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L izzie left the cellars and emerged into the heat, her mood subdued as she made her way back through the vineyards and towards the chateau. She sat in the shade in her favourite spot beneath an apple tree in the orchard and waited.

Her mind jostled with conflicting thoughts, and she was impatient for Jack to appear so they could talk through the events of the past day. So much had happened during Von Schneider’s visit, and Lizzie was worried circumstances were spinning out of control.

Jack waved as he approached, and sat down in the shade next to her, his legs outstretched on the grass. ‘What a lovely orchard this is. I think I shall look back and miss our time here.’

Lizzie jerked her head up. ‘Why, are we leaving?’

‘We have no instructions to leave yet. I was just appreciating the beauty of the chateau.’

‘Yes, and I appreciate it even more now the bloody Boche has left us in peace.’

‘Quite,’ Jack said, an amused expression on his face as he gazed at her. ‘I was afraid he was planning to move in.’

‘You haven’t asked about Billy.’

Jack’s eyes were full of sadness as they met hers. ‘I feared the worst after what you said last night. Tell me, darling, did he make it?’

Lizzie reached for Jack’s hand. ‘He’s hanging in there, but the fever hasn’t passed, and his wound is still bleeding.

I feel so sorry for the other airman too, holed up in there.

Do you think we could let him out for some fresh air?

I was tempted but with the vineyard labourers milling about, I didn’t dare risk it. ’

‘I feel for him too, but no, you did right. It would endanger everyone here. If the authorities get wind of us harbouring British airmen, retribution will be swift. They will make an example of us. You heard the commissaire talking at dinner about quashing the Resistance and anyone who assists them?’

Lizzie nodded. She had heard him even though she had tried not to. Luc turned pale during the conversation, and, for the first time, she fully appreciated what he was risking to help them with their mission.

‘What did Val say?’

‘They are sending a plane tonight. She told me to send a separate message with the coordinates of the pickup for extra security, so I’ll go back later.’

‘Thank goodness Von Schneider didn’t ask to stay another night, or we would have had no choice but to cancel it.’

Lizzie perked up at the news. ‘I’m so pleased we can get the airmen home. I can only imagine how awful it must be for their families, if they’ve been advised they are missing in action.’

Lizzie thought of her brother Archie, and Oliver, Juliet’s fiancé, who were both fighting.

She shook her head. It didn’t help to dwell on her loved ones in danger.

Lizzie had learnt soon after the SOE recruited her to use her anguish to fuel her motivation.

She didn’t want to look back in years to come and regret not doing all she could when she was in a position to make a real difference.

Jack interrupted Lizzie’s thoughts. ‘Me too. As a plane is coming, I asked for weapons and supplies. We must do all we can to prepare Lev and Marguerite to run an organised Resistance network after we leave.’

‘Do you think they are up to the job?’ she asked.

Jack lit a cigarette. ‘He’s obviously a strong character. I’d put money on him being a good leader.’

‘And what about Marguerite?’

‘Everything she’s done so far has been helpful. She’s gone out of her way to arrange our meetings with Lev. Without her, we wouldn’t have even met him.’

Lizzie agreed with Jack’s analysis, but wanted to hear his calculations. ‘Why Lev? Could she not be the leader? She is committed, and they have already carried out extensive Resistance activities collaborating with her contact at the border.’

‘Yes, that’s true. They’re a good team. Marguerite is well positioned to gather intelligence at her job at the café, whereas Lev can no longer work as an artisan and is doing his best to avoid forced labour.’

‘I didn’t know he was an artisan.’

Jack dropped his voice even lower. ‘He was before the statutes. I believe he’s better positioned to be the official network leader, but Marguerite is a key player, too. We were lucky to find them so soon after we arrived.’

Lizzie frowned. ‘I have to say it. What if it’s not luck? Even after all this, it may still be a trap. Lev—and even Marguerite—might not be who they say they are. Have you thought of that?’ Lizzie asked. ‘They could be double agents working with the Vichy regime.’

Jack nodded. ‘I considered the risk, of course. It’s almost impossible to know for sure who to trust in this melting pot, so I must go with my gut.’

‘And your gut still says we can trust them?’

‘It does, but logic backs up the feeling. In my experience, you can’t fake the pain in Lev’s eyes. And meeting Marguerite like we did couldn’t have been a setup because even we didn’t know which café we would choose on our first visit to the city.’

Lizzie searched Jack’s face. ‘It’s so difficult when every decision is a matter of life and death.’

‘Which is why most people aren’t cut out for this line of work.’

Lizzie sighed. They would just have to pray they had made the right decision. ‘What shall we call the network?’

