Page 23 of Neighbors at War

She shook her head and pushed the door to. It wasn’t completely closed, and he heard her footsteps hurrying down the hallway. Unsure whether to leave or wait, his decision was taken from him when the door was flung open and Stephen, Helen’s older brother, stood glaring at him.

‘Is your mother all right?’

‘No, she bloody isn’t.’ He glared with such hatred in his eyes that Richard took a step back. ‘How dare you show your face here? After what you’ve done to my sister.’

‘I was hoping to explain everything to Helen.’

‘What, about you having a fiancée while you were seeing my sister?’

Richard hated confrontation but he had no intention of being put off from seeing Helen this time. ‘I wrote to Helen several times about that,’ he said. ‘and explained that I had broken things off.’ He forced a smile. ‘There’s nothing stopping us being together.’

‘You should have finished things before you started courting my sister.’ Stephen narrowed his eyes. ‘Anyway you’re far too late for explanations.’ Stephen’s eyes slid to Richard’s right sleeve. ‘Sergeant, I see. Well, bully for you.’

Richard felt sick. ‘What do you mean, “too late”? What’s happened?’

Stephen shook his head slowly and looked as if he wanted to throttle him. ‘What happened, Sergeant, is that my younger sister ran off that night, caught the ferry and has been living with our aunt since last summer.’

Richard tried to make sense of what he was being told. A boat? Nausea coursed through him as it dawned on him that the only aunt Helen had ever mentioned was Sylvia and she lived in Jersey.

He grabbed hold of the wall to steady himself. ‘No,’ he whispered, barely able to comprehend the repercussions of what he had done. He swallowed to gain some control. ‘You mean she’s in Jersey?’

Stephen gave a slow clap. ‘The penny’s dropped, I see. Yes, unfortunately that’s exactly where she is. Living on a damn island surrounded by bloody Nazis.’

Richard struggled to contain his senses. What had he done. No wonder Helen’s family had been so angry with him. He tried to think clearly. ‘Do you have her address?’

Stephen shook his head. ‘You really are something else, do you know that?’ Scowling, he added, ‘You can’t just post a letter there, you know.’

‘What about a telegram?’ He tried to calm down before losing control of his emotions as the full impact of her situation and his part in it dawned on him.

‘All I know is that if you don’t leave this property in the next three seconds,’ Stephen sneered, poking Richard in his uniformed chest, ‘I won’t be responsible for my actions.’

‘Has he gone yet, Stephen?’

Richard heard Mrs Bowman’s tearful voice and knew he had done enough damage to this family. ‘I’m going,’ he said. ‘Please apologise to your parents for me, Stephen. I really am sorry for everything I’ve done.’

‘Just go.’

Crushed, Richard saw how angry Stephen was and turned to leave. He immediately heard the door slam shut behind him.

If only he had gone after her that afternoon. But he hadn’t, and now the woman he loved was living under Nazi rule. He had no idea if there was anything he could do to rectify all that he had done. He had caused her to run away straight into a situation neither of them could have imagined. He decided that he wouldn’t stop searching until he found a way of helping her, somehow.

Chapter Thirteen

HELEN

‘How’s your Aunt Sylvia’s health these days?’ Cook asked when they sat down for their morning break between serving breakfast and preparing lunch.

Helen cupped her mug of tea in her hands despite the heat in the kitchen, soothed by the warmth of the drink. ‘She’s not doing too well, I’m afraid.’ She didn’t like to add that each morning when she went downstairs for breakfast, and each evening when she returned to the house after work, she was anxious that something might have happened to her aunt in her absence. She would give a lot for reassurance that her aunt’s health had fully returned, but she couldn’t fool herself; the reality was that her aunt was much slower these days, even though she did her best to hide it.

‘I can see by your face how worried you are about her,’ Cook said, her voice gentle.

Helen had worried about her aunt many times but hadn’t expected Mrs Jeune to have noticed her concerns, since she was always so busy cooking. ‘It probably doesn’t help that there’s little healthy food available. The doctor said she needs more protein, preferably red meat to help her iron levels, but where are we supposed to find good meat nowadays?’

She heard the panic in her voice and smiled to soften her tone. Her aunt wouldn’t thank her for sharing their private matters with someone who wasn’t family.

‘Can I help?’ Cook asked before being distracted by something at the kitchen door.

Helen turned to see Leutnant Müller standing in the doorway looking sheepish.