Bill wanted to reassure her, but how could he under the circumstances? Australia was the other side of the world, getting there wasn’t going to be easy, and as for getting back … A lad like Felix wouldn’t be able to pay for his passage back to England, and the Navy wouldn’t bring him back when he wasn’t a British national. He tried to put on a brave face. ‘If I know our Felix, wild horses won’t stop him coming back to you.’ He glanced up the stairwell. ‘You’ve got this place for a month, but what’ll you do after that? With the best will in the world he won’t be back before the month’s up.’

‘I suppose I could ask Mabel, although it’s pretty cramped at her place.’

Bill got to his feet. ‘If all else fails you’re welcome to kip on our sofa.’ He glanced at his wristwatch. ‘I’d better be getting back – Alan doesn’t know about the Dunera yet.’ He gave Roz a warm, friendly hug. ‘You must let me or Alan know if you need anything.’

Nodding, she waited until he was out of sight before heading up the steps and into the flat. She had stopped off at the butcher’s on her way to work to buy some corned beef so that they might have corned beef and tomato sandwiches for their supper. Taking the net bag she had used to carry the goods, she placed the bread, meat, and tomatoes on a plate, and rooted round in one of the kitchen drawers for a knife.

Having made her sandwich, she wandered over to the window and looked out onto the street below where the people of Liverpool continued with their busy lives. It’s as though nothing has changed, Roz thought to herself, yet as far as I’m concerned, nothing will ever be the same again. I got my first boyfriend, and lost him within seconds of him asking me to be his belle. Taking a bite of her sandwich, she chewed thoughtfully. It seemed to Roz that every time she made arrangements to move somewhere else, the people she loved most were taken away from her. Felix was the only one who understood what it was like back in Germany, to have your parents go missing, to not know whether you’ll ever see them again. She wiped an errant tear from her cheek. She was on her own. She might have Mabel, but Mabel could never understand what it was like to be a Jewish refugee, in a country which now saw you as the enemy. Not feeling like doing anything much, she finished eating before curling up on the settee and falling asleep, where her dreams turned into nightmares with Felix adrift in the ocean shouting out for help.