by Mary Wood
Elka wasn’t sure how she was able to focus on their mission and comfort Baruch, after receiving such awful news. She only knew that she had to. And that nothing was ever going to be the same again. But they had to work towards a time of peace. This war had to be won; Hitler had to be stopped.
The chain of contacts was soon mobilized and information began to flow both ways, but still no one had any further news of Ania.
A week had passed. A new hideout had been constructed further up in the mountains. From there a signal could be sent as far as Hungary. Contact had been made with Brendan. He had set up various channels – a network that would ensure messages were relayed to London.
In two days’ time Elka would need to start her journey back to Hungary, in readiness for flying back to England. Part of her wanted to leave so badly; to be held by her Jhona. But a huge part of her wanted to have some news of Ania before she left.
As the days passed, Elka’s heart hurt more and more, as none of the communications from within Krakow gave any news of her sister.
Then a message came in. Ania had been in hospital! A lad who had been delivering bread to the Gestapo headquarters kitchen had come across a commotion outside the apartments where Ania lived and had asked the ambulance driver – an uncle of his – what was happening. The uncle had told the boy that one of the collaborators had been attacked and badly beaten.
The news shattered Elka, as did hearing of Ania being called a collaborator. Her heart filled with despair for the suffering of her darling sister. She wondered how Ania was coping; she’d always been the more fragile of the two of them. It was unbearable.
‘Baruch, what are we going to do? I must go to her. Please don’t tell me the people think of her as a collaborator! Oh God, not that!’
‘They do, but it is the perfect cover for Ania.’
‘Cover! She will be vilified, spat at. And this attack, would it have been by our own people? How can you do this to the woman you love – to my darling sister? How, Baruch?’
‘We don’t know who attacked her. Don’t you think it breaks my heart to know of her plight? It’s not me doing this to her. Ania is doing the best she can, for her people and her country. She does it knowing that it is dangerous. We all have to make sacrifices. We all have to do what we can, for the greater good. Ania knows that. At least we know the Germans are taking care of her and have seen that she receives treatment. I have a nurse inside the hospital who is one of my contacts. She is not a Jew, but she can be trusted; she wants to join the Freedom Army. She will get information to us by this evening, I am sure.’
Baruch’s body shook as he spoke. Elka could see that he was distraught. She could stand it no longer. ‘I’m going in. I’m going to find Ania.’
‘No. You will put her, and yourself, in danger. You must not be captured. If news doesn’t come in soon, I will go. I have done so before. I didn’t make contact with Ania, but I stayed overnight and managed, in disguise, even to fool my contact. I took a chance and it worked. It was a kind of trial run, in case I was ever needed to go on an urgent mission. We have established safe houses along the route – the people there know me. And the final part of the journey is horrendous. The best thing you can do, Elka, is go home with the information that Ania has got out for us, and which I have given you. Tell your leaders about the wall that is planned, to fence our people into a ghetto. Tell them young Jewish men are going missing every day. Tell him that Poles are being taken for hard labour. Tell him everything your sister has risked her life to inform us about, then return to us and we will have Ania waiting for you.’
Looking into Baruch’s bloodshot, impassioned eyes, Elka believed him. Her training had taught her that she must obey her instructions. She must return to Hungary, and from there go back to Britain. But she would beg to be allowed to come back, just as soon as they would allow her to. One day she would take Ania to England – to their mother, to their true home.
20
Edith
London, May 1940 – Eloise to the Rescue
Being in the arms of Eloise, her lovely cousin, soothed some of the pain that had taken root in every part of Edith.
‘I can’t tell you how good it is to have you here in London, Eloise. How long are you staying?’
‘As long as it takes to get you sorted. The message from Laurent broke our hearts. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Douglas is very cross with you for not letting us know, too.’
‘You have your own work to contend with and – well, your own heartache, with the girls leaving, and poor Douglas seeing Henry off to war and knowing that Thomas won’t be far behind him. Besides, it is all so hush-hush – I don’t know anything really. All Brendan said was that Elka was involved in something to do with communications, and that Jhona was doing something similar.’
