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Easter Lovat  cont...

spare candles On the outside wall along from the window is a small grate where there is some wood and coal. The flagstone floor is swept clean and there is a rush mat on the floor. It is then that I realise that a woman has done all this, tried to make my room look nice and feel like a home and not a prison. I feel like a person again and not a number, not an enemy POW. All this makes me think of my mother her and sisters at home and how they would do such kindness to a stranger, and for the first time since the desert, I weep.
    Duncan Fraser returned to check on Antonio. The door was ajar so he could hear but not see the soldier, quietly muttering to himself. He seemed upset, so Duncan coughed to announce his arrival, waited and then stood awkwardly in the doorway. Antonio collected himself and managed a weak smile,
    "Signor Fraser, thank you for my room. It is very nice. I like it." "Well, it is my wife, Catherine, and daughter, Hannah, you need to thank as they got it ready for you. Now if you go to the storeroom you will find some Wellington boots and a gabardine. You will need these for work "
    Duncan added with a grin, "It rains a lot here you see?
    "And how about you call me Duncan. All the other farm workers do ? "Si, Duncan, but I do not know what 'Wellington boots' and 'gabardine' mean. " Duncan explained by pointing to his own boots and coat and then told Antonio as simply as possible how to get to the storeroom.
    "Later I will show you around the farm and introduce you to everyone. You can start work tomorrow. "
        And that is when he met Robbie, looking for his Wellington boots and gabardine coat He could tell the boy was afraid of him and, perhaps, others would be afraid of him here. But he thought of himself as a soldier no more. Here it was peaceful and these people were kind. They wished him no harm. He would work hard and make friends.
    Back in his room with his boots and coat safely stored in a comer, he began unpacking his bag. He noticed some wooden pegs on the wall where he hung his one spare pair of trousers and shirt. In the upturned box next to his bed he stored the socks and underwear he had been given at the camp. He had a wash bag made of Hessian his mother had given him when he left his home and inside was a precious bar of soap, his razor, a washcloth and a comb. Then he sat at his table to finish emptying his bag. He pulled out a small canvas writing case tied with a piece of blue ribbon given to him by his sister. He untied the knot and opened the case. He took the battered photograph and placed it on the narrow ledge above the fireplace then pulled out from one of the pockets a metal medallion of St Francis of Assisi and placed it carefully next to the photograph. The writing paper and pencil he left in the case. Rummaging in the bottom of his bag he found his towel and a children's spelling book given him at the camp to help him learn English. Perhaps Robbie will help me with my English lessons. It is such a hard language to learn.
    Antonio looked longingly towards his bed, removed his boots and lay down. He was asleep within minutes.
    Jimmy found Molly in the small field next to the hay barn, which she shared with various orphaned or injured animals together with an elderly donkey - Maisie -whose life Hannah had pleaded for years earlier. Her father had relented (he wanted it destroyed because it was useless as a work animal) because he found it hard to refuse his only daughter anything, and she had, - true to her word - looked after the animal herself. Jimmy called to his cow and she looked up from her grazing. He thought her a

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