Page 39 of Daughters of Paris

‘Not for me.’

Colette pulled her arm away and tucked her bag under her shoulder. By now she was having to fight down the rising sense of panic in her chest. The further she walked away from the Metro, the emptier the streets became. She was torn between wanting to get to the safety of home and not wanting him to discover where she lived. There were always rumours about homes being raided on some spurious pretext thanks to spiteful neighbours informing, or a family coming to the notice of the authorities.

‘I am home now,’ she said, putting her hand on the first gate she came to. ‘Goodnight.’

She closed the gate behind her and walked up the path, rummaging in her bag in pretence of looking for her key. If he followed, she was not sure what she would do other than scream and hope the real residents came out to help. Fortunately, she heard his footsteps moving away.

She waited a few minutes, crouching behind a fir tree in a pot, before exiting cautiously onto the street and turning down a quiet passage, which brought her out beside one entrance to the Bois du Boulogne gardens. To her dismay, she saw another woman being followed by the same German. From the way she held herself stiffly, arms wrapped about the bag she clutched to her chest, it did not look as if she was happy about it.

They had stopped beside some steps that led down to one of the fountains in a quiet part of the ornamental gardens. In summer it would be the perfect place to meet a lover, but now it was remote and dangerous.

‘I said no. I’m not interested.’

Colette froze as she recognised the voice. The woman was Fleur.

‘But I am. Come here.’ The German pulled Fleur towards him and planted a kiss on her lips. She gave a squeak and pushed him away.

Colette tensed. There was a chance that if Fleur kissed him properly, he would go away, but Colette knew deep down he wasn’t planning to stop at a kiss. She wished she had just gone to the bar with him. She was much more experienced than Fleur was. She stalked towards them.

‘Leave her alone.’

Her voice made the German pause.

‘Colette!’ Fleur sounded relieved.

‘Go away unless you’re going to join us,’ the German snapped.

‘If you hurt my friend I’ll report you,’ Colette said. She walked closer, heels tapping on the paving stones, and stopped a short distance away, cursing inwardly that Fleur had used her name.

The German gave a dismissive laugh. ‘I’m leaving the city in the morning. Who will you report me to, and if you did, who would they believe? Me or a couple of French whores?’

He turned back to Fleur and took her roughly by the shoulders. She shoved him away hard, both hands in the centre of his chest. He staggered back with a cry of fury and raised a fist, ready to come back with a punch. Without stopping to think, Colette ran forwards, swinging her gas mask case at him from behind. It struck him on the base of his skull. He jerked his head round, already off balance from the shove and his foot twisted on the icy step. He plummeted backwards down the steps and landed with a sickening cracking sound at the bottom. He gave one whimper, then grew silent.

Fleur gasped. ‘You hit him!’

‘You pushed him.’ Colette’s knees buckled and she dropped to the ground. ‘Why isn’t he moving?’

Fleur dragged her eyes from the supine body at the bottom of the steps. ‘I think he’s dead.’

Chapter Twelve

Colette stood frozen, sick with horror. She couldn’t look at Fleur. Could only look at the body lying at the bottom of the steps. Her gas mask case was swinging back and forth. She stilled it with her hand and felt wetness on the edge; lifted her fingers and in the moonlight saw a dark smear that could only be blood.

‘I didn’t … I mean…’ She looked at Fleur. ‘I thought he was going to rape you. I couldn’t let that happen.’

‘What are we going to do?’ Fleur began to tremble. Her face was twisted in shock.

Colette put an arm around her. She was trembling too.

‘We need to go get help,’ Colette whispered.

‘For him? He’s dead. Besides, if we tell anyone what happened they’ll shoot us,’

‘But it was an accident,’ Colette said. ‘I didn’t think it would hurt him so badly. I just wanted him to stop.’

Fleur gulped a sob. ‘They won’t care. We’ve killed a German soldier. I need to think.’

She began to pace backwards and forwards, muttering under her breath.

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