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L izzie stirred and the memory of what they were about to do flooded her consciousness, making her senses race so she was instantly wide awake.

She reached out her hand to pat the sheet next to her, sensing she was alone in the big bed. ‘Where are you?’ she whispered into the dense darkness.

‘Morning, sleeping beauty,’ Jack said, crossing into the bedroom and standing over her. She could make out his silhouette in the dim light from the bathroom.

He leaned over Lizzie and kissed her. His skin was warm and damp, and his breath minty fresh.

‘It’s not morning, is it?’ she asked, hitching herself up in the bed.

‘It’s almost three. I was about to wake you. We must leave in the next ten minutes. All going to plan, Lev should be waiting for us.’

Lizzie jumped out of bed and pulled on the dress she’d laid out.

‘Wear your coat, too. There’ll be a chill in the air at this time of night,’ Jack said, his voice gravelly from lack of sleep.

‘We’re going on a dangerous operation, and you’re concerned I’ll catch a chill?’ Lizzie laughed softly, careful not to wake the slumbering inhabitants of the chateau.

‘You make a fair point, but I can’t stop taking care of you. It’s ingrained in me.’

‘Don’t stop,’ she said, reaching up on her bare feet to kiss him. ‘It’s quite the most romantic thing and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Doesn’t mean you’re not funny, though.’

‘Great. Just what I was going for. I’ve become a buffoon,’ he teased.

Sometimes, she couldn’t believe how blessed she was to have met Jack. What would she be doing now if Drake hadn’t spotted her for the SOE and insisted she meet with the recruiter? She’d probably still be translating dull documents at the War Office, bored out of her mind like Evie.

Instead, she was in the thrilling position to make a real difference to the outcome of the war.

Unlike when she went on her first undercover mission, oblivious to the knowledge she was the first woman to be dropped into occupied France by the SOE, now there were hundreds of agents embedded in occupied territories.

Some worked in key roles within the Nazi administration, passing intelligence to Baker Street, and orchestrating daily acts of defiance.

They were all doing their bit, and she was proud to have been involved since the start.

Every operation counted, no matter how small, and tonight would be their first act of violent sabotage against the joint Vichy and Nazi regimes. Val had instructed them it was time to increase resistance in the Free Zone and replicate the damage the networks were doing across occupied France.

As Lizzie finished getting ready, adrenaline washed away the remaining weariness that clawed at her after only sleeping for a few hours. They stood by the door, shoes in hand, ready to slip into the dark corridors and out into the night.

Outside, their path lit only by streams of moonlight, they cut through the orchard and the smell of ripening fruit tickled Lizzie’s nose as she brushed past scented trees.

Moving at a fast pace and panting slightly from the sudden exertion, she reached the outskirts of the chateau, closely on Jack’s heels.

‘Alright?’ he asked.

‘Yes, fine.’

‘Stay close. I scouted out this route yesterday. We can cut down the hillside to shorten the distance.’ He withdrew a small torch from his pocket and handed it to Lizzie.

‘Tread carefully, so you don’t stumble. There are sharp rocks and bushes along the way, so it’s easy to trip.

It’s only about a mile until we’ll join the road near the bottom. ’

Lizzie stepped with caution behind Jack, clutching her torch and gradually moving down the hill, side-stepping rocks and picking over gorse.

‘Ouch,’ she said.

Jack put his hand out to steady her. ‘Okay?’

‘Yes, I just caught my foot on a rock, that’s all. Let’s go on.’

The yellow moon was high in the sky, surrounded by a blanket of twinkling stars, and there was no sign of daylight. Lizzie shivered and wrapped her raincoat around her. She wore it with the dark side outwards so she would blend into the night.

A while later, Jack paused. ‘This is it.’

Jack went first and then turned and offered Lizzie his hand to help her through the small gap. They emerged close to the bottom of the country road they usually drove along on the way into the city.

All was quiet, except for the eerie screams of foxes in the distance, and an owl hooting in a nearby tree.

They set off at a fast pace, using only one torch to light the ground as they walked.

The less attention they drew to themselves, the better, because if they were spotted, there was no reasonable excuse for Michel and Isabelle Dubois to be trailing around the countryside at this hour.

Lizzie pushed that frightening thought firmly out of her mind.

There was no room for doubt on an operation, only a clear vision of what needed to be accomplished and how.

Before reaching the city, they turned off the road and hurried down a smaller hill and cut through several tracks. Lizzie didn’t know where they were exactly and was relieved, she didn’t have to do this alone.

‘How do you know the way?’ Lizzie asked, as she fought to keep up with Jack’s long strides.

‘Henry and I used to play around here a lot. We’d go off for the day on adventures, with only a sandwich and a flask of water in our knapsacks. My mother always encouraged us to be independent and thought it was a good way to pass our long summer holidays.’

‘Sounds like an idyllic childhood,’ Lizzie said.

‘Yes, it was. I’m not sure how it stacks up against your swimming in the bay of your island, but I can’t complain.

It was exciting. Sometimes we wouldn’t get back until dusk.

Mother would pretend she wasn’t concerned, but would be calling us and hovering in the courtyard.

I could see the relief in her eyes when we showed up, exhausted and ravenous just in time for dinner. Gosh, we slept well in those days.’

‘You’ll have to tell me more about the time you spent here. It sounds wonderful,’ Lizzie said.

‘It was. I’m sure Luc would be happy to tell you some stories. You should ask him after dinner one evening.’

Lizzie said she would. ‘Not on the day our Gestapo guest comes to dine!’

