“Yes, I’m fine.”
“I’m sorry I ran into you.”
“You didn’t. I think I may have been the one who ran into you.” I brushed the dirt from my dress and cleared my throat as I met the boy’s gaze.
“I’m William, by the way. William Bryant.” He stuck out his hand for me to shake.
“Amelia Ashton.”
“I’ve never seen you around here before. Did your parents just move here?”
“They aren’t my parents. I’m from Guernsey, and the Davenports took Elijah and me in after the town officials evacuated us.”
William’s eyes widened, and his mouth gaped. “You’re from Guernsey?”
I nodded.
“I heard what happened over the radio. My mum cried. She was so sorry for the people . . . you don’t have family still there, do you?”
I nodded again. “My parents and my older sister.”
“That is rough. I’m . . . I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing for you to apologize for.”
“Have you heard from them? Do you know if they are all right?”
“No, I don’t.”
He drew in a deep breath, letting it fill his cheeks and puff them out before he exhaled and lifted his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it. He stuck his other hand in a pocket of his trousers.
“Would you . . .” He motioned behind him with his shoulder and elbow. “Would you like to meet everyone? There are only a few of us. Most of the parents around here pulled their kids out of school because they either moved further out into the country or wanted them to help more at home during the war. A couple of the older guys even joined the Army. They are off fighting now.”
He motioned toward the group again as he turned, sticking his other hand in the other pocket. I glanced over at Elijah, who had several other little boys and girls surrounding him, asking question after question about who he was and his family, a sight which brought a smile to my face as I followed behind William to the table.
“Everyone, this is Amelia. She’s from Guernsey.”
At the mention of my home, the young men and women sitting at the table fell silent, and a pause swept through them as though they searched for what to say.
“I’m Isabella,” one girl said. She pointed toward the girl sitting next to her, “this is Claire.”
“Hello.”
It was as though my voice seemed to calm the tension running through them, as after I uttered the greeting, they all began introducing themselves. Their names thrown at me with such speed, I hardly had a chance to keep up.
“You must forgive me if I don’t remember your names,” I finally said.
They all laughed, and Claire reached out for my arm. “It’s all right. I’m horrible with names myself. Forget them almost instantly.” She cocked her head to the side. “What was yours again?”
Everyone laughed again.
“Amelia,” William said.
She gave him a smile and winked at me.
“So, you are from Guernsey? I heard on the radio about the bombing and the German troops invading the island. Do you have family there?” one of the other boys asked. I believe his name was Thomas.
“My parents and my sister.”
A collective gasp washed over the table and Claire reached out for me again, tugging me down to sit beside her. “I’m so sorry. You must be so worried.”
“I am.” I dropped my gaze to the table, my cheeks flushed with heat. “But I’m sure they’re all right. We live in the country, and while it’s near St. Peter’s Port, it’s far enough away. The bombs wouldn’t have reached the house.”
I didn’t know who I was trying to convince more—them or myself.
While the house was far enough away from the town and the bombs, that didn’t mean it was safe from the German troops . . .
I shook my head, trying to shake the thoughts from my mind. I’d spent so many minutes and hours of the day worrying over my family, that it almost felt like a welcomed break to forget, even if it was for a moment. Not that I wanted to forget. It was just nice to dwell in something other than the horrible, gut-wrenching thoughts day in and day out. Worrying never helped as nothing was in my control. All it did was rob me of my sanity and my ability to sit still, even for a moment.
“We probably shouldn’t bother her with any more questions.” William sat down across from me, giving me a nod as though he’d read my mind—a distraction I didn’t know I desired as much as I did until this moment, and a distraction I didn’t know how grateful I would be for.
“I can’t believe we have the paper on the Revolutionary War due next week.” Thomas growled as he balled his hands into fists and wrung them in the air. “Why are we learning about that war when we should be fighting this one?”
“All in due time, my friend. All in due time.” William patted Thomas on the shoulder, a slight chuckle hinted between his words. “We’ll be fighting the Germans before we know it.”
“I thought your mum forbid you to enlist?” Isabella asked, she bit her thumbnail then inspected it.
“She forbids it now because I’m seventeen and she can. But come next week, I’ll be eighteen and she can’t say anything about it.”
“But what about what happened? And with your brothers gone? Are you really going to leave her alone?”
“It doesn’t matter. She will not stop me.” He shrugged as he stared at the top of the table as though he didn’t want to continue the conversation.
“It does matter, and you know it,” Claire said, agreeing with Isabella.
“No, it doesn’t.”
As William jumped to his feet to leave the table, the younger children on the other side of the playground began shouting and they all ran toward the swing set.
Those of us sitting at the table rushed over, too. William was the first to get there and shove his way through the circle of children that formed—a circle around two boys who were rolling on the ground and fighting.
“Hey. Hey. Stop it,” he shouted.
Both he and Thomas grabbed each of the boys and pulled them apart. Elijah, held in Thomas’s arms, continued to punch the air.