‘They’re not together then?’
‘No. Elka went first, for a little over two weeks, and Brendan went with her. He did tell me that much. Then soon afterwards, and before Elka returned, Jhona left. Elka was distraught when she returned, to find out that he’d gone on some kind of government mission. And then, within a short time, Elka left again. I had a postcard saying she was safe and well. But that was all. And I suspect it was written before she left. It came via the War Office. We all know how these things work. It wouldn’t be so bad if they had joined up in the normal way. I’d be worried, but I would have some idea of what they are doing. But with Brendan recruiting them to carry out something that no one will tell me about, I . . . Oh, Eloise, I’m so afraid. I’m imagining all sorts of things.’
‘That is to be expected, darling. You’ve been part of a war and have experienced it all first hand. But all we can do is hope, and carry on as best we can.’
‘I know. Tell me, have you any news of Rose and Andria?’ Edith found it frustrating not knowing what her own children were doing, and thought it was easier to switch the conversation to safer ground and talk about Eloise’s girls. Hearing that they had volunteered for the Women’s Land Army had sent her and Laurent into a fit of giggles. No two girls could be less suited for such a role. Their heads seemed full of nothing more than the latest fashions, partying and going on picnics. Picnics that entailed lots of other like-minded youngsters driving off noisily in open-topped cars, with champagne and cucumber sandwiches and a wind-up gramophone on board, heading for the riverside. But then, just as war had tamed and brought out the best in Eloise, who had been equally frivolous, with her late sister Andrina, perhaps it could do the same for Rose and Andria, judging by what Eloise was saying.
‘Surprisingly, Rose and Andria seem to be in their element. Their letters are so funny. They talk of their uniform – dungarees and wellingtons – as if they are the height of fashion. Oh, and you know what a comedienne Andria is: she said she wears this attire with lovely accessories – bulging blisters!’
They both laughed, and the moment lightened for them. ‘And they are really settling down on that farm in Kent?’
‘So it seems. At least their letters are full of funny stories. They have names for each of the cows, which they have to milk at six o’clock in the morning. They never used to know there was such a time in the day! Rose wrote in her last letter – here, I have it in my bag.’ Fumbling amongst the many items, Eloise brought out a bundle of what looked like well-read letters and selected one, reading it out aloud: ‘“Mama, I’m so cross. I milked Loopy-Lou – we call her Loopy-Lou because she is a little doolally. She doesn’t fall in with the rest of the cows when they are called, and to get her into a milking stall is the Devil’s own job – we push her one way and she goes the other! Anyway, I did exactly as I was taught, getting loads from her at the cost of aching arms and wrists, when she throws one of her silly fits, kicks out and knocks the whole blooming lot over! Farmer Whisky, as we call him, due to the copious amounts he swigs down, went berserk. It really wasn’t my fault, Mama.”’
‘Oh no. Oh, poor Rose.’ Edith could hardly talk for laughing. ‘But it’s so
good, and so unexpected, to know they’re all right. I’d love to see them in action.’
‘I’d love to see them in those clothes! In fact, I would just love to see them – I miss them so much.’ A silence fell. Eloise brought it to an end. ‘Anyway, I’m here to discuss helping you. Laurent didn’t only tell us in his letter about your sadness at Elka and Jhona having left to do war work, and you not having any news of Ania. He also told us how hard you’re working to try and keep Jimmy’s Hope House and your job going. What can I do to relieve you a little, darling?’
‘I’m all right. You have your own charity.’
‘Out of my hands in the main, now. The Salvation Army and the Red Cross have all the areas I was working in covered, and the British Legion, which is now well established. It takes care of all ex-servicemen. My job is chiefly fund-raising, and that doesn’t take much of my time, as I have established sources of regular income and distribute it between the three organizations. Of course that isn’t all of their income, as they each have their own sources of funding. I just contribute to it. But, Edith, I didn’t realize that you have been coping on your own since – well, since dear Ada’s passing. Oh, Edith, I miss her so much.’
