Page 57 of Shadows In Paris
‘I doubt it,’ Hannah said, her voice flat. ‘French Jews don’t warrant the same treatment as British airmen.’
‘So where will they go if not to England?’ Lizzie asked.
‘Who knows? Isaac said if they reach Spain, he will try to get a visa for America. I didn’t discourage him, but it’s a long shot, to say the least.’
Margot looked relieved and soon, she slipped out the back door and disappeared into the dark night like a phantom.
Lizzie and Hannah flopped onto the sofa.
‘Thank God we’re not blown,’ Lizzie said.
‘Yet…’ Hannah said ominously. ‘It’s early days. If Francois is alive, he could crack at any moment, and they’ll be all over us like a rash.’
‘Does he know this address?’
‘No,’ Hannah said. ‘We’re careful about that kind of thing for this very reason. Margot has the address from an operation, but most of the network don’t know where I live.’
Lizzie said, ‘But he knows the rough area we’re in. He left me the chalk mark on the oak tree to meet him.’
‘True,’ Hannah said. ‘And that’s only about two miles from here. It wouldn’t take those bastards long to track us down.There are few houses in this area—it’s mainly agricultural land.’
‘Is there any way we can find out if Francois is still alive?’ Lizzie asked, her voice ringing with sadness.
‘The only chance is if I overhear something at work tomorrow. Lots of soldiers from all over Paris come in and out. That’s why it’s such a brilliant position to be in.’
Lizzie stared at Hannah and realised she was deadly serious. She was going to waltz into German High Command tomorrow morning as though nothing had happened, even though one of her lead Resistance members, at this very second, could spill his guts to the Gestapo about her: Angel, the Liberty Network leader.
‘What else do you suggest?’ Hannah asked, seeing the shock on Lizzie’s face, and raising an eyebrow.
‘Jack says you should come back to London with me tomorrow night.’
When Hannah didn’t refuse, Lizzie pressed on, hoping she was seriously considering her suggestion. ‘Imagine how wonderful it would be if Jack could get a message to Henry and you two could see each other again. It must be more than a year, isn’t it?’
Hannah turned her head, and Lizzie felt the force of her blue eyes studying her. ‘It’s been one year, five months—.’ Her voice tailed off as she moved her fingers. ‘And six days.’
Lizzie stared at Hannah, thinking how awful it would be not to see Jack for so long. Not to know if she wouldeversee him again. It was too terrible to imagine.
On impulse, she beseeched her, ‘Come back with me, Hannah. Do this for you and Henry. You need to see each other, even if it’s just for a day, or even a few hours! You can return and resume your work when things have cooled down.’
Hannah’s eyes glowed with raw emotion. ‘As lovely as that sounds, I can’t. There’s too much at stake.’
‘You are allowed to have a life, you know. All of this is important. I understand what we’re fighting for—the freedoms you are fighting for—but still ...’ Lizzie rubbed her forehead with one hand as a pain gripped her head.
‘I know it must look that way. But I’m not like you and Jack. I have no home to go back to.’
Lizzie’s throat clogged, and the tears seeped from her eyes. She couldn’t hold back the pent-up emotion any longer. It was all too sad to bear, and the feelings swept through her like a giant wave.
‘But Henry is your home,’ she whispered. ‘And me and Jack. We all care for you so much. Jack said you can come home with me. You’ve more than earned a place at the SOE. You’d be invaluable to them as a full-time agent behind the scenes.’
Hannah said, ‘It is very thoughtful of you. And Jack. But I’m not a behind-the-scenes kind of girl. I need to be in the centre of the action. I’d go insane in some office in London instead of here in the thick of it. As long as the Nazis are terrorising France, I will be here, fighting them every step of the way.’
Lizzie reached for Hannah’s hand and squeezed it. ‘I understand. I just wish it were different.’
‘Me too. After the war—if I make it through—I dream of visiting my cousins in Jerusalem. If the British are still ruling there, perhaps Jack will help me arrange it,’ Hannah said, her tone wistful. ‘In the thirties, when things got really frightening for us in Berlin, my cousins wrote to invite us to join them. How I wish my parents had left Germany and boarded a ship to Haifa whilst they still could.’
Hannah continued talking as if in a trance. ‘Every Passover,we prayed for “Next year in Jerusalem”. Jews have always lived in the Land of Israel, but I used to think reestablishing our own independent state in the historic homeland was just a Zionist dream. With the rise of the Reich, I see it as our only hope of having the right to defend ourselves in our own land. This time it’s Hitler, next time, it will be someone else.’
Lizzie listened as Hannah, who was visibly emotional, talked of her family.
