris. It doesn’t matter when or how, but dirt got in the wound and it became infected.’
Tears fell onto Claire’s cheeks. She took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Édith. Go on.’
‘It was your friend Edwina who met Alain in Paris.’
‘Eddie? Thank God she’s safe,’ Claire said, wiping her eyes again. ‘I’ve been so worried…’
‘She took him to the house of Madame Marron. But as you know, Paris is overrun with Germans, so it was too dangerous to keep him there.’ Édith made a fist of her hand and lifted it in a sign of victory. ‘The people are sick of being ruled by the Germans,’ she said. ‘They are frightened that the Allies won’t get to them in time and the city will be defeated all over again, so they are challenging the authorities, fighting back. Railwaymen, policemen, even some medical personnel are on strike, which was lucky for Alain because one of Edwina’s Resistance members is an ambulance driver and turned his back while she stole an ambulance.’
Claire felt a pang of love and admiration for her best friend, who had risked her life to save Mitch. She shook her head. She didn’t believe Eddie was experienced enough to take her place in Paris, but she was wrong – and she would tell Eddie when she next saw her.
‘Eddie is a clever young woman,’ Édith continued. ‘She painted spots and hives on Alain’s face and arms and taped quarantine notices to the front and back of the ambulance. Then,
