Page 56 of Hearts of Resistance
She looked at his leg, the way he was holding it, how uncomfortable he looked every time he tried to shift his weight, which was often.
‘It’s nothing. I mean, it’s something but it’s nothing I need to talk about,’ she mumbled. ‘I’m going to let you rest, see if some sleep might help your pain.’
‘I shouldn’t have walked on it at all and yet I managed miles on it,’ Harry said. ‘I’ll be fine, it’s just going to take a while, that’s all.’
‘Get some rest, Harry. I’ll come past and check on you again later.
‘Stay safe,’ he replied, his smile sweet as he met her gaze again.
She smiled and held up her hand, for a fleeting moment thinking of bending down and pressing a kiss to his cheek. But she didn’t. Instead Hazel forced herself to turn around and walk out the door, shutting it behind her.
She stood against it on the other side, listening to her own rapid breathing, feeling the up and down motion of her chest as it rose then fell. What was it about being in a room with Harry that made her feel less like the trained agent she was, made her go from the woman who was so capable she could barely believe it, to a young girl stupidly attracted to a man who wasn’t her fiancé? She balled her fists and pushed off from the door, heading off to find the others.
‘Hazel!’ She looked up when she heard her name called.
It was Sophia.
‘Everything good here?’ Hazel asked, walking quickly over to her.
‘Yes and no,’ Sophia said, breathless. ‘We need to act quickly. Can you message London?’
She nodded. ‘Of course.’
They walked together briskly, back towards the room she’d set up in. ‘What’s happened?’
‘We need to confirm the delivery of arms,’ she said. ‘Mathieu is very anxious because if we don’t receive it, then we’re as good as useless.’
Hazel hurried down the hall to the staircase.
‘Will we be involved in directing the delivery in?’ Hazel asked. ‘Or do you want me staying close to the radio?’
‘Fairly certain we will be, I think it’ll be all hands on deck,’ Sophia replied. ‘We need to keep you safe, though, especially since you’re SOE-trained. That makes you one of the most valuable operators in the region, and most of the trained people here are dispersing.’
‘They’ll be starting their disruptions soon?’ Hazel asked, pausing outside the room they were about to enter.
Sophia was frowning, her mind obviously on something else. ‘Yes. Mathieu said they have plans to disrupt a train line because there’s been intelligence about a shipment of enemy arms coming in. But they can’t see any way to take it over without losing too many men. Option number two is simply to blow it up.’ She sighed. ‘The only other skilled operator they had is working to send incorrect messages that the Germans can intercept, to try to keep them expecting attacks in the wrong areas.’
Hazel shuddered. She didn’t want to ask what had happened to all the other operators they must surely have had at other times.
‘What is the exact message I’m to send?’ she asked Sophia, taking a deep breath before picking up her earpiece and preparing to work at her radio.
‘We simply need to clarify the drop and the coordinates,’ Sophia said matter-of-factly. ‘And once that’s done, I’d say you and I are going to be standing in a field with torches, directing that plane.’
Rose touched Hazel’s hand and made her jump.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,’ Rose said, giving her an apologetic look. ‘Everything fine with you?’
Hazel nodded, glancing over at Sophia as they walked.
‘Is Sophia still giving you a hard time?’ Rose asked, her voice low as she leaned in closer. ‘I can say something to her if you’d like me to?’
Hazel shook her head. ‘No, Sophia’s fine. She’s been less hostile since we arrived here.’
‘Well, that’s a relief. She can be slow to thaw sometimes.’
Hazel laughed and she saw Sophia head towards them from the corner of her eye.
‘What’s so funny?’ she asked as she came closer.
