‘It’s all right,’ soothed Fitz. ‘Don’t cry now, sweetie.’ She held the child a little tighter.
‘Je veux Maman,’ came Yvette’s muffled voice.
Fitz’s eyes snapped open. Yvette had actually spoken of her own accord. That was something of a breakthrough.
‘I know you want your mother,’ replied Fitz softly. ‘I wish I could find her for you.’
‘She was at home,’ said Yvette. ‘Where is she now? Why hasn’t she come for me? Are we going back for her? She’ll be worried about me. Does she know I’m with you?’
It was as if Yvette had been storing these worries up and the dam of silence, holding them back, had broken. The questions came pouring out. Where did Fitz even begin answering them? She didn’t want to lie but at the same time, the truth was so brutal.
‘I don’t know where your mummy is,’ she said eventually. ‘But when we go back to Saint Pierre, I’m going to look for her.’
‘I’m frightened,’ said Yvette. ‘I want my mummy.’
‘Don’t be scared.’ Fitz dropped a kiss onto the child’s head. ‘You’ve been so brave and so clever. Not only did you trick theGerman, but you were so clever in hiding from them in your garden.’
‘I was told to hide there,’ said Yvette.
‘By your mother?’ asked Fitz. Now that Yvette was finally talking, there was no stopping her. Fitz didn’t want to dissuade her, even though they could both do with getting some sleep.
‘No. By the man,’ replied Yvette.
‘What man was that?’ Fitz’s eyes grew heavy and she could feel her mind beginning to wander into that half dreamlike state just before falling asleep.
‘He flew aeroplanes.’
Fitz sat bolt upright now. ‘He was a pilot?’
Yvette looked a little alarmed and Fitz forced herself to relax again. ‘Did he say what his name was?’
Yvette shook her head. ‘His leg was bleeding.’
‘But he could walk?’
‘A bit.’
‘What was he wearing?’
Yvette shrugged. ‘Brown coat with fur here.’ She pointed to the collar of her coat.
She was describing what sounded like a flight jacket. Something that was standard issue for RAF pilots. ‘What was he doing at your house?’
‘Mamanwas cleaning his leg,’ said Yvette. ‘She put a bandage on it and then some other men came.’
‘They came in the house?’
‘Oui. They spoke to the man.’ Yvette looked down at her hands and fiddled with the frayed edge of the sack.
Fitz could see the memory was upsetting Yvette, but she needed to know what happened next. ‘Were they friends of the man?’
‘Oui. But then …’
Fitz swept a stray strand of hair from the child’s face. ‘Then what?’ she asked quietly.
‘Everyone was running around, saying they needed to hide. The men left.Mamanlooked very scared.’ Yvette sniffed and wiped her nose. ‘She kissed me and told me to go with the man.’
‘With the bad leg?’
