Page 61 of The French Wife

She followed him up a narrow staircase and into the cramped apartment. Madame Lalouche was busy laying the table for supper and Suzette was sitting at a small desk under the window, her schoolbooks open in front of her. Cooking smells wafted from a tiny kitchen at the back of the apartment.

‘Madame Garnier!’ Madame Lalouche said, her face flushed with surprise.

Suzette looked up from her books and smiled. ‘Bonjour, madame.’

‘We didn’t expect you, but you’re very welcome,’ Madame Lalouche said. ‘Could I offer you a drink?’

‘No… no, thank you,’ Amélie said. ‘I can’t stop.’

‘Sit down, please.’ Madame Lalouche gestured towards a small sofa.

Amélie sat tensely, perched on the edge of the seat. ‘I’m sorry, but I have some bad news.’

Monsieur and Madame Lalouche gasped and Suzette turned round in her chair. Amélie glanced in Suzette’s direction, wondering if she should really be saying what she had to say in her presence. But Suzette was sixteen; it affected her as much as her parents. She had a right to know.

‘I’m afraid I heard today that there is to be a round-up of Jews in St Marie on Wednesday this week.’

‘Round-up?’ Monsieur Lalouche repeated the word, but it was clear from the terror in his eyes that he knew exactly what it meant.

‘Are you quite sure, my dear?’ Madame Lalouche said, her face pale. ‘How do you know?’

‘Of course she’s sure, Maman,’ Suzette broke in passionately. ‘She wouldn’t have come to tell us if she wasn’t sure, would you, Madame Garnier?’

Amélie swallowed. ‘As you know, I work at the mairie, so I get to hear about things as part of my work. As soon as I heard, I came to warn you. You need to leave St Marie as soon as you can.’

‘It’s alright,’ Monsieur Lalouche said. ‘We have been thinking about going to Nice to join my brother. There are lots of Jews living there, apparently. He has plans for us to all get to Switzerland eventually. We hadn’t bargained on starting out before the end of the week, but we can bring that forward. We will take a train down to Marseille tomorrow,’ he said.

‘Are you sure there are trains?’ Amélie asked. ‘I heard the timetable is very erratic at the moment, because of all the German troop movements.’

‘I will go to the station first thing tomorrow and check.’

‘Please do. I’m told they intend to start making arrests very early on Wednesday morning, so the sooner you leave the better.’

‘We will,’ Monsieur Lalouche replied. ‘Of course we will. We can’t thank you enough for bringing us this information.’

‘Please don’t thank me,’ Amélie said. ‘I’m so sorry to be bringing such bad news. And I’m sorry you’re leaving, but it’s for the best.’

Madame Lalouche embraced her, followed by Suzette, who hugged her tightly.

‘We will never forget you,’ she said.

Amélie said goodbye to them with a lump in her throat and followed Monsieur Lalouche downstairs. He opened the front door for her then shook her hand warmly with both of his, tears in his eyes.

‘I can’t thank you enough, my dear, for having the courage to bring us the news,’ he said. ‘May the Lord watch over you.’

Amélie hurried back to the mairie to collect her bicycle, hoping the family would be able to get away the next day, worrying about the train timetable and wondering how they would get to the station at Lézignan. But she needed to get home and tell Raoul and the others, and figure out what to do to help other Jewish families in the area. Time was running out.

When she told the news to Bruno and Raoul as soon as she got home, they immediately began drawing up their own list of Jewish residents in the local area.

‘We will go to their homes and warn them tomorrow,’ Raoul said when they’d finished. ‘There are around twenty families in all. Henri, Ivy and I can do it, and perhaps you’d lend us a couple of your men, Bruno?’

Bruno agreed gruffly, but Amélie could tell he wasn’t happy. He and his men had begun maintenance on the hedges and walls on the property a couple of days before and had been working hard, but even Bruno had to reluctantly concede that warning their Jewish neighbours of a round-up was more important.

‘Won’t it be risky for you to go into town?’ she asked Raoul. Normally the three of them stayed on the farm and out of sight.

‘It is risky,’ he replied. ‘But we can get wrapped up in scarves and hats, and this is something worthy of the risk. Once again, camarade, I have to thank you for the information.’

‘It’s no problem,’ she replied, glancing at Bruno, who was staring into his beer moodily. ‘I just hope you can warn everyone in time. I would offer to help, but they may be suspicious if I don’t turn up for work, especially if I’m seen in the town…’