‘Oh, Marjie, that’s good news, although you’re too young – you’re just my little sis.’

‘Ha, I’ve aged while you’ve been away. I’ve done things I never dreamed I would. Some of it will haunt me forever.’

Randie’s hand came out from the bedcover and reached for hers. She took it gladly, as Randie hadn’t made many gestures towards her and Papa, hardly wanting them even to hug him. ‘Will we ever get back to how we were, Marjie?’

‘We will. But only if we learn to cope with what has happened and is happening. None of this is our fault. None of us planned to become killers, to be torn away from our home and forced to fight for our own and our countrymen’s freedom. But we’ve risen to the challenge. Yes, we’ve been broken in the process, but we’re alive, Randie.’

‘Oh, Marjie, I need help to come to terms with it all. I – I need Mama . . .’

Marjie’s heart was breaking as she saw the tears running down Randie’s face.

‘It was like a horror film, Marjie. The terrible battle, seeing friends shot to pieces, not knowing if Freddy was all right, falling over dead body after dead body. Then I landed in the mud, crushed by another soldier behind me who’d been shot – his whole weight was on top of me. I just waited as he took his final breaths.’

Sweat stood out on Randie’s face and his trembling increased, but Marjie didn’t react. She stayed quiet and waited.

‘I don’t know how long I lay there, hardly able to breathe. Then all went quiet. The gunfire seemed a long way away. I thought I could push the body off me and lie there till dark, then re-join my regiment. But when I rolled over, I – I was staring down the barrel of a gun. A – a German gun.’

The trembling became worse, and Marjie felt afraid for Randie, but knew she must let him talk.

‘We – other prisoners and I – were marched for miles. If we stumbled, we were hit with the butt of a gun or kicked. Then when we reached the camp we were tortured, but I didn’t tell them anything they wanted to know, Marjie. I – I just kept thinking of you all. I hung on to the days we’d had together, beautiful days as a family surrounded by love. Oh, Marjie . . . Marjie, they hurt me so badly.’

She got up from the log she’d been sitting on and held her brother to her. ‘You’re all right now, my brave brother. You’re with me and Papa.’ They hadn’t told Randie yet that Cyrus was to be air-lifted out the next day. And they were hoping against hope that Randie could be, too. Sibbie had radioed HQ and made the request, but they were still awaiting the answer.

‘Tell me about your escape, but only if it is helping you. We can stop when you want to.’