Page 52 of Shadows In Paris
The sound of the truck pulling away made her weak with relief and she leant against the wall for support. ‘What the blazes? I thought you were in the hands of the Gestapo, and we were all headed for the torture chamber at Avenue Foch.’
‘Sorry about that. I got myself into a bit of a bind. I didn’t want to scare you and hoped you wouldn’t see the truck.’
‘Scare me? You put the fear of the devil into me! I thought it was all over. What on earth happened for them to escort you home like your own Nazi concierge service?’
Lizzie removed her snow flecked damp beret and coat and hung them on the hooks in the hallway to dry. Then she took Hannah’s arm and steered her into the warm kitchen. It wasn’t often she got to be the one who offered Hannah solace, but Lizzie saw her sister in arms was badly shaken.
Lizzie explained how she couldn’t find a way out of the situation without seeming like she had something to hide.
‘Makes sense. I probably would have done the same in the circumstances,’ Hannah said, the colour slowly returning to her cheeks. ‘Now we must let the Sterns know it’s safe to breathe again! Poor things.’
‘Wait, I’ve got something lovely for them.’ Lizzie produced her bag and extracted the groceries one by one and laid them on the table. ‘I’m back late to cook dinner, but I’ve got a surprise for you all to take the edge off your hunger.’
‘What surprise?’ Hannah said. ‘I think I’ve had enough surprises for one day.’
Lizzie laughed. ‘You’ll like this one. The officer had the proprietor of the café wrap up a delicious selection of cakes and pastries for me to bring home. Look.’
Hannah stuck her nose in the packet of baked goods and inhaled. ‘Ahh, they smell divine. I don’t remember when I last ate a dessert.’
‘Take one and let’s give the rest to the family.’
‘Is there enough? I won’t have one if not,’ Hannah said.
‘Yes, there’s plenty.’
Hannah helped herself to a buttery pastry. ‘I should say I’m not eating Nazi cake, but that would be stupid, wouldn’t it? I ate lunch in the Reich canteen today. Starving for my morals will help no one.’
Lizzie agreed and took the goodies down to the basement.
The Stern family looked scared, and she soothed them quickly, saying it had been a false alarm. The thought of what could have happened was too frightening to talk about in front of the children, and there was no reason to worry them further.
The children jumped up and down with glee, and soon, they were all sitting on a blanket, munching cake.
‘But how did you get hold of such wonderful delicacies?’ asked Sarah, their mother.
Lizzie said, ‘Let’s just say I had a good day at the shops.’
She lingered in the basement, talking to them for a while, her own spirits lifted at the sight of the children who were so thrilled because of a sweet treat. ‘I’ll go upstairs now and start cooking. There will be a stew for dinner. It shouldn’t be long.’
Sarah’s eyes shone in the lamplight and Lizzie saw she was fighting to hold back the tears. ‘Thank you so much for all you are doing. I can’t express how much this means to us.’ She nodded to the children who were buzzing about with the sugar rush, and Lizzie thought what a sad world it was where bringing a child a cake was considered a massive act of kindness.
She finished washing the dishes, and placed the clean cups to drain by the sink. She hadn’t seen or heard anymore of Karl since that eventful evening and had changed therendezvous point to a different café. She couldn’t risk going back to Claude’s and bumping into the officer again, no matter how charming and generous he was with his cake.
Hannah stood in front of the filing cabinet with her back to the door as she snapped photographs of documents with the tiny camera nestled in the palm of her hand. She still couldn’t believe how amazing the camera was. This was the first day she had smuggled it into the building, hidden in the lining of her handbag. Any chance she got to extract intelligence to pass to SOE, she took. The camera made it much simpler, as she didn’t have to jot down key facts or figures or try to memorise important data.
There was a price to pay, but she calculated it was worth it. If anyone so much as suspected her of spying, and discovered the camera, it would be incontrovertible evidence against her, so she was vigilant whenever anyone approached her.
Not that the Nazis needed evidence to condemn anyone. During her time working at German High Command, she had seen reports of people being arrested for much less than espionage. Hannah slipped the camera into her pocket and replaced the documents neatly in the folder, and closed the cabinet. The gadget gave her such an immense feeling of power, and she wondered how she’d managed without it. It was the perfect espionage camera.
Jack had arranged for the camera upon her request, and she frequently blessed her good luck that she had noticed it in the film, or she wouldn’t have imagined such an incredible tool existed.
Hannah returned to her desk, feeling the camera burning a hole in her pocket. She must get it back into the secret compartment of her handbag. Just as she was contemplatinghow best to do it without being seen, the major general walked out of his office and over to her desk.
‘Yes, Major General,’ Hannah said, looking up at him through her thick glasses, her heart strumming wildly. ‘What may I do for you?’
The major general was immaculately dressed in his green-grey uniform, and his greedy eyes flickered over Hannah like they always did. He assessed her like a wildcat, wondering what to hunt for dinner. She did her best not to show how he revolted her.
‘Has anything new come in from the Staff?’
