A Band of Steel

by Rosie Goodwin

  ‘He just doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of improvement,’ Adina sobbed to Karl that evening as they sat in their favourite place beneath the trees in the copse.

  ‘These things take a long time,’ Karl told her compassionately. ‘Your brother saw terrible sights, and they are not easily forgotten. Be patient. God will bring him through this.’

  ‘But how will my mother cope when I leave too?’ Adina questioned as guilt settled around her.

  ‘God never sends us more than we are able to bear, and we will face that when the time comes. For now you should try not to fret about it.’

  ‘I know you are right,’ she admitted. ‘But sometimes it’s so hard.’

  Karl had long ago discovered that Adina adored her family and he too felt guilty that he would be the means of taking her away from them. He slipped his arm around her shoulder and soon the guilt and the worry disappeared just as it always did when they gave themselves up to the pleasure of being together.

  The following day, 30 April, the second letter from Beryl arrived and Adina tore it open eagerly. She had written asking Beryl to tell her all about the ranch and Tyrone’s parents, but again she was disappointed. Beryl informed her that she was due to give birth any day now and that she was well, but little more.

  ‘I’m worried about Beryl. I don’t think she’s happy,’ Adina said to her mother.

  Freyde was down on her hands and knees sweeping the tiled hearth and she looked up to ask, ‘What makes you think that?’

  ‘I’m not sure, to be honest. She doesn’t say that she’s unhappy but I expected her letters to be full of her new life in America.’

  Freyde chuckled. ‘Could it be that you are looking for problems that aren’t there?’

  Adina returned the all too short letter to the envelope. ‘I suppose I could be,’ she said. ‘But all the same, I think I might pop round and see her mother later on. Perhaps Beryl has said a little more to them?’

  ‘It certainly wouldn’t hurt if it is going to make you feel better,’ Freyde answered as she disappeared out of the back door with a shovelful of ashes in her hand.

  Two hours later, Adina tapped on Mr and Mrs Tait’s front door. The woman opened it, wearing a bright, wraparound pinafore and a turban on her head, from which peeped a metal curler.

  ‘Eeh, you’ve caught me in me working clobber,’ she chuckled as she held the door wide. ‘I’ve been up to me neck in washin’ and was just puttin’ it through the mangle but I’m glad you’ve called round, luv. It’s a good excuse fer a tea-break. Come on in.’

  Soon they were seated in the cosy kitchen facing each other across the dropleaf table with a steaming mug on a mat in front of them.

  ‘So, how are things then?’ Mrs Tait asked pleasantly. ‘An’ how are yer brother an’ sister doin’?’

  Adina quickly updated her before asking, ‘Have you heard from Beryl lately?’

  ‘Just this mornin’, as a matter of fact,’ the woman said. ‘She didn’t say much though. I feel bad, I don’t mind tellin’ yer, what wi’ her first sprog due an’ me so far away from her.’

  Adina had been about to voice her concerns but now she decided against it. Mrs Tait was obviously worried enough as it was, without her adding to her worries.

  ‘I’m sure she’ll be absolutely fine,’ she said instead.

  ‘I dare say you’re right. But what about you, miss? When are you going to find yourself a nice young man? A lovely-lookin’ girl like you – why, I’m shocked some chap ain’t snapped yer up before now. But then I dare say yer father wants yer to marry a nice Jewish boy – an’ there ain’t many o’ them around here, is there? Though I heard from a woman down the street the other day what marvels you’ve done wi’ them little Jewish evacuees at the school. She reckons you’ve got ’em talkin’ better English than us now.’

  Adina blushed at the compliment. ‘Well, I wouldn’t go quite that far,’ she said modestly, ‘but I will say I’m very proud of them all, the way they’ve all adapted.’

  ‘Mm, problem is, once this war is over many of ’em might not have families to go home to,’ Mrs Tait said. ‘An’ then what’s goin’ to happen to the poor little mites?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Adina admitted. ‘I dare say they’ll ask the foster families they’re with if they’ll keep them, and if they’re not able to I dare say they’ll put them into orphanages.’

