lit a cigarette and its ominous burning filled the air.
Suddenly there was a clattering at the door. Albert leaped to his feet and across the room Vesper’s hand dropped instinctively toward his waist, as though reaching for a gun. Marie froze, remembering his warning seconds earlier that arrest could come anytime.
The door flung open and a woman entered the room, smartly dressed with a Sten gun tucked neatly under one arm like a purse. It was Josie.
At the sight of her friend, Mare’s heart leaped. She had not expected to see Josie again, maybe ever, and certainly not so soon. Marie stood, nearly calling out, before remembering that she should not.
“Bloody hell, you gave us a scare!” Albert exclaimed. “We weren’t expecting you back for another two days.”
“We received word that the Maquis training grounds in the forest were compromised,” Josie said. “It was no longer safe. We had to disperse.”
Marie hurried to Josie, who had begun dismantling her gun on a low table by the door. There was a faint smell of burning powder and Marie wondered why the gun had been fired. “Josie.”
“Hello.” Josie looked up and smiled warmly. She kissed Marie on the cheek. “I’m glad you arrived safely,” Josie said. Her nose wrinkled. “There’s a toilet if you want to freshen up.” Embarrassment rose in Marie, followed by defensiveness: of course she was a mess—how could she be otherwise when she had spent the night in that awful shed? But Josie had been in the field weeks longer and her hair was well coiffed, dress freshly pressed. Her shoes were slingbacks, and bore no trace of dirt or wear. Even her nails were perfect pale pink ovals. “You’ll want to look proper before you head out,” Josie added. Where, Marie wondered, would she be going?
In the water closet, Marie smoothed her hair as well as she could and washed her face, noting with dissatisfaction that the strong camphor soap had turned her cheeks bright red. The travel and night in the hut had left her skin sallow, with dark circles under her eyes.
When Marie returned from the bathroom, Josie had finished disassembling the gun and was cleaning the pieces expertly with a soft white cloth. Marie studied her friend. “You’re well?”
“Never better.” Josie looked invigorated. There was a healthy blush to her cheeks and her eyes were bright. “I’ve been traveling the countryside, arming the partisans and teaching them how to use our weapons.”
“You aren’t on the radio then?” Josie had been so good at transmitting in class at Arisaig House; it would be a waste not to have her working with one. Of course, she had been good at everything else, too. Marie saw then what an asset her friend must be to the circuit, and felt her own inadequacies grow by comparison.
“At times I am,” Josie replied. “But everything is more fluid in the field. We must do what is needed.” Josie sounded years older than when Marie had seen her last, more confident than ever. The work here clearly suited her. Marie was not at all sure she would feel the same.
“You’re Tuesday-Thursday on the skeds,” Josie said. That meant the days Marie would broadcast and send her messages back to London.
Marie pictured Eleanor waiting to receive and hoped her typing would be good and clear enough. She wondered what she would be asked to transmit. “Do I broadcast from here?”
Josie shook her head. “From wherever you’ll be staying. You’ll have to ask Vesper.” Marie’s eyes traveled across the room to where Vesper stood, studying him closely. He was a few years older than the rest of them, she guessed, with high cheekbones and cerulean-blue eyes. Some might call him good-looking, including herself, if she hadn’t disliked him from the start. “He controls everything for the operation in Paris and the northern part of France, dozens and dozens of agents and maybe a hundred local contacts.”
Marie was puzzled. They had learned in training that the work in France consisted of small groups of agents, usually working in threes, a circuit leader, a radio operator and a courier. They were separated because if one was compromised, it wouldn’t taint the rest. But here Vesper was in charge of it all. Was it really safe to have one man know so much?
Across the room, voices rose. At the table, Vesper stood huddled over a map with Albert and Will, who had awoken during the earlier commotion of Josie’s arrival. A disagreement had erupted among the