Hannah's War by Shirley Mann

Author:Shirley Mann
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction

Chapter 28

Hercules nuzzled Hannah as she tried to take his harness off after she had used him to help move some logs. She was all fingers and thumbs and the large horse seemed to sense her disquiet. She leaned her head into his flank, feeling his warmth and strength and put her arms around his neck.

‘Oh Hercules, I’m in such a mess.’

The tears started to flow, and once she’d started, Hannah couldn’t stop crying. She flopped against the reassuring solidity of the shire horse and, one by one, the thoughts that were swirling around like a maelstrom in her head came gushing out of her mouth. She needed to speak them out loud and the sympathetic gaze from the horse’s big brown eyes was as comforting to her as any human listener . . . and a good deal safer.

‘You see, Hercules, my mum’s just not coping and although my dad’s finally managing to face the world, I feel so guilty all the time. I should be there. I don’t know what to do.’

The horse made a whinnying sound and Hannah looked up suspiciously. It was almost as if this animal understood every word she was saying.

She glanced around the empty stable and whispered, ‘And there’s another thing . . . I think I’ve fallen for a German.’

To actually speak the words terrified her because they made the whole situation more real.

She’d felt unable to say any more to Lavinia, it was all too raw, but the situation had, for the first time, made her face up to the fact that she had feelings for Karl. But every time she thought about it, she just despaired at the impossibility of it all. For a British girl to fall in love with a German was the ultimate betrayal. Her father would be horrified, she knew all the men on the farm would condemn her and she suspected Dotty, with her forthright views, would hate her as well. And then there were the authorities . . . She groaned. She knew the penalties for fraternising were bad enough, but they must be so much worse for having a romantic relationship with an escaped prisoner of war.

The sudden thought of Karl lying dead in a ditch came to her. Then a vision of him in front of a firing squad. She started to sob again and slid down the wall to the floor. She had no idea what they did with escaped prisoners, it was such a rare occurrence in Britain.

At that moment, Jed came into the stable.

‘What the hell are you doing, girl?’

Hannah scrabbled to her feet and, after brushing her tear-stained face with her sleeve, she started to pull the straps from around Hercules’s girth.

‘NOTHING, Jed, I’m just unharnessing him to get him ready for grooming.’

Jed took one look at her distraught face and seized his opportunity. He moved in behind her and took hold of her hand on the harness.

‘Here, let me.’

Hannah jumped as if she’d been burned, but Jed’s arm was strong. He turned her to face him, putting his other hand on her breast.

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