‘You charmer you,’ she said, waving a hand idly in his direction. ‘It’s nice to see that one of us hasn’t changed.’
She placed a hand on her stomach and for the first time Jack noticed the swell there. It had been hidden behind the counter, but as she stood up it was easier to see. He noticed the wedding ring he hadn’t spotted before.
‘Congratulations,’ he said, forcing a smile onto his face. He was genuinely happy for her, but the shock had caught him off guard. He had never really considered that they were old enough to have children, nor thought about marrying Johanna himself, not really. He didn’t know Madeleine had been seeing anyone, nor had he yet mentioned Johanna to her, even though they had been together for a couple of years now. Something held him back. He wished she was here now – she would know what to say – but Maddy seemed to guess the questions running through his head.
‘Thank you,’ she said, all smiles. ‘It’s all a bit sudden. But then isn’t everything right now? My husband’s in the army. He wanted me to go with him, but I had no one to go to in England and I couldn’t leave my family. You know how it is?’
Jack nodded. None of them wanted to be refugees in England, with nowhere to go and no jobs, and they couldn’t leave their families behind. He smiled, unsure what else to say.
‘Well, good luck with everything.’ The words stumbled out. ‘Let me know if you need anything.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Disgraceful!’ The woman’s voice came from nearby at another counter, shrill and raised above the level appropriate for inside conversation. It was a voice Jack recognised well, and he closed his eyes for a second, sighing, before he turned around. At first Jack thought she had been referring to Maddy, but Mrs Fletcher was talking to another young woman at the other counter. The woman was clearly trying to finish something whilst doing her best to show interest in the customer. Jack nodded at Madeleine and went over to see if he could defuse the situation. He knew that Mrs Fletcher wasn’t fond of him, but then she wasn’t particularly fond of anyone.
Mrs Fletcher was one of his neighbours, and he would often spot her staring out of a window, observing everything that went on in St Peter Port. She had a face that he could only describe as being full of hate. He could never imagine the sag of her jowls creasing into something even approaching a smile and her beady eyes behind her glasses always stared as if in silent judgement. Only her judgement was seldom silent. The dress she wore looked as if it would have been the height of fashion during the last war, but was now considered impractical and uncomfortable. Even though she made a point of presentation and appropriate etiquette, her mousy blonde hair always seemed as if she had mislaid her hairbrush, no matter how hard she tied it back. It was no wonder she was unhappy as the ravages of age took their toll, but was there really any need for her to be so mean to others?
‘What’s that you’re working on?’ he asked the shop assistant when he got to the counter. She had a needle and thread in one hand, while the other hand held a piece of material down on the desk. She was dressed in a similar manner to Madeleine, but with brunette hair that fell around her shoulders. Jack didn’t recognise her. Even though the island was small, Jack didn’t know everyone by name.
On the other hand, Mrs Fletcher recognised him immediately, her cold eyes fixing on him. She interrupted just as the assistant was about to speak, ‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said. It wasn’t a question, but more of an accusation. ‘Have you seen what this girl is doing?’ she asked, but continued before he could say anything. ‘It’s disgraceful, that’s what it is.’
Jack raised his voice a little to make sure that he was heard, but not loud enough that she could accuse him of shouting at her. She had done that before. ‘What is she doing, Mrs Fletcher? I’m sure she’s just doing her job – isn’t that right, miss?’
The woman nodded at him, apparently unable to find the words.
‘Have a look for yourself, go on.’ She thrust a thin finger towards the material. ‘Disgraceful,’ she muttered.
Jack moved so that he could subtly manoeuvre himself between Mrs Fletcher and the assistant. This time he spoke in a more calming tone. He was used to adjusting his manner as a policeman, and some people needed a gentler touch. He smiled, trying to give her the sense that this was between them and to ignore the Fletcher woman, but it was hard to express all that in a smile.
‘What’s the problem?’ he asked, being deliberately vague so that she could give her version of events. The assistant hesitated, looking over his shoulder and then tried to form the words, but they only came out in a stutter. ‘Take your time.’
She nodded, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She smiled and then found her words. ‘I’m one of the seamstresses here at Creasey’s.’ She almost struggled on the esses but managed to compose herself. Jack nodded. She started unfolding the material so that she could show him what she was working on. ‘I’ve been asked to make a flag, see? A German chap came in here and asked for it specifically. They said he was the commander or something.’
She held up the red material for him to see and he finally realised. She had been stitching a white circlet in the middle of the flag, and the black cross of the German Reich lay next to it to be attached when she was ready.
‘Well?’ Mrs Fletcher butted in, and Jack had almost forgotten she was there. He couldn’t help but agree with her, but there was no way he was going to say that out loud. ‘Shouldn’t your lot be doing something about this kind of thing? Make her stop.’
Jack resisted the urge to sigh. What exactly was he ‘supposed’ to do about the German invasion of Guernsey? They could hardly stand up to an army, and it was apparent that elements of the German invasion force were already making themselves known on the island.
