CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ROSE
Her back hurt, her feet were aching and Rose wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and sleep. It had already been a long night, creeping towards the water, taking the long journey under the moonlight to get Samuel to safety, and every bone in her body was screaming at her to give up. But giving up wasn’t in her vocabulary any more, not now that she’d become part of the Resistance. She was too proud to back down from her word, and too stubborn to stop doing something that she’d set her mind to. Besides, she was certain Peter was up there somewhere, looking down on her and smiling to himself about his courageous, capable wife. It was an idea that always made her smile, and gave her the strength to keep going every time she’d longed to walk away and find somewhere to hide until the war was over. She wasn’t sure if he’d be furious or heartened that she’d stepped up to support the Resistance, but he would definitely be proud.
‘Is Samuel dead?’
She turned at the sound of Hazel’s voice. ‘I don’t know.’ It was the only honest reply she could give. ‘We got him there. Somehow we managed to weave our way to the beach undetected, and the rowboat was waiting. But then there were shots fired. We didn’t know from where or how, but it was chaos,’ Rose said. It felt like days ago, not mere hours. ‘He could have been shot in the boat for all we know, or they could have rowed their hearts out and made it. I’m hoping and praying they did, but we’ll never know.’
Rose was trying to stick to what had happened and speak matter-of-factly, but the truth was, she was heartbroken. She’d been so fond of Samuel, as she was of all the men she’d helped to save, but it wasn’t his possible death that was causing her such pain. She was pleased for the cover of dark, preferring to be bathed in blackness so the others couldn’t see the tears in her eyes. After she’d lost Peter and then her baby, she’d sworn she wouldn’t ever shed another tear, but perhaps she wasn’t as cold-hearted and closed now as she’d thought she was.
‘Josephine was the woman who recruited me,’ she managed to tell Hazel, the words hard to get out. ‘She cared for me when I was shot and showed me what to do with the men I’d saved. She was there tonight, taking her own delivery, and I saw them grab her. They dragged her across the ground as she kicked and screamed, and for a moment our eyes met.’ Rose wished they had something strong to drink with them, anything to help dull the pain inside her as she relived what had happened. ‘I thought they were going to see, that they’d follow her gaze and see me hidden, but in that moment she looked away and started to scream and struggle. We took our chance to run, and within minutes we’d heard the single gunshot.’ Rose shuddered, hot bile rising in her throat that she was forced to swallow back down. ‘She was dead.’
‘Is that why you wanted us to leave?’ Hazel asked. ‘Because you thought they’d followed you?’
Rose felt like all the energy had drained from her body after reliving Josephine’s demise, and she was grateful when Sophia spoke up for her.
‘No, but it’s true they could have found us from that alone. There are more people now too scared to defy them, more who’d give us up than ever before. It’s impossible with the Germans everywhere.’
Rose listened to Sophia, wishing things could have been different. There was so much she still hadn’t told Hazel, secrets that were between her and Sophia alone. But with Josephine gone, that was going to have to change. They needed Hazel to be fully part of their little team, and there wasn’t time for her to prove herself worthy – Sophia had no choice other than to fully accept her.
‘If they’d captured and tortured her, she would never have given us up,’ Rose told them, needing to be the voice for her friend who’d been taken. She shifted her weight, the ground rough beneath her. ‘They could have done anything to her, anything, and she would have remained silent until the end.’
‘Unlike your contacts,’ Sophia said, words clearly meant for Hazel. ‘They’re why we had to leave like that. We had word they’d given us up, and the Germans showing up at our rendezvous like that was evidence it was good intel.’
‘They what?’ Hazel’s voice sounded shaky. ‘Who gave us up? Someone from Sebastian’s cell?’
Rose nodded. ‘Yes, the couple who were supposed to be meeting you. But we haven’t heard from Sebastian directly yet. I’m hoping he’s safe.’
‘They gave us up, all of us,’ Sophia said, glaring at Hazel.
‘It’s not her fault,’ Rose said. ‘Stop looking at her like that.’
‘If they hadn’t been on their way to meet her, they would never have been intercepted in the first place!’ Sophia snapped.
‘They might have been her contacts, but they were assigned to her by her superiors in London. What they did or didn’t do has nothing to do with her,’ Rose said angrily, not liking how hostile Sophia had sounded. She was one of the people in the world she was closest to now, but it didn’t mean she approved of how blunt she could be sometimes. Sophia had been through a lot, and it often showed in her demeanour.
‘Sorry if I’m a little annoyed at having to leave our bolt hole!’ Sophia fumed.
‘Enough,’ Rose said quietly, her voice firm. ‘There’s enough going on without any of us being at odds.’
Sophia was silent. The only noise was the sound of Harry’s still-heavy breathing.
‘Of course, sorry,’ Sophia said, surprising Rose by how quickly she apologised. ‘It’s not your fault, Hazel. They were members of our circuit, and they should have done anything to protect our identity and location.’
‘So it’s me they’re after? Is that what you’re worried about?’ Hazel asked. ‘Or is it just that you don’t want me here for some reason? Is it because you want me to prove myself, or is it something else?’
