Anna At War

by Helen Peters

  Colonel Ferguson closed the door and carried a second chair over to his desk. Both men sat down behind the desk. The colonel motioned for me to sit on the empty chair facing them.

  My heart gave a nasty lurch. Had this man been brought in to interrogate me? Was it all a trap? Were they going to arrest me?

  I sat down, feeling cold all over.

  “Anna, this is Mr Rivers,” said the colonel. “I telephoned him last night after our conversation and relayed to him all that you told me. He is very interested in the man you discovered in your barn. Did the man give you anything this morning?”

  I handed him the letter. “He gave us this. He asked us to post it to his mother.”

  The colonel handed it to Mr Rivers, who examined the envelope very closely from all angles. Then he walked to a door in the panelled wall that I hadn’t noticed before. He gave a sharp knock and, without waiting for an answer, opened the door. I tried to see what was inside the room. It seemed to be a sort of inner office. I glimpsed a tall filing cabinet and a cork board on the wall above it, on which were pinned several sheets of paper.

  I couldn’t see anybody in the room, but there must have been somebody there, because Mr Rivers stepped inside and said, “Telephone through to HQ and have a watch put on this address immediately. Then start on the letter.”

  I heard a mumbled reply but I couldn’t make out any words. Mr Rivers came out, closed the door behind him and sat next to the colonel. He drew the chair closer to the desk and leaned his elbows on the polished surface. Resting his chin on his clasped hands, he gave me a very direct look. I got the feeling that he was the kind of person who would know immediately if you weren’t telling the truth.

  “The man you discovered in your barn,” he said. “I want you to tell me the whole story, please, from the moment you discovered him. I realise that you told the colonel last night, but I need to hear it first-hand. Miss Johnson, my stenographer, will take notes.”

  I told him everything, being very careful to try to remember every detail in the correct order. Mr Rivers listened attentively, while Miss Johnson scribbled on her pad. Occasionally Mr Rivers interrupted to ask for clarification on a point, but mostly he just let me talk.

  When I finished, he turned to the colonel.

  “Does Miss Schlesinger’s account match the one she gave you last night?” he asked.

  The colonel nodded. “No discrepancies at all.”

  “Thank you, Miss Schlesinger,” said Mr Rivers. “You may go. I need hardly tell you that you are not, of course, to mention a word of our conversation to anybody outside this room.”

  “And what do we do about the man?” I asked.

  “Do?”

  “Yes. We have to carry on taking him food and water, or he’ll suspect he’s been found out. Shouldn’t we try to destroy his transmitter too?”

  Mr Rivers gripped the edge of the desk.

  “Absolutely not. You are not to try anything of the sort. This man is extremely dangerous. I’m not happy with you associating with him at all, but since you’ve got yourselves into this situation, it’s probably the best course of action to continue taking him food and water. Be polite, give nothing away and let us do the rest.”

  “If he’s so dangerous,” I said, “then why don’t you just arrest him straightaway?”

  Nobody said anything. Mr Rivers looked at the desk.

  “Is it because you think he might be part of a spy ring, and you want to flush out the other spies?”

  Mr Rivers gave me a startled look and I knew I’d guessed correctly.

  “It is, isn’t it? He’s part of a spy ring. Are they planning something big?”

  “I’m afraid I cannot give you classified information,” he said.

  “You’re from the Secret Service, aren’t you?”

  He opened his eyes wider.

  “Why don’t you use me? I could help you.”

  “Help me?”

  “Yes. To trap the spy ring.”

  The colonel smiled and frowned at the same time, an expression I hadn’t realised was possible.

  “I’m serious,” I said. “We’ve been deceiving this man since yesterday afternoon, haven’t we? He clearly trusts us or he wouldn’t have given us a letter. And we’ve arranged to intercept the replies too.”

  Mr Rivers started. “You’ve done what?”

