Page 6 of Whispers At Dawn
‘No, you didn’t.’
‘What château is this?’
‘It’s my uncle’s. I haven’t been there for years. Henry and I used to help him in the vineyards when we were boys.’
‘Vineyards! Gosh, here you go, being a dark horse again. Who forgets to mention they have an uncle ensconced in a château with vineyards in the South of France?’
Jack chuckled. ‘He’s far from ensconced. Trust me, it’s a lot of work and not as fancy as it sounds. And don’t forget there’s a war on.’
‘How many other secrets are you keeping from me?’ Lizzie asked as she peered at him.
‘It wasn’t intentional. It just never came up. Even my mother hasn’t seen Uncle Luc in years. She was talking about her brother only the other day. It’s a shame I won’t be able to tell her we’ll be staying with him. We used to see a lot of him, but after my father died, my mother stopped taking us there in the summers and he’s not the type to come here. He dislikes the English. Says we have no style.’
‘That’s too bad. With us going there, I mean. How did he take it?’
‘Hard to say.’
Lizzie narrowed her eyes. ‘He doesn’t know yet, does he?’
Jack shook his head. ‘No. In fairness, I only found out myself the other day. I had no intention of going anywhere near Toulouse until Val said we must build networks in Vichy ready for the Allied invasion.’
‘What if he’s not on ourside, given his dislike of the English?’
‘Oh, he’ll be on our side.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
‘Because he dislikes the Germans even more! France fought against them in the Great War too, remember.’
Lizzie said, ‘He sounds like quite a handful.’
‘He’s a character, alright.’
‘What exactly is the situation with the Vichy region? You’ll have to explain it to me, so I understand it properly. I know it’s the part of France that’s not occupied by the Nazis, but I don’t completely understand who is ruling what and why.’
‘They call it theFree Zone. It’s far from free, as you’ll see, but it’s ruled by the Vichy French administration, who are German collaborators.’
‘Hannah is in the South of France, isn’t she?’
‘Apparently so, but I haven’t received a message from her in over a month. Who knows where she is and what she’s up to, by now? Taking out enemies at any opportunity, I’d say, if I had to guess.’
‘Will we try and see her when we’re there?’ Lizzie asked.
‘It all depends. Not if it risks blowing our cover. We’re better establishing separate networks in different regions, rather than putting all our eggs in one basket.’
Lizzie sighed.
‘What’s wrong?’ Jack asked, his deep voice tender.
‘Nothing. I miss Hannah, that’s all.’
‘It’s understandable. You two went through an intense time together in Paris. Hopefully, we’ll hear from her before we leave and can see her at some point.’
Lizzie’s spirits lifted at the thought of being reunited with the courageous Resistance leader. ‘And what of Henry? Have they been in touch recently, do you know?’
‘Henry is still flying a lot. My mother spoke to him last week and says he claims to be well but sounds fatigued. Then again, she always says that. There were some whispers last week that we may be nearing the end of the Blitz. Word has it Hitler’s lost his appetite for it. Tired of us bombing in retaliation.’
‘Thank God for that. It seems to have been going on forever. I’ve grown used to the sounds of bombs dropping and runningfor shelter at all hours. It’s hard to imagine what life will be like when this war is over.’