  ‘Poor little buggers,’ Mrs Tait sniffed as she slurped at the scalding tea. ‘That Adolf has a lot to answer for, don’t he? Still, I reckon our lads have got him on the run now. My old man reckons it’s only a matter o’ time now an’ then hopefully he’ll get his comeuppance. An’ it won’t be a second too soon, from where I’m standin’. The lousy cruel bugger should rot in ’ell.’

  ‘I’ve no doubt he will,’ Adina agreed, and they then chatted of this and that until Adina returned home to finish a dress she was making for a lady in Weddington.

  That evening, as the family sat listening to the wireless in the kitchen, the news that everyone had been praying for reached them. Adolf Hitler was dead. Sensing that all was lost as the Battle of Berlin raged about him, and not wishing to be captured alive and share Mussolini’s fate, he had committed suicide with his lover Eva Braun, whom he had married just hours before. The joint suicide took place in his bunker, and in his Will he named Joseph Goebbels as the new Reichskanzler, or Chancellor (of Germany). He also named Karl Dönitz as the new President of Germany.

  The following day, however, Goebbels also committed suicide, and on 1 May in unauthorised secret negotiations nicknamed ‘Operation Sunrise’ between Germany and the Western Allies, General Heinrich von Vietinghoff, the German Commander-in-Chief, ordered all German armed forces in Italy to cease hostilities and signed a surrender document stipulating that the German forces in Italy were to surrender unconditionally on 2 May. On the same day, the German forces in Berlin surrendered, followed by the German forces in north-west Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.

  Suddenly everyone Adina saw was smiling as the English prayed for a final end to the war, and their prayers were answered on 7 May in Reims in France, and 8 May in Berlin in Germany, when Dönitz signed the Act of Military Surrender. Sir Winston Churchill then solemnly broadcast to his people that the war in Europe was finally over.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Suddenly, everyone was celebrating. In London, crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square and all the way up the Mall to Buckingham Palace. King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth appeared on the balcony of the Palace, accompanied by Sir Winston Churchill before cheering crowds, whilst Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret mingled freely with the people assembled there.

  In the United States, the new President Harry Truman, who was also celebrating his sixty-first birthday on 8 May, dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died less than a month earlier. Celebrations were also taking place in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and in New York City’s Times Square.

  In Nuneaton, street parties were in full swing and the atmosphere was joyous. Large trestle tables were erected up the centre of the roads and soon everyone was piling their contributions of food onto them. Banners were hung from bedroom windows and red white and blue bunting adorned the streets. Men were happily helping themselves from large barrels of ale that had been rolled into the streets. Bonfires were lit and Adina was sure she had never seen such happiness in her whole life before. On this special day everyone was friends, and even the German prisoners of war from Astley Hall were included in the party. The street outside the shop was teeming with people and children, who craftily sneaked treats from the tables before they were even properly loaded.

  Ezra gave generously of his stock in the shop and even agreed to close for the day to join in the celebrations.

  It was mid-afternoon before Adina managed to snatch a moment alone with Karl. He had been mingling with the crowds but now he inched close to her and whispered, ‘Do you think we would be
missed if we slipped away?’

  ‘I doubt it,’ she chuckled as she looked towards her father who was deep in conversation with Bert Haynes. Someone had dragged an old piano into the street and was banging out the tune ‘Roll Out the Barrel’, accompanied by numerous voices that were singing along, all totally out of tune. It didn’t seem to matter. Everyone was enjoying themselves and today everyone was happy.

  Once they were in the tunnel that led into the Pingle Fields, Karl stopped and took Adina’s hands in his. ‘So at last it is really over, mein Liebling.’

  ‘Yes.’ She stared up into his face. ‘But what will happen to you all up at the Hall now?’

  ‘We were told this morning that over the next few months we will be shipped back to our countries, so many at a time. It seems that I will leave sometime next month.’

  ‘So soon?’ Adina’s face clouded.

