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Father.’
    â€˜Then that’s settled.’ Father O’Brien rose to his feet. ‘I’ll tell the ladies to go ahead with the planning but to hold off buying the food until we are in a position to set a date.’
    â€˜And in the meantime, you don’t have to worry about Helena. We’ll take good care of her, Father.’ Alma reached for Helena’s hand.
    â€˜And help her with the practical things, as they arise. Living one day at a time, as the saying goes.’ Bethan gave Helena a reassuring smile.
    â€˜While I wait for a letter from Poland,’ Helena murmured, more to herself than the others.
    â€˜While you wait for a letter from Poland,’ Alma echoed, avoiding Andrew’s eye.
    â€˜Have you thought what you’ll do if a letter doesn’t come from Poland?’ Andrew asked Ned after Alma, Bethan and Helena left for the florists to choose wreaths and flowers.
    Ned set aside the copy of the Pontypridd Observer he’d been pretending to read. It was only when he folded it that he realised he hadn’t taken in a single word, not even the headlines. Disturbed and preoccupied by Helena’s reaction to Magda’s death, he was unable to think about anything else. ‘Auntie Alma warned Helena that mail from the West is routinely opened by the Polish authorities, so on that basis it’s possible Helena’s letter might not even reach her relatives.’
    â€˜As I said, even if it has, she knows nothing about them.’
    â€˜I realise you think it’s foolhardy of us to go to Poland, Dad. But you saw Helena when she was talking about reuniting her parents. That’s all she can think about right now – doing this one last thing for her mother.’
    Andrew clenched his fists impotently. ‘I’m aware of how close Helena was to Magda.’
    â€˜It’s not just that they were close,’ Ned commented perceptively. ‘Helena also feels that her mother sacrificed a great deal for her.’
    â€˜That’s stuff and nonsense. Any parent will do whatever they can for their child. As I hope you two will find out for yourselves one day.’
    â€˜Magda suffered during the war –’
    â€˜As did many others.’
    â€˜She left her country, her family and her friends. She brought Helena here when she didn’t know a soul, and risked everything to give her a better life.’
    â€˜She did,’ Andrew agreed, ‘but she wasn’t the only one who took risks or made sacrifices. You only have to look as far as your namesake, your mother’s brother, Eddie. He paid the ultimate price at Dunkirk when he was barely out of his teens.’
    â€˜Do you know something about Helena’s mother I don’t?’ Ned asked.
    â€˜I doubt it,’ Andrew answered evasively. ‘I don’t know how much Magda told Helena about her background or why she came to Wales, but I am certain that no one here knows anything about Magda’s life in Poland before the Germans invaded the country, or what happened to her during the war.’
    â€˜Helena told me that the Nazis used Magda as a slave labourer.’
    â€˜That’s what Magda told Alma, and I have no reason to doubt it.’ Andrew pulled his cigar case from the inside pocket of his suit and reached for an ashtray.
    â€˜For all the propaganda, my friends – the ones who drove to Minsk – said that the people behind the Iron Curtain are just the same as us,’ Ned said defensively.
    â€˜No, they’re not,’ Andrew contradicted.
    â€˜They may be poorer –’
    â€˜There’s no maybe, Ned. They are poorer. They’re also cowed by officialdom and terrorized by the State, and that’s a dangerous combination. Life is cheap there, a lot cheaper than in Britain, and I would hate to see you or Helena get hurt – or, God forbid, worse.’
    â€˜The papers here are always