Page 54 of Shadows In Paris
Thinking of Hannah always gave Lizzie courage, but her heart pounded as she raced away from the track. Philippe followed, and Francois brought up the rear. Now they had to get out of the way of danger but stay close enough to gauge the effects of the explosion. They learnt from every operation and were fine tuning their skills and systems with each successful manoeuvre.
Lizzie turned to watch as Francois crossed the track, her heart pulsing as if it were in her throat. The chug and thud of the train wheels approaching was like a countdown, and she tried not to think about how many soldiers would die in just a few moments.
Then a loud boom rang through the air, and Lizzie peeped out of the dense foliage on the top of the bank, horrified as she watched Francois tumble to the ground. Philippe stood next to her and saw it, too.
‘Merde,’ he hissed.
‘Shhh,’ Lizzie said, barely making a sound as she prodded him and brought a finger to her lips.
Five young German soldiers with rifles poised to shoot approached Francois as he lay bleeding on the ground. Everything happened at once and they were outnumbered. The train approached and the noise of its wheels squealing on the tracks was deafening.
Lizzie stared as the soldiers waved frantically at the train, ordering it to perform an emergency stop. Then two of thembent to the ground and dragged Francois off the track, the others covering them, as they glanced backwards towards the screeching train.
A noise fizzed and popped. The soldiers recognised the sounds of an impending explosion, and ran for their lives, pulling Francois behind them and stopping near some bushes.
The train driver had slammed the brakes on, seeing the soldiers’ warning just in time to stop before the packed train reached the rigged section of the railway. Lizzie saw the rails light up like a bonfire, followed by a loud cracking sound and several explosions. She held her hands to her ears as the fire ripped over the tracks, making it impassable.
Lizzie and Philippe stood like statues, not daring to move or make a sound. The soldiers were still visible, and it wouldn’t take much for them to find them in hiding.
Francois lay on the ground. The soldiers had moved him far enough away, so he wasn’t caught in the blast, but his gunshot wound could be fatal. Lizzie felt sick at the realisation he might die and there was no way for them to save their friend without being seen and putting the entire network in jeopardy. She stared at Philippe through the thickening dusk beneath the beautiful, orange-flecked sky, and he made a sign they must leave now.
It was heart wrenching to abandon Francois to the Germans, but if they didn’t leave, they would be captured too. Soldiers swarmed out of the train and climbed up the bank to thank the heroes who had saved them. The smell of cigarette smoke bled into the freezing air as they talked about how they had most certainly cheated the jaws of death and would get to live another day.
Lizzie followed Phillipe out of the bushes, both treading as quietly as possible in their rubber soled boots. Francois had identified their quickest escape route before laying theexplosives and now they used it to leave Francois bleeding on the frozen ground.
They slipped from the bushes and into the forest, not exchanging a word until they had put some miles between them and the site of the catastrophic operation.
Eventually, they reached the spot where they’d hidden their bicycles. It was too difficult to ride through the dense forest, so they walked until the trees thinned and they could mount for a getaway.
A light snow was falling again, and Lizzie’s hands shook as she pushed the pedals in a robotic movement. Her whole body fired on adrenaline as she raced out of the forest and reached Philippe in the clearing. She no longer felt the cold.
‘What a disaster. I can’t believe it,’ Lizzie said.
‘Oh, believe it. We knew this could happen.’
‘It’s a nightmare,’ she whispered. ‘Poor dear, Francois.’
‘Francois was prepared for something like this, but yes, it’s terrible. We are lucky to have got out alive, so we’d better make it count.’
Lizzie inhaled the chilled oxygen rich forest air, and a wave of clarity flooded her mind. ‘We’ll debrief when things calm down. We’d better get away before they comb the area.’
As if on cue, they heard voices in the distance, and they nodded to each other and cycled off in opposite directions. Lizzie reached the edge of the forest, and joined the road when she saw there was no one in sight, her wheels buffeting across the bumpy ground. She took the long way round and repeatedly checked she wasn’t being followed before changing direction and heading toward the farmhouse.
‘They’ve got Francois,’ she said as she threw herself into the house through the back door, surprised to see Hannah already home.
CHAPTER 26
The colour drained from Hannah’s face as she turned to Lizzie. ‘What? How?’
Lizzie explained how the group of armed soldiers had appeared out of nowhere and gunned Francois down just as the train was approaching.
Hannah wrapped her arms around Lizzie as if she was holding herself up, and she rocked back and forth on her clumpy shoes. Her eyes reflected the pain Lizzie felt, and she whispered, ‘Did they kill him?’
Lizzie removed her coat and sank onto the sofa, exhaustion gripping her muscles like a concrete vice. This was the first time she had stopped moving since they fled the scene, and now she was drained of energy.
‘I don’t know,’ she said, her voice as faint as Hannah’s. ‘It’s possible, but we couldn’t wait to find out.’
Hannah sat down heavily next to Lizzie and took her hands, rubbing them in hers. ‘My God, you’re like ice.’
