‘Pierre?’
‘Yes. Pierre and Father Albert brought Alain from Orléans.’ Claire began to cry. Pierre had lost so much when Marcel had been killed, yet he had brought Alain home. ‘Pierre will tell you, or Alain will tell you when he wakes. For now, know that the doctor in Gisoir has saved his leg, and he assures me that in time Alain will recover and will walk again. But you must be patient.’
Claire nodded. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘There is nothing for you to be sorry about,’ Édith said, putting her arms round Claire and rocking her.
‘I am going up to Thérèse,’ André said, coming into the sitting room after having had a wash. He kissed his mother on the top of her head and turned to Claire. ‘Claire, what is it?’
Claire looked up at her comrade and smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks. ‘Alain is alive. He is here.’
‘Thank God! Mother--?’
‘I will tell you tomorrow. Now you should go to your wife.’ Édith turned to Claire. ‘Why don’t you wash and I will make up your bed in here?’ Claire looked at her old friend, her eyes pleading. ‘You would like to see Alain, of course. André will have used all the hot water anyway,’ she said, moving to the door. ‘I shall heat more while you are upstairs.’
Claire crossed the room, opened the door, and mounted the stairs without making a sound. She opened her bedroom door and the dim light from the landing glowed pale yellow onto Alain as he slept in her bed. Tears of happiness fell from her eyes as she looked at the man she loved, but feared she would never see again. There was a support of some kind under the bedclothes to keep them from pressing on his injured leg. The bullet that had penetrated his leg was months ago, so why hadn’t it healed? She crept into the room and, at the side of the bed, watched Alain sleep. His hair, long and greasy, lay lank on the pillow. His broad handsome face was gaunt, his lips dry and chapped. Dark patches beneath his eyes exaggerated the grey pallor of his skin. Claire wanted to lie next to him, put her arms around him and love him better. Instead she told him she loved him, kissed the fingers of her right hand and gently touched his forehead.
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, with Antoinette Marron driving, Alain unconscious in the back, and Eddie in a nurse’s uniform and quarantine mask, they drove all the way to Orléans.’
‘Where Pierre took over?’
‘Yes. He and one of the Resistance group, an undertaker, brought Alain home in a hearse.’
Claire shivered at the thought of Mitch in a hearse. But it didn’t matter how he got here. He was here.
Claire showed the doctor up to Alain’s room. ‘Aimée? What are you doing in here?’
‘Reading to the man.’
Claire turned her face away from her daughter so she didn’t see her laughing. It would be a while until Aimée would be able to read. ‘Uncle André’s maps? You mustn’t play with this book, darling.’ Claire took the atlas from her and put it in the dresser drawer. How she managed to lift the book onto the bed, goodness knows; it weighed almost as much as she did.
Aimée looked from the doctor to Alain, and then to her mother. ‘Man awake, Mummy. Come on,’ she said, ‘wake up, Mister!’
Claire plucked Aimée from the bed. She began to protest, but Claire shushed her and tiptoed to the door. At the bottom of the stairs Claire put Aimée down and she ran into the kitchen calling, ‘Grandma, Grandma, man awake.’ Aimée tilted her head and tried to wink, but blinked both eyes.
‘If you say so, little one.’ Édith lifted Aimée up, sat her on a cushion and pushed her chair up to the table. She put a bowl of porridge in front of her and an apple
that she had cut into half-moon shapes.
Aimée tapped Édith on the arm and when Édith looked at her she blinked again. Nodding, she picked up a segment of apple in her small hand and bit into it.
When the doctor came down he said, ‘Alain is doing well. His leg has almost healed. I have taken the bandages off to let the air get to it.’ He took a bottle of pills from his black doctor’s bag. ‘I think it best to keep the basket over his leg for protection. If he is in pain when he wakes, give him a couple of these,’ he said, handing the pills to Claire.
‘When do you think he will wake, doctor?’ Claire asked.
‘I’m surprised he hasn’t woken already. Each day I give him less morphine than the day before. Today I gave him very little. He should wake soon.’
From the doorway, Claire saw Aimée put her book of numbers down and jump off Mitch’s bed. ‘More? Or Aimée sing?’ she asked, putting her feet together and her hands out towards him in a gesture of offering.
‘Sing,’ Mitch murmured.
Claire held onto the door frame to stop herself from falling. Mitch was awake. He was awake. She could hardly believe her eyes, her ears. ‘Will you go down and tell Grandma Alain is awake, darling?’ Aimée nodded and, after taking her doll from Alain’s side, went down to tell Édith.
‘Hello China,’ Mitch croaked.
Claire wanted to fall into his arms and stay there forever. ‘Hello,’ she said, before sitting on the side of Mitch’s bed, taking care not to put pressure on it. ‘How are you feeling?’
He took a shallow breath. ‘Thirsty, hungry… I’m so hungry, I could eat a steak.’
Claire laughed though her tears. ‘You can have soup. You need to start with food that is easy to digest.’ Mitch tried to lift his head, but couldn’t and exhaled loudly in failed effort. He had tears in his eyes. Claire leant over and wiped them away. Then she kissed him gently.
‘Lie down beside me, China.’ Claire kicked off her shoes and laid her head on the pillow next to his. Mitch closed his eyes.
When Claire told Aimée that Alain was her daddy – she still called Mitch Alain in case Aimée spoke of him when they were out – the little girl stared up at her wide-eyed, and then went upstairs to her bedroom. Claire followed and found her sitting on the edge of her bed telling Dolly and Teddy. Seeing her mother, Aimée put down her toys and reached out to her. Claire picked her up and rocked her. ‘Shall we go down and see Alain, or would you rather we stayed here?’ Claire asked after a few minutes. Aimée wriggled to be put down. Holding onto the banister, she took the stairs slowly with Claire following.
As they entered the sitting room, Claire saw Mitch opening an envelope that Jacques had given Édith earlier that day. He put it down immediately. ‘Hello Aimée,’ he said, smiling at the little girl from the chair at the side of the fire. With a puckered brow, Aimée swayed from side to side before taking one tentative step at a time as far as the chair opposite. She climbed onto the seat and, sitting down, tugged the skirt of her dress until it covered her knees. Then she clasped her hands on her lap. ‘Cat got your tongue?’ Aimée shook her head. ‘Then why so quiet?’ Not taking her eyes off him, she lifted her shoulders. ‘Aren’t you going to read to me today?’
Suddenly smiling, she said, ‘Yes!’ and, jumping down, she took the envelope containing Jacques’ message from Mitch’s lap. She returned to her chair and leant against the arm. ‘Once pon a time --’ She stopped and looked across the room at Claire. Smiling, her mother nodded encouragingly and Aimée began her story again. ‘Once pon a time was a daddy and--’ Aimée stopped again and this time looked up at Mitch. A frown crept across her small forehead and her bottom lip began to quiver.
Mitch pulled himself out of his chair and, with the aid of a stick, took a couple of stumbling steps. Leaning heavily on the stick, he dropped onto his knees and took up the story. ‘And they didn’t know each other for a long, long time because the daddy had been taken to another place before the little girl was born. Then one day,’ he said, ‘some kind people found the daddy. He was very sick so,’ he looked at Claire, ‘Mummy’s friend, your Aunt Eddie, and then Uncle Pierre, brought him home to Aimée’s Grandma, and with her help, and Mummy’s help, Daddy was made well again. And,’ Mitch took Jacques’ envelope and put it in his pocket, ‘they all lived happily ever after.’
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?’
<
br /> ‘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 arm in arm the three women sang all the way home.
China Blue (The Dudley Sisters Saga Book 3) Page 28
