‘I suppose I could if that’s what you want but are you sure you like it?’

‘Who wouldn’t?’ Holly thrust it back at him, more forcefully than she meant to, and reluctantly he tucked it back into his pocket as Angela stared at her as if she had gone mad. There was no way she would ever have given back such a beautiful present. There was an influx of officers and nurses then and thankfully the atmosphere relaxed as they all tried to make the best of things.

‘So what are you girls planning to do with yourselves this afternoon?’ Harry asked when they’d finished eating and drinking. Holly had drunk two glasses of wine by then and was feeling quite tiddly.

‘We don’t have a lot of choice, do we?’ Angela pointed out. ‘So we may as well go and listen to the carol singers. Cook was saying he’s made them all some mulled wine and mince pies.’

They all headed back to the hospital and within minutes of them getting there the carol singers arrived and, spreading themselves down the centre of the ward, they began to sing some well-loved carols. Everyone smiled when they realised that they were singing them in French, but even so those that were able to soon joined in in English and the air echoed with the sweet strains of music. There were about twelve singers in total, ranging from a little girl who looked to be about ten years old who had the voice of an angel to an elderly man who Holly judged must be at least eighty. The men were wearing berets and warm jackets while the women wore gaily coloured scarves and shawls. It was when they began to sing Holly’s all-time favourite carol, ‘Silent Night’ that she suddenly stepped up to join them and began to sing along in perfect French. Her pure voice floated on the air and Angela’s eyes almost popped out of her head.

‘Blimey … she’s good, isn’t she?’ she whispered to Richard who was watching Holly closely and he nodded never taking his eyes off her for a second. He wasn’t the only one and when the carol was finished there was a round of applause from patients and staff alike.

‘That was very impressive,’ Harry told her when she rejoined them.

Holly merely smiled as Richard watched her with a thoughtful expression on his face. Shortly after she saw him speaking to one of the Frenchmen who had been in the choir and she recognised him as the one she had seen about the hospital from time to time speaking to officers, although she didn’t really give it much thought.

The next day it was business as usual and when Holly woke to the sound of distant gunfire she silently groaned. Yet more blood would be spilled today.

That evening, amongst the many wounded admitted to the hospital was a young man who was delirious.

‘Get the rats off me!’ he screamed in terror as Holly was trying to bathe his wounds to see the extent of them. He was lashing out blindly at something only he could see, poor lad, and the man in the next bed shook his head sadly. After removing his boots Holly found that all his toes were black with frostbite and she knew instantly that they would all have to be removed if he were to stand a chance of survival.