  ‘You must not think of it like that,’ he urged, shaking her hands gently. ‘You must think the sooner I leave and do what has to be done, the sooner I can return and then we can begin our new life together.’

  She nodded numbly. ‘I suppose you are right but I hate the thought of you leaving without me. Is there no way at all that I could come with you?’

  Just for a moment it appeared that he was going to tell her something, but then he seemed to change his mind again.

  ‘You must trust me,’ he told her. ‘If what I had to do was not important I would not be going.’

  They moved on to the other side of the tunnel, blinking as the bright sunshine momentarily blinded them, and then without a word they headed towards the copse where they hoped they would find some privacy. They were not disappointed, and in no time at all everything else was forgotten as they sat with their arms entwined as if for the very last time.

  The street party went on well into the night, with no signs of abating. By then Mr Haynes was more than a little tiddly, much to his wife’s disgust.

  ‘Just look at the silly old bugger,’ she griped to Freyde. ‘He can barely keep hisself upright. An’ where is our Sarah?’

  ‘The last I saw of her, she was standing outside the shop with Dovi,’ Freyde commented as she glanced up and down the street. There was no sign of them now, but she supposed that Dovi would have gone back indoors. He was never very comfortable amongst people any more and had only ventured outside in the first place because Sarah had persuaded him to.

  ‘I’ll just pop inside and see if she’s in there with him,’ Freyde told the woman, as she saw that Mrs Haynes was getting anxious. She was back in no time. ‘They’re not in there, but they can’t be far away,’ she said soothingly. ‘Come on, we’ll have a wander down the street and see if we can spot them.’

  Side-by-side the two women set off amidst laughter and cheering from the people assembled in the street. It was dark now but the party was still in full swing. Half an hour later they were back where they had started without sighting either Dovi or Sarah.

  ‘It ain’t like her to go off wi’out tellin’ me,’ Mrs Haynes fretted.

  Freyde patted her arm reassuringly. ‘I’m sure they’ll be back before you know it. They probably just lost track of time. You know what those two are like when they get together. Sarah is about the only person Dovi shows any interest in any more. She’ll be safe with him.’

  Mrs Haynes wasn’t so sure. From what she had seen of it, Dovi was incapable of looking after himself, let alone anyone else – and his mood swings were frightening. However, she supposed it was a little early to be panicking just yet. This was a special day, after all, and Sarah was probably just making the most of it.

  The people in the street, were finally beginning to disperse. Adina had been helping the women to clear away as most of the men were incapable of doing anything and had been sent home to sleep off the effects of the beer they had swigged.

  It was as she was walking towards the entry, loaded down with a plateful of half-eaten sandwiches, that Adina saw Dovi coming towards her. His hands were sunk deep into his coat pockets and his head was down.

  ‘Dovi.’ Adina looked behind him with a worried expression on her face. ‘Where is Sarah? I thought she was with you.’

  Clearly agitated, he shook his head from side to side. It was at that moment that Mrs Haynes spotted him too and she rushed towards him, demanding, ‘Where’s my lass then?’

  Again he shook his head and then before she could say another word he shuffled past them and disappeared off up the narrow entry.

  Mrs Haynes looked up and down the street. ‘It’s well after eleven now,’ she mumbled. ‘Where can she be? She ain’t never been out this late before.’

  Adina was feeling concerned too now but she kept her voice calm as she told the kindly neighbour, ‘Look, let me just go and put these plates in the kitchen and then we’ll go and look for her, eh? What with all the excitement she’s probably just lost track of time.’

  When she entered the kitchen she instantly looked towards the fireside chair that Dovi had claimed as his own. It was empty and she frowned. Usually her parents had to practically frogmarch him to bed. Still, she supposed that he was probably tired out, so snatching her coat off the back of the door she rushed back outside to join Mrs Haynes.

  ‘Let’s walk up towards the Pingles Fields first, shall we?’ she suggested as she slipped her arms through the older woman’s. ‘Sarah loves to play there. I’ll bet you that’s where we’ll find her.’

