Page 20 of Summer of Fire
Jack agreed, and soon after, they were sipping piping hot coffee from enamel army mugs. The sergeant said he was going to make the final arrangements for the training exercise to begin and would return shortly.
‘Regular coffee seems to taste worse as time goes on,’ Lizzie said, grimacing.
Jack chuckled. ‘Yes, it’s bloody rough. Tea is probably the answer.’
Lizzie sensed he was humouring her with small talk to help her stay calm about the impending exercise.
The sergeant returned and held out a bundle of heavy-duty camouflage patterned fabric to Lizzie. ‘Here, put this on over your clothes. This is what you’ll need to wear tonight, so we’ll have a run through now.’
Lizzie stared at Jack, and a look of amusement lit up his face. ‘They call it a striptease suit,’ he said.
‘I can see why,’ she replied, fumbling with the zips, and stumbling into the suit. ‘This is quite something.’
Zips ran parallel along each side of the suit from neck to ankle.
The first exercise they did was Lizzie jumping from a static balloon, and Jack, who surprised her by demonstrating it himself, explained that she would be dropped at a low altitude from the aircraft. ‘The lower we can drop you, the better, to avoid radar detection.’
Lizzie practiced jumping over and over from a safe height and found it easy. She was lithe and fit from her years of daily swimming in the sea and cycling up steep hills in Jersey. She reflected that despite Jack’s initial grumpiness and aversion to her undertaking the mission, he was patient with her and proved to be an excellent teacher.
After they finished the balloon jumping, he turned his attention to her jumpsuit. ‘You can hide quite a few surprises in this ingenious garment.’ He pointed to a little spade attached to the leg of the suit. ‘What do you think this is for?’
‘Hmm, burying dead bodies?’
His lips twitched. ‘Let’s hope not, although you never know. This should be a simple assignment, but you must be prepared for the unexpected in enemy territory. Anything can happen.’
Lizzie’s heart raced as she listened to him and thought about what she had signed up for.
His voice was sombre, and he fixed her with a serious stare. ‘It’s for you to bury your parachute and jumpsuit after you land. The Gestapo will arrest you on the spot if they see you walking to the safe house wearing that!’
Then he showed her the different pouches and pockets and the various tools she could hide in them. Next, he showed her the protective jump helmet and how to attach it to the collarless neck of the suit.
The intense physical training consumed her and helped to ease the nerves she had been battling since they set the date for her flight to France.
‘Right, now, let’s progress to using the parachute.’ Jack fitted the harness carefully and showed her how it operated as he talked her through the process.
Lizzie watched his large hands move deftly around her as he worked.
‘Let’s have you do a higher jump wearing all the kit from the balloon and then we’ll be ready for the real practice round from the aircraft.’
Lizzie gulped and her heart flapped in her chest like a wild bird. She took a deep breath and then scarpered back up into the adjusted balloon, covered from head-to-toe and now bearing the additional weight of the parachute.
Jack counted and signalled. The wind rushed into her face as she jumped. She did exactly as he had instructed and for one terrifying second, she thought nothing was happening. Then the parachute opened, and she imagined she was an angel descending in slow motion from heaven before she bent her legs and hit the padding on the ground.
‘Very good. You’re doing well,’ Jack said. ‘Now do it again.’
Lizzie jumped a few more times until Jack was convinced she was ready for the next level. Then he checked her suit and parachute once more, and they boarded the aircraft that awaited them on the other side of the field.
Lizzie tried to stay calm, but all her senses were on fire as she waited for Jack’s signal.
‘You’ll be fine,’ he said, his voice calm, as though she jumped out of planes every day.
They had practiced how to exit, and now she plummeted through the air, praying her parachute would open. She understood what people meant when they said their lifeflashed before their eyes. Her mother’s face appeared in her mind, and she hoped she would live to see her again.
Then the parachute jerked and opened, and she glided down in slow motion and landed on the grass, bending her legs just as Jack had shown her.
She’d done it! Exhilaration flooded her veins and when the plane landed and Jack appeared, she was so excited she ran and threw her arms around his neck.
‘You’re a natural,’ he praised, swinging her around and then lowering her to her feet. Her heart thumped harder, but not because of the jump.