‘Hazel, they’re after all of us,’ Rose said. ‘Honestly, they will take anyone they can from our underground network, because we’ve been causing such chaos for them. Last week others took out a major supply truck, and we’ve been couriering things right under their noses. The entire region has been destabilised because of the Resistance. What we’re doing, it’s working, and they hate each and every one of us.’
She had to smile as she thought about how successful they’d been recently. They might be out in the open with nowhere to shelter tonight, but it meant that what they’d been fighting for had worked, and that was something to be proud of.
‘Tell her,’ Sophia said, her voice softer now. ‘It’s me who’s at fault. I don’t trust easily, and you’ve already proven yourself if you’ve managed to come this far.’
Rose paused. ‘We’ve been earmarked for assisting to cause disruption with trains and tankers. It’s why we so badly needed a new operator in the area.’
‘And these contacts, they might have given that information away?’ Hazel asked.
‘I doubt they knew enough to give much away, but they knew enough to compromise us personally.’ Rose shrugged, even though the others could barely see her in the dark. ‘Look, our cover was blown by people we should have been able to trust, but do any of us truly know our breaking point? We don’t know how long we’d suffer to save another until we’re in that situation.’
‘I would never give anyone up,’ Sophia said defiantly.
Rose shook her head. ‘Maybe their families were threatened? If there was a gun to the head of your child or mother or brother, who are we to say we wouldn’t say a word and expose the movement?’
There was no one they could threaten her with personally, but if her darling little child had lived? Would she have let that child be murdered to save the Resistance? She swallowed, repeatedly, always feeling the urge to vomit whenever she thought about that long, painful night with Sophia slumped beside her.
In a way, she felt she had given up her child for the cause, because she wouldn’t have pushed herself the way she had if she hadn’t been part of the movement. But blaming wasn’t helpful, and it wasn’t something she often let herself dwell on.
‘I’d heard about women like you,’ Harry suddenly said, his deep, low whisper of a voice helping to clear her head of the dark thoughts. ‘We were all hearing whispers of the women, and men, who were sent here to slip undercover, report back to London and stop at nothing to succeed in their missions.’
The others stayed silent. It was Rose who eventually replied. ‘So you speak French?’ she asked, surprised.
He grunted. ‘School French. Enough to have understood parts of what you were saying.’
Rose paused, wishing she could see Sophia’s face. She knew she’d be angry that Harry was with them. Sophia had earned her reputation for being focused and overly determined, and she’d be even more furious now that he’d listened to their conversation.
‘It’s true. All the whispers, everything you’ve heard, almost all of it will be the truth.’
‘Thank you for taking me with you,’ he said. ‘Once I’m strong again, I’ll do anything for you, anything at all you need help with.’ His French was slow, a little rusty, but she understood him. ‘I will protect you all with my life if I need to.’
‘Thank you, Harry. We’ll be able to get you out if we get to the chateau we’re heading for,’ she told him, surprised by his words. ‘Sophia’s been there before, but we need to make sure it hasn’t been compromised before we go charging in there.’
‘Do any of you have husbands?’ Harry asked, whispering in English now. ‘They must be damn proud. I know’ – he sucked in a breath, and Rose knew he must have been in pain – ‘I would be,’ he finished.
‘My husband was killed,’ Rose said quickly, not wanting to tell too much of her story. It was in the past and that’s where she liked to keep it. ‘I’d like to think that I’m making him proud.’ There was so much more to it than that. Her heart ached for him every night, every part of her wishing he was still with her. She could hear his voice, the whisper of his words when all was silent, the warmth of his gaze. Her love for him hadn’t wavered, and maybe it wouldn’t be until all of this had stopped, until she was back in their home without him again, that the reality of her loss would sink in.
‘Are you all widows then?’ Harry whispered.
‘I’m engaged,’ Hazel said. ‘But I may as well be a widow. I haven’t seen him for such a long time, and I have this feeling that he won’t make it home.’
There was a long stretch of silence before Sophia spoke. Rose knew she wouldn’t be so open with her story; Hazel would have to wait to hear that, and she doubted Harry would ever hear it. Both of them had slowly shared fragments of their past, then more, until eventually they’d bared their souls, but Rose had known she was telling her story in confidence, and Sophia no doubt had felt the same. It was like an unwritten rule between them that they wouldn’t betray the others’ trust any more than they would give the other up under torture.
‘No more English,’ Sophia muttered to Harry. ‘We’re already close enough to being caught as it is.’
The wind had lifted, whistling through the trees, making the leaves crinkle and the night seem almost eerie as Sophia’s low voice echoed between them. No one else said a word.
Rose thought of Josephine as they sat. She leaned her head back against the rough bark of the tree and shut her eyes, seeing her friend’s smiling face, only to be replaced by a look of anguish, the fear and then determination in her final gaze. With Josephine gone, she supposed she had to take over as the circuit leader, only they were moving on and their wider circuit had been effectively torn apart. But they had the three of them, and they would either join a larger group or re-establish themselves elsewhere. She as circuit leader, to organise and recruit; Sophia doing what she did best and acting as their courier between circuits and gathering intelligence; and the newly arrived Hazel as their dedicated operator. They would make a fine team if they ever had the chance to find safety and actually work together.
