Sam ignored him. ‘Did she find it hard to settle here?’
Ben shrugged. ‘The first six months in England were the hardest for her. But then I was demobbed and we moved back here to live with my parents. I got a job and as soon as we were able to afford rent, we moved here. She is perhaps the best one to talk to about that. Why are you asking about this?’
‘I’m interested.’
‘Why?’
Sam’s mind was racing. All these years of writing to various places to find out what had happened to Elsa, and he had never dared consider that there was anything further he could offer or do beyond finding news of her and seeing her face again. He shook his head in disbelief. He hadn’t thought it was possible to marry a German woman and bring her to England. Not after such a terrible bloodthirsty war that had robbed families of their sons and husbands. The realization shocked him, yet now he dared to think the impossible.
‘You don’t want to meet Helene?’ asked Ben.
Sam looked at Ben’s house anew. No longer a small cottage squashed between two others, but a homely sanctuary for a couple who had fallen in love against the odds.
‘Yes, of course I want to meet her.’ He smiled broadly for the first time in months and gave Ben a brotherly slap on the back. ‘If she can put up with you as her husband, she must be a fine woman.’
* * *
Ben was in mid-flow of another trip into the past, dragging memories of peaceful times and daubing them with the vibrant colours of storytelling. Sam soon realized that, as young children, they had spent far more time together than he’d first thought and knew many of the same people. As the fire crackled in the grate and the table was laden with as much as the family could offer, this was the most relaxed he had felt in a long time. He even found himself laughing as he saw his own youthful pranks once again in Ben’s telling of them. They seemed more daring, more exciting through another child’s eyes. Yet as much as he enjoyed Ben’s reminiscing, his eyes strayed time and time again to Helene, as if by simply looking at her he was somehow nearer to Elsa.
She too had honey-coloured hair, but whereas Elsa had soft features, Helene had a strong jawline and a serious expression. However, she was a doting mother and a caring wife who had brought stability and children into a former soldier’s life. They were the things Sam longed for. Ben’s young son had inherited his mother’s features and temperament, albeit with a need to entertain others, just like his father. Sam wondered what Helene thought about living far from home in a culture she was unfamiliar with. He desperately wanted to ask her. The hour soon turned to two, and before they all knew it, the child was ready for bed and Helene was taking him upstairs. The boisterous noise and antics went with them, leaving the sitting room in temporary comforting silence.
Ben and Sam sat back in their chairs as a veil of amber flames danced in the grate. ‘I met a woman while I was in Germany,’ Sam blurted out. ‘A German woman,’ he added needlessly. He glanced up at Ben. ‘I’ve not told anyone that before.’
‘Is she still in Germany?’
Sam nodded. ‘I believe so. We met after I escaped, sometime in February 1945. We sheltered in the same barn and we ended up travelling across Germany together — well, some of it’s in Poland now. She had family in Bremen and was fleeing the Russian Army’s advance. We said our goodbyes on the outskirts of Bremen.’
Ben blew a soft whistle in surprise. ‘You survived in enemy territory all that time?’
‘Yes, thanks mainly to her.’
‘Why did she travel with you when she could have travelled with all the other refugees? I hear there were a lot of displaced people at that time.’
‘She had a Jewish child with her. She was hiding her in plain sight, yet at the same time felt she could trust no one. The little girl was called Klara.’ He found himself smiling as he thought of her.
‘And she thought it would be safer travelling with the enemy?’
‘Elsa was very blonde. I had dark hair, like Klara’s. I think she thought the child would be less obvious if she looked like part of a family.’
‘She trusted you enough.’
‘Not at first, but she came to.’
‘Brave lady.’
‘Very.’
‘Bremen took a bashing.’
Sam winced. ‘I know.’
Ben stared at the fire. He shifted in his seat and placed a log on the fire. Sam couldn’t blame him for his silence. There was nothing Ben could say to make Sam feel any better.
‘I don’t know if Elsa and Klara survived the war. I think about them every day.’I think about Elsa every hour!
‘Is she the reason you haven’t married?’ asked Ben.
‘Probably.’
