by Lily Baxter
Meg sat down suddenly, gasping as if the air had been sucked from her lungs. ‘They wouldn’t, would they?’
‘Yes, my dear, they most certainly would. Gerald is a British soldier and as of today we’re an occupied country.’
‘There must be someone with a boat who would take me to England, sir.’
‘Even if it were possible, it’s too risky. You wouldn’t stand a chance,’ Charles said gravely. ‘As far as I can see, there’s only one answer.’
‘I’ll do anything you say.’
‘You’re roughly the same age, height and colouring as David. You must take his identity. We’ll make up a story as to why an able-bodied young man like you has stayed on the island.’
Meg leapt to her feet. ‘That’s ridiculous, Pa. He’d never get away with it.’
‘It won’t work,’ Gerald said slowly. ‘I don’t look anything like David.’
‘The Germans won’t know that.’ Charles pushed back his chair and opened one of the desk drawers. He took out a sheaf of papers. ‘I had a ration book made out in David’s name and I have a copy of his birth certificate. We’ll say that you are unfit for military service.’
‘I don’t want to put you all in danger.’
‘I’m afraid you did that when you came home this time, my boy.’ Charles replaced the documents and turned the key in the lock. ‘Your only hope is to do as I say. Perhaps later on there will be a chance for you to escape from the island, but until then I can’t see any other way of keeping us all safe.’
Meg was forced to agree. She laid her hand on Gerald’s arm. ‘I think you must do as Pa says. You haven’t any choice.’
Eric’s funeral passed with quiet dignity, uninterrupted by any military presence, although Meg had heard that German troops marched down the main street in St Peter Port. The Union flags had disappeared from all the public buildings and had been replaced by swastikas, and the rumble of heavy vehicles and tanks travelling along the main road from the airport had been audible in the house, but so far she had not seen one German uniform.
In the church of St Martin de la Bellouse, Meg had felt too numb to shed a tear for her old friend, and oddly distanced from the loud grief of Marie and Simone. Afterwards, when everyone had dispersed in respectful silence, Meg had taken little comfort from the service. It was just words, and however eloquent the speakers might have been, their rhetoric did nothing to alleviate the pain of losing her old friend.
Later that afternoon, after the mourners had left the house and Colivet Manor seemed to slumber in the warm sunshine, Meg cycled back to the cemetery to lay a posy of garden roses on the grave and say her own personal goodbye to Eric. At the churchyard gate, Meg patted the head of the prehistoric stone figure of la Gran’mere du Chimquiere and she broke off a small pink rosebud, laying it on the weather-worn head, following the local custom as she had done many times since she was a small child.
‘Good morning, miss.’ A voice close behind her made her spin round, coming face to face with a German officer. Petrified by the sight of the smoke grey uniform, Meg stared at him dumbly, but he did not move any closer and stood clutching his peaked cap in his hands. He had spoken with barely a trace of an accent and he was young, probably the same age as David and Rayner. For a wild moment she could almost imagine it was Rayner standing gravely before her, and her heartbeats quickened leaving her quite breathless.
‘I did not mean to startle you.’ He clicked his heels together and nodded his head in a formal salute and a shy smile flickered across his clean-shaven face.
She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eyes; intelligent dark blue eyes with a darker rim around the iris. ‘It’s all right. You didn’t.’
‘Excuse me. I came only to see the church.’ He glanced at the flowers clutched in her hand. ‘I did not mean to intrude.’
‘The church is open to everyone.’ Meg turned away. There was something agonisingly familiar in the way he spoke and the smile that transformed his serious features. Memories of Rayner came flooding back and almost overwhelmed her; but this was not the carefree summer of just over a year ago, it was another time and another place and this young man was her enemy.
She left him and hurried to the spot beneath the trees where Eric’s new grave lay hidden beneath a carpet of flowers. She placed the roses on top of the floral tributes, but out of the corner of her eye she watched the soldier. He disappeared into the church and even as she murmured her last goodbye to Eric she was uncomfortably aware of an alien presence. An army lorry rattled past the church gate, shattering the tranquillity of the graveyard, and in spite of the hot sun a cold shiver ran down Meg’s spine. She hurried to retrieve her bike from behind the stone wall.
