by Andrew Wood
“Because it will mean that they are close and so plan to be using it soon themselves.”
“But.... but that’s good isn’t it?” she protested. “It means that we will be liberated.”
The doctor smiled indulgently at her naivety. “Take a walk around the local streets and see what happened the last time two armies squabbled over this town.”
Lemele shook her head, not agreeing with his logic, believing that freedom and liberty were just causes and so worth the sacrifice. However, she was aware that she had not lived through the experience that the doctor and other residents of the town had and so let the point go, not wanting to offend or argue with this kind man.
At supper that evening he told her what he was planning for them. They would need to be ready to move early in the morning, if indeed Marner was ready to move; if not then he would surely be fit by the following day. “The next train station down the line towards Caen is at a small town named Conches-en-Ouche. I made some enquiries by telephone today and checked: trains will be running westwards from Conches from tomorrow onwards, even though Evreux will take some days to become operational again. But better still for you, there is a spur line from Conches that goes to Rennes, via l’Aigle. It will take you more directly towards Brittany than going via Caen. The train comes from Rennes and reaches Conches around midday, and then it makes the return journey in the afternoon. So we will get you to Conches to meet that train.”
“How far away is this town and how will we get there?”
“It is approximately twenty kilometres. For transport, I have arranged for you to be taken by one of the local ambulances. The one that I have contacted was chosen simply because he is a total profiteer. He has no particular sympathies or allegiance, his only motivation is money, no questions asked. In any case, I gave him the story that your officer needs to get to Caen as quickly as possible for treatment. That can be the story that you can use for any security checks too. With your identity papers you will be fine; just say that your travel permit was lost in the bombing. I will wrap him up in plenty of bandages to make it look convincing; you can discard them when the ambulance drops you off at Conches, or even keep them as your cover story for the rest of your journey.”
Lemele sat and looked at the doctor, deeply touched that he had taken her so quickly into his trust and even gone out of his way to help them. She smiled and thanked him, hoping that the warmth of it conveyed her gratitude. He waved it away. “Just promise me that you will keep doing ‘the right thing’, as you called it.”
“Always.”
Chapter Thirty Four
At eight o’clock the next morning they were ready to go. Marner had been woken an hour earlier and checked over by Corneille, who declared him fit to travel. “He is going to suffer from some dizziness for a few days, maybe also headaches and nausea too. His hearing is mostly returned, but he will still have some ringing in the ears,” he advised Lemele. “Do not worry; such side-effects are to be expected after that type of injury. But if he shows any signs of seizures or convulsions, then you must get him to professional medical care as soon as possible.”
She found Marner dressed and sitting on the table in the surgery. He had a bandage wrapped around the entirety of his head above the eyes and another around his neck. Fortunately she knew that this was only for show since the effect was, as intended, quite dramatic.
“Glad to see that you’re feeling better,” she smiled, giving his arm a squeeze.
“I am, mostly. The world still tilts and turns a bit and I’ve got a terrible noise in my head. What happened? The doctor told me that I was injured in an air raid?”
“You mean you don’t remember?” she asked, incredulous.
He shook his head but stopped immediately, wincing and screwing up his eyes, “Ow! Ouch! I really must not do that. No, I don’t remember it. I recall us leaving Paris on the train, and that we were going to Brittany after Graf. But nothing after we left Paris.”
“Well, there’s not much to tell other than that we got caught up in an attack on the railway station, exactly as the doctor said. Oh yes, you saved my life again.” She gave his arm another squeeze. “The good news is that we are getting under way again this morning. If you are feeling up to it.”
He was about to nod but then thought better of it. “Yes. We need to keep moving.”
Lemele was visibly taken aback when they helped Marner outside to the waiting ambulance and she discovered that it was horse-drawn, not motorised. Corneille saw her look and explained, “Now you understand why you had to be up so early for a twenty kilometre journey. The Germans may have motorised vehicles and the fuel to run them, but the rest of us have regressed half a century, back to the age of the humble horse. The only people getting rich out of this war are the black marketeers and the horse traders.”
They helped Marner up into the covered cab in the back of the buggy. There was only a wooden platform, wide enough for two patients to lie side by side. Lemele went back to the gate with Corneille to say goodbye and to thank him again, reaching up on tiptoes to peck him on his grey bristly cheek. The doctor wished her good luck. “And do come back when all this is over and let me know how it turned out.”
As they set off into the heart of the town, which they had to negotiate to reach the road to Conches, Marner flopped down flat on his back. Lemele was instantly concerned, but he reassured her that it was simply the rocking of the buggy that was making him dizzy.
There were a few market stalls open on the cleared land that would once have been shops in the busy centre. Beyond the dusty rutted ground she could see the town hall which was unscathed, although the beautiful Norman cathedral had suffered heavy damage, windows obliterated and stumps of flying buttresses hanging suspended in mid-air. She was surprised to see people already queuing at this early hour for the few muddy early season vegetables that were on sale in the market. The clothes of the town’s inhabitants were shabbier than what she was accustomed to seeing in Paris. Everyone was carrying bags and baskets, ready to take advantage of whatever they might find on sale today.
