Page 1 of The Secrets We Left Behind
PROLOGUE
CATE
DUNKIRK, FRANCE, DECEMBER1939
“Come on, Cate! We don’t have long.”
Cate followed Lilly down the pretty streets of the seaside town. She was far more interested in sitting outside one of the quaint little restaurants, and as she admired the striped awnings and rows of tables as they passed, she vowed to convince Lilly to stop on their way back. Her friend and future sister-in-law was so enthusiastic, and Cate hadn’t the heart to say no to shopping with her.
“Do you think we could send a little gift back home?” Lilly asked as they entered a store with a tiny bell above the door that jingled when they walked inside. It was full of treasures, knick-knacks that Cate knew her mother would love, and she suddenly felt overwhelmingly homesick. It was Christmas, and the first time she’d ever spent it away from home.
“Maybe,” Cate replied, gently brushing her fingers across a porcelain figurine. “But they’d most likely break in transit, if they ever made it back at all.”
She saw postcards on a small rack by the counter, and she left Lilly’s side to take a look, smiling at a picture of Dunkirk showing the beach with the village in the background. No one back home would believe just how beautiful France was.
The lady behind the counter smiled at her and Cate smiled shyly back, her fingers finding their way to the ring looped on to her necklace. It was always her default when she was nervous; feeling the weight of the ring always grounded her. She wished Charlie were there with them, choosing postcards to send home, his shoulder bumping against hers. She always felt so safe with him, relaxed in his company and knowing he’d look after her, which meant that going on such a big journey without him was even more daunting.
“I’m going to buy these earrings,” Lilly called out. “How about you?”
Cate spied some chocolates in a tin and reached for them, deciding she might need a treat over the coming days. Dunkirk might be pretty, but she had no illusions about what they were heading into. No matter how well their British soldiers were faring, war was war, and she couldn’t imagine how many wounded she would soon be tending to.
Once they’d paid, Lilly linked arms with her, and they went straight back out into the bright sunshine. Cate forced herself to put Charlie from her mind and just enjoy the day. Worrying about his whereabouts or wishing he were there wasn’t going to do her any good.
“Which restaurant?” Lilly asked. “We could drink wine and eat snails if you’d like?”
Cate laughed. “Trust you.” She giggled, never having had so much freedom in her life before, and certainly never imagining she would be travelling abroad.
“What, are you nervous about the wine or the snails?”
Cate shrugged before they burst into laughter again. “Both!”
They bent their heads together as they walked and Cate couldn’t wipe the smile from her face as they marched up to the first restaurant.
“Table for two?” the maître d’ asked them from the door in heavily accented English.
“Merci,” Lilly said, and Cate noticed the way she smiled, fluttering her eyelashes at the handsome Frenchman.
“I think you wanted to come here for more than the food,” Cate whispered as they sat down.
“We’re not all engaged to be married,” Lilly teased. “Although I won’t tell my brother if you decide to enjoy the view a little.”
Cate just smiled at Lilly, happy to be in her shadow. Lilly was like the brightest flower in a garden, always radiant, her smile easy and her eyes always alight with mischief. And as their wine arrived and the smell of French fries wafted from the table beside them, Cate wished she could capture the moment on film so she never, ever forgot it. Because even with Charlie miles away from her, it was one of the best afternoons of her life.
Dunkirk, she thought, as soldiers strolled past in small groups, talking and laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world.I’ve never seen anywhere so beautiful.
CHAPTER ONE
CATE
CALAIS, FRANCE, MAY1940
Cate stared at the scene around her, wishing her head would stop pounding. She’d never heard a noise like it; German planes were roaring in the distance now, but when they’d flown over less than a minute earlier, the sound had been deafening.
There were men everywhere; some were running with their rifles raised, some were sitting on the ground rocking as if in disbelief, and then there were the dead, littered like rubbish, strewn here and there. But it was the rumble of approaching tanks that scared the life out of her; who knew what would happen if they were still there when the Germans arrived en masse?
“Let’s go!” The command was loud and Cate leapt into action, searching for Lilly and finding her within seconds. Her friend’s blonde hair had escaped from its pins and was wisping around her in the wind, and her eyes caught Cate’s. Months earlier, Cate would have received a wide smile the moment their eyes locked, but now Lilly’s face was drawn, no doubt a reflection of the way Cate looked, too.
“We’re to go on foot for part of the way,” Lilly said when she caught up with her.