Returning home, she had left her bicycle in the stables and was making her way to the house when Pip scuttled out of the tack room. ‘You’re brave, aren’t you?’ he said, grinning. ‘I wouldn’t go outside the gates with the enemy lurking behind every tree and bush.’
‘There’s no need to exaggerate.’ She went to open the scullery door but Pip moved with surprising speed and barred her way.
‘Don’t think you’re kidding anyone, Meg.’
She stared at him, wondering if he had finally lost his wits completely. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’m referring to having your boyfriend living under the same roof, and pretending to be your brother. I can see what’s going on even if Uncle Charles can’t.’
‘You’re crazy.’
‘But I’m not stupid.’ Pip leaned closer. ‘I know all about it. I could report him to the Germans.’
She pushed him away, catching him off balance so that he staggered against the brick wall. ‘You’re talking nonsense, as usual. But if I catch you saying anything along those lines to anyone I’ll make your life hell. Do you understand me, Pip?’
He backed into the scullery, rubbing his bruised shoulder. ‘Bitch.’
‘What was all that about?’ Gerald strode across the yard carrying a basket filled with freshly picked peas and beans.
She shrugged her shoulders. ‘Just Pip being Pip.’
He followed her into the kitchen. ‘Want to tell me about it?’
‘No, I don’t.’
Marie dropped the potato that she had been peeling and gave them an anxious glance. ‘Haven’t we got enough trouble on our hands without you two squabbling like kids? I can’t cope if there’s going to be an atmosphere in the house.’
‘We weren’t fighting, Mum.’
‘No,’ Meg said. ‘It was all Pip’s fault, as usual.’
Marie wiped her hands on her apron. ‘Forget Pip. Mr Colivet wants us all in the drawing room. I was to tell you when you came in. It’s very urgent.’
‘Now we’re all here,’ Charles said, reaching for his reading glasses, ‘it’s my unpleasant duty to tell you about the German orders. These were given to me at the Bailiff’s office this morning and came straight from Colonel Graf von Schmettow of the German High Command. So I’m afraid we must take them very seriously. There’s an immediate curfew; everyone must be indoors between eleven p.m. and six a.m. All British servicemen have to report to the police.’ He paused here and looked at Gerald over the top of his spectacles. ‘Just as well we took the decision to loan you David’s identity, my boy. And I must remind all of you not to let the truth slip out. There are very severe penalties for a deception of this nature so we must all keep our mouths firmly shut. Do you understand, Pip?’
‘I say, Uncle Charles, that’s not fair.’ Pip moved closer to his mother.
Jane’s faced flushed a dull brick red. ‘Yes, Charles, don’t pick on Pip.’
‘I have to make certain that everyone grasps the seriousness of the situation. Anyway, to continue, and I’ll make it as brief as possible. Of course you all realise that communications have been cut off to the mainland and wireless sets are being confiscated. All weapons have to be given up, including shotguns, and there’s an embargo on every type of boat, including
fishing boats, without an order from the military.’
‘No hope of smuggling you off the island that way, then, Gerald,’ Meg whispered behind her hand.
‘Shh …’ Bertrand nudged her in the ribs. ‘Be quiet and listen.’
‘The sale of petrol is banned, as is the use of all private transport, except for essential services. So I suppose we can still use the farm truck when we need to. Blackout restrictions are already in force, but they’ve got to be strictly observed – so I’m asking each one of you to be responsible for your own rooms and keep an eye on the reception room windows at night.’ Charles consulted his notes. ‘All alcohol sales are forbidden. That means no more after dinner-brandy, Bertie.’
‘Steady on, Charles,’ Bertrand protested feebly.
‘I never thought I should live to see the day.’ Maud sniffed and tears trickled down her cheeks creating runnels in her face powder.
‘Don’t take on so, old girl,’ Bertrand said, handing her his hanky. ‘Don’t cry or you’ll start me off.’