Edith couldn’t speak for a moment and had to swallow before she could answer. ‘We all do. It is like a light has gone out for us. Brendan hasn’t been the same man since.’
‘I can imagine. Does his work keep him in this country?’
‘Yes. He’s still working in the War Office, but what he does is all top secret, of course. He rings now and then. I don’t think he can cope with visiting much. He is a very confused and lost young man, at heart.’
‘Maybe I’ll get to see him while I’m here. I intend to stay until you’re sorted. You and Ginny must be stretched to the limit. Now tell me, why haven’t you employed another assistant to take Ada’s place at the home?’
‘It felt almost disloyal to do so. Ginny manages all the pregnant girls who live in, and oversees the baby unit. The nannies we have are excellent, and of course the mothers who still live in and those awaiting their confinement all have to work. They do cleaning and kitchen duties, that kind of thing. Leah is the exception to this, as she doesn’t like to leave either my own or Ginny’s side, especially now that Ada’s no longer with us. You haven’t met Leah, have you?’
‘No. Who is Leah? Edith, you have been really very naughty about not keeping me up to date.’
Edith told Eloise about Leah, her background, and how she worked closely with Leah, teaching her to speak English and showing her how to do as many of the jobs as she could in the surgery. ‘She is really grasping the language now. Which is a big help. And there’s an investigation into the gang who put her to work on the streets, but they – and their organization – seem to have gone to ground. We’ve got several girls in the home who were mixed up with them. Some are ready to move on. We’re looking into war work for them.’
‘And what is Leah’s long-term situation?’
‘At the moment she doesn’t have a set routine, like the other girls, but helps in the surgery or in the staff kitchen, looking after us and keeping things in order there. She is still so sad about all she has been through. It broke her heart – and mine and Ginny’s – when Felicia died. I think Leah will stay. She has no family.’
After telling Eloise about how the bodies of Leah’s parents had been washed up, and the outcome of Leah revisiting her rescuers, she was glad to hear Eloise say, ‘Well, I’m sure we will rub along very well together, Leah and I. No, I’m not taking any objections. I’m going to take on the role Ada had. I know it inside out, don’t forget. Jay will help me.’
Relief flooded through Edith. That Eloise’s husband, Jay, Edith’s half-uncle, was going to help too, made it easier for her to accept Eloise’s offer. Eloise and Jay had run the home together with Ada’s help, when Edith had returned to work in the Somme after discovering her twins were missing.
‘Thank you, Eloise. And there’s no time like the present. I have to leave for Jimmy’s Hope House now – are you able to come along? I can introduce you to Leah.’
‘Yes, I told Jay I would probably go along with you this morning. He has some legal stuff to see to. He keeps all things of that nature on hold as much as possible, until we come to London, then has to spend nearly a week going through it all with the solicitor.’
As they left the house they saw Jay leaving his own and Eloise’s house, which was situated towards the bottom of Holland Park Road. He waved them down. ‘Sorry, I haven’t had time to come up and see you yet, Edith. How are you?’
‘No time to talk now, Jay – sorry.’ Somehow Edith had never been able to call him ‘Uncle’. He’d been elevated so unexpectedly, and shockingly, to that position, after being just the gardener on Eloise’s father’s estate, that although she’d come to love him, she just couldn’t see him in that light. ‘Look, how about dinner tonight? Cook is queuing at the butcher’s as we speak. She has taken my own and Laurent’s ration books along with her, so she’ll get what she can. And, knowing her, it will be plenty to feed us all.’
‘Hasn’t Eloise told you? We brought up the side of a pig from the farm estate for you, and some eggs and chicken. A sack of potatoes, veg . . . Oh, a host of stuff.’
‘No – when were you going to give me that good news?’
Eloise laughed. ‘We had too much to discuss to bother talking about food. But dinner with whatever your cook manages to get will be fine. We’ll have the goodies taken to your kitchen later.’
