‘We haven’t received any news of Captain Mitchell,’ Vera Halliday said. ‘Because of the German wireless detecting equipment, the telegraphy operators are only sending urgent messages. They arrive at all hours of the day and night, so the Germans can’t track them. Some operators have abandoned their equipment and moved away. Sadly some have been caught.’ She spread her fingers on the top of the desk, a sorrowful expression on her face.
‘I understand,’ Claire said. ‘He’s alive, that’s all that matters.’ That she intended to find him as soon as she was able, she didn’t share with Vera Halliday. After a couple of minutes Claire went up to the office of the psychiatrist for what she hoped would be her last assessment. The session went well, she thought. She didn’t like the man, which he picked up on, turning her lack of “connection” with him into concern about her general happiness. Claire assured him that she was, and had always been, a happy and optimistic person, but there was a war on in which she should be doing her job. The only worry she had was whether he was going to sign her off as fit enough to do that job. The psychiatrist said he was reluctant, because in his opinion she had anger issues. Claire wanted to slap him and tell him he was talking rubbish. Instead she thanked him and asked him to consider recommending her return to France. With clenched fists, she left his office to keep her appointment with Colonel Smith.
The colonel was on the telephone when she entered, so Claire stood just inside the door and waited. Finally he put the telephone down and motioned to her to come over. ‘That was the doctor,’ he said. ‘You are officially signed fit for duty and will be going back to France during the next full moon cycle – or the one after, depending on the weather.’
‘We’re in the middle of a full moon cycle now, sir,’ Claire said. ‘I thought you had brought me back to London to fly out this month. The sooner I start training the new Maquis groups in Paris--’
‘Miss Mountjoy has replaced you on that.’
Claire felt panic beating in her chest. The Allies hadn’t liberated Paris yet. There was fighting in the streets. Hitler had given a general called von Choltitz power of life and death over anyone who lived in the city. That, coupled with the Resistance cells becoming more active and therefore their work becoming more dangerous, meant Paris was a hazardous place to be. ‘It’s a dangerous assignment, sir. It’s one that needs an experienced agent and Miss Mountjoy isn’t experienced.’
‘You didn’t have experience once, Miss Dudley.’
‘No, sir.’ Claire gritted her teeth. ‘Excuse me for asking, but wasn’t Miss Mountjoy assigned to go back to France next month?’
‘She was, but Paris became urgent, and as you weren’t here--’
‘I was a train journey away, sir.’
‘Well it’s done now! Miss Mountjoy was happy to go to Paris. She said you had a closer relationship with the Resistance group at Gisoir--’
‘Gisoir?’
‘Yes, Gisoir. But it’s academic in any event. Miss Mountjoy flew out last night.’
Claire was still angry when she got home. She wasn’t angry with Eddie for taking her drop. She understood why she’d done it and, however foolish, she would have done the same if the situation had been reversed. She was angry with the colonel for letting Eddie persuade him to send her to Paris.
Arriving home, she picked up two unstamped pieces of post that had been pushed under the door. One was a badly printed leaflet reminding residents that they must use the shelter in the basement when there was an air raid and the other, when Claire pulled it out of the envelope, was a letter from Eddie. She took off her coat, went into the sitting room and read Eddie’s letter.
Dearest D,
By now you’ll know I am in F. Don’t be angry with me for taking your place. I didn’t actually ask for P, although if my plan hadn’t worked I would have. No, I suggested to Miss H that if the handsome C was able to travel, it would be to G that he went – and she did the rest. She’s a love, isn’t she? I shall try to get up to G to see A and the B clan. Be a hoot if I can get there when you’re there. I shall do my best, but if I don’t see you in G, I’ll see you back here when the game is won.
Until then, chin up, my friend. You’ll soon be with A.
Look after yourself.
Love, E. x
P.S. Almost forgot. I sweet-talked Mr S to let me into your place. There’s a bottle of brandy in the cupboard. Cheers!
Claire missed Aimée so much she thought her heart would break. She missed Eddie too, as much as she would have done any of her sisters. In October she counted the days around the full moon and listened to the BBC’s nightly news broadcasts, which were becoming more and more disheartening.
‘Although there have been many airborne successes,’ the news reader said, ‘the Allied advance to the German frontier is not sustainable and the Germans are regrouping. With winter approaching,’ he concluded, ‘it appears the Allied campaign is slowing down.’
Claire switched off the wireless, put out the light and went to bed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The thrust as she was swept up took Claire by surprise, and she felt breathless until she dropped. Looking up, she watched the dome of the parachute open and bloom into the familiar mushroom.
