‘Are you defying an order?’ snapped Kranz. ‘I can have you arrested for that. Now take out your gun. That’s it. Point it at the back of her head. Get her to tell you.’
The hard metal of the gun muzzle wavered against the back of my skull and I knew Alphonse must be shaking. Tears came to my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I blinked them back. I would not allow this bastard to see how he was making me feel.
‘Nathalie … please,’ began Alphonse. ‘Please don’t make me do this. Just tell them.’
‘Oh, stop wasting time,’ said Kranz. ‘If you don’t get it out of her, I shall.’
‘Nathalie,’ said Alphonse. This time there was anger in his voice. ‘Where is Edgar? TELL ME!’
‘I don’t know,’ I replied, amazed that I sounded so calm when inside I thought I was going to vomit.
It was Papa who spoke. ‘He’s left to join the Resistance, but we don’t know where he’s gone. Please, let my daughter go.’
There was a silence that felt like it went on for minutes when, in reality, it was just seconds.
‘Put the gun away,’ said Kranz. ‘You, Monsieur Leroux, could have made that a lot easier for everyone if you’d just said that in the first place.’
Kranz continued to question us for over twenty minutes, after which he seemed satisfied we weren’t withholding any more secrets.
‘Next time,’ he said, ‘don’t make me drag the information from you. I won’t be so patient.’
He marched out of the room, followed closely by the soldiers.
‘I’m sorry,’ muttered Alphonse before scurrying away after Kranz.
I didn’t reply. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at him. Instead, I fixed my gaze on the mantelpiece. It was only when I heard him leave and the door close that I allowed the fear to wash over me. I rushed to the bathroom, vomiting up an empty stomach. The acidic bile burned my throat. After that, I collapsed into Maman’s arms, and we both cried for a long time.
Chapter 5
Darcie
After the discovery of the patterns and sketchbook, Darcie spent the rest of the evening and any spare time she had the following day trying to find some reference to them on the internet. It was frustrating work, as she had little to go on, not even a name.
On the second day, she pushed her laptop away and sighed. ‘I just can’t find anything,’ she said to Lena, who she was sharing a cup of tea with in the annexe while the shop was quiet.
‘Maybe there’s nothing to find,’ said Lena, wincing as she moved in her chair to find a more comfortable position.
‘Do you need another cushion?’ asked Darcie, poised to grab one from the sofa if necessary.
‘No. I’ll be fine. Just a bit stiff today.’
Darcie checked the date on her watch. Lena wore a morphine patch 24/7 that was changed once a week. Usually, towards the end of the week, the effects of the morphine began to wear off and Lena felt the pain in her back more acutely. ‘It’s patch day tomorrow,’ Darcie said, offering some encouragement. ‘I can change it tonight before you go to bed, if you want?’
‘I’ll see how I get on,’ said Lena.
As her mother lifted her cup to her mouth, Darcie noticed the shake in her hands. It happened when Lena was experiencing a lot of pain, something to do with the nerve endings having too much pain to control. ‘Do you want a hot water bottle for your back?’
‘That’d be nice.’
‘You only have to ask, Mum,’ said Darcie, getting up from the table and going over to the kettle. ‘Don’t suffer in silence just because you’d sooner not bother me.’ She looked back over her shoulder at Lena. ‘Because it’s not a bother at all.’
‘I know, it’s just—’
‘It’s just you being too proud,’ said Darcie. She switched on the kettle and waited for it to boil, before filling up the hot water bottle, wrapping it in a towel and placing it behind Lena’s back. ‘There.’
‘Thank you, darling. I wish you didn’t have to do all this for me. Maybe I should just go and live with Granny in her warden-assisted place.’
‘Mum, stop. You’ll do no such thing,’ said Darcie. Lena said this from time to time. Regardless of whether she was serious or not, Darcie had no intention of packing her mother off to the end of the country. ‘Anyway, I don’t want you stuck down in Cornwall. Not exactly convenient to pop in for a cup of tea.’ She gave Lena a reassuring hug and sat down in front of the laptop again.
