Page 31 of Shadows In Paris
‘You’re a sleepyhead,’ Hannah said.
Lizzie pulled herself up in bed and stretched wearily. ‘I think it all caught up with me. I just couldn’t seem to wake up.’
‘You must have needed a good rest. Come down when you’re ready and I’ll make us some breakfast.’
Lizzie’s stomach rumbled on cue, and they both laughed.
Over breakfast, Hannah gave Lizzie details about thingsin the house and what she needed to know to keep everything running smoothly.
‘You’ve got a ration book?’ Hannah asked after they finished the toast she had prepared for them.
‘Yes, I’d better show you all my papers. London asked me to report if any of the documents are no longer compliant with the latest regulations.’
Lizzie fetched a pile of papers, and they went through them. ‘Here’s my ration book. Does this look right?’
Hannah narrowed her eyes and studied it carefully. ‘It looks fine. I need to go and get changed now. I’ll grab my book, and we can compare them. I got a new one recently.’
Hannah entered the kitchen a while later and declared Lizzie’s papers adequate to pass inspection, and Lizzie noted a few details to pass on to the SOE forgery department.
‘It sounds as though they are ramping up for a huge operation in London. I remember when Jack was a lone wolf long before they set up the SOE.’
‘What was he like?’ Lizzie asked, unable to resist. She had been jealous of Jack and Hannah’s close bond when she first met Jack, but now she was secure in his love for her, and she genuinely liked Hannah. Maybe one day, they might even be sisters-in-law. She didn’t mention that now because no one could know about her and Jack. Not even Hannah.
The warning,Careless Talk Costs Lives,rang through her head. The less everyone knew, the safer for all concerned. You never knew what bit of gossip that seemed harmless enough could inform the enemy of what the Allies were planning.
Hannah stood to clear the plates from the table. ‘What was Jack like? Hmm, let me think. It all seems so long ago now. We were both so young.’
‘Did you know him by the codename Raven?’ Lizzie probed.
Hannah screwed up her forehead as though trying to conjure the information. ‘I think that came later. In the early days, I knew him as Jack, but we both used various cover names for gathering intelligence.’
‘You have been doing this for such a long time. I’m in awe of what you’ve accomplished,’ Lizzie said.
‘In awe? Oh no, don’t be in awe. I have only ever done what I had to do in the circumstances. It’s never felt like I had any other choice. Other than to roll over and let the Nazis slaughter us. That has already happened to too many defenceless people. I’m not going down without a fight.’
‘You underestimate yourself,’ Lizzie said. ‘What you’ve achieved is more than most would dream of doing, even in these harsh conditions.’
Hannah smiled graciously. ‘I can see you’ve made your mind up, so I’ll take it as a compliment. Thank you.’
‘Tell me about the new operation,’ Lizzie said, itching to know what Hannah had up her sleeve.
‘There’s still some planning to do before I can go in.’ She paused and tilted her head. ‘Oh, I forgot, a message came for you from London this morning.’
Lizzie did her best to suppress her blush, but she felt herself flushing and hoped Hannah would put it down to excitement.
‘What did they say?’ She was thinking of Jack and hoping the message was from him.
‘It was from Raven. He asked you to send him a message at your agreed time this evening so you can test your codes.’
Lizzie fizzed with joy. Jack was eager to hear from her and she would be able to message him on Hannah’s radio using her own codebook tonight. It wasn’t much, but thatwould be the only connection they had whilst she was in France.
Lizzie tried to act nonchalant. ‘He gave me my schedule for when I need to send a message. Thank you, I’ll do it later. It will be good practice for me to test our system for when you’re not around.’
Hannah said they should go into the city to claim their rations, and they could discuss the upcoming operation on their way. ‘I want to scope out the building where I’ll be working undercover, so it will be great to have you with me.’
They went to get ready to leave, and Hannah reappeared shortly after wearing her brunette wig, and holding a similar one for Lizzie.
Lizzie looked confused. ‘Hold on, I thought the idea was we stick to our cover of me being your sister visiting you.’
