‘Dr Richard Parkin, and this is Nurse Holly Farthing, she assisted during your operation as well as sat by you for hours on end ensuring you didn’t dehydrate.’

Sam inclined his head to her and Holly smiled. It was so nice to see him awake although she knew they were far from out of the woods yet. There was still time for an infection to set in and if it did they’d be in very deep trouble. He really needed to be in the hospital where he could receive the proper medication but she doubted he would be well enough to travel for at least another couple of days.

Suddenly they heard a loud banging on the door upstairs and they all froze. They could hear a door opening and a German voice. Holly began to tremble and held her breath as Richard crossed to the oil lamp and extinguished it, holding a finger to his lips to tell her and the airman to remain silent. They had now been plunged into darkness and without thinking Holly’s hand sought Richard’s for reassurance. They could hear Claudette talking loudly to whoever was up there then there was the sound of something being hauled across the floor and the door slamming. All was quiet again but still they sat on until they could be sure that it was safe to speak.

At last the trapdoor opened and Francine appeared pale-faced, ‘Maman said to tell you that the pigs came for a sack of winter cabbages but they are gone now. It is safe again.’

Richard sighed as he fumbled with the matches and relit the oil lamp. Meanwhile Holly’s heart gradually slowed to a steadier rhythm. What stories she would have to tell her mother and Ivy, if and when she ever got home.

Chapter Forty-Five

Over the next few days Sam gradually improved until at last Richard told him, ‘I think you could just about manage the journey to hospital now, providing Pierre doesn’t jolt the wagon too much.’

Holly had lost all sense of time by then. Down in the semi-darkness every hour was the same, although she had spent some of the time up in the kitchen chatting to Francine who she now considered to be a friend. Being a very similar age they had a lot in common and Holly knew that she would miss her when they left. She was full of admiration for the girl and her family who were risking their lives every time they tried to help people such as Sam who had been shot down behind enemy lines. Had Pierre not found him he would have died where he fell or, worse still, been shot by the Germans if they came across him. And now Holly realised that this was not the first time the family had stuck their necks out to help the British soldiers.

‘You all deserve a medal,’ Holly told her sincerely. ‘And I really hope that when the war is over you receive one.’