“Elijah! What on earth?” I said, moving in front of him.
“He started it! He said my parents were Germans now. He said they were traitors.”
“They are Germans now,” the other boy said. “They are living with them, under their rule.”
“They are not Germans!”
“Boys, that’s enough.” I moved further between them, sticking out my hands, one in each of their faces. They both continued to fight against my older classmates holding them, but soon calmed down.
I knelt in front of Elijah. “I know what he said was wrong—”
“Very wrong!”
“Elijah, stop. I know what he said was wrong, but getting into a fight while Mr. and Mrs. Davenport are inside registering us for this nice school is not a way to say thank you to them. They have done so much for us. You should not repay them like this.”
With my words, Elijah’s body softened. He nodded as tears welled in his eyes. He blinked them away before they could stream down his cheeks.
“And you,” William spun the other boy around, releasing his hold, but then grabbing the young boy’s shoulders. “You know what you said was wrong and you shouldn’t have said it. You need to apologize and never say such things again. You do not know what he or his parents are going though.”
The boy glanced between William and Elijah. His face scrunched, and he cocked his head to the side. “I’m sorry for saying what I did. I shouldn’t have said it.”
Elijah nodded toward his opponent, and the two moved away from one another. A group of children followed the attacker, while several others stayed with Elijah, giving him pats on the back or giving him words of encouragement and support.
“Is everything all right?” Eleanor said, trotting down the stairs from the doors of the school building. Her hand brushed against her chest as s
he reached me.
“It’s fine. Just a schoolyard misunderstanding. Nothing that wasn’t solved,” I said.
“Well, thank you for your help.” She glanced between me and the other young adults standing around us. “Mr. Johnson has all your paperwork. He wanted to know if you and Elijah wished to stay for the day or you can start tomorrow. It’s up to you. Although, I have to tell you, Robert and I have an appointment this afternoon and we wouldn’t be able to pick you and Elijah up from school.”
“They can walk home with us,” William said, looking around at his friends. “We all walk home, so we can see them to where they need to go . . . or I can, if no one else can.”
“Thank you, young man.”
“William, Ma’am. William Bryant.”
“Thank you, William.” She motioned me to follow her away from the group as Robert approached. “Are you all right with staying for the rest of the day and then walking home?”
While Elijah nodded, I grabbed his shoulders, moving around behind him. “We’d be happy to stay and we’ll be fine. I’ll look after Elijah, don’t worry.”
“Oh, I will worry, but not because I do not have faith in you. I only worry as any parent would a child . . . not that you are my child, but Robert and I still don’t wish to have anything happen to you . . . either of you.”
“I understand.”
“Have a pleasant afternoon. We will see you later.”
As the Davenports made their way back to their motorcar, the bell ending recess rang and the children, younger and older, filed back into the building. Elijah and I followed behind them, glancing at each other as we passed through the doors.
ELEVEN
Amelia - September 1940
“May I ask you something?” I asked William as we strolled down the lane after school. The other students walked ahead of us, giving us space as though they wanted to give us privacy for one reason or another. Elijah trotted along in between, and he kept glancing over his shoulder at us. I waved him off each time.
“I suppose so, depending on what it is.”
“What were the others talking about at the table, about your mother and why she doesn’t want you to enlist?”
He smiled for a moment, although not happily, instead it was a hesitated smile, as though he didn’t wish to answer, and yet, I sensed he did, at least a part of him did.
“My father died in the Great War. Mum was always adamant after that that none of her sons would join the British Army.”
“None of her sons? How many brothers do you have?”
“Three.”
“She has four boys?”
He laughed at my surprise. “Four boys.”
“I can’t imagine what it was like growing up in your house.”
“Loud. Loud and I had to fight for any food I could get my hands on.” He laughed again. “When this war started, she begged us not to join. My brothers didn’t listen, and they all went down together. They were all gone within a few days.”
“Do you know where they are? Do they write?”
“Two of them are dead. My oldest brother, Benjamin, is still alive. He is somewhere in France or Italy. We aren’t sure. We got a letter from him a couple of weeks ago but haven’t heard a word since.”
“I’m so sorry.”
William shrugged. “We all knew it could happen.”
“So that’s it, then? You’re going to enlist when you are eighteen and leave her? What if something happens to you and she’s left alone?”
His brow furrowed, and he stared at the ground as we both walked. “I don’t wish to leave her, especially to leave her alone. But I can’t stand by and do nothing. This is my country and my home, and there are people here I love. I cannot standby and not fight for it and for them.”
We continued to walk down the lane, neither of us saying much of anything else except for the occasional goodbye to everyone with us. While I understood his need to fight for his country, I didn’t understand how he could leave his mum. Perhaps it wasn’t fair of me, though, casting my own prejudice upon him because of my situation. I would give anything to be with my parents and never wanted to leave their sides ever again.
“That’s my house,” I said, pointing to the Davenports residence in the corner, as soon as the house was in sight. “Well, it’s mine for the time being. It’s not really my home.”
