The Sisters of St. Croix (41 page)

Once he was reunited with Julien, Jacques became a different child. He became animated, smiling and chatting in some sort of private language.

Perhaps, thought Adelaide as she watched them, they miss each other more than they do their parents. The close bond of twins. She hoped they did for she was pretty sure that they weren’t going to see their parents for a very long time… if ever.

“I’ll get them moved on to the convent in Paris as soon as I can,” Father Bernard said. “I have contacts who can do that for me.”

“I’ve only the one set of papers,” Adelaide reminded him.

“I know, but they’re a start and I can probably sort out another set, given time.”

“And when the parents come? If they come.”

“I’ll get them moved to a safe house,” said the priest. “We’ll try and get them there right away, but really nowhere’s safe for them these days.”

Adelaide slipped away without saying goodbye to the boys. They were sitting up at the table, prattling away to each other and she left them to Madame Papritz.

“Here’s something for them,” she said to Father Bernard, and handed over the last of the precious chocolate.

Adelaide approached the station with extreme caution. She could not afford to be seen either by the captain, without “Olivier”, or by Colonel Hoch. It was early evening and the station was busy with people going home from work. There were plenty of German uniforms among the crowds on the platform, and so she slipped into a ladies-only waiting room, out of sight. She prepared a story about how Olivier had been kept in the hospital in case she had the misfortune to meet the captain yet again, but in the event she didn’t need it. When the train finally steamed into the station, she hurried out, keeping among the crowds, and although she kept a sharp eye out for either of the German officers, she saw neither. She reached Albert in safety, despite a document check on the train, and collecting her bicycle pedalled slowly to St Croix. The nervous energy she had expended taking the two little boys to Amiens left her feeling exhausted, and it was all she could do to make it back to the farm.

“Safe?” asked Marie.

“Safe,” replied Adelaide. “For the moment.”

That evening she went to meet Marcel as planned. When she tapped on the back door of the café, it was Madame Juliette who let her in.

“He’s in the bar,” Madame Juliette said. “I’ll let him know you’re here.” She disappeared through the connecting door into the café. Moments later there was another tap on the back door and Marcel was there.

“Safe?” he asked. And when Adelaide nodded, he gathered her into his arms. “Thank God. Thank God you’re safe.”

For a moment Adelaide allowed herself to rest against him, feeling the strength of his arms around her, and then she pulled away and dropped into a chair.

“The children are safe,” she said, “but we still have to get the parents away.”

“Tell me how it went,” Marcel said, sitting down across the table from her. “Any problems?”

Adelaide had longed to tell Marcel the details of the two journeys, to share the relief of having succeeded, but now she held back. It was safer for them all if he didn’t know exactly where the children had gone. He knew they’d been on a train, so she contented herself with telling him how she had had to share a compartment with an SS captain.

“They’ve been searching the village,” she added. “Taken people in for questioning, but so far they haven’t kept anyone.” She looked across at him gravely. “They’ve been out to us, but they didn’t find the well. Surely they’ll be looking for Fernand by now. They must realise that he’s disappeared.”

“I shouldn’t worry too much about him,” said Marcel reassuringly. “They may guess what’s happened to him, but I doubt if they’ll pursue it. They’ll soon recruit someone else to take his place.”

Madame Juliette reappeared with a carafe of wine and two glasses, which she set on the table before she left them alone again. Marcel poured them a glass each, and then, tasting his, pulled a face.

Adelaide laughed at his expression of disgust, and took a sip of hers. “It’s better than nothing!”

“I’m not sure it is,” Marcel groaned.

“I’ll go back to the convent tomorrow,” Adelaide told him, “and make the arrangements to get the parents away. Reverend Mother will be glad when they’ve gone. She wouldn’t give them up, of course, but she doesn’t want them there. After Sister Eloise was arrested, Hoch threatened the convent with reprisals if he finds them hiding anyone else.” Adelaide was silent for a moment, thoughtful. “Will you get a message to London? Tell them I think I’ve done all I can here and ask what they want me to do next. I don’t mind staying if there is something else they need me to do, but we shan’t be able to use the convent as a safe house as we’d hoped.”

