Page 34 of Summer of Fire
If the tales of the Great War were anything to go by, the veterans would be shattered both mentally and physically.
‘Have you been able to learn where your brother is stationed?’ his mother asked.
Jack had promised to see what he could find out, and his mother waited expectantly.
He sipped his wine as he finished Elise’s modest wartime version of her traditional buttery cake. ‘Yes, he’s at a base on the south coast.Jack had made enquiries and even caught Henry on the telephone. ‘He’s in good spirits and sends his love to you. I spoke to him a few days ago.’
‘That is good news,’ his mother said, the relief clear on her lovely face. ‘I’ve been finding it hard to sleep, thinking of him in the sky, knowing these raging air battles are going on every day.’
‘I know, Maman. Try not to think about it too much. It doesn’t help.’
‘You are right, of course, but it’s easier said than done. My mind plays the most horrible tricks on me in the dark hours of the night. I’m grateful you are here and not in France like before the war. As much as I adore France, it’s no place to be in these wicked times.’
Jack’s stomach clenched. He had rushed over to see his mother this evening, knowing he was leaving for France that night. An agent knew the last time they saw their loved ones before an operation might well bethelast time they saw them.
Telling her he was going on a field mission again served no purpose other than to distress her, and besides, he was forbidden to talk about his SOE activities. A loose tongue, even when speaking to one’s nearest and dearest, could be deadly. You never knew who might be listening, or who might let something innocently slip.
‘It was good to hear Henry’s voice,’ said Jack, diverting the conversation away from himself. But his mother had a curious mind and was not easily fobbed off.
‘What of dear Hannah? Have you had any news?’
Jack sighed. He thought this might come up, but had hoped his mother wouldn’t ask this time. But she always asked about Hannah.
‘No news, Maman.’ He shook his head and lifted his palms in the air slightly, in a decidedly French gesture. He was more French when he was his mother, but he would soon be in occupied France, so it was good to slip into his undercover persona ahead of time. It had been a while since he’d been in the field, and he was nervous. Since the war broke out, he’d been based in London and had not been in France at all.
If it weren’t for their failure to extract Lizzie, he wouldn’t have permission to enter France now. He had suggested he go in search of Hannah several times, but the powers that be said he was too valuable right here, and they should send a woman who would blend in more easily.
His boss had only agreed to him going in this time after Jack convinced him of the importance of locating the intelligence he believed Hannah had gathered. Val wasn’t pleased and told Jack he must have some kind of death wish. But she wanted Lizzie back too, so in the end she had given her full support.
Jack knew returning to his old hunting grounds would be risky, but he assessed that there was more to lose by himnotgoing in now. The Luftwaffe was consistently and successfully hammering strategic targets in England every day. They were wearing the RAF down, what with pilots facing fierce one-to-one battles in the skies over England, and German bombs raining down on factories and airfields.
Resources were stretched to the bone, and everyone was exhausted. He didn’t know how much longer they could hold out if the German onslaught continued.
‘You know I can’t talk about it,’ he continued.
‘That poor girl. First her parents and now her. I still can’t believe what happened to them in Berlin.’
‘Yes, it was horrific.’
‘Kristallnacht,they call it. The Night of Broken Glass—on account of the rampage and looting of the Jewish businesses. Esther and Abraham were working together in the shop they had owned for years.’
‘I know, Maman. Most of the Jews have fled Germany now.’
Jack reflected on the events Hannah had told him about when he first met her in France before the war. The Gestapo arrested her parents and later she learnt they had sent them to a concentration camp. There had been no news of them since, as far as he knew.
‘It’s a terrible thing for a young woman to go through. I hope she’s hiding somewhere in France. There are some courageous people willing to risk their necks, despite what we hear about Vichy France,’ Jack said.
‘Vichy France!’ His mother was disgusted by the developments in her country.
Jack changed the subject. They chatted about the good old days, and he told her more about his conversation with Henry. By the time he hugged his mother good night, she was smiling again.
He walked back to his flat he used only for sleeping. Itwas a beautiful warm evening, and he was excited by the thought of the impending night flight. He’d always had a taste for undercover work, and now he would be operating in official enemy territory.
His mind strayed, as it so often did, to thoughts of his younger brother Henry flying spitfires over the Channel. He hadn’t told his mother, but when he spoke to Henry, he said so many of his fellow pilots and dear friends had not returned. They were losing men every day in awful dogfights in the sky.
Jack prayed his brother would be one of the lucky few who would survive. As long as they were fighting, it was a lottery of who made it back each day. This was yet another motivation for Jack to retrieve the intelligence Hannah had set out to find. Lord knows, the RAF needed all the help they could get.
It was not going well for Britain.
