Free Harvest of War by Hilary Green

back there.’
    â€˜My baby?’ Leo whispered. ‘I want to see my baby.’
    â€˜Don’t worry about her. She’s being looked after.’
    â€˜Her?’
    â€˜You had a little girl. Not so little, either. That’s why you had so much trouble producing her. Now, I bet you’re thirsty. Here . . .’ She held Leo’s head while she drank, then went on: ‘Now, I’ll go get a mop to clear this mess up. You just lie back and rest.’
    Shortly afterwards Leseaux came in. He took Leo’s pulse and felt her forehead. ‘You have a slight fever, but that’s not surprising. You need to rest.’
    â€˜When can I see my baby?’ Leo begged.
    He sat beside her. ‘Leo, when your child was born you were in no condition to look after her. And we had no means of feeding her. But by chance a woman in the village had just given birth to a stillborn child. It was by the grace of
le Bon Dieu, ma chère.
She agreed to take the child.’
    â€˜You gave my baby away!’
    â€˜No, no! We explained that you would return as soon as you were strong enough, to collect her. And I left something with her, something that will prove in the future who she is, in case there should ever be a question.’
    â€˜What? What did you leave?’
    â€˜I left the locket you have always worn round your neck. You told me once that it was given to you by Sasha. I looked inside and saw that it is inscribed with his family motto. I hope you will forgive me. I know it meant a lot to you, but I thought, under the circumstances . . . She is a good woman, Leo. She has three children of her own already; all strong and healthy. She will take good care of your little Alexandra until you come for her.’
    â€˜Alexandra?’
    â€˜You told me once that you wanted your child to be named after its father.’
    The mention of Sasha sent a stab like a physical wound through Leo. She turned her face into the pillow. ‘He’s dead! Sasha’s dead and you have given his child away to strangers!’
    She was dimly aware of his repeated assurances that she could fetch the child as soon as she was strong enough, but her sobs drowned out his voice. There was movement around her, then the sharp stab of a hypodermic needle and silence.
    When she woke again it was dark and the fog of pain and exhaustion was beginning to lift. The same two thoughts crystallized in her brain: Sasha was dead and his child – their child – had been abandoned to the care of strangers. What was worse, to strangers who lived in a village that was at the centre of a battle. As she brooded on that, a new thought came to her. It was all her own fault! Sasha had been right to be angry with her. She had left Salonika in the full knowledge that she was pregnant. Leseaux had tried to persuade her to return but she had refused. Then she had insisted on going with him to find Sasha, although she had known her time was near. It was her own obstinacy, her own stupid determination to have things her own way, that had resulted in the loss of her baby. Arrogant – that was how her grandmother had described her, all those years ago. And she had been right!
    Leo dragged herself into a sitting position, suppressing a cry as pain stabbed upwards from her vagina. The first faint light of dawn was visible through the window. She swung her legs carefully over the edge of the bed and dragged herself upright. For a moment she swayed, then regained her balance and staggered over to a cupboard in the corner. Relief surged through her as she discovered that her clothes were in it, as she had hoped. Even the thick woollen scarf she had wrapped round her throat before she left, and the evil-smelling sheepskin coat were there. She began to pull them on. Her baby had been left with strangers because of her stupidity. Well, it was up to her to put that right.
    It took her some time to dress. From time to time she had to sit down