Henderson shook his head. ‘I’ve been trained to move quietly. Stay here, and if you hear shooting, or if I’m not back within an hour, you’d better clear out.’

Marc didn’t like the sound of this. If something happened to Henderson he’d be back on his own in the middle of nowhere. Although at least he’d have thirteen gold ingots and a gun.

Henderson jumped out of the van and dug his fingers into the earth. He daubed mud on to his cheeks and forehead before disappearing into a potato patch, crouching low as he surveyed the outside of the house. There were no suspicious cars and only one light on inside, so he crept towards the back door.

As Henderson stepped clear of the potatoes, he heard a sob. He turned and saw the outline of a boy. He was slender and he sat with a sketchpad on his lap, although it was too dark to draw.

‘Paul Clarke?’ Henderson whispered.

The boy’s head turned around and his teeth caught the moonlight as his mouth dropped open. ‘Henderson, is that you?’

Another sob sent a chill down Henderson’s back. ‘Are the Germans here or something?’ Henderson asked. ‘Tell me, what’s the matter?’

*

Half an hour later Marc and Henderson were inside the house, sitting around the dining table drinking mugs of hot milk. Yvette had scrubbed the blood from where Hugo died, but Rosie had picked a bundle of wild flowers and laid them against the dresser.

‘We’ll head south to Bordeaux,’ Henderson said. ‘I’ve heard there are still regular sailings for the Cornish coast – although that was a few days back, so we’ll have to see.’

Marc was half listening and half watching Rosie. Girls fascinated him and she looked sad, with her long hair mussed and the soles of her feet dirty where she’d been outside feeding the chickens.

‘What did you do with Herr Potente’s body?’ Henderson asked the adults.

‘We spoke to the police. They made a report and took both bodies away,’ Yvette explained.

‘Dammit,’ Henderson said. Then he seemed to change the subject. ‘Have you lived on this farm for long?’

‘It’s a family farm,’ Father Doran explained. ‘It belonged to our parents and our grandparents before them.’

‘You’ll have to leave before the Germans get here,’ Henderson said. ‘The Gestapo know where Herr Potente was sent and they’ll most likely uncover the police report. They’ll interrogate you about the plans and about my whereabouts.’

‘But we know very little, and by then, hopefully, you’ll be long gone,’ Yvette said.

‘I know that,’ Henderson said. ‘But the Gestapo will want to be sure and they’ll make sure by torturing you.’

Marc bared his teeth. ‘Look what those animals did to my tooth,’ he said. ‘I heard the Oberst’s orders: Potente was to interrogate Paul and Rosie and then kill them.’