  I told him how we had used Mrs Chantrey’s address, and the misspelling that would enable us to identify the letters sent to the man. “So if you want to catch the spies, I could pass his letters to you, and pass messages and information to him that would help you trap the others in his spy ring.”

  Mr Rivers looked at me. Then his gaze moved to the wall behind me. He seemed to be thinking. Nobody moved.

  Eventually he stood up. “I need to speak to Colonel Ferguson alone.”

  “I’ll wait outside,” I said.

  Mr Rivers turned to the colonel and asked, “Is there another room where Miss Schlesinger can wait?”

  The colonel nodded. He led me out of the room and indicated a door on the opposite side of the hall. There didn’t seem to be anybody around. All the soldiers must have been out on manoeuvres or doing drills.

  I crossed the hall and went into the other room, closing the door. I waited until I heard Colonel Ferguson’s door shut behind him, and then I carefully opened the door and crept back across the hall. I peered through the keyhole. The two men were standing in front of the fireplace. When I put my ear to the keyhole, I could hear them clearly.

  “…by far the simplest solution,” the colonel was saying.

  “It may be the simplest solution at the moment,” said Mr Rivers, “but that’s not the point. It’s about strategy. We have to make him useful to us.”

  “If you brought him in now,” said the colonel, “would he turn, do you think?”

  Mr Rivers shook his head. “Not a chance. He won’t turn. A lot of them will – some of them turn straightaway – but not ‘Peter Smith’, as he calls himself. We’ve been following his movements for a while. He’s a fanatical Nazi. Devoted to Hitler and the Third Reich.”

  I had that hollowed-out feeling again. My legs shook. I steadied myself against the doorframe.

  “We were pretty sure he was in England,” said Mr Rivers, “but we had no idea where. And clearly his transmitter’s broken, so we had no signals to intercept. It’s an incredible piece of luck, those children coming across him and seeing through his cover story.”

  “Well, if you’re sure he won’t turn, and you want to use him to flush out the others,” said the colonel, “wouldn’t it make sense to do as the girl suggests, and use her? After all, how else are you going to feed him information? You can hardly send him letters addressed to Peter Smith, The Hayloft in the Barn. And you can’t exactly go and have a chat with him yourself.”

  “We can’t use a child,” Mr Rivers said. “It would bring the whole Service into disrepute.”

  “Jolly good idea, though, when you think about it,” said the colonel. “Who’s going to suspect her of being a secret agent for the British government?”

  “It wouldn’t be ethical. She doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into.”

  The colonel’s voice turned serious. “Stanford, you’ve read Anna’s records. She spent six years of her life as a Jewish girl in Hitler’s Germany. She had her home destroyed by Nazi thugs. Her father was sent to a concentration camp. Her family lost their business. She brought an unregistered baby on the Kindertransport, facing down the SS and standing up to the Dutch authorities. If anyone knows what they’re getting themselves into, it’s her.”

  I couldn’t help it; my legs gave way and I collapsed on the floor in a cold sweat. How did these men know all that?

  The door opened wide. Two tall figures looked down at me.

  I’d ruined everything. There was no way they’d let me work for them now.

  I scrambled into a sitting position. I didn’t trust myself to stand yet.

&
nbsp; There was a horrible silence. Then Colonel Ferguson said, “You’d better come in.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  “Think Always of Your Country Before You Think of Yourself”

  If the Invader Comes

  Feeling cold and sweaty, I walked back into the room. Colonel Ferguson motioned for me to sit in front of the desk again, and asked Miss Johnson to fetch a cup of tea.

  “And a biscuit, if you can find one,” he called after her.

  The men sat behind the desk.

  “So,” said the colonel, “you were listening at the door. I suppose you heard every word we said, did you?”

  My heart was thumping, but I knew there was no point in lying.

  “I heard from when you were talking about whether he would turn, and Mr Rivers said he wouldn’t because he’s a fanatical Nazi.”

  “I see.”

  “You can trust me. I won’t say a word.”

