‘There will be someone for you. And when it happens, it will be like a bolt out of the blue. Not some old school friend that you’re very fond of, and mistake your feelings for.’

‘I know, I . . . Anyway, I’m turning in, as we have a long journey tomorrow.’

‘I don’t think I can sleep. I’ll stay out here a little longer, then check on the children, before I bed down. I’m worried about Lysette.’

‘Oh, I forgot to tell you. Madame is keeping her indoors with her. It turns out that she used to be a nurse, so will take good care of her.’

‘Thank you, André, goodnight.’

Once André was gone, Marjie thought of Sibbie and Paulo. She longed to know how they were, and uttered fervent prayers that broke the shield she had put up. Slipping onto the floor, she leaned her head on the straw bail and her heart broke.

The journey was made much shorter the next day, as Madame Dinlet drove them in a tractor and trailer for many miles until they reached another safe house, some twenty miles away. She’d made several stops at farms to refuel, and bedded down with them that night in the home of Monsieur Lavet, another farmer.

Lysette had deteriorated. The concern for her life was very real.

‘I will fetch my doctor to her. He, too, is a Jew, so you will all be safe. He will know what to do.’

‘Thank you, Monsieur. Thank you.’

Holding Lysette, Marjie felt so helpless, as the child seemed to be slipping away. The other children were sitting on chairs and a variety of crates around the warm kitchen, eating large chunks of bread.

‘Poor Lysette, I know you feel poorly, but could you try to sip this water, little one?’

Lysette opened her eyes, then closed them, never to open them again. Marjie gasped at how quickly she’d been taken. Rising from the table, she calmly asked Madame Dinlet to follow her into the next room. There she found a small sitting room, with a huge sofa taking up most of the floor space, and a long low table with books on it standing in the centre.

‘Madame, she has gone.’

‘Oh no, poor little child.’

Taking Lysette, Madame placed her on the table. ‘We need something to cover her. Oh, that blanket – there over the arm of the chair – would you pass it?’

Once Lysette was covered, Marjie’s body shuddered. And she found that she couldn’t stop the deluge of tears that flowed down her face.