Page 90 of Neighbors at War

‘Already?’ Daphne asked. She looked at her mantel clock. ‘It’s later than I thought.’

‘It is. I have an hour and a half to be at home and I’d like to return Peggy’s things to her on my way so she has them for the morning. The Hamels will also want to know you’re both safely ensconced and I’d like to do that for them.’

‘Thanks again, Tony.’

He smiled. ‘I thought you weren’t going to do that anymore,’ he teased.

Helen grinned. ‘I forgot. Please give them our love.’

‘I will.’

She picked up Peggy’s coat, took out her things and folded it neatly so it would fit into the cloth bag she’d brought with her for that reason. Then, putting the hat and scarf neatly inside, she took out her friend’s identity card and slipped it into Peggy’s coat pocket. ‘There you are.’

Daphne indicated Helen’s half-finished supper. ‘You finish eating your food, then I’ll show you through to your room after I’ve shown Tony out.’

Helen lifted Bobby onto the sofa and sat down next to him. She carried on eating her soup, her eyelids becoming heavy in the cosy room. They were here, finally. She could hardly dare believe it.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

HELEN

6 June 1944

Bobby found it too difficult to say Daphne’s name and insisted she was Aunty Daffy, so the name stuck. Helen was relieved Daphne seemed to be rather fond of his pet name for her.

It delighted Helen to see her little boy running around the garden, playing hide-and-seek with her and Daphne, his arms and legs growing stronger with each passing day. For the first time in his young life she was able to see his previously milky white skin turning a golden brown in the sunshine, as his hair lightened and became almost auburn like her own.

‘I’ll never tire of watching this sweet boy having fun,’ Daphne said one morning as they sat in the garden enjoying the sunshine. ‘He’s brought so much joy into my life since his arrival.’

Helen was glad to hear it. It warmed her heart to know that those who had risked so much to shelter her and Bobby found such pleasure in his company.

They had been lucky so far: no one had come to inspect Daphne’s home. Maybe, she mused, that was because Daphne had worked with senior officers for the past four years and they trusted her, so didn’t look too carefully at her life outside her job.

‘We both love it here,’ Helen confided, hoping Ida would never know how much happier they were, living at Sans Souci.

‘I’m happy to hear you say so. You two arrived just as I was struggling to cope. I admit to feeling very lonely after losing my mother. I think that young Anthony Le Gresley helped us both enormously with his thoughtfulness.’

‘Were you very close to your mother, then?’ Helen asked, thinking of her own difficulties.

Daphne took a sip of water and placed the glass on the small wooden table between their chairs. They were sitting on the small terrace in front of the bungalow’s open French doors. ‘We always had a close relationship,’ she said, gazing at her colourful garden, deep in thought. ’Especially after my husband died over a decade ago. I struggled without him and my mother suggested it was silly the pair of us keeping two homes and both being lonely. She moved here and we got along very well. When she died, I not only lost my mother, but the person I spent all my free time with. It was strange not to feel needed by anyone. It’s a lonely place to be.’

Helen supposed it must be. ‘In that case I’m glad for both of us that we are here, because I certainly needed your help, as does Bobby.’

Daphne smiled for the first time since they had come to sit outside. ‘And I’ve been happier in these past months than I can remember being for a very long time.’ She leant back slightly in her chair, still smiling. ‘I know Bobby has to keep fairly quiet while he’s playing out here, but having a child in the house lightens the mood somehow. Just watching his face light up with excitement whenever he’s given permission to run around the garden and kick his ball on the grass cheers me up more than I can say.’

‘I feel the same. As much as I loved living with the Hamels, and I did, I struggled more as time went on, seeing Bobby cooped up. Although it might sound strange, the fact that he was so well behaved and quiet concerned me. He wasn’t like any other child I remembered, growing up.’ She laughed. ‘He’s more boisterous now and has so much enthusiasm for everything out here.’

‘It’s a delight to watch him blossoming,’ Daphne said. She picked up their empty glasses. ‘I’ll go and refill these.’ Helen offered to go instead. ‘No, you make the most of the sunshine.’

She returned a few minutes later and placed their glasses of water on the table. ‘Did you manage to catch any sleep with all that bombing last night?’ she asked, referring to the bombardment taking place in France.

Helen thought back to the distant thuds and sounds of planes roaring past the island, made far worse by the constant noise of anti-aircraft guns as the Germans did their best to shoot them down.

‘Not really.’ She yawned. ‘What do you think is happening? It’s obviously something going on in France.’

They heard someone calling and Helen leapt to her feet, her eyes immediately searching for Bobby. She was braced to run and hide him in the hedgerow at the bottom of the garden, which she had planned to use if they were caught unawares like now.

Daphne grabbed her arm to stop her. ‘It’s only Tony and Peggy,’ she soothed. ‘Maybe fetch a couple more chairs for them.’