“Do you know when they plan to send you back to Guernsey?” His question sank into the pit of my stomach.
“I don’t think they will until the war is over, and the Germans leave the island.”
“I suppose you’re right. My apologies for such a stupid question.” He snorted a laugh as we both watched Elijah bolt for the house, darting up the stairs before he flung the door open and dropped his books on the floor.
“I can imagine you miss your family,” William said, a slight sadness whispered through his voice.
“Yes, I do.”
“Your parents, your sister . . .” he glanced at me with one eyebrow cocked, “a boyfriend . . .”
Heat rushed up the back of my neck, stealing my ability to answer. Not that I would have if the embarrassment hadn’t overwhelmed me.
“I should probably get inside. See to Elijah and make sure he’s not trying to burn the house down or something.” I moved away from William, trotting up the steps.
“Amelia?”
I stopped, closing my eyes for a moment before opening them and facing William standing at the bottom of the stairs.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” he asked.
“In school, yes.”
“Will you walk home with me again?”
The two halves of myself fought with one another as one side of me screamed yes and the other shouted no. Standing in front of me was a handsome young man, with blond hair like that of the sun and blue eyes like that of the summer sky on a bright, cloudless day. With a smile that piqued the interest of my heart and a rugged kindness that attracted me to him. He held my attention far more than I cared to admit. However, with his face in my mind’s eye, came another.
Henry.
A young man I believed I might one day fall in love with and a young man hundreds of miles away facing things I didn’t know if I wished to imagine. Was he thinking of me? Was he wondering where I was or how I was doing?
“Um, I don’t know if we should,” I said, shifting my gaze from William’s.
“Ah. So, you do have a boyfriend at home.”
“I . . . I’ll see you tomorrow, William. Have a pleasant evening.”
Before he could utter another word, I spun back around, vanishing behind the door, and shutting it as my breath hitched in my chest.
Although I’d told myself not to think about William’s question for the rest of the afternoon, I had. Allowing it to repeat inside my head, I thought I would go mad, and yet, I did nothing to stop it. Instead, I sat around and did nothing while it invaded every crevice in my mind.
So, do you have a boyfriend at home?
Even hours later, as I washed up for dinner, the tone of his voice echoed in my ears. It had been such a casual question, spoken with curiosity. He had even smiled when he asked it, which had made me a little more uncomfortable than I already was. Like he expected me to say no so he could then ask me if I wanted one.
“Dinner is ready!” Eleanor shouted from downstairs and she waited while Elijah and I came down, giving us both an enormous smile while she patted the little boy on the top of the head. “Are you all cleaned up?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he answered.
He dashed past her and she laughed as she watched him. “His parents must miss him dearly.”
I followed her into the dining room, where Robert sat, serving Elijah his dinner.
“So how was your first afternoon at school, Amelia?” Robert asked as I sat down at the table across from him.
“It was all right,” I said.
“Just all right?”
“It was school. They handed me the b
ooks I would need, a few sheets of paper and a pencil, and I did what little work I could to keep up.”
“Are you behind?” Eleanor paused as her hand hovered over my plate, the mash piled high on the spoon.
I shook my head. “No. I knew what they were talking about. I just need to figure out their pace. Get the lay of the land, so-to-speak.”
“I suppose that makes sense.”
“And how was your first afternoon at school, Elijah?” Robert stuffed a bite of dinner in his mouth and chewed.
“It was great.” The little boy wasted no time stuffing his own face, and he didn’t wait before he finished to continue. “I like my teacher and I made a few new friends.” He glanced over at me, a big grin spread through his face. “Amelia made some new friends too. One of them even walked her home and asked her if she had a boyfriend.”
I shot him a glare, and he giggled.
“He didn’t just walk me home,” I said. My voice hissed through my grit teeth. “There were several other people walking with us, including you.”
“Yes, but you two walked by yourselves.”
“Elijah . . .” I warned, lifting my hand and wiggling my finger.
He giggled again, shifting his weight in his chair to scoot it several inches away from where it was sitting beside mine.
Heat rushed up the back of my neck, and my cheeks burned. I wanted to shove the chair from the table and run from the room. I didn’t though; instead I just sat there and closed my eyes, breathing through my nose.
“Is this the same boy who introduced himself today?” Eleanor asked. “What was his name? William . . .”
“William Bryant,” Elijah finished.
I shot him another glare. “That will be all from you.”
“Oh, there’s no need to get embarrassed, Amelia.” Eleanor waved her hand and finished serving her own dinner before sitting down next to Robert. “I thought he was a nice young man and, of course, Robert and I don’t mind if he walks you home. I think I might even know his mum. Mrs. Sarah Bryant, if I’m not mistaken. She lives a few streets over. Nice woman. She lost her husband in the war, and I believe her sons have all enlisted. We all have been praying for her at church. The poor dear.”
Yours: An Emotional and Gripping WWII Family Saga (The Promises Between Us Trilogy Book 1) Page 11
