Severed Branch

Upon hearing her words, 'the Somme', Gordon looked at her with wide eyes. He realized that he had just begun to solve a piece of his personal puzzle.
"Anna, can I ask you to translate something that might be French, or might be nonsense? Just humor me."
"What do you want me to translate?"
"OK, if I say to you, Ill reposing sir le Somme, does it have any meaning?"
After listening to his short phrase she replied, "Hmmm, yes. Your American accent aside, I think you are saying 'they rest on the Somme', in French."
Later, as the train moved south, Gordon asked, "Anna, if your parents don't mind, I'd like to make a few more visits. I feel there is something in those fields back there, something hidden for me to find."
"That's a strange thing to say, Gordon. Something hidden? Like what?"
"I don't know. But something.special."