Chapter Two

The setting sun cast an orange glow across the sky. Before the German officer occupied Louis' room, Adeline and Jeanne packed his belongings: uniforms, clothes, picture albums and military documents. They were crammed into the shed where Jeanne kept her garden tools. They didn't let his evil hands defile them. In the living room, they sat and wait for the enemy who would soon live in their house. The approaching footsteps sent a jolt of a shared terror between them. Shortly thereafter, the sharp rap of knuckles on the front door echoed through the silence. They flinched, their faces growing pale under the pendant light.

"It's him," Jeanne whispered.

"I'll handle him.

Her heart pounded fast as if she was facing a terrifying killer. When she stood by the door, she took a deep breath. She opened it and then a familiar face appeared.

They stared at each other in stunned disbelief. In that frozen moment, a shared memory flooded back, transporting them to their first encounter: an Alsatian dog and a German soldier ran toward a French woman to return her hat.

Jeanne was anxious at Adeline's prolonged absence, fidgeted restlessly on her seat. Images of violence flickered through her mind. She rose and peered into the hallway. There, in the doorway, stood the German officer.

"Bonsoir," he said, his voice surprisingly calm. "Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Wilhelm von Haeften. I am billeted in your house. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Adeline and Jeanne remained impassive. Their silence and their cold stares showed their unspoken animosity. Wilhelm could perceive that they didn't like his presence. They deemed him as the intruder.

"I will try not to inconvenience you," Wilhelm said and then looked at the clock on the wall. He realized that they hadn't set it to German time. "I know about the obligation for the French people to set their clocks to German time. As long as I am in this house, you don't have to implement it. I can use my wrist watch."

Adeline and Jeanne remained silent.

"I don't know where my room is. Could you please show it to me?" Wilhelm asked politely.

Adeline turned around and led Wilhelm toward Louis' room. He bid Jeanne good evening but she didn't take heed of him. As soon as they reached Louis' room, Adeline opened the door for him. He stepped inside and looked around just like a hotel guest who had just arrived in the room he booked, assessing whether it was decent or not.

Wilhelm expressed his gratitude to her, hoping that she responded to him, "The room is perfect. Thank you very much."

Irritated, Adeline left him without saying a word.

Darkness enveloped the village like a heavy, pitch-black coat. The Germans ordered the inhabitants to obey the curfew: they forbade them to go out of the house from nine o'clock in the evening until five o'clock in the morning; they forced them to close the windows and turn off any light to prevent the Allied aircrafts from using their lights for navigation. Towards nine o'clock in the evening, the street echoed with the quick steps of passers-by who wanted to go home before the curfew. "Can you walk faster? If the Germans see us, they'll arrest us," one of them said with a frantic tone of voice.

The German military truck rumbled past Adeline's house. Beneath the moonlight, the Germans patrolled around the village to check if the inhabitants abided by the curfew. They found themselves confined in their homes with curtains drawn and no entertainment as their radios had been confiscated. Even though they lived in their own country, they couldn't do what they wanted. They had lost their freedom.

At a dressing table, Adeline combed her hair before going to bed. She looked at her reflection in the mirror: a young woman – long brown haired, hazel eyed with cheeks as smooth as satin. At this moment, she was eager to continue writing her novel she'd been working on for half a year. The war and the misfortune of France inspired her to write. She became the main character in her novel, a French woman who struggled during the German occupation. The presence of the German officer in her house gave her story ideas. Leaving the mirror, she moved to her typewriter. The clack of the typewriter was so noisy that Wilhelm had to cover his ears with a pillow. She heard him complaining in the room next door where he slept, "Oh nein. Warum tippt sie so spät in der Nacht?" She smiled, her heart filled with joy and pride. The enemy's annoyance was a victory for her. Page after page, the manuscripts grew on her desk. After some time, tiredness consumed her. She set down her work, threw herself down on the bed and fell asleep over the blanket.

One morning, Adeline and Jeanne had breakfast in the dining room. They had the same menu almost every day. Since the occupation, they had been eating unusual vegetables like rutabaga. That's the food for animals. Farmers usually feed their cows with it. Everything was scarce in France. Meanwhile, the French people were starving. They had no choice unless they had to find a substitute; cornstarch would be added to water with an egg to create an omelet, coffee was replaced with chicory, sugar with saccharin and roasted corn with tea.

Adeline and Jeanne heard the door open with a faint creak and the sound of footsteps in the house. From the dining room, they saw Wilhelm's orderly passing by. Their eyes flitted to a violin case in his hand.

"It seems like the Lieutenant can play a violin," Jeanne said in a low voice.

"If he plays it in this house, will you allow him?"

"There's nothing I can do. He's in charge here."

A little while later, they saw Wilhelm's orderly passing by again. Behind him, came Lieutenant Wilhelm. He stood in the doorway once he saw them.

"Bonjour," Wilhelm waited another moment and when Adeline and Jeanne said nothing, he reverted to speaking, "I had a good sleep last night. I hope you had it too. You don't have to prepare my meals. I'll have it in town."

Adeline and Jeanne remained silent and continued to eat their breakfast. Jeanne glanced at Wilhelm but she was caught by him. He greeted her with a nod of the head and then went away.

Adeline let out a deep sigh. "How long will the enemy live with us?"