  Mr Rivers leaned forward.

  “Anna, before I came here this morning, I called in at Bloomsbury House. Having heard Colonel Ferguson’s report on the telephone last night, I wanted to learn a bit about your background from the committee of the Refugee Children’s Movement.”

  So that was how they knew about me.

  “The ladies at Bloomsbury House were very keen to impress on me your exceptional character. They stressed how you looked after the other children on the train and the boat to England. They showed me a letter from one of the Dutch refugee workers at the Hook of Holland, who had been so impressed by your passionate protection of the baby you were looking after that she had felt moved to write a letter in praise of you to the Refugee Children’s Movement. Your courage and resourcefulness are not in doubt, Anna, and neither is your evident desire to help the British war effort.”

  “Then let me help, please.”

  “As I said, your character and motives are not in doubt. My concerns are regarding your age and your particular circumstances. You are thirteen years old, and it is hardly necessary to say that we do not recruit children into the Secret Service. Secondly, and this is an even graver consideration, your parents sent you to this country to protect you. They wanted you to be safe, far away from Hitler’s Germany. If I allowed you to become involved in our activities, then I would be putting you in potential danger, and I could not with a clear conscience allow that to happen.”

  I thought for a moment. Then I said, “I don’t think I would really be in much danger.” He opened his mouth to respond, so I hurried on. “I understand what you’re saying, Mr Rivers, of course. I know he’s armed and I know he’s a Nazi. But he has no reason to hurt me, does he? In fact, it would be really stupid of him to hurt me. He doesn’t want anybody to discover his hiding place, does he? He knows there’s a soldier on duty outside. If anything happened to any of us, the duty soldier would know, and he’d be discovered. And surely it’s in his interests to be nice to us. We’re the only way for him to get food and water, for a start. And now we’re taking his messages for him. As long as we’re useful to him, then surely he’s not going to harm us. If he’s one of Germany’s most dangerous spies, then presumably he must be clever. Surely he’s clever enough to work out that it wouldn’t help his cause if he harmed us.”

  The men looked at each other. A little smile played at the corner of the colonel’s mouth.

  “I say, Rivers. I think you’ve just been out-argued by a child.”

  Mr Rivers didn’t smile back. He turned to me, looking very grave.

  “To an extent, you are, of course, right. As long as you and your friends are useful to this man, he is very unlikely to hurt you. However…” He paused and looked intently at me. “However, if he believes that you are no longer useful to him, or if he suspects that you have any suspicions about who he really is, or if he suspects for any other reason that his cover has been blown or his life is in danger, then he will have no hesitation at all in using that gun.”

  He stopped. I sensed I shouldn’t interrupt. I waited for him to continue.

  “Over the first of those circumstances,” he said, “we have a good level of control. We can make sure you’re useful to him, by taking essential supplies, and by posting his letters and delivering the replies. Over the second circumstance – whether he suspects that you think he is not who he says he is – only you have control. You and your friends would have to keep up the pretence, at all times, whatever he says or does, that you think he is an ordinary English soldier who just wants to visit his sick mother. Do you think you are capable of that?”

  “Yes,” I said. “And I’ll talk to Molly and Frank about it again. But they’ve done a really good job so far.”

  “Over the third circumstance,” he said, “I and my colleagues have control. We will, of course, do everything we possibly can to keep our activities undetected. We will have our very best people on the job. But there is always an element of risk, and I would be deceiving you if I didn’t make that clear. And I – we, all of the British people – have a duty to keep you safe. After the sacrifice your parents have made in sending you here, that is the least they deserve.”

  A feeling swelled within me. It was that feeling I had had twice before, once when looking after Ezra on the journey to England, and once when Molly and Frank were hysterical in the tree house after they realised they’d given away a state secret.

  It was a feeling of power and determination.

