by Ian Lindsey
“Henri!” Both boys exclaimed at the same time. “Do you know Donna Henri at McGill?” Payton got out before his brother.
“She is my sister! You’ve seen her?” Joseph said, but before they could answer he lowered his gun and hugged Payton like old family.
“We do, but we’d better do something about the guns in your truck before the Wehrmacht gets here. They started searching in the block of the church where we jumped on your truck. I don’t know if they are looking for you or us. We crashed up near Le Havre four days ago. We met a little resistance and killed a soldier on our way out of town.” Dylan said, heightening the urgency of their situation past the small world joy of finding friends.
“Yes, we must work quickly. It does not matter who they are looking for.” The Frenchman answered as the twins took their first opportunity to look at where they actually were. The truck had pulled in to a large garage, but it looked more like the garage to a private house than to a commercial business. It barely held the truck, and there was just one door leading in to the main building.
“My great grandparents owned this house before us. They bought it as a business office to run the sales portion of the farm closer to town. The oversize garage has been very helpful over the years. We should have no trouble hiding everyone and everything. Fortunately, this is the last load out of the shipment. We only have four boxes of rifles and two more small boxes of the other supplies Timothy so kindly brought us. My compatriots should have scattered and concealed the rest already.” Joseph said as he moved to the back of the truck and lifted the flap. He nearly jumped to the back and began unloading the produce to the twins and Timothy, who quickly stacked it off to the side with boxes that appeared similar and must have been used for the same purpose in the past.
“Follow me please.” Joseph quickly commanded after he handed down the contraband. He led the quartet through the door in to the house, renovated to serve as an office and entertaining space, towards the kitchen on the opposite side of the house from the garage. In the kitchen he opened a door that disappeared in to the darkness below. As they reached the bottom the walls held rows of shelves indicating the little basement served as the pantry.
“Surely they’ll search here.” Timothy said skeptically.
“But perhaps not here.” Joseph answered with a grin as he reached underneath the lowest shelf to reveal a small notch in the edge of a board that he pulled up giving way to an opening in the floor. With the floor board removed, a short ladder gave access to a cleverly concealed sub-basement. “Before there were refrigerators, this was the cold storage sub-basement.” Joseph explained, indicating for the twins to climb down. Dylan climbed down first, and noticed the roughhewn wood walls holding back the earth that crept through between boards in several places. He felt like he’d climbed in to an abandoned mine, though the space was probably only eight feet square and barely tall enough for him to stand. Moments later Dylan accepted the first crate handed down to him by his brother. Not wanting to waste any time, Timothy and Joseph went back for the last two crates while the twins worked to lower the other three crates of rifles down into the sub-basement.
After the last of the crates were safely stacked in the sub-basement, Payton followed his brother down the ladder. Joseph lowered the cover, which blocked out most of the light to the twins.
“Off to the salt mines, I suppose.” Payton joked quietly.
“As long as we don’t stay six feet under, I’ll take it.” Dylan responded wryly.
While the twins were cracking wise, Timothy reached in to the very much above ground refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of beer and plopped them on the table to show two workers casually taking a break.
“No, wine.” Joseph ordered as they heard an ominous knock at the door. Timothy scrambled to make the correction so they appeared as two Frenchman and poured the wine as Joseph headed for the door. Although he expected them, it was still a shock to see the three German soldiers standing on the doorstep.
“Monsieur, we are looking for gun runners.” Said the oldest looking of them, in halting French. “Step aside while we inspect your house.” Joseph judged he couldn’t have been much more than 19 or 20 years old, but showed the proper deference.
“Of course, come in. Search wherever you like. We don’t want any trouble.” Joseph answered in passable German.
“Danke.” Replied the boy, looking more relieved that his French would no longer be called in to use than he was at the lack of resistance. One private went to the upper floor to look, while the nominal head of the operation/translator stood guard over Timothy and Joseph drinking their wine in the kitchen. The third boy rummaged through the main floor. When the other two reported back after finding nothing, the head boy asked a question of Joseph: “What is behind that door?” and in doing so began to regain some of his air of authority.
“The Pantry is just down the stairs behind that door.” Joseph answered concealing the uneasiness he felt with so thorough a search.
“And where is the door to the garage?” the head boy asked as well.
“Down the hall, back that way, on the right.” Joseph indicated by pointing behind the three Germans. Now feeling fully in command, the head boy indicated to his two subordinates to further search both places. Had it not been a dead giveaway, Timothy and Joseph might have held their breath as the soldier descended the stairs in to the pantry.
As they heard the stairs creak above them, the twins both instinctively held their breath for just a moment. They held every other muscle in their bodies absolutely still. The floorboards creaked, and a shadow cast over them for what seemed like an eternity. A can fell from one of the shelves almost directly above them, nearly startling the twins, yet they stayed resolutely quiet. Both saw the German soldier through the small cracks in the floorboard as he bent over and picked up the fallen can, and prayed that he would not see them. A moment later their prayers were answered. The soldier stood up, replaced the can on the shelf, and backtracked to the stairs to meet his comrades above. The creaking on the floorboards confirmed their safety, and the boys let out small, soundless sighs of relief.
