A proud smile formed on Felix’s lips under the farmer’s praise.

‘We’ll see how well he gets on with the milking tomorrow,’ grinned Mabel. ‘We’ll soon see whether he’s a natural or not!’

It was Christmas Eve morning and the girls were teaching Felix how to milk, something which caused a great deal of hilarity at first, but despite their teasing, Felix had soon got the knack, and it wasn’t long before he was churning out pail after pail.

‘Well, I never thought I’d be milking cows on Christmas Eve,’ he said, passing another pail over to Roz who was pouring it into the churn, ‘but it sure beats working down the docks.’

‘And I never thought I’d see you again, let alone spend Christmas with you,’ Roz sighed happily. ‘It’s about time things started going our way.’

He grinned up at her from his milking stool. ‘I thought last Christmas was special, but I think it’s going to pale in comparison to this year.’

Mabel untethered the cow that Felix had finished milking. ‘I think it’s a shame Jewish people don’t get to celebrate Christmas; it’s my favourite time of the year.’

‘Mine too,’ admitted Roz. ‘I don’t think my parents would mind me saying that, because even though we’re Jewish we’re German too …’ she paused, ‘… or were, because I don’t think I am any more.’ She glanced at Felix. ‘Do you still think of yourself as being German?’

He shook his head. ‘If being a German means you have to be a Nazi, then no, I don’t think of myself as being German.’

Roz mulled this over. ‘I can remember what it was like before we left Frankfurt, and whilst I’d like to believe that there were some Germans who didn’t agree with the Nazis, I saw very little evidence of it. Then again, I reckon our neighbours were just as scared of the soldiers as we were, so maybe they were only pretending to like them.’

Felix shrugged. ‘Maybe …’ He began to milk another cow that Mabel had brought over. ‘It must be lovely being a cow, no religion, no war, just chewing the cud and hanging about with your friends all day.’

‘Life certainly would be simpler,’ agreed Mabel, leaning against the cow’s rump. ‘Although I don’t think I’d like the thought of sharing my man with a lot of other women.’

Roz began to giggle. ‘Bit like one of those sultans and their harems.’

Felix flashed her a dazzling smile. ‘Not for me, I’m a one-woman kind of guy.’

Roz felt herself begin to blush. She still couldn’t get used to the fact that Felix was her boyfriend, nor that he was back in Britain. When they were together it felt natural, and she was glad that no matter where he was posted in Britain, it could never be as far away as Australia.

Before they knew it Christmas Day was upon them, and after a frantic morning of milking, feeding and mucking out, they all sat down to a glorious roast chicken dinner.