As they left the town centre, order and intact houses resumed, albeit with a few blasted sites of rubble amongst them. Beyond the town limits there was a startling transition from the war-ravaged town to a green and peaceful idyll that showed no evidence of destruction and conflict. The dwellings dwindled to occasional farm buildings in the steep sided valley as the road followed the winding course of the river. Lemele remembered from her school geography lessons that this eastern half of Normandy was actually a high, flat plateau through which several major rivers such as the Seine and its tributaries had carved their courses into the soft chalk. The valleys had been settled by the Romans and then centuries later ravaged by the Vikings sailing their drakkar long ships up the rivers in search of new territory, even as far as Paris . The very name ‘Normandy’ was derived from the word Northmanorum that had been given to these Viking invaders who had subsequently settled in the region as mercenary armies under the pay of local lords.
Their driver, Monsieur Carrier, kept up an idle chatter that required no concentration or response from Lemele. It was mostly a long list of complaints about the privations of the war and the rationing, although he did not seem to be suffering too badly. He was a hugely fat and round man, with florid cheeks and lips. Physically he reminded her very much of the trumpet player Paul Emile who had been a regular in her husband’s band. When she had first met him, Paul Emile had happily described himself as being “as tall lying down as I am standing up” and he had been genuinely delighted when she had collapsed into hysterical laughter at this.
The rocking of the buggy and rhythmic clop of the horse’s hooves, Carrier’s voice and the trilling of birds in the trees lulled her. She was reassured that Marner was resting calmly in the back, perhaps sleeping. Two hours passed with just the sight of a few small, dusty villages and run-down farms to distract her. As they drew within a few kilometres of Conches the sound of explo
sions started and she quickly spotted the planes flying at high altitude to the west. She turned to Carrier to ask him but he had anticipated her question. “Do not worry; it is the turn of the airfield at Conches today. It is easy to tell; they stay high up when they bomb the airfields and they fly in low and fast if they are attacking the trains or the station.”
At the edge of the town they were obliged to stop at a road-block. The soldiers accepted without question the word of Carrier, with whom they were clearly familiar. They passed through the centre of the town that seemed from another era, streets of old timbered buildings and the crumbling stone remains of the twelfth century castle on its raised motte that harked back to ancient, feudal times.
At the station their buggy was waved around the side, leading them directly to the platform. This avoided the requirement of having to pass through another paper check, even the need to buy tickets. When they pulled to a standstill, Lemele discreetly passed the agreed sum of money to Carrier, who transferred it instantly and expertly to some unseen pocket in his voluminous linen jacket. Marner was awake and seemed okay, but needed to be helped down onto the ground and then to a bench on the platform.
The train from Rennes had just arrived at the station and was idly belching steam onto the platform. It would not be leaving on the return journey for another forty minutes, giving Lemele time to go in search of a boulangerie that Carrier had directed her to. When she returned she found Marner lying on the bench asleep and had to shake him a few times to rouse him. Having been startled awake, he was momentarily confused about where he was and what was going on, made worse by an attack of dizziness when he tried to sit up abruptly. Lemele was reconsidering the wisdom of travelling so soon; however, once he was settled into an upright position and had calmed down, he reassured her that he was okay and that it was imperative that they keep up their progress.
Chapter Thirty Five
Lemele was amazed to find that the train was crowded; she had to search through four carriages just to find a free space for one person. She deposited her bag on the seat by way of reserving it, showing her police identity to the people sitting on either side and ordering them to watch her bag and make sure that no one took the place. Both of them, a middle aged woman who appeared to be travelling alone and a younger woman accompanied by an elderly man, nodded vigorously. She was unaccustomed and uncomfortable with exercising authority in this manner, but this was a necessity.
When she returned to the carriage a few minutes later with Marner, none of them were happy to see that her travelling companion was a German officer. Lemele eased him down into the seat and he fell instantly asleep. By the time that she had stepped back into the corridor, there being no other vacant seat and no one willing to give her one, he had slumped over sideways and was snoring open-mouthed on the older woman’s shoulder. The look of horror on the woman’s face caused Lemele to turn away to hide her fit of giggles, and she was not surprised when the woman left the carriage a minute later with her suitcase in hand, in search of another seat. This was perfect for Lemele, who promptly woke Marner and moved him across into the seat vacated by the woman so that he could lean up against the sidewall of the compartment to sleep. She then sat down in the space where he had been. All in all, a good result.
Whilst they waited in the stifling heat for the train to get under way, Lemele inspected the other passengers in the carriage. With the exception of the elderly man, the others were women and children. There were three children in the compartment, all of whom eyed Marner warily. Lemele smiled at the eldest boy, who was approximately ten years of age, but on spotting this his mother told him to look out of the window.
The journey towards Rennes passed quietly and agreeably for Lemele. Having been labelled and associated with Marner by the other occupants of the carriage, they avoided eye contact with her. Whilst irritating on one level, at least it meant that she was not obliged to make small talk that might lead to questions about where they were going and why. From the background chatter of the others she established that the majority of them were going to destinations south and west of Normandy to wait out the battle that they assumed was going to sweep across the region as the Allies moved to take Paris.