“I’ll get Bertrand to send that on his next transmission,” Marcel promised. “Now, tell me what you need me to do.”

“I’m not sure yet,” replied Adelaide. “I have all the help I need while they are in the convent, it’s getting them to Albert so that they can catch the train that is the difficult bit. I know they could walk, but they’d almost certainly be picked up. We really need some sort of transport to get them out of the village.”

Madame Juliette came in and they told her their problem.

“You can bring them here,” she said. “If you can get them to me under cover of darkness, they can catch the weekly bus into Albert in the morning. No one will look twice at a nun and a priest on the bus.”

“That’d be very dangerous,” Adelaide said dubiously.

“It is better to be bold, as you were with the children,” Madame Juliette asserted. “You’re less suspicious if you’re moving about in the daylight, with nothing to hide.”

“But hiding them here overnight?”

Madame Juliette shrugged. “Who will look here?”

“It’s probably the best we can do for them,” Marcel said, and Adelaide reluctantly agreed.

On her way to meet Marcel, Adelaide had been to the convent. Entering by the courtyard gate she stopped by the grating, and while retying her shoe had pushed a note through the grille, telling the Auclons that their children were safe. She also warned them to wait for her signal on the inner door the following evening.

Sister Marie-Marc was in the kitchen when Adelaide arrived at the back door, and was delighted to see her.

“Are you coming back to work?” she asked. “Is your aunt better?”

Adelaide smiled at this enthusiastic reception and said that she was. “That’s what I’ve come to say. I’ll be back tomorrow morning, but Sister,” Adelaide lowered her voice, “please could you tell Reverend Mother that I would like to speak to her when I get here.”

Sister Marie-Marc nodded conspiratorially. “Yes, I will tell her.”

Next morning Mother Marie-Pierre sent to the kitchen and summoned Adelaide to her study. When Adelaide entered the room in answer to the bell, Mother Marie-Pierre had one simple question. “Have they gone?”

“The children, yes. The parents, tonight if you’ll help me.”

“What do you want me to do?” asked Reverend Mother.

Adelaide outlined her plan. “When the sisters are all in bed, I will come to the back door and you must let me in. We’ll go down to the cellar and move the furniture away from the door so that the Auclons can come out that way. I will bring the cassock that Father Bernard has given me, and you said you could provide a nun’s habit for Madame.”

Mother Marie-Pierre nodded. “Yes, I can do that. Then what?”

“Then we get them dressed and I take them out of the back door and they’re gone.” Adelaide smiled across at her. “Then you can relax, the convent will be safe.”

“Where are you going to take them in the middle of the night? How will they get to Amiens?” asked her aunt.

“Better you don’t know. We’ll try and get the habit back to you later.”

“I’ve still got these.” Mother Marie-Pierre opened the door of her desk and produced some documents. “These are Sister Marie-Joseph’s papers. Of course she is much younger than Madame Auclon, but up until now the soldiers have only looked at the habit and not the person inside it.”

Their plans made as far as they were able, Adelaide returned to the kitchen and finished her morning’s work. Sister Marie-Marc looked at her speculatively, but Adelaide merely smiled at her and went down to fetch the coal. They had agreed they would need someone else to help, and the obvious choice was Sister Marie-Marc.

“I’ll speak to her nearer the time,” promised Mother Marie-Pierre. “She can leave the back gate unlocked for you, and keep watch while we get them changed and ready to go.”

Adelaide knocked gently on the back door of the convent that night and it was immediately opened by an excited-looking Sister Marie-Marc, who beckoned her in and then closed the door behind her. The kitchen was in darkness, except for a crack of light edging the cellar door.

“I’ll go back to keep watch,” the nun whispered. “Mother’s already down in the cellar.”

Adelaide nodded and went down the cellar steps. Below she found Mother Marie-Pierre carefully removing the furniture from the outside of the hidden door. She greeted Adelaide with a tired smile and a kiss on the cheek, the first sign of affection she had shown since she learnt that Adelaide was using the convent cellars for her own purposes. Together they shifted the larger pieces of furniture and then Adelaide tapped the agreed code on the door. They heard the bolt being drawn back and then the door eased open to reveal the two scarecrows that were Joseph and Janine Auclon.