Charles cleared his throat. ‘And now I must give you the last and probably the worst news as far as this family is concerned. The Germans have already taken over most of the hotels and a good few private houses to billet their officers and men.’
Meg was suddenly alert. She knew by her father’s tone of voice that this was going to be dire. ‘Not here, Pa? Please tell me it’s not true.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘I’m afraid it is, Meg. Hauptmann Dressler informed me that he intends to billet some of his officers here from tomorrow, and there’s nothing I can do about it.’
A murmur of consternation rippled round the room.
‘We’ll be murdered in our beds, or worse,’ Maud muttered into the folds of Bertrand’s hanky.
‘I don’t think so,’ Charles said, shaking his head. ‘But it’s even more important now for everyone to remember Gerald’s new identity.’
‘See the danger you’ve put us in, young man. I hope you’re satisfied.’ Jane’s face puckered up as if she had been sucking a very sour lemon.
Marie tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Begging your pardon, Miss Jane, but you leave my boy alone. I’m sick of hearing you and that son of yours sniping at him.’
There was a momentary silence as everyone turned to stare at Marie.
‘Well, the impudence.’ Maud heaved her portly body out of her chair. ‘You’d do well to remember your place, Mrs LeFevre.’
‘That’s enough,’ Charles said, raising his voice for the first time that day. ‘There’s no difference between any of us at this moment. We’re all prisoners on the island and that makes us equals. I don’t want to hear any talk of that kind or any hint of it. Understood?’
‘We understand,’ Meg said, glaring at Jane. ‘We do, don’t we?’
There was a mutter of assent and Jane sprang to her feet. ‘You’re the head of the family, Charles. I expect you to take extra special care of my boy. After all, he is your blood, unlike some.’ She jerked her head in Gerald’s direction.
Marie opened her mouth as if to protest, but Charles silenced her with a look. ‘I’ll do everything in my power to protect all of you, but I won’t stand for petty jealousies and bickering. Take the boy away, Jane, and try to impress some common sense into his head before tomorrow morning, if that is possible.’
‘Well, really!’ Jane stormed out of the room dragging Pip along in her wake. Maud and Bertrand followed, casting malicious glances at Gerald as if the situation were entirely his fault.
‘Are you all right, Marie?’ Charles asked anxiously. ‘You’re as white as a sheet.’
‘I’m worried about Simone. She’s still at the hospital and she doesn’t know about any of this. She might let it slip that her brother is still on the island.’
Gerald hooked his arm around his mother’s shoulders. ‘I’ll go and see her. You mustn’t worry.’
‘You really should stay within these grounds,’ Charles said, frowning thoughtfully. ‘But I take your point, Marie.’
‘There are tomatoes boxed and ready to deliver to the docks and there are still ships going to France,’ Gerald said, after a moment. ‘I can drive to St Peter Port this afternoon and stop at the hospital on the way back.’
Meg shook her head. ‘I won’t supply the German army with tomatoes. They can bloody well starve.’
‘And so will we if we don’t trade,’ Charles said gently. ‘We have no choice, my dear. Whether we like it or not these people are here and if we want to survive then we have to do as they say. It’s as simple as that.’
‘Well I don’t have to like it.’
‘No, Meg. You don’t have to like it. Neither do I.’
Gerald squeezed the truck in between two German armoured cars in the hospital car park. They had dropped the boxes of tomatoes off at the depot and Meg had spent a good half hour filling in the necessary documentation supplied by a German soldier who only had two or three words of English. Now, with her nerves almost at breaking point, she leapt to the ground and slammed the door with such a degree of pent-up fury that the old vehicle shuddered, sending flakes of rust fluttering to the ground. ‘I’ll go and find Simone. You’d better stay in the truck, Ger – I mean, David.’
‘Yes, sis,’ Gerald said, winking at her.
‘I’m glad you think it’s funny.’ Hunching her shoulders, she strode off towards the main entrance. No matter how hard she tried, she was finding it difficult to remember that Gerald was now supposed to be David, and if it was hard for her it must be almost impossible for his mother. What Simone would make of the deception she could not begin to imagine.