When the train guard came through the carriage an hour after they had departed from Conches to check tickets, she held out her police identity and Marner’s papers stating only “Police business.”
“But do you have tickets?” asked the guard, uncomfortable but determined to stick to the regulations.
“No,” stated Lemele. She then replaced the papers back into her bag, folded her arms and closed her eyes as if to sleep, subject terminated. Unable to see his face, it took all of her willpower not to open her eyes to look. She heard him sigh and, when he asked the others in the carriage for their tickets, knew that she had won.
Before leaving Conches Lemele had checked the list of stops along the route and had decided that they would get off at Chateaubourg, which was the last station before Rennes. Hopefully this would reduce the risk of a security check such as they had encountered at the station in Evreux. Her assumption was that security would be very tight at Rennes, it being the largest town in the east of Brittany and in particular a hub for travel in the region which included major military installations such as the submarine bases at Brest and Lorient. Her main problem was that she was unfamiliar with the region and its geography. The vague outline of the plan was therefore to leave the train at Chateaubourg and circulate around the outskirts of Rennes by minor roads, distance and mode of transport yet to be defined. They would then take a train onwards from a minor station on the other side of Rennes.
She was fully aware that this sketchy level of detail hardly warranted the grand title of ‘plan’. They hit a major problem when they arrived at Chateaubourg station. Lemele had woken Marner and hauled him to his feet as soon as she had sensed the train slowing for the stop, shouldering their bags and shoving him out of the compartment and along the corridor towards the toilet cubicle. It seemed to be permanently occupied; the door was locked although there was silence from within. Instead, they moved further along to the very end of the corridor where they were out of view of the occupants of the nearest compartment. Lemele had come to the conclusion that for the next phase of their journey he would attract less attention if he were not swaddled in bandages. So whilst she quickly unwound the yards of white cotton from his head and neck, she explained what she proposed to do. He groggily agreed with her proposal and helped to put the bandages into his bag, donning his uniform cap.
There was a shock waiting for them when they pulled into the station where they were to leave the train. The platform was teeming with Wehrmacht and their barking, snarling dogs. Immediately that the train stopped it was boarded by SD officers, whilst the soldiers remained on the platform stopping and detaining anyone who got off. The SD worked their way rapidly along the carriages and Lemele had to fight a rising panic; were they going to be caught so easily after having got this far? Still frantically searching for an idea when the SD entered their carriage, she almost collapsed with relief when they apologised to Marner for the delay and the trouble, asking if he had seen two civilian men in their twenties for whom they were searching. Marner told them no, wished them good hunting and the SD moved on.
Lemele and Marner debated whether they should still get off at this station. Her concern was that it might appear suspicious that they had waited a couple of minutes before descending from the train. It became a moot point when a whistle blew and the train jolted into motion.
As the train clacked on through the countryside, Lemele guessed that it must be only ten minutes at most until they rolled into Rennes. Therefore, when the train suddenly braked and then slowed to a halt, she did not hesitate. Handing him his bag, she opened the door to the exterior landing at the end of the carriage and stepped out, motioning him to follow. Checking from both sides of the landing, looking up and down the length of the track, she could see no apparent rea
son for the stop. The beginning of the urban sprawl that was the outskirts of Rennes was visible a few kilometres in the distance.
On the south side of the train was a road running parallel to the track; on the north side was a lush green field bordered with trees and bushes. Selecting the latter on the basis that it would provide some cover whilst they oriented themselves, certainly better than standing on an open road in full view of the train passengers, she prompted Marner to descend on that side and then help her down.
The rail track was on a steep embankment that was three metres above the field. If they went down the slope they would become visible to the passengers and, therefore, once on the ground she told him to follow her as she crouched and hobbled as fast as possible over the shingles and ends of the track sleepers towards the rear of the train. In this way they kept close against the wheels of the carriages so that they were below and out of sight of the occupants in their seats.
Nearing the end of the last passenger carriage, Lemele motioned him to halt and be silent; someone was on the landing at the rear and she could hear voices and see cigarette smoke drifting across. She prayed that whoever was there would not move to the edge and look along the side of the train, since the pair of them would make a very curious sight crouching there. After what seemed like an eternity but was only thirty seconds, the train lurched into motion again. As the rear of the last carriage crept past them she dared to look up, fearing that someone might still be there. It was a huge relief to see that it was empty; fortunately for them, whoever had been there had gone back inside.
The train line was heading directly west towards Rennes and they needed to reach the coast to the north-west of the town. In the absence of any local knowledge to give them a reason to take or avoid a particular route or part of the countryside, Lemele proposed that they work their way around the north of the city, based simply on it being the more direct route. Marner docilely nodded his assent, his only interest being to know if she had anything to eat. Again she was concerned that he seemed uninterested in the decision making, in discussing the pros and cons. They had gone from a situation where he was dominant, almost dictatorial in decision making to one where he was entirely passive. Leaving aside that he was not his usual assertive self, easily attributed to his injury, she was being forced to assume a role that she was unaccustomed to playing.