Several minutes later, after much shuffling and a door slam emanated to the sub-basement, Timothy creaked down the steps and lifted the floor boards. The twins emerged and shook Timothy’s hand.
“No problems?” Dylan asked.
“Never are!” Timothy lied enthusiastically through his teeth.
“What next?” Payton followed up.
“That, my good friend, is up to Joseph. I have a boat well-hidden at the coast that I had planned on sailing out with the tides in an hour or so, but I’m not sure we’ll make it past our German friends to make it in time. Unless Joseph has a trick up his sleeve to get us there, LeMark, my partner, will sail and we’ll be stuck here for another two weeks, at least.” Timothy summed up.
“How far is it from here to the boat?” Dylan inquired.
“I’d say about five miles, by road. Maybe a shade less than that over land. I’m not worried about the distance, I’m worried about the Germans.” Timothy furnished.
“I’d suggest, my friends, that going for the boat is your only chance. With the enhanced searches, such as we just experienced, I don’t believe we can hide two non-French speakers in town for very long. I’ve heard rumors that the Germans intend to close the beaches, but that isn’t the case yet. I think I have a plan.” Joseph grew more confident as he spoke, and a faint smile broke out across his lips as he motioned for the others to follow him.
Chapter 30
July 18th, 1940
“Have you finished your duties for your father for the day?” Jack asked the leading question of Maggie, still standing outside Buckingham Palace.
“Why, yes I have, I was just headed out for some lunch then back home.” Maggie answered, taking the bait.
“Would you mind terribly showing us around Westminster and Parliament then? I’m terribly keen to see it.” Jack only half lied. He wanted
to see it, but perhaps he was more terribly keen on Maggie.
“Of course, I’d be happy to. I don’t think they are in session, but I can show you around the building.” Maggie graciously answered.
With that, the newly formed quintet made their way to Parliament. Along the way several younger lads noted Jack’s crisp uniform and quartet of beautiful companions with more than just a little hint of envy. He might as well have been a recruiter for the army as they walked jovially along the sidewalks in an otherwise shell shocked city. To look at them, one would think the war was well in hand.
After the short walk to their destination, Maggie gamely showed her friends around the famous legislative building. She showed them the empty chambers from the visitor’s balcony, explaining this was where the debates and legislation took shape. She then took them down the long halls of individual Members of Parliament’s office suites. Staffers hurried around them amongst the hallways, and except for the ornate building and decorations it may have been nearly any busy, prosperous office building in the city.
As they finished their personal tour, a rotund man in a well-tailored grey pinstriped suit and a neatly clipped mustache. “Hello, my lovely, I thought you’d gone off home for the day.” The man said, addressing Maggie.
“Hello Daddy, you know Simone, and these are her friends, Clara O’Ryan of Dublin, Anne Fields, and her brother Jack Fields from Canada. Everyone, may I present the Baron of Dover, my father, Sir Gregory Fitzwater.”
“A pleasure, sir. I’ve crossed paths with some of your men at Baker Street while I was in Normandy.” Jack said, bowing slightly and offering his hand to the older man.
“Excellent, a fellow ungentlemanly warrior.” Sir Gregory said with a smile.
“If you don’t mind me asking, sir, what’s your connection? How did you get in to this line of work?”
“My father was a minister in the House of Lords before me, so that’s how I ended up here. For the irregulars, I’m good friends with Sir Charles Hambros, of the banking family that we do business with, who introduced me to Lord Hankey, who set up the outfit for Sir Winston. Then, those two scoundrels introduced me to Sir Frank Nelson, the head of the department. Turns out Hambros is his man for Scandinavia at the moment, and they recruited me to keep an eye on France over the last couple of months. It’s all very new, and secret, so I’d appreciate your discretion.” Sir Gregory summarized quickly.
“Of course, not another word, my apologies.” Jack offered sheepishly.
The old man took another look at the group and settled his gaze on Clara. “My dear, did I hear correctly that your name is O’Ryan of Dublin? Perhaps with a brother named Timothy?” he asked several questions at once.
“Why, yes, on all counts.” Clara answered, too surprised and disarmed by the charming man to let out one of her normally clever retorts.
“If he hasn’t told you, and he seems like a good chap so he hasn’t, he works for me.” Sir Gregory said with a twinkle in his eyes. “He’s probably in France right now.”
“Timothy! In France?” Clara said, astonished. “I thought he’d stopped going over after Dunkirk. One more loved one under the thumb of the Germans, if they are even still alive.” Clara said with a resigned tremble in her voice. Although she couldn’t find her voice, Anne clutched Clara’s arm and held her close so as to support each other physically and emotionally.
“They?” Sir Gregory asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Payton and Dylan.” Simone interjected.
“The Americans Caroline and I met at the Savoy with Simone, Daddy.” Maggie said to jog his memory.
“Yes sir. Two American fellows, pilots. They crashed four days ago around Le Havre.” Jack added. “They also seem to have taken the hearts of my sister and Timothy’s sister with them.”