‘So where are we going?’ Hazel asked.
Rose cleared her throat, emotion making it catch. ‘The chateau. It’s a safe house, or at least it was last time we heard. We can go there, regroup and link our circuit with theirs for the time being until we can establish ourselves elsewhere. We’ll get you to make contact with London as soon as we get there.’
‘Of course,’ Hazel replied.
The others were silent and Rose thought of checking Harry, making sure he was actually doing as well as he was making out, but fatigue took hold and she found it almost impossible to lift her head. She needed to rest. They all did. If they were surrounded, then there was nothing they could do other than try to fight their way out, but if they were rested and careful when they set off again, they’d at least have a chance of making it to the chateau alive.
She settled back, shut her eyes and thought of Peter. She smiled as in her mind he turned, opening his arms wide as he always did when he saw her. Her lips parted in anticipation of his kiss, waiting for the moment that his warm mouth would cover hers. She sighed into him, her body melting into his embrace. When she looked up into his eyes, she felt at home, the way she had from the moment they’d met.
Rose felt silent tears slide down her cheeks, and she poked her tongue out to catch them. She swallowed their saltiness, refused to make a noise as she silently pulled herself together. Memories were dangerous, and tears were even more deadly, which was why she rarely let her guard down enough to shed them. Come morning, she wouldn’t grieve for Josephine again until this blasted war was over once and for all.
A cracking sound stirred Rose from slumber and her hand shot instantly to her knife. She opened her eyes, kept her breathing steady as she blinked and looked around them. There was nothing, no one but the three people she’d travelled with, none of whom had moved from where they’d fallen asleep. Hazel was the first to meet her gaze, and she, too, seemed to have her ears pricked as she looked around them. It could have been an animal or even something shifting in the wind, but then again it could just as easily be a German moving quietly through the surrounding terrain.
Rose leaned forward, quietly nudging Sophia awake. She glanced across and saw Hazel on her knees, lightly shaking Harry, her hand slipping across his mouth when his eyes opened.
There was something reassuring about being with her old friend, even if everything had changed between them. She trusted her in a way she trusted few people now, and knowing how highly trained Hazel was made her even more confident in the other woman’s abilities.
‘We need to go,’ she whispered to Sophia.
They both stood and Rose strained her eyes. They’d woken in time, but she knew Sophia would be furious that they’d all given in to slumber.
Staying on high alert, Rose moved to help Harry to his feet. Hazel was on one side and she on the other, and she could make out blood through his bandages from where it had seeped through during the night. They would have to tend to him later, though. There was no time now.
‘Let’s move, and I want everyone aware of their surroundings,’ Rose told them. ‘It’s even more dangerous now than it was last night, and we can’t have anyone see us approach the chateau.’
‘Do you want me to try to radio first?’ Hazel asked.
Sophia shook her head. ‘No. I don’t feel right about something. I’d rather wait until we’re there.’
The other circuit should be well enough equipped to have lookouts. The chateau was legendary, gifted to the Resistance to use by a singer who was an ardent secret supporter. It had housed a great many Resistance members, local maquis who had banded together and put so much of their intelligence to good use. It was they who were responsible for blowing up railway lines and trucks, not to mention getting arms where they needed to be.
They started to walk, quietly at first, settling into a slow but steady pace. Harry was at the rear and she wondered if he’d be the one to get taken out, since he was slower and less agile with his terrible broom-crutch.
‘How far is it?’ Hazel asked, speaking quietly, only just loud enough to be heard.
‘I think we’ll be there in a few hours. Sophia?’ Rose asked.
Sophia turned, rubbing at her eyes, no doubt as weary as Rose felt.
‘I think we’ll be three hours at least,’ Sophia replied. ‘Then we need to keep an eye on the place for at least an hour, see if there are any comings and goings. It might even take longer to ascertain whether it’s safe there.’
Sophia had been there only a few weeks earlier, so if it had been compromised since then? Rose shuddered. It would be doubtful that any of them would survive.
‘We’ll rest again when we get close, and Sophia and I can take turns watching the house,’ Rose instructed, still cautious as she walked, eyes still darting side to side with every step. It was an exhausting way to move, but it was the only way to stay alive if there were eyes on them. ‘Until then, stay alert and keep moving.’
‘What about our legends?’ Hazel asked. ‘Do we switch or stay with being university students?’
Rose glanced at Sophia and then wished she hadn’t. She was in charge now, and she needed to get used to making decisions instead of waiting for orders to be given to her.
‘We stick with our original cover,’ she said firmly. ‘We’re students and this is our friend who’s been in an accident. Although why three students would be traipsing around out here, I don’t know.’
‘We may need to switch covers when we take up residence at the chateau,’ Sophia said. ‘We’ll need to change the way we work when we join up with them. They base the maquis there, the local section anyhow, and it’s not somewhere we’ll stay for too long.’
Rose nodded. ‘We will all do whatever we need to, whatever they need us to do to keep things moving. We’re already making a difference in this war, and we need to create more chaos, more discontent here in France to let the Allies take back control.’