‘You’re supposed to be on your way to the wilds of Wales right now, aren’t you, Pet?’

I stepped backwards as he came closer.

‘I saw what you did, Michael,’ I said. ‘I saw you cut the telephone line.’

‘Ah. I did wonder. I noticed that you were following me across the cliff. About as subtle as a purple elephant. You’d be a rubbish spy.’

‘It was sabotage.’

He smiled. His green eyes had never looked so cruel. ‘Sabotage is a pretty stupid word to band about if you don’t actually understand what’s going on.’

‘I know perfectly well what’s going on.’

‘Do you? Hitler’s army will be here any day now. There is nothing we can do to stop him, and why would we even want to? It will be a glorious new beginning for England.’

I can only imagine that my face looked as baffled as my brain was at that moment.

‘My father always said that this country desperately needs a ruler like Hitler – someone to bring back the discipline and wealth of the old Empire. “Just look at the German economy!” Father used to say. So I looked, and eventually I understood. It’s about being strong. Unsentimental.

‘All that rubbish the vicar was spouting in church about good and evil – as if the real world is that black and white! You’re cleverer than that, aren’t you, Pet? You can see the true way forward.’ He took another step towards me.

I stood my ground. ‘You cut the other phone lines too, and started the fires in the village, didn’t you?’ I had to know that it was him.

‘Necessary steps, I’m afraid. It’s just about removing obstacles . . .’

‘But why the Scout hut?’ I didn’t understand.

‘The LDV were stashing weapons there – shotguns and rifles. We couldn’t risk them being used when Hitler’s army arrives. Anyway – I’m pretty sure our own police wouldn’t have been too happy if they’d found out about it. You can’t have people like that taking the law into their own hands.’

‘But it’s all right for people like you?’

‘Oh, little Pet,’ Michael said, and a muscle twitched in his handsome jaw. ‘I’m getting rather bored of this. You clearly don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.’

His withering tone made me feel I was being ridiculous – childish and ignorant and ridiculous. But then I thought about my Mutti and the Rossis and all the terrible things that were happening at that very moment to innocent people all over Europe. I wasn’t clever enough to argue with Michael – I didn’t know anything about economies or empires – but I knew that his words made me feel sick. They stank.