‘I can no more make her stop, than you can, Mrs Fletcher.’ She looked as if she was on the verge of trying, but Jack made his presence felt between the two of them. ‘The Germans have occupied the islands, and we will have to accept that. As for this flag here, there’s nothing illegal about it. They have been paid for a service and they are providing one. The assistant here is just doing the job asked of her by her employer. If the German Kommandant wants a new flag made, then there is nothing I or any other policeman for that matter can do about it. It is his right as new commander of the island, as it is any customer’s right to receive the service they have paid for.’
‘Then what are we paying you for? Exactly whose side are you on?’
It was a question he had heard a thousand times before from many a disgruntled person, either being arrested, or wondering why the police refused to arrest them. Did the Fletcher woman really want him to put that poor girl in jail for doing her job? If that happened, then who would be next?
‘I’m a policeman,’ he said. ‘I’m on the side of the people.’
Mrs Fletcher made a ‘hmphh’ sound, somewhere between a hum and a tut. When he turned, she had marched to the main door and was reaching for the handle. Nodding at the shop assistant and throwing a smile back in Madeleine’s direction, he headed to the door as well. He wanted to make sure that the Fletcher woman wasn’t going to cause any more trouble. When he stepped onto the pavement outside the department store, she was nowhere to be seen. The few people going about the town eyed him warily as they passed. Jack wondered whether everyone had stayed at home and bolted their front doors to keep away the Germans. If they had, they couldn’t stay like that forever.
He realised then, that he had forgotten the shoes he had gone in for. He looked at the door of the department store, but he couldn’t face seeing Madeleine again, let alone admitting that he had forgotten what he had gone in for. He would just have to pop in again another day, but then maybe Madeleine would think he had gone back to see her. He no longer had feelings for the woman, they had grown apart since they were younger, but it was still awkward, and he felt a certain sense of betrayal towards Johanna for even being in the same room as an old flame. He would have to find a time when sh
e wasn’t working.
The shoes wouldn’t be going anywhere, and he could always surprise Johanna another time. He thought of the joyous look she would give him when he gave her the gift, and he smiled as he walked away from the store.
*
Further along High Street on the corner that intersected with The Pollet, Jack was stopped by a scene that made his heart stop. A group of men walked along the street in his direction, tall men wearing pristine grey uniforms with rifles slung on their shoulders. They were calling to each other in German and cheering when they saw a local. Jack took a step backwards without realising. Part of him, some ancient instinct he barely had control over, wanted to run away, to be as far away from them as possible. Their very presence was intimidating, like the boys who had run the schoolyard. He forced himself to stand firm. He would not run.
If this was the invasion, then it was tame compared to what Jack and the others had expected. The bombing of the island and the harbour had been a horrible tragedy, bringing about completely needless deaths, but it had felt distant, even to Jack. Yet he had expected a proper invasion to be closer, more frantic, full of the sounds of gunfire and explosions ripping past him as he tried futilely to defend his home.
Instead, they walked past, some of them flashing smiles at the few locals who were around. They smelt like the British soldiers, but much, much stronger. Gun oil, boot polish, and a weird perfume that he couldn’t quite place. They talked German softly between themselves as some broke off from the group to enter the shops and others stopped in pairs to smoke. The clean white cigarettes gave off a different colour of smoke than the local variants and only added to the feeling that these men were different, somehow alien.
They were shopping as if it was normal, as if they were locals going about their business, rather than invaders. Jack wondered whether it was all part of their plan, to act normally and build confidence in the local population. He couldn’t feel anything but contempt for these men, even though he didn’t know them. He needed to go to the police station, warn them that the rest of the German soldiers had arrived and were treating the town as their own. He looked around himself to see if any of them were watching, and then like a criminal he slunk away down the back streets to advise his superiors.
*
2 July 1940
The crowds were starting to gather outside and around the Royal Hotel, forming a line along the promenade facing out to sea. It seemed as if everyone wanted to get a look at the occupation force as it gave its first parade. Whether it was out of a sense of morbid curiosity, Jack wasn’t sure, but they had come in numbers. The police had expected as much, and he had been posted along with David and the rest of his colleagues to stand guard along the route. It was more like a guard of honour than any real effort to prevent trouble. Despite the interest, there would be many who were unhappy with the occupiers, and some may take things into their own hands. Jack wasn’t sure what he could do in that situation, but he would not refuse his duty.
He found it difficult to concentrate as the minutes dragged by, and his mind drifted to Johanna. What would she be thinking now that the Germans were here? He was lost in his own thoughts when he heard the shouting. He scanned the crowd, but there were too many people. He felt David tense and take a step forward beside him.
‘My husband! My husband! Has anyone seen my husband?’ The woman was close to running as she pushed through the crowd. She was looking around her, moving on with each glance. The more she looked, the more frantic she became, turning this way and that, going back on herself before seeming to change her mind. Her dress was frayed and torn and there was mud splattered up one side. Her brown hair was also in a tangle. It was unusual that someone would be seen out in public in this state.
