Chapter 65

Late September 1944

Helen checked her watch for the third time that hour. It was eight in the evening and Daphne still wasn't home. She was always back by six-thirty at the latest and Helen wondered what could be keeping her. Maybe there had been an unexpected meeting and they had insisted she stay behind to look after the staff.

Helen tried to remain calm, hoping that was what had happened. But by midnight, she knew she couldn't lie to herself any longer. Daphne would never leave them alone to fend for themselves. If she couldn't make it home, she would have sent a message to Tony or Peggy asking them to come to Sans Souci and let Helen know not to worry.

After a sleepless night, Helen scraped the mould off the last of the bread and gave it to Bobby, cutting up one of the figs from the garden to bolster his breakfast. She took a deep breath, trying to quell the fear that something terrible had happened.

‘Where's Aunty Daffy?' Bobby asked, tugging at her skirt.

Not wishing him to detect her distress, Helen steadied herself before crouching down in front of him. ‘She's busy at work,' she fibbed. ‘She said we must keep things nice and tidy while she's away. We can do that, can't we?'

‘Yes, Mummy.' He looked around and ran from the kitchen. Intrigued, Helen followed him and found him tidying up his toys.

She needed to keep him busy and his mind off Daphne's absence. ‘You don't have to put all your toys away.' She thought quickly. ‘Come with me. I'll give you the dustpan and brush and you can sweep up our crumbs from this morning. Would you like that?'

He beamed at her, clearly delighted at the idea. Helen wished she felt the same way about housework. He followed her back to the kitchen and, as soon as he was holding brush and pan, began sweeping.

After washing their few dishes and wiping the worktop, Helen called for Bobby to follow her outside. ‘Let's go and see if we can find any vegetables or maybe some fruit on the trees.'

He loved being in the garden so didn't need telling twice. She put on his sweater and her jacket and went outside with the trug Daphne liked to use to collect flowers and produce. Helen hadn't expected to find anything because they had only looked the day before.

‘What's this?' she asked pointing down at green leaves.

He thought for a moment. ‘It's mint, Mummy.'

‘That's right. You're such a clever boy.' She ruffled his hair. ‘You pick us a few leaves and Mummy will see what else we can find.' The mint wasn't going to keep them from starving but it would make the tap water taste nicer.

She found two tiny carrots. They would only make a mouthful and she should leave them to grow a little longer, but she decided that Bobby needed the nutrition now and asked him to pull them from the ground and place them in the trug.

‘Look, Bobby.' There was a small tomato she must have missed the previous day. It was hidden under a leaf and was becoming rotten, but it was better than nothing. By the time they had finished their walk around Daphne's garden they also had an apple and two figs.

She crouched down to show him their haul. ‘Aren't we clever?'

He jumped up and down clapping. ‘We are, Mummy. Aunty Daffy will be happy.'

At the mention of her friend's name, Helen frowned. It was over twenty-four hours since she had last seen her. What could have happened to her?

‘Mummy?'

Bobby had noticed her consternation and she was irritated with herself at not being more careful. She pulled a silly face. ‘Let's go inside and you can help me wash these. Then later we'll eat them.'

He took hold of one side of the trug handle and together they went into the house.

By seven-thirty that night, Helen knew without doubt that something terrible had happened to her friend. She fed Bobby the fruit they hadn't eaten at lunchtime and was relieved when he fell asleep earlier than usual. She carried him through to their bed and, not wishing to wake him, slipped off the wooden clogs Tony had brought for him a few weeks before, and covered him so he was warm. She left him to sleep.

Returning to sit in the living room, Helen tried to think straight. If Daphne wasn't coming home, then she needed to take Bobby somewhere else. Daphne worked with senior German officers and if something had happened to her they would know about it. The way things were now, with all the shortages, those officers would probably come here to ransack the place and she had no intention of being at Sans Souci if they did. She had heard enough horror stories about the depths to which some of them would go.