  ‘I hope yer right,’ Mrs Haynes muttered as she fell into step beside her. An hour later when they had walked the entire perimeter of the field, they had caught not so much as a glance of the missing child and now they were both seriously concerned. It was now well after midnight.

  ‘What do yer think we should do?’

  Adina could see the fear reflected in the woman’s eyes from the light of the streetlamp. ‘I think we should get a few more of the neighbours to join in the search and then if we still can’t find her, I’m afraid we shall have to call the police,’ she replied sensibly. And so they hurried back to the street and in no time at all people were scattering in all directions calling the child’s name.

  By two o’clock in the morning they were all exhausted, and when they had all gathered once again in front of Ezra’s shop he told them, ‘I think it’s time someone went to report her missing to the police.’

  ‘I’ll go,’ Adina offered.

  Ezra shook his head. ‘You most certainly will not, young lady. There have been two serious attacks around here over the last few months and the attacker is still at large somewhere. It isn’t safe for a young woman to be abroad in the dark. I shall go and fetch the police myself.’

  Freyde placed a comforting arm around Mrs Haynes, who had started to cry.

  As Ezra set off for the police station, Freyde guided her neighbour into their kitchen. ‘I’m going to make a nice hot cup of cocoa,’ she told her.

  Ezra arrived back with two tall policemen in tow almost half an hour later. They instantly took a statement and a description of Sarah from Mrs Haynes before standing up to leave.

  ‘There’s not much we can do before daylight,’ the stouter of the two warned her. ‘But rest assured we shall have a search-party out looking for her at first light. Meantime, I suggest you go home and try to get some sleep.’

  ‘An’ just ’ow the bloody ’ell am I supposed to do that?’ she barked. ‘Knowin’ that the little ’un is out there. She could be lyin’ somewhere hurt.’

  The policeman shrugged sympathetically. ‘I shall inform all the bobbies on foot to keep their eyes open for her,’ he promised. ‘And as I said, first thing in the morning we’ll all be out in force. We’ll find her, I’m sure.’

  Mrs Haynes glared at them as they left the room and once they had gone, she exploded. ‘Well, a fat lot o’ good them pair were! A little ’un is missin’ an’ they ain’t even goin’ to start lookin’ fer her till mornin’.’

  Ezra and Freyde exchanged a glance. They could understand how worried
and frustrated she was, but they could also see things from the policeman’s point of view.

  ‘Why don’t I get you round to your house and wait with you in case there’s any news,’ Freyde offered.

  Sighing, Mrs Haynes nodded and once they had left, Ezra told Adina, ‘You might as well go to bed, bubbeleh. There is no point in all of us staying up.’

  ‘Will you wake me if she turns up?’ Adina asked.

  Her father wearily ran a hand through his hair. ‘Of course I will. Now off you go. I shall be up shortly when I have locked up down here.’

  Adina reluctantly made her way to her bedroom where she quickly undressed and slipped into bed. But she tossed and turned and sleep evaded her as she thought of Sarah somewhere all alone. The little cockney girl had wormed her way into all of their hearts without them even realising it, and Adina prayed that she would turn up safe and well. Eventually her eyes grew heavy, but before she could drop off, a heartbreaking scream floated along the landing. Dovi was having another of his nightmares, by the sound of it. Knowing that her mother was next door with Mrs Haynes, Adina put her dressing-gown on and almost collided with her father on the landing as she left her room.

  ‘You go back to bed,’ he told her. ‘I will settle him.’

  Adina turned to do as she was told. It was hard to believe that a day that had started out so wonderfully could have turned out so badly.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The police arrived at Mrs Haynes’s home as dawn was breaking to find Mr and Mrs Haynes, along with Freyde, sitting in the kitchen, dry-eyed and fearful. Throughout the long night Freyde had made them numerous cups of tea, and now they all felt as if they were drowning in it. The police took yet another statement and asked endless questions: what time had they last seen Sarah? Who had she been with? Did she normally wander off?