‘I’ll look into it,’ Jack said to David, who nodded in reply. Jack stepped out of the line to take charge, moving between the crowd of onlookers who stood gawping at the distressed woman. He didn’t know her, but her face was faintly familiar. He reached out an arm to stop her running off in the other direction again and tried to soothe her with his tone of voice. It was something he had practised before. She stopped but still looked around, her manner slowing down with each passing second.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, keeping his voice low.
‘My husband …’ was all she would say at first, until Jack pressed her.
‘What about him?’ he asked. ‘Tell me what happened and I will try to help.’
‘My husband. He’s gone,’ she said, her voice becoming a whisper, uncertain of what she was saying. Jack had to resist the urge to embrace and comfort her. He stood as close as was comfortable to hide her from the prying eyes of the crowd. ‘I went home and he wasn’t there. He was supposed to be there.’
He wondered how he would have felt if he were in this woman’s shoes, desperately searching for Johanna. Relatively speaking, she was the very model of calm. Jack thought about taking her home, to delve further into the problem, but he was needed here. The crowds were already pressing in and if he left his post then there would be chaos.
‘I want to help,’ he said. ‘But I need you to calm down and tell me exactly what happened.’
He led her aside to the mouth of an alley between two shops so that they wouldn’t be overheard. She took a few deep breaths then looked up at him. Her deep brown eyes cleared as if seeing him for the first time. At first her words were difficult to fully discern, but as she spoke she grew in confidence. ‘When the evacuation was announced,’ she said, ‘my husband and I, we decided that I should leave for England. We weren’t sure if it would be safe here, and we didn’t want to take the risk. So I signed up to go, but he … He had work here, work he had to stay for. So we decided that we would separate for the time being while the war was on. He stayed here and I caught a ship to England.
‘Only, I couldn’t stand it there, without him. Almost as soon as I got there I found a boat heading back. I couldn’t bear to be away from him, no matter how dangerous it was. Now I’m back, I can’t find him anywhere. Please help me.’
Sudden recollection dawned on Jack. He knew he had seen the woman before. It had been down in the harbour on the day the army were leaving and they were organising the boats to take people to the mainland. He had only caught a brief glimpse of the woman and her husband, but the image had stayed with him and he had seen the husband a few times since. ‘Oh dear,’ he said out loud, without realising he had spoken. Her mouth worked, trying to form a question. Jack saved her the trouble. ‘Your husband is fine,’ he said. ‘At least as far as I know. But the terrible thing is … Well, I saw him boarding one of the last boats to leave for the mainland.’
‘He … What?!’ The colour drained from her face, and her mouth hung open in shock.
‘I’m sorry,’ Jack replied. ‘He must have gone after you. He’ll be safely in England by now.’
‘I …’ She stopped again, her eyes darting as her thoughts raced. ‘I have to find a boat. I have to find a way off this island!’
She looked as if she was about to start running again, like an animal in flight. There was a wildness in her eyes that almost made Jack recoil. He wanted to do something to help, but he couldn’t think what. With the parade due to start he wouldn’t be able to leave his post without getting in trouble. There was only one thing he could think of.
‘Try Petit Port,’ he said, probably stating the obvious. ‘There may still be one or two boat crews that want to get out before the Germans take over the whole island.’
She nodded, but it wasn’t clear whether she had heard him, then she touched his arm. ‘Thank you,’ she said, words faint again. She picked up her skirts and ran off down the road, looking every bit like an actress from a film.
‘Good luck,’ Jack called after her before she was completely out of earshot.
*
Twenty or so minutes later, when everything had calmed down again and the crowds had pushed in, the Germans came marching along the road in groups, and in
to the centre of St Peter Port. Sergeant Honfleur walked at the head of the parade as they passed the Lloyds Bank on the corner, leading them along the route around the town. He looked about as happy to be there as Jack felt. The Germans’ field grey uniforms blended in with the grey stone of the shops and houses, but the red banners they carried, centred with a white circle and the German hooked cross, stood out sharply. They marched in step, four abreast, throwing their legs up in front of them in a flamboyant way that Jack had never seen before. Their bands came between each section of troops, driving them on with a rasp of brass instruments.
The Islanders came out of their homes to line the roads. The Germans were stern, but proud, as if they expected the residents to welcome them. The bands were deafening in their marching pomp, resounding glory, but the Islanders simply stared back, unsure of how to react. The Germans behaved like heroic liberators, but were nothing more than conquerors, adding the islands to their empire.
Jack stood with his compatriots, watching. A thousand thoughts rushed through his head at once. He thought of what this would mean for the island, and for him as a policeman. Like his colleagues, he’d been ordered to stand along the marching route, to make sure that the civilians kept their distance from the German soldiers. He’d been stationed almost at the centre of the town by The Pollet, but he wasn’t sure who to protect from whom, and he felt like he was standing between his countryfolk and their invaders. He had never felt more alone than at that moment, the only man visible in uniform, but not in the uniform of the German Wehrmacht.
He stood still and sighed deeply as another square of Germans goose-stepped past. He hoped Johanna was keeping herself away from trouble. It would be just like her to stand up to the Germans and cause some issue. They were seriously outnumbered, and there were very few places to hide.
The German Nurse Page 7