“I heard reports that a couple of unknown actors shot their way out of Le Havre two days ago.” Sir Gregory said. “Let’s hope it’s your boys making an escape. My contacts haven’t heard anything about captured pilots, so they must still be on the loose. If I hear anything else, I shall let you know. Also, Captain Fields, if you are interested in some work, please come see me at Baker Street. I’d be interested to hear your assessment of the coastline. For now, I’m off to a meeting. A pleasure to meet you all.” Sir Gregory finished as the rest of the group murmured their goodbyes, still shocked by all the news, and the sudden injection of hope.
***
Joseph led his three compatriots/charges out the back door after grabbing a medium size duffle bag. Once through the garage, to assure no more Wehrmacht soldiers lingering about would spot them, he kept to the allies and led them back to the block with the church. Instead of going in the house of worship, he led them around the block to what was unmistakably a school. He entered one of the side doors with the practiced ease of someone who had done so many times.
“I went here as a child.” Joseph mentioned off handedly, but then remembered their mission. “But, that is not why we are here. My wife teaches here, follow me.” He commanded as they wound through the hallway to a door on the left.
Joseph barreled through the door without knocking, and immediately smiled upon seeing his petite wife seated behind the teacher’s desk. As she stood the visitors saw a slightly short woman with dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and slightly Mediterranean features. She wore a fashionable long sleeve, mid-length, yet slightly worn, navy blue dress with chalk dust around the elbows.
“My love, you work too hard. Let’s go to the beach, right now.” Joseph said coyly in French. “Gentlemen, my wife, Genevive” Joseph said in English turning to his own charges.
“The pleasure is all ours.” Timothy said in French with a slight bow. “Unfortunately my heathen friends here only speak English.” He finished while indicating the twins.
Finally given the chance to speak, Genevive said “Joseph, what have you gotten yourself mixed up in this time?” She spoke as if to one of her students, but slightly more exasperated because she was speaking with her husband.
“Just some friends that we need to help get back to the beach. Those two are American pilots, and this one with the smooth tongue is one of our delivery men from across the channel.” Joseph answered cheekily, but truthfully.
“Then why are you here asking me to go to the beach?” She demanded.
“If you don’t mind, let’s round up some of your single teacher friends to go with us. We’ll hide in plain sight and just walk down to beach like we are taking the afternoon off. But we must hurry, we’ve only an hour to get them there.”
“Joseph, that is a terrible idea.” Genevive stated matter of factly. “We can’t get everyone rounded up and in to believable beach attire that quickly, and we would put all of them at risk. Someone must be above reproach at this school to look out for the children.” Joseph shrugged his shoulders and gave the half admiring, half amused look of a highly accomplished man who had an even more highly accomplished wife. “Gentlemen, if you would follow me.” Genevive continued in English as she walked out from behind her desk. “I think I have a better idea, but we must move quickly.”
“Thank you, Madam, my name is…” Payton started, but Genevive waved her hand at him briefly wishing to speak.
“Please don’t tell me your names, I don’t need to know them.” She said firmly, showing her full grasp of the precarious situation. “Underneath the school is a basement, with a tunnel that goes underneath the church. From the church basement, we can access the old roman aqueduct tunnels that run along the river. From there we can emerge on the outskirts of town and follow the foot trails over the hills to the coast.”
“That’s amazing.” Timothy said, utterly astonished by the quick wit and brilliant sounding plan.
“Did I not tell you about my brilliant wife.” Joseph beamed. “Perhaps I forgot to mention that…” he trailed off.
“Ma’am, one question, please?” Dylan said, nearly raising his hand to ask the teacher.
“Yes?” she
responded naturally.
“How do you know about all of this? I don’t doubt it will work, but it almost sounds too easy.” Dylan said in the most deferential way he could manage.
“I’m hoping it is that easy. This is how we used to sneak out of school as girls to go to the beach when I was young.” Genevive replied with a gleaming smile, remembering the better days as she strode out the door.
All four men followed the teacher down the hall without hesitation and stayed close as she descended to the basement on a rickety set of wooden stairs. They moved passed the boiler for the school and in to a tight, low ceiling passage lined with bricks. The twins produced three small flashlights for all to use, one each from their flight kits and a third from the plane they’d scavenged on the beach. Genevive continued ahead until a few minutes later, when a forbidding timber door to the church basement with steel straps blocked their path.
Undeterred, Genevive simply looked at her husband and nodded as she said “Joseph, the door please.” Without further urging Joseph used his sturdy work boots and kicked open the door with a single blow. The quintet then quickly crossed the basement and followed their leading lady down a half flight of stairs that seemed to lead nowhere.
“This is the tricky part.” She said, indicating a round grate drain at the bottom of the stairs. She looked at Joseph again, who bent down and removed the grate. “The key, to avoid detection, is for the last person to replace the grate. We used to bribe one girl to stay behind, but that won’t work here.” She stated. “The drop is not far, maybe three meters. We’ll figured something out.” Genevive finished before hanging her legs over the side and sliding off feet first in to the dark hole. After a soft splash, she signaled for the next person to follow. Timothy heartily followed the intrepid woman with Joseph coming next.