The hospital receptionist seemed tense and nervous, but she gave Meg a wan smile and said she would phone around the wards to see if she could locate Nurse LeFevre. Looking around, Meg was unnerved by the number of grey German uniforms that seemed to be everywhere. She took a seat by the window, and picking up a dog-eared magazine from the table she flipped through its pages even though the recipes, household hints and the inevitable short story held little interest for her. She looked up as a shadow fell across the page.
‘Good afternoon, miss.’
She found herself staring into the face of the young German officer she had encountered in the churchyard.
‘You are here to visit someone sick?’ His smile was tentative and it was almost as if he were expecting a sharp put-down.
She hesitated, not knowing quite how to react. She wanted nothing to do with the enemy, but it was impossible to ignore a young man who was so heart-wrenchingly like Rayner. He seemed anxious to be acknowledged and for a brief moment she felt almost sorry for him. ‘Hello.’
His face lit up with a smile. ‘Lieutenant Dieter Brandt. Miss …?’
Meg stood up as she saw Simone coming towards them. ‘Marguerite Colivet,’ she said hastily. ‘Excuse me, I see my friend coming.’
‘You wanted to see me?’ Simone brushed past Dieter, casting him a sideways glance beneath her thick black lashes.
‘Can you spare me a few minutes?’ Meg said urgently.
‘I’m on duty. Can’t it wait?’
‘No it can’t. It’s family business.’
‘Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?’ Simone said archly.
Meg gritted her teeth. She was beginning to feel as though she were caught up in some surreal nightmare. She could hardly believe that Simone was not only ogling a German solder but was actually demanding an introduction. ‘Simone, this is Lieutenant Dieter Brandt. We bumped into each other in the churchyard when I was laying some flowers on your father’s grave. Lieutenant Brandt, Simone LeFevre.’
Simone held out her hand. ‘Please to meet you.’
Dieter shook hands and bowed. ‘Fräulein LeFevre.’
Meg grabbed Simone by the arm. ‘I really do need to talk to you now, please. Let’s go for a walk outside. It won’t take a minute.’
‘Oh, all right,’ Simone said reluctantly. ‘Goodbye, Lieutenant Brandt
.’
‘How could you?’ Meg hissed as she propelled Simone towards the glass doors. ‘You were flirting with him. They’re the enemy, for God’s sake.’
Outside the air was warm with summer scents and free from the hospital smell of strong disinfectant.
Simone wrenched her arm free. ‘That hurt, you spiteful cow.’
‘Gerald is in the truck. He’s got something important to tell you, so please just try to look casual as we walk across the car park.’
‘All right, but don’t touch me again.’
Meg leaned against the tailgate and waited. After a few minutes, Simone strutted off in the direction of the main entrance without a backwards glance. Gerald opened the cab door and beckoned. ‘I’ve put her in the picture,’ he said as Meg climbed in beside him.
‘She didn’t look too happy about it.’
‘No. Simone thinks I’ve sold out to the Colivets.’
‘Perhaps she’d rather see you deported to a prisoner of war camp or worse. I’m sorry to say it but your sister is a pain in the neck.’
Gerald started up the old engine, which coughed and spluttered and threatened to stall. He gave it some more choke and it finally wheezed into life. ‘She can’t help it.’
‘Well, hopefully she’ll keep her mouth shut. Let’s get home before one of those damn Germans starts asking questions.’
As they drove from the car park Meg caught sight of Simone inside the glass doors and she was talking animatedly to Dieter Brandt. Meg said nothing.
Early next morning Charles waited at the top of the stone steps with Meg standing resolutely just a little way behind him. They watched in silence as the convoy of army vehicles came slowly up the drive. Meg made an effort to appear calm, but her mouth was so dry that her tongue felt hard and cracked like an old leather shoe. She could feel a trickle of cold sweat running down between her shoulder blades and she was inwardly quaking. She slipped her hand into her father’s and the pressure of his fingers on hers was comforting until she realised that he was trembling convulsively. Brakes squealed, tyres spun on the gravel and doors were flung open as the German officers climbed out of their transport. Their jackboots crunched on the gravel drive.
