and since it’s to your benefit, and you’re British, the inspector decided to pass it on to you.’
She opened the letter, gasping as she read it.
To whom this may concern
Everything in the shop is to go to our former employee, Phoebe Sinclair, all stock and equipment. She’s English through and through. She’s been a hard worker and better she has it than the looters.
Hubert Stein
Trudi Stein
She read it again, amazed and touched that in all their troubles, they’d thought of her.
Frank twitched the letter out of her hand and read it, letting out a low whistle. ‘You fell lucky there.’
‘I don’t understand. Aren’t they coming back? Or selling the business?’
The policeman gave her a condescending smile. ‘They’ll be kept in custody for the duration of the war, together with other enemy aliens. And who’d pay good money to take over a ruined shop, especially if they had to give the money to foreigners?’
The poor Steins. What had they done to deserve this?
‘I should clear the contents of the shop quickly, if I was you,’ the policeman said. ‘The mobs will get in and loot it if you don’t. We’re only keeping a man on duty here till the end of the day.’
‘I’ll see to that for my fiancée, Officer,’ Frank said. ‘Thank you very much for helping us. I’ll buy you a drink one day … when times are easier.’
Phoebe was puzzled by the nods they gave one another, then it suddenly sank in what Frank had called her. ‘I’m not your fiancée!’ she whispered.
‘Shh. It’ll make things easier for me to help you. And you could be, if you wanted.’
‘No, thank you. I don’t want to get married, not to anyone.’
He laughed. ‘We’ll talk about that another time. You go inside now and start sorting out the shop stuff that isn’t damaged. I’ll fetch some fellows and a couple of carts.’
She didn’t like the idea of pretending to be engaged to a man like him. Something inside her shrank from the mere thought of it. But she did as he told her, consoling herself with the thought that she’d give everything back to the Steins once all this stupidity was sorted out. She didn’t want to benefit from their troubles.
Even if there was a war, everyone was saying it wouldn’t last long. She didn’t know if they were right. What did she know about wars? She felt very ignorant of everything after her years in a small village, focusing on caring for her mother, then her years in this shop.
She should have read more newspapers to keep up with what was going on, instead of novels from the library, butshe’d felt so tired after her mother died, so very weary. She’d needed time to recover.
And now … well, she didn’t know what she felt. Or what she’d do to earn her living.
When the two carts laden with furniture and goods got to the farm, Frank explained to his parents what had happened, then took charge.
‘We’ll put the things from the shop into my boss’s barn. They’ll be safer there because it has a good strong door and proper locks.’ He saw Phoebe’s puzzled look. ‘He’s paying my parents to store some things for him.’
‘Oh.’ It was the first time she’d heard about him having a boss to answer to. She was beginning to feel very suspicious about how he earned a living.
‘There’s another shed where we can put your furniture and household stuff,’ Cousin Horace told Phoebe. ‘It’s a bit ramshackle, but it’s waterproof and I’ll put some rat poison and mousetraps down.’
She could only say, ‘Thank you.’ She was so tired now that everything was starting to feel unreal.
‘You come inside and leave the men to put things away,’ Cousin Janet said. ‘You’re white with exhaustion, you poor thing. Must have been a terrible day for you.’
Her son overheard and grinned. ‘It was a very
good
day for her. She got given the stock of the shop. Nice lot of money that’ll bring in after the war. Do you know how to make curtains,
She opened the letter, gasping as she read it.
To whom this may concern
Everything in the shop is to go to our former employee, Phoebe Sinclair, all stock and equipment. She’s English through and through. She’s been a hard worker and better she has it than the looters.
Hubert Stein
Trudi Stein
She read it again, amazed and touched that in all their troubles, they’d thought of her.
Frank twitched the letter out of her hand and read it, letting out a low whistle. ‘You fell lucky there.’
‘I don’t understand. Aren’t they coming back? Or selling the business?’
The policeman gave her a condescending smile. ‘They’ll be kept in custody for the duration of the war, together with other enemy aliens. And who’d pay good money to take over a ruined shop, especially if they had to give the money to foreigners?’
The poor Steins. What had they done to deserve this?
‘I should clear the contents of the shop quickly, if I was you,’ the policeman said. ‘The mobs will get in and loot it if you don’t. We’re only keeping a man on duty here till the end of the day.’
‘I’ll see to that for my fiancée, Officer,’ Frank said. ‘Thank you very much for helping us. I’ll buy you a drink one day … when times are easier.’
Phoebe was puzzled by the nods they gave one another, then it suddenly sank in what Frank had called her. ‘I’m not your fiancée!’ she whispered.
‘Shh. It’ll make things easier for me to help you. And you could be, if you wanted.’
‘No, thank you. I don’t want to get married, not to anyone.’
He laughed. ‘We’ll talk about that another time. You go inside now and start sorting out the shop stuff that isn’t damaged. I’ll fetch some fellows and a couple of carts.’
She didn’t like the idea of pretending to be engaged to a man like him. Something inside her shrank from the mere thought of it. But she did as he told her, consoling herself with the thought that she’d give everything back to the Steins once all this stupidity was sorted out. She didn’t want to benefit from their troubles.
Even if there was a war, everyone was saying it wouldn’t last long. She didn’t know if they were right. What did she know about wars? She felt very ignorant of everything after her years in a small village, focusing on caring for her mother, then her years in this shop.
She should have read more newspapers to keep up with what was going on, instead of novels from the library, butshe’d felt so tired after her mother died, so very weary. She’d needed time to recover.
And now … well, she didn’t know what she felt. Or what she’d do to earn her living.
When the two carts laden with furniture and goods got to the farm, Frank explained to his parents what had happened, then took charge.
‘We’ll put the things from the shop into my boss’s barn. They’ll be safer there because it has a good strong door and proper locks.’ He saw Phoebe’s puzzled look. ‘He’s paying my parents to store some things for him.’
‘Oh.’ It was the first time she’d heard about him having a boss to answer to. She was beginning to feel very suspicious about how he earned a living.
‘There’s another shed where we can put your furniture and household stuff,’ Cousin Horace told Phoebe. ‘It’s a bit ramshackle, but it’s waterproof and I’ll put some rat poison and mousetraps down.’
She could only say, ‘Thank you.’ She was so tired now that everything was starting to feel unreal.
‘You come inside and leave the men to put things away,’ Cousin Janet said. ‘You’re white with exhaustion, you poor thing. Must have been a terrible day for you.’
Her son overheard and grinned. ‘It was a very
good
day for her. She got given the stock of the shop. Nice lot of money that’ll bring in after the war. Do you know how to make curtains,
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