Aimée clapped wildly. Then she threw herself into Mitch’s arms. ‘No go another place, Daddy,’ she cried. Then she leant back and, shaking her head, looked questioningly into Mitch’s face.’ Daddy?’
‘No, honey. I won’t go away again. I promise I will never leave you and Mummy,’ he said, hugging his daughter to him.
Claire slipped out of the room and put her hand up to her mouth to stifle her sobs. She walked quietly to the kitchen, to where her dearest friend Édith Belland was preparing the evening meal.
‘Everything all right?’ Édith asked, over her shoulder. Then, seeing Claire was crying, she stopped what she was doing and went to her. ‘Now, now,’ she said, putting her arms around Claire. ‘What on earth is the matter, child? Why the tears?’
‘Nothing is the matter. My tears are tears of happiness. Alain and Aimée have become friends. They are telling each other stories about mummies and daddies that have happy endings.’ Claire laughed. ‘Aimée has made Alain promise never to go away again.’
‘She’s a bright little one,’ Édith Belland said with pride. ‘Courageous too, like her mother.’ She wiped Claire’s face with the cloth she kept tucked in the front of her apron. ‘Now go to your man and your child, so I can finish making dinner.’ Claire began to protest. ‘Go! It is already five o’clock; André and Thérèse will be back from visiting her parents at six.
‘If you’re sure--’
Édith Belland wiped tears from her own eyes and pushed the cloth back into her waistband. ‘Also tears of happiness,’ she said. ‘Now go!’
The botched job that had been left after Mitch was shot in the leg had healed, but until the muscles were stronger he had to walk with a stick. The doctor said he may always need the stick, but Mitch refused to believe it and went walking every day.
‘You are now trained in shopping, Alain,’ Édith said, when he handed her the shopping bag.
Mitch half smiled and crossed the kitchen to where Claire was basting a joint of beef, a New Year gift from Thérèse’s parents. He kissed her on the cheek.
‘Is Aimée about?’
‘She’s upstairs having her afternoon nap.’
‘That’s good. I need to tell you something.’ He put out his hand.
Claire’s heart plummeted. What now? She looked at Édith. Her eyes were downcast. ‘What is it, Mitch? You’re frightening me.’ She took hold of his hand and he led her into the sitting room.
‘Sit down, darling,’ he said, patting the cushion next to him on the settee.
Claire sat and looked into his eyes. ‘What is it?’
Mitch took her hands in his. ‘It’s Eddie.’
Claire snatched her hands away. ‘What about Eddie?’ she asked accusingly.
‘She’s…’ Claire looked at him defiantly, daring him to tell her what the sadness in his eyes was already saying. ‘I’m so sorry, darling, but Eddie has been killed.’
‘No, no, no!’ Claire cried. ‘Not Eddie. Please Mitch, say it isn’t true?’ She looked at him, her eyes pleading. ‘Say it! Say it isn’t…’ she sobbed, collapsing into his arms.
There was a tap on the door and Édith entered. Claire looked up and saw her friend put a bottle of wine and two glasses on the shelf above the fire. ‘Eddie is dead, Édith. My lovely, funny friend is dead.’
Édith poured a glass of wine and offered it to Claire. ‘Drink, my dear. It will do you good.’ Claire took the wine but didn’t drink. ‘I am so sorry,’ Édith said, kneeling on the rug beside her.
The three of them sat without speaking for some minutes. It was Claire who broke the silence. She looked into Mitch’s face and said, ‘How did she die?’
‘She was betrayed by someone at the ambulance station. The Gestapo were waiting for her when she took the ambulance back.’
Claire gasped. ‘What about Madame Marron?’
‘She is safe. Eddie insisted she took her home before she returned the ambulance.’
At that moment they heard Aimée call. ‘I will see to her,’ Édith said, pushing herself up. ‘I’ll take her to the kitchen and give her her tea. You come in when you’re ready.’ Édith bent down and kissed Claire on the head. ‘Take your time, my dear.’ She looked at Mitch, her eyes full of sorrow, and left.
Spring was turning into summer. The buds of April were beginning to bloom in the May sunshine. The Belland family left church straight after Sunday service, so they would be home in time to hear General de Gaulle give his Victory Europe speech on the new wireless that Mitch had bought with redundant money from Colonel Smith.
As they walked along the streets and avenues of Gisoir, there was a celebratory feel in the air. People had taken down their blackout curtains and thrown open their windows. Flags flew from every house and the national anthem could be heard along every avenue. Claire laughed and began to sing La Marseillaise.
Édith caught up with her. ‘I learned your national anthem at RAF Morecambe with Eddie,’ Claire said, her voice hoarse with emotion. ‘For you, Eddie,’ she shouted and began to sing louder. Before she succumbed to tears, Édith linked arms with Claire and sang with her. Leaving André to push his son, Frédéric – who he and Thérèse had named after André’s late brother, Édith’s beloved youngest son – and Mitch to walk with Aimée, Thérèse joined them, and
