Still cold from her excursion, Suzie walked to the stove, kicking Roz’s bedding angrily out of her way. As she did so, she saw something small skid out from inside the sacking and under the stove. Suzie was just about to draw attention to the mystery object when she thought better of it. Her father probably wouldn’t care that Roz was hiding things in her bedding, and her gran had done little to change his mind. Bending down, Suzie pretended to tie her lace whilst fishing the small gold-coloured object from under the stove. Standing up, she glanced at the gold chain in her hand. A slow smile spread across her cheeks. Roz was holding out on them; surely this would make her father see sense? She turned the piece of jewellery over between her fingers and saw, on the end of the chain, a small gold star. It twinkled in Suzie’s hands as it caught the light. She was about to turn and show her find to her family when a thought crossed her mind. The necklace could be Roz’s, and if it was, her father wouldn’t shout at Roz, or throw her out, but take it down the pub and swap it for something more to his liking. She rolled her eyes – probably a few pints of beer. Coming to a decision, she quickly pocketed the item. Lifting the kettle off the stove she gave it an experimental shake. ‘Empty,’ she announced out loud, ‘I’ll fetch more water.’ Not expecting a response, she slunk out of the room and down the stairs, carefully carrying the kettle, which was actually half full of water, to the communal pump which stood in the square. She looked around to make sure no one was watching, then pretended to fill the kettle whilst examining the necklace in greater detail. As she admired the star, she thought back to something she had overheard in the market when rumours of the Kindertransport had first begun, about the Star of David, and how Hitler made all the Jews wear it on their clothing so that they could be easily identified. She nodded slowly to herself; the necklace was Roz’s personal possession, which was why she’d hidden it. After all, none of the stallholders would give her something so fancy, especially for free. Her mouth curled in a malevolent grin. The jewellery would be real gold; everyone knew Jews were loaded. Probably a present from her precious parents! Personally, Suzie hadn’t believed the story of the car crash for one minute. It was an obvious ruse to get Roz out of the country so that she could start a new life for her family in Britain, and they would follow later on expecting handouts from the government. Suzie pushed the chain deep into her pocket. People like Roz didn’t deserve nice things, not when they came over here, expecting everything for free, not when they had fancy bits of jewellery, and probably a stash of money hidden somewhere. No wonder the Germans wanted rid of them. No, she thought decidedly, Roz didn’t deserve special things at all. Suzie had lived in Britain all her life; if anyone deserved nice things it was her! The best part of it was Roz wouldn’t be able to accuse Suzie of taking the jewellery, because that would mean admitting she’d had it in the first place, which would alert the Haggartys to her wealth, something she was obviously trying to keep secret. What fun Suzie would have, watching Roz search for her necklace in vain. Oh yes, she would enjoy that very much!