Page 61 of Summer of Fire
‘We haven’t figured out all the details yet. But we will. Let’s all get some sleep whilst we can, and then we’ll make plans tomorrow.’
Camille showed Lizzie into the secret room with the bed she’d shared with Jack before they argued.
She tried to block the vision of Jack and Hannah from her mind. But she awoke after dreaming of a girl with golden hair and piercing blue eyes running into his arms. She tossed and turned in the big empty bed until she drifted into an exhausted slumber.
CHAPTER 30
They were gathered around the kitchen table after a simple breakfast. One of the network had delivered a note earlier from a member of the Resistance saying she was out of action with a broken leg.
‘I’ll do it,’ Lizzie said.
‘You’ll do what? You don’t even know what she was supposed to do!’ Pierre said.
‘I’ll take her place, whatever it is.’
Pierre shook his head. ‘No, I can’t let you do that. It’s far too dangerous.’
‘But the other woman was going to do it, so why not me?’
‘She has lived in Reims her whole life. It’s much less of a risk for her than for you. One wrong word and the Nazis will be onto you. Then it’ll be over for all of us, and we’ll lose our shot at blowing up the bomber aircraft at the airfield.’
Lizzie wondered if she would ever reach the point where she could stop having to prove herself for each new challenge. She took a sip of the now cold coffee. ‘I can do it, Pierre. I spent a lot of time in St. Malo as a child with my cousins. It’s not so different here.’
Pierre’s forehead creased, and he ran his hand through his greying hair. ‘I don’t know. Jack won’t like it.’
‘Well, Jack isn’t here,’ she said, her voice colder than she intended.
‘No, but he will be soon. He wants to take this airfield out of action. Our aim is to cause chaos throughout the region. Reims has become one of the airfields the Luftwaffe flies from every day.’
‘Let’s say for now that Jack agrees when he gets here. What would I have to do?’
Pierre released a heavy sigh. ‘I see you are not easily talked out of something when you set your mind on it.’
‘Someone needs to do it. Who else will do it if not me?’
Pierre shook his head and looked at Camille, seeking support. She raised her shoulders and lifted her hands in the classic French shrug. ‘I’m too old,’ she said. ‘Not that I’d have the courage to do it, anyway. You must have nerves of steel, Lizzie.’
‘Alright, well, there’s no harm in talking it through, I suppose. But the last word rests with Jack. He’s in charge of the operation,’ said Pierre.
‘But you’re in charge of the network,’ said Lizzie, tilting her head to one side and throwing him a challenging look.
Pierre laughed. ‘You’re unstoppable. That’s what we need though, isn’t it? People whose courage outweighs their fear, no matter how scared they are. Otherwise, we’ll never get anything worthwhile done.’
Camille touched Pierre’s rough hand that revealed a life of farming in all weathers. ‘Why don’t we prepare her in case Jack agrees? Lizzie is right—who else is going to do it?’
‘That’s settled then,’ said Lizzie. ‘Tell me what you came up with so far.’
Pierre filled Lizzie in on all that he and Jack had discovered about the airfield. ‘There are guards, of course. Jack sayswe need someone on the inside to observe their daily patterns and make sure we’re not missing anything.’
‘And that’s where I would come in?’ Lizzie said.
‘The plan is for us to supply a temporary secretary to fill a place that’s come up in the office. One of our contacts let us know they need cover for a few days. That way you would learn the workings of the place and we’d plan our operation accordingly.’
‘Makes sense. Do you know whose secretary I would be?’
Pierre coughed and looked uncomfortable. ‘That’s just it. The job is personal secretary to a German general. He’s recently moved his office to the airfield. We think it must be to keep an eye on operations until the base is more established. But his work requires a French secretary for administrative coordination with the local offices.’
Lizzie stared at Pierre. ‘I’d be working closely with a high-ranking Nazi?’
