the morale of the people he’d had to leave behind.
‘I was parachuted in last week. Dropping off a few gifts for the folks in the homeland.’ He grinned as he said this and Mireille guessed that the ‘gifts’ were probably wireless sets or weapons or orders for covert operations, although she didn’t ask him to elaborate.
‘Got held up on the way, though. Turned out there was a Boche unit camped out in the town so we couldn’t risk getting the plane back in. It’s easy enough parachuting in to France but getting back out is another story. So they fixed me up with your lot. Told me I’ll be enjoying a holiday in the Pyrenees in a few days’ time. But they said I’d need a specialist to get me across Paris. I can’t say I was expecting one as beautiful as you, though.’
Mireille shook her head and laughed. ‘Flattery will get you nowhere! But yes, I’ll try and get you through the city safely. I don’t know exactly which way they’ll be taking you after that, though – the routes change all the time to try to keep one step ahead of the Germans and the police.’
She kept her eyes on the tracks, watching the mice that scurried among the rubble between the sleepers when the station was quiet, aware that he was watching her closely and that it was making her cheeks flush. Shaking back her curls, she met his gaze boldly and said, ‘I know we’re not supposed to ask questions. But I do have just one: what happened to your parachute?’
He laughed, surprised. ‘I buried it in a turnip field, as instructed. Why do you ask?’
‘It just would have made a nice blouse and a few pairs of camiknickers too, for me and my friends.’
‘I see,’ he said, gravely. ‘Well next time, mademoiselle, I will be sure to keep it with me and bring it to you here in Paris. I’m sure General De Gaulle and the rest of the Allied Command would be delighted to know army equipment was being put to such very good use!’
All at once, the mice on the tracks scattered and a few seconds later they heard the sound of an approaching train, silencing them both.
They sat side by side, and Mireille was acutely conscious of the man’s arm touching hers through their jacket sleeves as the carriage swayed and jerked. They didn’t speak, as there were other passengers sitting within earshot, but she couldn’t help feeling the powerful undercurrent of attraction that passed between them.
She was jolted out of this pleasant reverie when the train drew to a stop at a station well before their own and a guard shouted that the train would terminate here. They followed their fellow passengers, some grumbling, some silently resigned, up the stairs to the exit.
As they reached the top of the stairs, Mireille’s heart beat against her ribs like a trapped bird. At the barrier, half a dozen soldiers were pulling people out from the crowd of passengers who’d been turned off the train. A few yards ahead of them, one man hesitated, looking around for another exit. His momentary delay caught the attention of two of the soldiers and they unceremoniously pushed the other passengers out of the way and seized the man by his upper arms, marching him off. Mireille noticed that they were stopping anyone who wore a yellow star pinned to their clothing. She drew the young man’s arm through hers, pulling him close so that she could mutter in his ear, ‘Don’t hesitate. Don’t look left or right. Just walk with me.’
When it was their turn at the barrier, Mireille forced herself to look relaxed, although her shoulders were stiff with tension. Through the sleeve of her coat she could feel the muscles of the young man’s forearm harden as he clenched his fist.
One of the soldiers looked them up and down and seemed about to stop them. But then he waved them through and turned his attention to the couple behind them, demanding to see their papers. Mireille breathed again, allowing her shoulders to relax just a little.
Outside in the street, a truck was parked on the pavement. A pair of guards leaned their rifles against the tailgate as they smoked cigarettes. Mireille glimpsed the pale, anxious faces of the people who’d been made to board it, as she and the young man walked on in sickened silence until they were out of earshot. Then Mireille withdrew