The town was small and home to only a few brave enough to stay close to the trenches. Many believed to be supporting their soldiers by giving them a place to rest and others just stayed to keep their business' open. The local pub was always, and only, busy on a visiting day as all the soldiers wished for a drink but being men of high intellect Jerry and Tim bypassed the pub and headed straight for the church and stables for some peace and quiet they missed dearly.
The church was made of apparently grey brick and had only one stained-glass window which had been smashed and badly put back together. The large wooden door was all splintered and unwelcoming. On the stone steps sat a girl who looked about 6 years old and unaware of how she came to be there. She had dark black hair set in neat ringlets and stunning green eyes; she reminded Jerry of his younger sister he had left behind in London.
"Hello", the girl simply stared back into Jerry's deep blue eyes. "Do you speak English?", again there was no response.
"Bonjour?" The girl seemed either unable or unwilling to communicate to either boy but stared back blankly.
"Hallo?" the girl seemed very nervous at the prospect of two foreign soldiers standing over her as she was extremely vulnerable and they were bearing arms.
"German!" Tim and Jerry gasped. A child of the enemy was abandoned in a town in France. They looked to see if anyone was looking but everyone was still in the pub and entered the church with the girl and attempted to communicate with her.
They discovered the girl was called Helga Van-Strugen and she had been left at the church by her father in the hope she would be found and looked after, while he was away in the war, by a kind, religious Frenchman. Helga remained as nervous as she was when she first met the soldiers and kept her eye fixed tightly on the guns the boys were holding.
"What do we do with her?"
"There's no way we can take her back!"
"She can't be left here..."
"Maybe we could ask a local to take her in for us?"
"No! She's German! The Germans are the enemy remember?" the argument continued between the friends until they came to the decision that they will smuggle her into the dugout and hide her there until they find a better, more suitable arrangement.
"Gather round men! You should by now be rested and ready for the big push...if not you can face court marshal in the morning." The men and the newly acquired Helga marched back to the dugouts, spirits drowned by the mud now rising to the men's knees and overflowing into their boots.
The week dragged by so slowly that Jerry had forgotten about the 'Big Push' and Helga was getting restless and wandering away from her hideout luckily not being seen by anyone before Jerry took her back away from prying eyes.
