‘You will need to make a statement in the morning. One of my officers will be at the hotel. Report to him.’
‘Of course,’ I replied.
‘Goodnight,madame, monsieur,’ he said to my parents. And then to me: ‘Make sure you tell the truth. If Madame Bochette regains consciousness, she will no doubt tell me everything.’
‘Of course,’ I said, repeating my earlier response.
After Kranz and the soldiers had left, Maman turned to me. ‘Nathalie, what are you going to do? You can’t go back there tomorrow. They will arrest you.’
‘I have to go back,’ I said.
‘You have to tell the truth,’ said Papa. ‘I can’t see any other way around this. You should have told Kranz tonight.’
‘Even if you tell the truth tomorrow, you’ll be in trouble for not doing so now,’ said Maman. I could hear the anxiety racking up in her voice.
‘You can’t go back,’ said Papa. ‘It will be too dangerous.’
‘What is she supposed to do?’ Maman got to her feet, wringing her hands together.
‘I have to go in tomorrow,’ I insisted. ‘There’s something I need to do.’
‘What? What could you possibly need to do?’ demanded Maman, quite frantic now.
‘I can’t tell you. Just trust me. I have to go back one more time.’
Maman went to say something but a small shake of the head from Papa stopped her. He gave a long sigh. ‘You’d better hope that Madame Bochette doesn’t recover from her injury.’
‘It’s not something I would wish in normal circumstances,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry.’
Papa came and sat down beside me, placing an arm around my shoulders and kissing the top of my head. ‘I’m sorry you are in this position. I’m sorry we could not protect you from what happened. We can only hope and pray that one day soon, this war will be over. What we do now is not what we would normally do. The war brings out the best and the worst in a person and I am truly sorry you must live through this.’
Chapter 34
Nathalie
The following morning, I left for work early so I could wait for Marcel at the newly agreed meeting spot. The sun was out, but there was a chill to the air that day and I wrapped my coat around me. My side was still very sore from my injury and I had winced as I had fastened my apron that morning. Somehow, Maman had managed to get the bloodstains out and although it was still a little damp, it was wearable.
There weren’t many people in the park that morning– it was no longer a place for leisurely strolls and afternoon picnics. The few people I passed were either on foot or on bicycles, hurrying their way to work or to the food queues.
I walked towards the Palais de la Découverte. The red flags with the German swastika now adorned the front of the building, waving in the early morning breeze. I wanted to rip each and every one from its mast.
Tucked away in the park’s corner was the sculpture of the nineteenth-century poet Alfred de Musset. It was rather appropriate to be meeting my lover here. The expanse of white marble depicted the poet daydreaming about his former lovers. I followed the path to the right of the sculpture and took the stone steps that led down to the Vallée Suisse, as yet untouched by the Germans. There at the bottom was a pond, complete with waterfall.
No one was there, and my heart dipped. I was desperate to see Marcel. I turned at the sound of approaching footsteps, and relief flooded through me as he appeared.
‘Nathalie,’ he whispered, embracing me. ‘I was worried. I heard there had been an attack at the Ritz.’ I winced as his hand slipped to my waist. Marcel’s face was full of concern. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Don’t worry.’ I cupped the side of his face with my hand. ‘I am fine.’
‘You don’t sound fine to me. What the hell happened last night?’
‘Bochette attacked me. She wanted to teach me a lesson for getting her arrested.’
‘Attacked you!’
‘With a knife. I fought her off with a poker.’ I looked down at the ground. Much as I hated Bochette, I wasn’t proud of what I had done. ‘I hit her. She’s in hospital with a serious head injury. I don’t know if she’ll regain consciousness but if she does …’ I left the rest of the sentence unspoken.
‘Bloody hell,’ muttered Marcel, understanding the implications immediately. ‘We’ve got to get you out of here.’
