What Cyrus said next lifted Flors’s heart. ‘And maybe Marjella can get transferred to a nearby station and live at home, too, Flors – that would be something, wouldn’t it?’

‘Yes, that would be a dream come true, Cyrus! I have felt bereft since all our children have left.’

‘You are so brave, Flors.’ Ella tugged Flors nearer to her, so that she could feel more of her close up.

‘I don’t feel brave. We cry at night together, when no one sees us.’

‘Hush, darling.’ Cyrus’s hand brushed Ella’s shoulder as he put his arm around Flors. ‘We have to keep positive. Yes, we weep at night for our young, but during the day we must keep going.’

‘We will, Cyrus. You don’t have to worry about me and Flors – we’ve weathered bigger storms. And thank you again for your offer. I would love to live with you, and it would really help me.’

‘And us, especially Flors. Anyway, Ella, I asked about your finances because I’m thinking that we will never make it, walking across the Alps. Not with little Lonia, and none of us are really physically fit enough to do so. The high altitude would kill us. For the right money, there must be someone willing to fly us over.’ In French he shouted to Philippe, ‘What do you think, Philippe? Is it possible to find someone to fly us into Switzerland?’

‘We will talk over breakfast. Right, here we are at the safe house.’

Inwardly, Ella gave a deep sigh of relief. The house – a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere – looked as though it was falling down. She couldn’t imagine anyone living there, let alone feeling ‘safe’ within its crumbling walls.

‘Come, the entrance is round the back. The Brebecks live in the basement. The house is in a dangerous condition, but they are safe down there. Passing Germans think it’s a ruin. They have been known to stop there and piss on the walls, and yet not realize there is a home below. The people who live here are refugees from Poland.’

Ella’s heart lifted at this. My fellow countrymen. At last I might get some news of what is happening in Poland.

Philippe was now saying, ‘They found this wreck and squatted in it. Monsieur Brebeck is an engineer and has adapted the underground rooms, leaving the main building looking as it does – an old wreck. It is hard to detect that it is occupied, unless you know.’

As they descended into the basement, Ella’s elation left her, as it felt as if they were taking steps down into the bowels of the earth, and she wondered if that’s what their life would be like once more . . .

CHAPTER SIX

Maidstone, Kent, and Portpatrick

Daisy, Florrie and Rosie