  “Mr Rivers,” I said. “When I left for England, my parents told me to be grateful to the British people, and they told me to be brave. They would be proud…” I was alarmed to find tears coming to my eyes. I swallowed. “They would be so proud if they thought I was helping the war effort. It’s what they would want to do themselves, if they had the chance.”

  Mr Rivers looked at me for a long moment. Then he said, “When the letter you gave us has been examined, it will be posted. Expect a reply within the next few days. When it arrives, please bring it here immediately.”

  The colonel moved towards the door to usher me out. I felt like a different person. Taller. Stronger.

  With this new feeling of strength, a thought occurred to me. I gathered all my courage into a tight knot of resolution and turned to face Mr Rivers.

  “There’s one more thing.”

  “Yes?”

  “This is dangerous work, isn’t it? This man is one of Germany’s top spies, and he’s armed.”

  “Yes.” He looked a little uncomfortable.

  “And I’m happy to do this work for you. But I want you to do one thing for me in return.”

  He frowned.

  “You have to promise,” I said, “that Molly’s father won’t get into trouble for what he said.”

  Mr Rivers was silent for a moment. Then he said, “That seems like a reasonable request.”

  “Oh, thank you!” I said. “Thank you so much.”

  CHAPTER FORTY

  “The Ordinary Man and Woman Must Be on the Watch”

  If the Invader Comes

  I walked back down the avenue, feeling the wonderful lightness of relief. Uncle Bert was safe.

  It was a pity I couldn’t tell Frank. It was awful that a seven-year-old had to carry all that worry around with him.

  The duty soldiers said, “Goodbye, miss,” as I walked out of the gates. I said goodbye to them and turned towards the farm.

  “So that’s where you were.”

  I stopped in shock. Molly was standing in the lane. She looked furious.

  “What have you been up to, sneaking off behind my back?”

  My heart started beating very fast. “What do you mean, sneaking off behind your back? I don’t need your permission to leave the house.”

  “I knew you were up to something. You said you’d help Mum with the Saucepans into Spitfires collection, and you always help when you say you will.”

  I stared at her. “So you followed me?”

  “I had to find out what you were up to. It’s not a game. It’s my dad’s life
.”

  I glared at her. “So stop discussing it in the middle of the street, idiot.”

  “There’s no one around.”

  I gave a bitter laugh. “That’s what you thought in the barn yesterday. And look where that’s got us.”

  She shot me a look of mingled fury and pain.

  “You’re really horrible sometimes, Anna, you know that?”

  Seeing the hurt in her face actually did make me feel bad. After all, yesterday had been Frank’s fault, not hers.

  “Fine,” I said. “We’ll discuss it in the usual place.”

  She quickened her pace until she was walking several metres ahead of me. I slowed my pace to increase the gap. I needed some thinking time.

  Molly was waiting in the tree house. I could see she was fizzing with rage. I had barely stepped off the ladder when she whispered furiously, “You betrayed me. How dare you betray me?”

  I gave a bitter laugh. “I betrayed you? What, by leaving the farm without telling you? How is that a betrayal?”

  “Don’t try and pretend, Anna. You’ve been up at the army camp. You can’t deny it. I saw the soldiers saying goodbye to you, all matey like you were old friends. What were you doing?”

  “Delivering eggs.”

  “Oh, please! We don’t even sell eggs there.”

  “Some of the soldiers asked if they could buy eggs, so I took some.”

  “If that’s true, why would you not tell Mum or me about it? You know Mum can’t just start selling eggs to new customers. There wouldn’t be enough for her regulars. And I know you wouldn’t sell eggs behind her back. So stop lying to me. What were you actually doing?”

  I looked away. What could I say? Molly’s face was a mixture of anger and fear. She must be really worried that whatever I was doing would get her dad in terrible trouble.

  But I didn’t owe her anything. She had betrayed me in the worst possible way. And she had got us into this trouble in the first place. Well, Frank had. And anyway, how could I possibly tell her the truth, even if I wanted to? I’d made a promise to the army and the Secret Service. Promises don’t get more serious than that.