‘You’d think they’d be glad to see the back of us,’ said Roz, remembering the conversation she had had with her parents only the night before. ‘Why would they want to stop us leaving?’

Reggie stared down at her, stony-faced. ‘Doesn’t make sense, does it?’ His voice was flat, but looking up into his expressionless eyes, Roz felt herself drawing a breath which didn’t seem to end. She clapped a hand to her mouth as sudden realisation dawned. She searched his face for a flicker of confirmation to her suspicions, but he remained wooden. He briefly glanced at Felix to make sure he wasn’t listening before speaking again. ‘Just be thankful that you didn’t end up in one of their camps.’ And with that he turned on his heel and walked away.

Swallowing hard, Roz turned to find Felix engaged in a conversation with a girl who’d also been in their carriage. Seeing him chatting so happily, Roz found herself wanting to take him in her arms and tell him how sorry she was about his mum, but she couldn’t do that without proper explanation, and the truth was she couldn’t justify her suspicions when she didn’t have the facts.

Felix turned round and introduced her to the girl he had been talking to.

‘Roz, this is Adele, Adele, this is Roz …’ His expression turned from friendly to concerned. ‘Is everything alright? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.’ He looked over her head towards Reggie who was walking away. ‘It wasn’t bad news, was it?’

Roz forced her mouth into a smile. ‘No, nothing like that, I’m just tired.’ She looked past Felix to Adele, grateful to divert the attention away from herself, and held out a hand. ‘Hello, Adele.’

Taking Roz’s hand, Adele glanced at Felix. ‘Felix was just telling me that you were the girl in the crash. I think you were awfully brave not talking to those awful soldiers, they scare the life out of me.’

Roz gave a mirthless laugh. ‘I don’t know about brave, I think the cat had got my tongue, as my mother would say.’ She eyed the other girl quizzically. ‘Your English is very good.’

Adele gave a shy smile. ‘That’s because I’m English. My parents moved to Germany in the hope of a better life …’ She grimaced. ‘I’ve got no family back in England which is why I’m on the train—’

She was interrupted by a middle-aged woman who was calling for attention. Roz listened as the woman explained that they were to stay together as they boarded the ferry for England. A cheer went up amongst some of the children, but others looked fretful.

Roz, Felix and Adele boarded the ferry together and made their way to an empty cabin.