The two men remained on their feet, smiling awkwardly at each other, while Sonia cleared Jan’s sandwich from the table and went into the kitchen to put the kettle on to boil.
Jan Sieczko was darker in complexion than his sister. He had a mop of reddish-brown hair, a matching neat moustache, deep-set eyes and a broad, engaging smile. Merlin noticed a vivid red mark on his right hand as Jan reached out to offer him a cigarette. As Merlin declined, Jan looked down at his hand. “It’s nothing. I had an accident working on the plane. I’d like to say that it was a war wound, but it’s not. They’ve not allowed us to do anything yet.”
The two men sat down opposite each other and Jan Sieczko took a long draw on his cigarette. “And so, Frank, what have you and my beautiful little sister been up to today?”
“We had a day at the seaside. Brighton. Ever been?”
Jan shook his head. “No. Unless you count flying over it as being there. Well. A lovely day for the seaside.”
“Yes. And you? Have you had a pleasant day?”
Jan stretched out languidly on the sofa and blew a smoke ring. “Very good, Frank. I have a couple of days’ leave and I came up to town from Northolt at lunchtime with a friend. We had drinks at a pub near here then we went for a long walk. Today was my first chance to have tourist look at London, so we did sights, you know, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and so on. We had a nice meal at a place my friend knows. Then my friend, Ziggy, went off to meet someone and I came here for a little nap. That was my day, Frank, perhaps not so nice as yours, but not so bad, eh?”
Sonia came from the kitchen carrying a tray with a pot of tea, cups and saucers and biscuits and sat down happily next to her brother. “He’s a good-looking man, my brother, Frank. Don’t you think?”
Now that they were sitting next to each other, Merlin could see the resemblance more clearly. He noticed that Jan had a few of Sonia’s freckles and their smiling mouths were almost a perfect match. Merlin knew from Sonia that Jan Sieczko was a pilot in the Kosciuszko Squadron of the Royal Air Force. Sonia had left Poland before the war began, but Jan had stayed and had fought valiantly with his comrades in the Polish Air Force as Hitler’s forces overran his country. When all was lost he had made his way to Romania and then, by a circuitous route through the Balkans, to Britain. Scores of Polish airmen had made a similar journey. In the summer, after some misgivings, the powers that be had gradually realised how valuable these battle-hardened pilots could be to Britain’s own war effort. At the beginning of August, just in time for the start of what soon became known as the Battle of Britain, the officers of the new RAF Squadron 303, a squadron made up almost entirely of Poles, arrived for the first time at their base in Northolt on the western edges of London. Merlin felt he should make some comment about the courage of Jan and his comrades, but could not phrase the appropriate words.
“So, Jan. You’re staying until tomorrow night?”
Jan stubbed out his cigarette in an ashtray and put his arms around Sonia. “Yes, my lovely sister. I have to report back at seven o’clock tomorrow night. I have almost another full day of freedom. What shall we do?”
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to do much, Jan. I have to go to work tomorrow.”
Jan made a face and groaned. He said something in Polish, which Merlin took to be a request for her to take the day off. Sonia shook her head.
“Ah, poor me. Well, I’ll have to make my own entertainment then. I asked Ziggy to come round. Perhaps he will be up for some fun and games.” He shrugged at Merlin then looked back at his sister. “I think perhaps I am being the, how do you say it, the gooseberry here. I think I will go to bed. Please excuse me.”