They knew, from what Randie had written and Arnie had told them, that both their own and Ella and Arnie’s homes had been ransacked. Arnie had arranged for builders to come in, and Randie had been happy to stay on to oversee the work.

It had been sad to hear of all the destruction. But then they were only goods and chattels and were easily replaced, mainly by all that surrounded her at this moment – all pieces that Flors had come to love over the last few years; and although she hadn’t made this apartment her home, these items would complete her home back in France.

The door burst open and Cyrus stood there, his face lit up as she’d not seen it for a long time. ‘Can you believe it, darling? And there’s another letter, too. It’s from Randie. Everything is now ready, and he will be with us in the next couple of weeks. But he says he wants us to prepare ourselves for a big surprise – one that he knows will make us very happy, especially Marjie.’

Flors smiled at how easily she and Cyrus had taken to calling Marjella ‘Marjie’, but with everyone else doing so, using her formal name didn’t sound right any more.

‘Randie says he can’t say any more, as he wants to save the moment for when he is with us.’

‘Oh? What on earth can it be, Cyrus? I mean, the obvious thing would be that he has a young lady to introduce to us, but that wouldn’t be a “big” surprise. A nice one, but why all the mystery?’

‘Unless it’s someone we know and wouldn’t expect.’

They laughed together then, as Cyrus named all the unlikely women in the village – one widowed with five children, who had let herself go and, despite all the help offered to her, kept her children in a filthy house and did nothing but smoke and drink wine; and one a spinster whose fiancé had been killed in the last war. ‘No, Cyrus, no – not Philomena! She’s our age and a sourpuss, bless her. Stop it now, and think of someone more likely.’

‘I can’t. I didn’t really know many of Randie’s friends; well, the boys of the village, of course, as they were always around our house, playing football. No, it can’t be one of them, can it?’

Flors laughed out loud. ‘Randie? No, he’s always had an eye for the girls. I bet it’s one of Marjie’s friends, and that is why he says it will make her happy. They were always around.’

‘Yes, it could be any of those. Though, if I remember right, they had their eye on Freddy – especially that blonde girl. What was her name?’