Chapter 11

Helen entered the dining room to clear up after breakfast was finished, stopping suddenly when she realised two soldiers were still there, whispering frantically by a far corner. She tried to tidy as quietly as possible and not clatter the crockery or cutlery, hoping they wouldn't notice her. They were clearly cross about something.

She strained her ears to try and pick up any of the words Peggy had given her. She heard Hauptmann Schneider say ‘Hohlgangsanlage acht.' It meant nothing to her and she continued tidying. Then she heard him hiss a word she did recognise from the list Peggy had given her, ‘Untermenschen.'

Helen gasped in surprise to hear the word for ‘subhuman'. Peggy had explained that it was how the Nazis saw the Russian enforced workers whom they had brought to the island to work for Organisation Todt building fortifications.

The men stopped talking and without thinking Helen looked over her shoulder at them to see the one she didn't recognise glare pointedly at Hauptmann Schneider. Helen immediately turned away, tensing.

‘You, there. What are you doing?'

She clenched her teeth, furious with herself for making such a careless mistake. ‘I'm sorry, I caught my fingernail on the edge of the tray,' she lied. ‘I didn't mean to interrupt you. She saw a look of confusion on the Hauptmann's face and hoped he believed her. ‘Would you rather I finish clearing up later?' she asked in the most innocent voice she could muster.

Hauptmann Schneider shook his head after a moment's hesitation. ‘Nein. We leave now.'

She waited for them to go. Listening to their footsteps as they went down the corridor Helen turned back to the messy dresser laden with plates of half-eaten food, her mouth watering at the sight of a piece of bacon that remained on one of the serving dishes. She picked it up and ate it, savouring every salty mouthful as she hurriedly tidied up. She didn't want to be caught eating their food but was aware that although they still had food coming into the island from France, not much of it reached the locals and hardly anything had much taste anymore.

As she chewed Helen mulled over what she had heard of their furtive conversation. Excited, she realised she finally had something to share with Peggy.