‘No, not on that day,’ Jack agreed.

No vehicles passed them on the road between the sleepy village and the entrance to the city, but they knew that would change as soon as the labourers and local tradespeople started their day.

‘Remember the plan. Whatever happens, we must be back at the chateau by dawn, or we’ll stand out like sore thumbs. We mustn’t be visible in daylight.’

‘Understood,’ Lizzie said.

Five minutes later, Jack shone his torch ahead and Lizzie saw the train track in the distance. It lay on the outskirts of the city and Lev was waiting for them, just as Jack had predicted. He wore a cap and a leather jacket.

They greeted each other in whispers and Lev told them he had planted the explosives on one section of the track and was about to do the other. Jack said he would do it.

Lev said, ‘These are the last of our explosives. If we’re to continue attacks and scale up our efforts, we’re going to need a steady flow. Did you speak to your people?’

Jack told Lev not to worry. He would arrange supplies. ‘They want us to carry out the operation today and then we will get organised.’

‘You mean I’m being tested?’ Lev said, a slight edge to his voice, his cigarette glowing in the dark as he removed it from his lips.

‘I suppose you could say that, but it’s a formality.’

The acrid smoke assailed Lizzie’s nostrils, and she sneezed uncontrollably.

Lev put his finger to his mouth. ‘Shhh.’

‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘It’s the smoke. How long until the train is due?’

Jack said, ‘About fifteen minutes. I’ll plant the other explosives. You two stay here and keep watch. Have your weapons ready, just in case.’

Lizzy touched her gun that nestled in the lining of her raincoat. It was like having a safety net, and she was surprised by how comfortable she was with carrying a weapon. In the early days, she had been terrified, but wartime had made her a quick study.

‘Be careful,’ Lizzie whispered to Jack.

She and Lev stood watching and waiting on one side of the track.

‘Have you done this before?’ Lizzie asked.

‘I have. You?’

The temptation to regale him with her past escapades was quelled by the knot in her chest that reminded her never to share more than she absolutely had to. Secrecy was her best friend right now, and the less anyone knew about what she had done in occupied France, the better.

Just the hint of suspicion that she had been involved in acts of sabotage against the Nazi regime was enough to have her thrown in the Saint-Michel fortress-like prison in the centre of Toulouse, where prisoners were interrogated or executed.

When Luc told them the name of the prison, the irony wasn’t lost on any of them.

The night air was still cool and blended with the tremors of fear that ran through her body, making her shudder. Lizzie saw the light of the torch hovering in the distance near the tracks as Jack meticulously planted the explosives.

Soon, he ran back over to them. ‘It’s done. Now let’s get out of the way and wait.’

They lay flat in the ditch at the side of the railway, waiting for the sound of the train as a signal to ignite the explosives.

Each minute crawled by and seemed like an hour until Lizzie wondered whether the train wasn’t coming.

She knew from past operations that a scheduled train didn’t mean it would arrive on time, or even at all.

She shifted on the hard ground as she watched the track, mouthing a silent prayer that soon they would hear the approaching train.

‘There it is,’ Jack said. ‘Lights, camera, action! You know what to do.’

The train rumbled along the track, and they saw a hazy shape roll into view with its faint masked headlights.

Lev ignited the explosives and called, ‘Get out of the way!’

They scrambled out of the ditch and up onto the bank and disappeared into the thick bushes. Their breathing was a hard and fast chorus as they waited to see if the fruits of their labour would be successful.

The steam train hissed closer like a serpent in the dark, fast approaching the rigged track.

Then the familiar crackling sound of the explosives reached Lizzie’s ears, followed by several loud booms, and she felt a tremor beneath her feet.

The sounds of the track cracking ripped through the night, and alarmed voices rang out.

The train screeched to an emergency stop, and for a few seconds, there was a ghostly silence. Then another loud explosion split the track wide open, and the smell of marzipan permeated the air. No soldiers emerged from the damaged train.

The intelligence they had received told them it would be a train packed with produce and provisions destined for the Reich. The Germans had begun systematically plundering the Free Zone, as well as occupied France. The SOE’s order was to frustrate their ability to transport goods.

‘Time to go,’ Jack said.

They ran through the woods and didn’t stop until they reached the edge of the road that led back into the city.

‘Good job,’ Jack said to Lizzie and Lev. ‘We put a spanner in the works. That track won’t be back in operation for days, if not weeks.’

He patted Lev on the back. ‘Now, get home without anyone seeing you. We’ll be in touch in the usual way.’

Lev nodded and disappeared onto the dark road.

‘We must go quickly, or it’ll be light before we get back,’ Jack said. ‘Can you run?’

‘Of course I can. Let’s go.’

The wind blew in Lizzie’s face, and she ran as fast as she could by the light of the torch. Jack measured himself to her pace and soon they were panting, but back on the hillside and approaching the edge of the chateau grounds.

Dawn was breaking as twilight seeped through the ether and light triumphed over darkness for one more day.

The saboteurs let themselves into the chateau quietly through the kitchen door and tiptoed upstairs to their rooms. Jack closed the door behind them and Lizzie rested her back against the cool wall.

Her heart was still hammering, and it took a few minutes for her to settle and catch her breath.

The thrill of escaping danger was like nothing she’d experienced before the war.

Just as dawn proclaimed its arrival, shimmering across the Garonne Valley with shards of pale light splintering through the shutters, Lizzie turned to Jack with a triumphant gleam in her eyes, and whispered, ‘We did it.’