‘When Chappy and I got married, Paa gifted us this piece of land which had come from the yellow-eyed grandfather, and we set up our business. The first thing we had to do was clear people’s bills and pay off my creditors. I’d already begun to do this, but it was slow. However, the war years were good years financially. There was a demand for meat and other produce and we were able to send all our goods straight to market. War was proving profitable in that sense. Also there was work available in the cities. There was more money around. It was all to do with the war effort, but Chappy left in the middle of that. Our land here was covered in fruit trees and vegetable gardens.

‘Part of my dream after the war, Grandson, was that my husband would come home to high silky corn, tomatoes ripening, grapes hanging like jewelled bags. Daydreams. It made work light. I wasn’t unhappy. I wasn’t too lonely.

‘The war ended. Harry Krauss returned, but his business as a baker of bread and pies and a decorator of cakes had dwindled. People now owned cars, and had taken their business away from the German spy and his family and gone elsewhere. The same was the case for Hermie and Kurt when they reopened the garage.

‘I wanted to build a new house and I wanted a motor vehicle. Another part of what I had in mind for Chappy to come home to was a place with three bedrooms, a living room and kitchen, a bathroom and wash-house. But I had to wait. It was impossible for Māori to obtain finance for home building, and it wasn’t until the fifties that a scheme through the Department of Maori Affairs enabled Māori to secure housing loans. Piki and Mina had already built a house this way. All electric apart from the stove. The electric stoves came later, and the refrigerators. Securing a loan was not a straightforward matter for a woman, especially one with an invisible husband, but after many months of to-ing and fro-ing, and having Paa as my guarantor and spokesperson, we received finance. I think Paa must have taken after his yellow-eyed father. He could be formidable. Also, though he had given the land to us, he was still the legal owner of it. I suppose that made a difference. We would inherit at the time of his death.

‘Easier to obtain was a truck which I bought when my horse died. They’re greedy things, these motors, and less reliable than animals. Some places they can’t go at all. But when they’re on a decent road and when they’re well behaved, they can move you about no trouble. The girls were pleased with it, and I thought Chappy would like it too. Horses had no time for him.