‘Me too. Now that we are, where we are more in the thick of things, we can be useful in so many ways.’

‘Shush!’

The urgent whisper tightened Sibbie’s stomach muscles. She saw the same streak of fear attack Marjie, as her head shot round and her eyes widened.

André stood a few feet from them, his finger on his lips. Pointing, he mouthed that someone was coming.

Standing as still as statues, they registered that everyone else was lying down, holding guns that were pointed in the same direction. Sibbie felt useless, as she wasn’t ready for such an event and hadn’t thought, or been told, they would need to be. The sound of footsteps crunching the undergrowth further enhanced her anxiety.

But then there was a low whistle, and everyone relaxed. André laughed. ‘That minx, Gisele. She left it late to signal. Hurry, get out of sight.’

Sibbie and Marjie darted into Cyrus’s tent, but came out again at the sound of Cyrus’s astonished voice. ‘Randolph! Randie, my boy. Oh, my boy, let me help you.’

PART FIVE

Britain and France,
1942–43

Heroes and Traitors

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Hérault, France

Sibbie and Marjie

‘Randie, you’re safe now.’ Marjie said the words, but in her heart she knew that her lovely brother, only a year older than she was, wasn’t well and didn’t feel safe. All he’d been through at the hands of the Germans had taken its toll. Tucking the blanket further around him, she asked, ‘Do you want to talk about what happened to you? It may help you.’

Randie lay on the bed of their father’s tent while Marjie tended to him. He’d been bitten by all manner of insects and fleas, he had a fever and was half-starved, but worse than that was his apparent mental fragility.

Randie nodded. ‘I – I kept my courage all that time, Marjie, but now I can’t settle my mind. I wish we knew more about how Freddy really is.’

‘I have a friend in England who is trying to find out for us and will let us know as soon as he can – well, he is more than a friend; we are engaged to be married and—’

‘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?’