Saying their goodbyes to Jay, Edith drove off. Now was as good a time as any to unload one of her other worries. ‘If you don’t mind, I would rather the food that you have brought for me was taken to Jimmy’s Hope House – we really need it there. To tell you the truth, I’m struggling for funds.’
‘No! Edith, why didn’t you say? How bad is it?’
‘Bad enough for me to consider re-mortgaging my home. Quite a few of our sponsors have dried up. Some have given the excuse that they need to take more care, as the war could see them on their uppers.’
‘Well, that is something I can help you with. Leave it to me. I have many contacts and a lot of them are in the milling industry, which is experiencing a boom. I’ll shame them into giving some of their cash, made on the back of a war. I haven’t had to tap into half of the folk I know for a long time, as the bigger organizations took on most of what I was doing.’
‘That would be wonderful. I have been worried sick for months now.’
Eloise soon won Leah’s heart, as she did with everyone who came into contact with her. Ginny already loved her, and had done from the moment they had met at Elka’s wedding. Their way of working soon slotted in with one another. It seemed as if Eloise been helping them in Jimmy’s Hope House for a lot longer than two weeks now.
It was a further relief to Edith to see her own role at the house diminishing once more, as this gave her more time for her work at the hospital. There were so many extra lectures to give and receive at Charing Cross Hospital – particularly lectures on safety procedures, as well as going over the best methods of fixing broken bodies. Edith was dreading learning all about this. War was taking on a deeper meaning than just food shortages and worrying about loved ones. They had already received their first wounded from the front, where the news wasn’t good. Sometimes it didn’t seem possible that they were still dealing with cases from the last war, and now here they were again.
Edith attended to the last patient of her free surgery for the poor of the East End, before quickly turning her attention to writing up her notes. The time had flown by, without her feeling that she was chasing her own tail. In fact, she’d really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the surgery, whilst notes on each patient had been prepared for her or she had received old notes for those on a return visit. It was just like the old days, although, more than once since Ada’s passing, she felt guilty at not realizing just how much Ada had done to make the place run smoothly.
With this thought came an idea. Just as it was forming, Brendan knocked on the door.
‘Brendan! How lovely to see you. I was just thinking about your Aunt Ada. How are you, darling?’ His look said everything. Huge blue eyes, rimmed with dark circles, stared at her. ‘Look, don’t answer that. Your Aunt Eloise is here – shall we call her and all have coffee together?’
Not indicating yes or no, he crossed over to her and held out his arms. A nerve of fear tingled in Edith’s stomach as she went into his hug.
‘What is it, Brendan. Is something wrong?’ He held her to him in a grip that bruised her. The rough texture of his uniform jacket rubbed against her cheek. ‘Brendan, you’ll suffocate me.’
‘I’m sorry. I have bad news. We’ve lost contact with Jhona.’
‘What? But where is he? And Elka – does she know?’
‘No. She doesn’t know yet. We’ll be bringing her home. She is at the end of her mission anyway.’
‘Mission? What is it you have them doing? Brendan, I thought Elka was doing work in France that wouldn’t put her in danger, and that Jhona was sent to do something similar elsewhere. What mission?’
‘I’m sorry, Aunt Edith. I have permission to tell you very little. It is too dangerous for you to know. But they are both carrying out missions that will help our country in this war. Their work is vital to us, as things escalate. They are the bravest couple I know.’
The impact of this rocked her off-balance. All she could think to ask was, ‘Is Jhona . . . is he likely to be alive?’
‘We don’t know. He was meant to make contact and he didn’t. Enquiries have revealed nothing. Jhona has just disappeared. That is all I can tell you.’
Lowering herself into the chair she’d risen from, behind her desk, Edith looked up into Brendan’s face. Part of her wanted to hold him and make all of his sorrows better, but there was a bigger part of her that wanted to hit him, and never stop hitting him, for his part in recruiting Elka and Jhona.