Page 21 of Neighbors at War

The look of disappointment on her aunt’s face tugged at Helen’s heart. Bobby reached out and touched her lower lip with his finger, giggling when she pretended to bite it. ‘I suppose you’re right.’

Helen recalled the boiled egg in her pocket. She took it out and held it up. ‘Look what I’ve brought you.’

Sylvia frowned. ‘How did you manage to stop it from breaking?’

‘It’s hard-boiled.’

She watched as her aunt’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘I hope you didn’t take this without asking. You don’t want to be caught stealing from the Wehrmacht, it would be a dreadful offence.’

‘Aunty,’ Helen said, shocked her aunt assumed she would do such a thing. ‘I’d never steal.’

‘Then how did you get it?’

‘One of the soldiers saved it for me from his breakfast.’

Sylvia puffed out her cheeks and sat up slightly, handing Bobby back to Helen’s arms. ‘Lovey, I’m not sure if that’s not equally dangerous.’

Helen’s earlier anguish resurfaced. ‘Please don’t say that. It was all perfectly innocent, I can assure you.’

‘I don’t doubt it, as far as you were concerned.’ She frowned. ‘I’m not so sure the soldier felt the same way, though.’

‘I believe he did,’ Helen assured her, beginning to wonder whether she was right.

‘Tell me exactly what happened, and I can make up my own mind.’

Helen explained about Hauptmann Schneider and how he made her feel. ‘I wouldn’t accept anything from him, but Leutnant Müller seems very different. He’s shy and not at all sure of himself.’

Her aunt stared at her thoughtfully. ‘Being shy doesn’t mean he’s trustworthy.’ She hesitated. ‘I don’t wish to upset you, dear,’ she began. ‘You might have a child but you’re still naïve in the ways of the world. Some men might not be as gentlemanly as you suppose.’

Helen stared at her, trying to understand what she meant. Then it dawned on her, and she felt as if her aunt had slapped her. ‘You mean how I misjudged my relationship with Bobby’s dad, Richard?’

‘Sorry, love, but yes, that’s exactly what I mean. You thought him trustworthy, didn’t you? And you knew him far longer than you have this chap.’

Helen got to her feet. ‘All I did was accept a boiled egg and I only took that because he intended it for Bobby. It wasn’t even a gift for me.’

‘Do sit down and try not to overreact. Let me try to explain a bit better.’

‘I’d rather you didn’t. This is nothing at all like what happened between me and Richard.’ She winced, recalling her hurt at his betrayal, still so raw. ‘I don’t know how much contact you’ve had with officers of the Wehrmacht, Aunty, but it’s not as easy as you might think to refuse an offer from them.’ Realising how that sounded, she added, ‘Although, naturally I would refuse anything I felt might be untoward.’

‘Helen, love. That’s not what I meant, and I hope you know that.’

Helen did. She realised she was upsetting her aunt by her reaction and forced herself to calm down. She sat. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said lowering her voice. ‘I didn’t mean to be rude, but I couldn’t bear for you, of all people, to think badly of me.’ She swallowed the lump in her throat.

Sylvia reached out to take her arm. ‘My dearest girl, I would never think that of you. The circumstances with Bobby’s father were heartbreaking. All I want for both of you,’ she said, stroking Bobby’s head, ‘is to be safe here, with me. I only meant to advise you.’

Guilt swept through Helen and once again tears threatened to overwhelm her. ‘I know and I feel badly for overreacting. I promise I’ll never do anything to compromise my welfare, or Bobby’s.’

‘I know you won’t, sweetheart.’ Her aunt smiled. ‘Let’s agree to forget this conversation. Shall we go to the kitchen? We could slice a piece of bread each and cut this egg in half. I think we both deserve a tasty treat before our supper, don’t you?’

Chapter Eleven

HELEN

Helen entered the dining room to clear up after breakfast was finished, stopping suddenly when she realised two soldiers were still there, whispering frantically by a far corner. She tried to tidy as quietly as possible and not clatter the crockery or cutlery, hoping they wouldn’t notice her. They were clearly cross about something.

She strained her ears to try and pick up any of the words Peggy had given her. She heard Hauptmann Schneider say ‘Hohlgangsanlage acht.’ It meant nothing to her and she continued tidying. Then she heard him hiss a word she did recognise from the list Peggy had given her, ‘Untermenschen.’

Helen gasped in surprise to hear the word for ‘subhuman’. Peggy had explained that it was how the Nazis saw the Russian enforced workers whom they had brought to the island to work for Organisation Todt building fortifications.