Chapter 2

Peggy finished typing the last of the transcripts she had been working on that morning, checked the document for errors and took the paper from her typewriter. She read through what she had done and couldn't help thinking that although her work for the government was vital, as far as she was concerned coming into contact with the Nazi officers at work tainted her somehow. If it hadn't been for her boss, Advocate Clarry Le Gresley, a well-respected local lawyer, persuading her that she could help the islanders by translating orders received by the Superior Council from the German authorities, she would have had as little to do with them as possible.

It was strange to think she had been doing this work for almost a year now but it still unnerved her to be in the same room as one of them. If it wasn't for this part-time role that she fitted in with her secretarial work for the Advocate, she would love working at the legal firm much more.

Peggy set the translation on top of the mounting pile on her desk. Her boss was a kind man who had taken her on soon after she returned to Jersey having spent twelve months studying in Hamburg. She recalled how he had finally persuaded her to take on the role. ‘Even if we only have a couple of days' notice about new regulations before they're announced to the islanders it still gives us time to warn those who will be affected,' he had explained.

The worst thing for Peggy was that she had sworn not to discuss her work with anyone. But she reasoned that although this might be a small act of resistance on her part, if it saved someone then she was willing to do it.

She mostly succeeded in dismissing her concerns about possible repercussions should she be caught, but occasionally her worries got the better of her. ‘It would break my mother's heart if I was to go to prison,' she'd told the Advocate. ‘Or, worse, be sent away to one of the camps.'

The Advocate had assured her he would never let that happen, as had his son Tony, junior lawyer and Peggy's boyfriend. Peggy doubted either of them had any power to protect her, but eventually reasoned that as her boss was one of the most highly regarded lawyers on the island, having him looking out for her could only be a good thing.

She stretched her arms and flexed her fingers. She might only be twenty-one but she felt as if she had aged a lot in the previous twelve months, since the unthinkable had happened and the Nazis had invaded the island. She supposed most people felt the same way with the stress of living under Nazi rule.

‘Peggy, is everything all right?'

Startled by her boss's voice, she tried to gather herself. ‘Yes, Advocate Le Gresley. Sorry, I was thinking.'

He gave her a knowing smile. ‘If you've finished typing up those letters I dictated earlier then please bring them through, would you?'

She stood, turned the top page of the work she had finished transcribing facedown, and, picking up the letters along with her notepad and pencil, followed him into his office next door. She watched as he read the first letter.

‘You're a conscientious girl, Peggy.' He picked up his fountain pen and signed the letter in his neat, swirling handwriting. Then, picking up the small blotter on his desk, he rolled it over the wet ink. He looked up at her. ‘I hope the translations aren't worrying you as much as they once did.'

They did but she wanted to reassure him, sensing his concern came mostly from a feeling of responsibility for being the one to involve her in the first place. ‘Not as much.'

‘You don't find it too difficult dealing with these people?'

Peggy didn't like to lie. ‘Sometimes, but I'm getting used to it.'

‘I'm relieved.' He pushed the signed letter towards her to fold and slip into the relevant addressed envelope and drew the next one towards him. ‘If you do ever find it's becoming too much, I want you to tell me.' He pointed at one of the letters. ‘That one will need to be delivered by hand; today, please.'

She looked at the address, happy to see it was on the Esplanade and only a short walk away.

When the letters were signed, Peggy thanked him and left. As she closed his office door behind her, she turned and slammed into someone. Hands grabbed her as she toppled backwards and stopped her from landing in a heap on the tiled hallway floor.

‘For pity's sake,' she grumbled through clenched teeth as she bent to retrieve the envelopes scattered around her feet. ‘Look where you're going next time.'

‘Here, let me.'

Hearing the deep voice of the man she had begun seeing two months before, Peggy blushed. ‘What are you doing on this floor?' she asked, surprised to see him, sensing something was wrong.

He smiled down at her. She was almost five-foot-eight tall but he still towered above her. Unable to help herself, Peggy ran her fingers through his almost black hair, brushing it back from his forehead where it had fallen forward as he bent to collect her dropped papers.

‘I came to speak to my father about something.' His mouth stretched in a grin and Peggy felt her breath catch in her throat, still unable to believe this man who so often kept to himself had shown such an interest in her. ‘But mostly I was hoping to see you.'

‘You were?' she asked, wishing she didn't feel slightly shy with him now. He wasn't her first boyfriend, but he was different from any of the boys she had ever come in contact with. Maybe it was because of the time they were living in that he seemed more grown up, or simply because he had been to law school and was a few years older than her. Mostly, she supposed, it was because she was falling in love with him.

‘Yes, why?' he asked, a twinkle in his dark blue eyes. ‘Don't you believe me?'

Hearing heels clattering down the stairs, Peggy cocked her head to one side. ‘You're going to get caught down here if you're not careful.'

He didn't seem to care and shrugged, bending down and kissing her quickly. ‘I'd better go. We don't want one of the secretaries catching me with you and starting rumours.'

Peggy grinned. ‘They can't be rumours if they're true, though, can they?'

‘I suppose not, but you know how my father insists that any personal relationships are kept out of working hours.' He winked at her. ‘And he'd be especially cross if he thought I was interrupting his golden girl's work.'

She pushed his shoulder. ‘Then what are you doing here now?' she teased. Hearing the footsteps coming closer, she took his wrist and pulled him into her office.

‘You may as well come in for a moment and tell me how your meeting went.'

He shrugged. ‘All bad news, as usual. My father is concerned that the officers we're getting here now are less gentlemanly, and that it's only going to get worse as time goes on.'

Peggy realised she had noticed a subtle change in the manners of the soldiers walking the streets. Her aunt had thought it was because the original ones who'd come to the island had been career soldiers and used to the way of life. They had now been transferred elsewhere and gradually their replacements had been conscripted soldiers who, she supposed, resented being forced to leave their families almost as much as she and the islanders resented them being here.

‘It's a frightening time for us all,' Tony continued. ‘Cut off from family, friends, not being able to fight with the rest of the world.' A shadow crossed his face and for a moment he stared down at the desk, seeing something only visible to him.

‘You wish you were fighting, don't you?'

‘Of course I do,' he sighed miserably. Peggy decided now was the time to ask why he hadn't left the island before the invasion, while he still had the chance.

‘I hadn't expected to be stuck here but my appendix decided to almost rupture just before I was supposed to leave. So, to my eternal frustration, I was recuperating in hospital after an appendectomy, knowing my contemporaries from college were proudly serving our country while I was stuck at a desk doing nothing useful.'

So that's why he's still on the island, she thought, sad that he had missed out on doing as he had hoped. She began to try and reassure him, but he closed his eyes and shook his head. Opening them again, he gave her a gentle smile.

‘Ignore me. I forgot myself for a moment.'

‘It's fine.'

‘No. I mean it, Peggy. I get resentful sometimes. If I had left when I expected I would never have met you.' He smiled and took her into his arms, pressing his lips softly against hers before pulling away. ‘Sometimes fate has plans for us we don't see coming.'

Wasn't that the truth, she mused.