Page 58 of Hearts of Resistance
Before the war, a friend confessing a story like that, opening her heart in such a way, would have made Hazel hug and comfort her. But this was different. This was war, and they all had their own reasons for doing what they’d chosen to do. Sophia didn’t want pity or comfort; she clearly wanted revenge, and to see civility restored in the country she’d grown up in. No amount of comforting was going to give her those things, and Hazel certainly wasn’t going to try to soothe her with words.
‘We need to sit and wait now,’ Sophia said, pulling out a piece of paper and using a tiny torch to see properly. ‘I’m certain the coordinates are correct. Let me look again.’
It wouldn’t take long for darkness to completely engulf them, and Hazel let Sophia check while she took out a piece of bread for them to share. Her stomach was starting to get used to much smaller amounts of food, but since they’d arrived at the chateau the hunger pains had become worse. There wasn’t a lot to go around.
‘Did you see those chickens out the back?’ Hazel asked Sophia once she’d finished and was folding the paper into her skirt.
‘I certainly did.’ Her smile told Hazel she’d probably had the exact same thoughts. ‘Once the others leave, those chickens will be in the pot.’
Hazel grinned back at Sophia, and Rose looked at them as if she was wondering what on earth they’d been whispering about. But as they found the exact position, they stopped talking, the reality of where they were and what they were doing setting in. All of the men had slowly arrived, too. The women had heard the rumble of engines as they’d made their way closer, but they were hidden out of view and no one from the convoy had dared to come near them. It wasn’t worth it. Some of the men would lug any loose arms out on their backs, as many as they could carry, but there would be boxes as well and those needed proper transportation.
‘It’ll be here soon,’ Sophia whispered.
They were sitting close, shoulder to shoulder, and when eventually they heard the rumble of a plane approaching after hours of lying in wait, and Sophia checked the time and the coordinates yet again, they knew it was time to act.
Hazel dusted herself off, gripping her torches with one hand. They positioned themselves, Rose standing near to her and Sophia slightly further away, as a shudder went through Hazel’s body, her ears straining, eyes wide and heart pounding. What if it was a trap? What if they were about to be gunned down by an enemy plane?
She waited until the right moment, then held up her lights, waving one in each hand. Then as the rumble intensified, the plane coming closer to the large area of grass where they were waiting, she flashed the lights like she’d been taught, indicating where the drop-off was.
Wind gushed towards her, made her lose her breath as she held her torches so tightly she was certain her knuckles would be white. These were the arms they needed to keep fighting, and she’d managed to do her part to make the night a success.
The boxes, attached to parachutes, drifted to the ground. It was surreal – these packages containing goods to kill men and blow up trains, fluttering down to earth like flowers. Hazel felt the ridiculous urge to laugh even though she was shaking in her boots. And then the thump of boots behind her made her laugh suffocate in her throat. When she spun around, she saw they were their men, but for a moment she’d half expected to feel the butt of a rifle to her head and the hard-packed ground coming up to meet her face.
‘Good work.’
She turned to see Mathieu standing behind her. Hazel nodded but kept watching, overseeing what was happening, still anxious about being caught.
‘You three will be in charge of blowing up the Paris-to-Brest railway bridge,’ he said, so calmly it was as if he’d just informed them they were on kitchen duty and would be in charge of cooking the evening roast. ‘I have men set to cause mayhem all through the area, but you’ll have the best chance of making it there, and a better chance of talking your way out of trouble if you encounter it.’
Hazel gulped. ‘Of course.’
Sophia’s hand touched her back then, and she was pleased her friend was standing so close.
‘We won’t let you down,’ Sophia said.
‘Do we leave in the morning?’ Rose asked, sounding slightly out of breath.
‘Tomorrow midday, you’ll need to be on the move. I’ll be leaving at daybreak, and some of the others by mid-morning.’
Hazel’s heart was galloping as if it were in a race. It seemed her work for the Resistance had finally truly begun.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ROSE
Ever since Rose had started to work with the Resistance, she’d felt a strange sense of calm. Perhaps it was the fact she was filled with purpose, or that she had nothing to lose, but she felt oddly in control and capable in her role. Even now, as they walked endlessly towards their target, she wasn’t so much nervous as filled with anticipation. Finding out they were charged with blowing up a railway line bridge had been a surprise for her; it wasn’t the type of work she’d done before, but her friends were highly trained and she was more than confident in their abilities.
‘I’m sure if we were stopped by Germans, we’d easily talk them around,’ Hazel said. ‘Three pretty young students taking a walk in the woods? They’d be putty in our hands.’
Rose laughed and noticed Sophia roll her eyes, but she also saw her smile, which told her that Sophia was definitely defrosting where Hazel was concerned. She was glad, because they were both important to her, and it made it much easier if they all got along.
‘How much further?’ Rose asked.
‘We’ll walk for another half hour, maybe an hour,’ Sophia said. ‘Then we need to lie low until we have the cover of darkness.’
The sky was clear and Rose was grateful; it would make the moonlight easier to see by later in the evening, which would make working simpler, but the downside was they could be seen if they weren’t careful.
‘It’s going to be a busy few days,’ Hazel said, and Rose glanced back at her. She was hefting her radio around in a satchel, since they’d all decided the suitcase she’d been issued with originally looked out of place and too obvious. Although Rose had offered to take it for a while since it must have been so heavy, Hazel had declined. It seemed that she liked to keep it close. ‘The lorries of ammunition will be blown up shortly, and the petrol supply should be next.’