‘I haven’t given it any thought. They should name it,’ Jack said. ‘Our job is to give them the resources to scale up operations so they can get more airmen out and sabotage the Vichy infrastructure that feeds the Nazi war machine.’

Lizzie said, ‘I promised the doctor’s wife we would help them get out of France. Their granddaughter is well enough to travel now. Could they leave on the plane with the airmen? There are only two adults. It would be tight but doable.’

Jack looked downcast. ‘No, I’m afraid not. London would never agree to it, darling.’

‘I was afraid you’d say that, but after we took Hannah back with us last time, I thought perhaps we could bend the rules for a good cause.’

‘We must apply our resources to prepare the way for the Allied invasion. Our orders don’t include helping Jews escape.’

Lizzie was momentarily taken aback by the harshness of his statement, but then she realised she shouldn’t be shocked.

Jews, even some who were British born, were routinely interned in Britain and classed as enemy aliens.

The British government was paranoid about German spies and no one with any potential connection to Axis powers was safe.

Lizzie didn’t approve of the situation, and neither would Hannah, although she wouldn’t be surprised.

In the past, Val had turned a blind eye to Hannah using British resources to help Jews escape as long as she was an asset to the SOE operations.

It was a fair deal, and one Val didn’t report upline to their boss, who wasn’t as understanding.

As if reading Lizzie’s mind, Jack said, ‘Val is sympathetic to the plight of the Jews, but the SOE is tangled up in bureaucracy and we can’t always act how we might wish. The government hasn’t allowed Jewish immigration into Britain since early in the war.’

Lizzie, who thought of Hannah like a sister since their time together in Paris, raged inwardly. ‘I understand we must follow our orders, but how will we live with ourselves if we don’t do all we can to save everyone who is fleeing from Nazi persecution, not just the lucky few?’

Jack sighed. ‘I wish I knew, but war is like a savage game of chess. We can’t move all the pieces, or we’ll lose focus on winning.’

Lizzie wasn’t satisfied with his answer and stared into the distance, wondering what more she could do. It was so long since she’d seen Hannah, and she missed her.

Jack reached for her hand. ‘We took a significant number of Jewish children on the Kindertransport programme, who managed to flee Nazi-controlled territories in time.’

Lizzie managed a watery smile. ‘Yes, I remember seeing their lost little faces in the newspapers when they arrived alone in a foreign country without their families. Thank goodness they escaped.’

The figure of a man came into view through the trees, and Jack reached for the gun he kept strapped to his ankle beneath his trousers.

‘Do you know him?’ Lizzie said, her hand over her eyes, squinting in the sunshine.

The man came closer, and Lizzie saw Jack relax his grip and she looked at him expectantly.

‘Look closer,’ he said.

‘Ah, now I recognise him.’

A thin man wearing a cap set at a jaunty angle and braces over his shirt approached them, the ghost of a smile on his face.

Jack stood, brushing leaves from his trousers, and Lizzie jumped to her feet.

‘Lev,’ Jack said, shaking his hand vigorously. ‘Good to see you. Everything alright?’

Lev enquired about the airmen, and told them their contact was on their way to Toulouse.

They walked through the orchard, and Lizzie and Jack updated Lev on the grave condition of the wounded airman and how they planned to evacuate him that night.

‘I see, so it’s a wasted journey for our contact to come all the way here.’

‘I’m afraid so,’ Jack said.

Lizzie said it wouldn’t be a wasted journey if they smuggled the Jewish doctor and his family to the border in place of the airmen. She explained they were waiting for a chance to escape, and Lev said he would pass on the message.

‘Have you met the St. Girons contact before?’ Jack asked.

Lev replied this would be the first time. Marguerite had handled the communications side of things.

‘I’ve requested equipment like we discussed,’ Jack continued.

‘That is good news. If we’re to make our operations more effective, we’re going to need regular supplies.’

They talked about future potential targets and Lev said perhaps it was for the best the agent was coming.

‘Shall I arrange a meeting with you, and we can plan a smoother passage for future escapees? The airman probably wouldn’t have been wounded if we had more safe houses along the way and they hadn’t been forced to rest in someone’s barn. ’

Lizzie could see Jack was pondering whether it was wise to meet with another unknown contact. It could be a trap. Undercover work was draining in that one never knew who to trust.

Jack looked at Lizzie. He was her commanding officer, but he often conferred with her. She gave a slight nod.

‘Yes, let’s do it. Anything that will build a strong foundation for the network is worth the risk. What time shall we meet?’

Lev said he would get a message to them if the contact arrived before nightfall, and they agreed he would come back that night to help move the wounded airman to the pickup spot and hide the equipment.