Mother Marie-Pierre drew in a sharp breath when she saw them and the state to which they had been reduced. The Auclons had been in hiding too long. They were half-starved, having given most of any food they’d obtained to their children. Their eyes had sunk into faces that were gaunt and grey. They were dirty, their hair matted, their bodies malodorous and foul, their clothes in rags, and Adelaide and Sarah had to get them clean enough to pass unnoticed in broad daylight.

“Adèle, quickly, fetch hot water from the stove.”

Adelaide nodded and ran back up to the kitchen and drew off some water from the large cauldron that stood, ever ready, on the back of the range. She returned to the cellar to find Mother Marie-Pierre handing out food that she brought down with her. When Adelaide returned with a second bowl of water, Joseph retired to the far corner, and, with a razor Mother Marie-Pierre had brought from the hospital, attacked the full beard that he now had, cutting it back ruthlessly with a pair of scissors before finally shaving it away. Adelaide passed over the cassock she had brought, and leaving him to get cleaned up as best he could, she and Mother Marie-Pierre set about turning Janine Auclon into a nun. It all took time. Too much time, Adelaide thought, as she fetched yet more hot water for Janine to scrub away the grime. It’s taking too long, far too long. Adelaide looked anxiously at her watch as she helped cut Janine’s hair short enough to fit under the wimple, muttering, “We should be out of here by now.”

“Is there soup in the pantry?” Mother Marie-Pierre asked softly, and Adelaide nodded. “Yes, usually.”

“Then go and heat some up. We have to get something warm inside them.”

Adelaide found the soup, and having heated it brought it down to the cellar in two large cups. The Auclons had made some progress, and she found Joseph now clean-shaven, his hair cut short above his ears, dressed in his cassock. It was too short for him, and his feet poked out from the bottom, displaying his bony ankles and worn leather shoes.

But at least his shoes are black, Adelaide thought as she handed him the cup.

Janine was wearing the habit, and the wimple fitted closely round her head and face. She too grasped the cup of soup in her hand and began to drink it down greedily.

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming down the cellar steps. They all froze, knowing there was nothing they could do to escape. Sister Marie-Marc appeared.

“What is it, Sister?” Mother Marie-Pierre said sharply.

“You were so long,” Sister Marie-Marc said. “I was worried something had gone wrong.”

“Nothing’s gone wrong,” snapped her superior. “Go back upstairs and keep watch.”

“Yes, Mother.” Sister Marie-Marc disappeared into the darkness, and Reverend Mother turned her attention to Janine’s hood. She had just put it on when there were more footsteps, running this time, and Mother Marie-Marc reappeared in the cellar, her eyes wide.

“Mother,” she cried, “Germans. All creeping up round the convent. I saw them from the landing window. All round the house.”

Adelaide looked at Reverend Mother. “I must have been followed.”

“Never mind that now,” the nun replied. “Let’s think.”

She stood for a moment, her eyes squeezed closed and then turned to the terrified Auclons. “Come with me. You, Sister Marie-Marc, go back to bed. Adèle, out through the grating.”

“Where are you going?” asked Adelaide.

“To the chapel,” replied her aunt. “It’s our only hope. Now go, both of you.”

Sister Marie-Marc obediently scuttled up the stairs, and Adelaide watched as Mother Marie-Pierre grabbed the dazed couple by the hands and hurried them up into the convent building.

“Go,” she said over her shoulder to her niece. “I’ll look after them.”

Adelaide scrambled up the ladder to the grating, and listening hard heard nothing from the outside. Cautiously she lifted the grille enough to see out, and immediately ducked down again. Standing only a few yards away, his rifle trained on the courtyard gate, stood a German soldier. He didn’t appear to have seen the hidden grating, he was concentrating on the gate. Adelaide lowered herself back into the cellar and looked up at her escape route, now effectively blocked. The soldier hadn’t seen her, but there was no way she could get past him. If she went that way she’d have to kill him, and although she hadn’t seen any others, he wouldn’t be alone. No, there was no escape that way, she’d have to go back through the convent. Quietly she closed the door of the hiding place and stole back up to the kitchen, shutting the cellar door behind her. She didn’t lock it. That would be pointless, a locked door wasn’t going to keep them out.