Read Online The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Simon Mawer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Simon Mawer
Ads: Link
distorted. Only a couple of weeks ago she had been a bored WAAF working shifts in the Filter Room at Bentley Priory amid the smoke from cigarettes and the smell from armpits. And now she was here in this remote landscape, with the vague promise of France ahead of her and a whole collection of skills that she would never have imagined acquiring. She knew how to kill a man with a blow to the neck and how to derail a train with a few pounds of explosive; she could signal with Morse and fire a Thomson sub-machine gun. She could move silently at night and penetrate barbed-wire fencing noiselessly and cross a river by pulling herself along a single rope. How was anything strange beside that?
‘Perhaps we can get together when we have leave?’ he suggested.
‘Perhaps.’
‘Where do you live?’
‘Oxford.’
He looked disappointed. It was his disappointment that encouraged her. ‘Are you in London?’
‘Of course. They put me up in a hotel.’
She was about to ask other questions – where was he from? where was his family? how did he make it to Britain? all that kind of thing – when the captain looked round from the front of the group. ‘What’s all this talk? Where the hell has security gone? Bérard, you come up here with me, please.’
She laughed. ‘Do as you are told.’
Benoît made a face, and hurried ahead to join the captain. ‘Oxford
trente-deux quatre-vingt-neuf
,’ she called out to his back. He glanced round and smiled. His smile was appealing, the smile of the little boy playing at being a soldier.
*
Down at the lodge, Marian and Yvette were ordered into the lounge like recalcitrant children, while the captain and Lieutenant Redmond conferred on the lawn. Marian stood back from the window so that she could see without herself being seen. There was much gesticulating and frowning.
‘They’re treating us like infants,’ Marian said. ‘I’ll walk out. They can’t stop me. I’ll simply go home, and they can stuff their plans.’
Yvette sniffed. ‘They’ll throw me out.’
‘Don’t be daft. It’s me they’re after.’
‘They think I’m no good.’
‘Stop saying that. They’re idiots. They take themselves so bloody seriously. And they make as many mistakes as anyone else. I mean, they’re not especially clever or anything, they just think they are.’
‘They’re the ones in charge, though.’
The two officers disappeared from view. Now there were only the students from Swordland sitting on the grass in front of the house, six anonymous, khaki-clad men, with a heap of rucksacks and a pile of ugly-looking weapons; and that boy called Benoît who had seemed amused and self-contained, and accepting of her in a strangely familiar way, as though they had known each other much more than that chance acquaintance in a bar.
‘I want to go to France,’ Yvette said. ‘That’s all I want to do.’
‘You’ll go to France. I’m sure you’ll go to France.’
Now the Swordland group was gathering up its kit. They must have been given orders that they were about to depart. She could see Benoît bending to lift his pack and sling it over his shoulder. Perhaps she should stride carelessly out and bid them goodbye and show everyone that she thought the whole incident the most colossal joke. That would put the cat among the pigeons. And then the door to the sitting room opened and there was the earnest Lieutenant Redmond summoning them into his office, exactly like the Mother Superior summoning her to the study for one of those humiliating lectures.
‘What the hell were you two playing at?’ he demanded. He sat at his desk leaving the two women standing in front of him.
‘Soldiers,’ Marian replied.
The lieutenant frowned. ‘It’s not a joke, Sutro. It was an appalling breach of security, and bloody foolish to boot. Surprising them like that. Jumping up like a pair of schoolgirls and … what was it you shouted?’
‘Bang bang, you’re dead.’
‘Bang. Bang. You’re
‘Perhaps we can get together when we have leave?’ he suggested.
‘Perhaps.’
‘Where do you live?’
‘Oxford.’
He looked disappointed. It was his disappointment that encouraged her. ‘Are you in London?’
‘Of course. They put me up in a hotel.’
She was about to ask other questions – where was he from? where was his family? how did he make it to Britain? all that kind of thing – when the captain looked round from the front of the group. ‘What’s all this talk? Where the hell has security gone? Bérard, you come up here with me, please.’
She laughed. ‘Do as you are told.’
Benoît made a face, and hurried ahead to join the captain. ‘Oxford
trente-deux quatre-vingt-neuf
,’ she called out to his back. He glanced round and smiled. His smile was appealing, the smile of the little boy playing at being a soldier.
*
Down at the lodge, Marian and Yvette were ordered into the lounge like recalcitrant children, while the captain and Lieutenant Redmond conferred on the lawn. Marian stood back from the window so that she could see without herself being seen. There was much gesticulating and frowning.
‘They’re treating us like infants,’ Marian said. ‘I’ll walk out. They can’t stop me. I’ll simply go home, and they can stuff their plans.’
Yvette sniffed. ‘They’ll throw me out.’
‘Don’t be daft. It’s me they’re after.’
‘They think I’m no good.’
‘Stop saying that. They’re idiots. They take themselves so bloody seriously. And they make as many mistakes as anyone else. I mean, they’re not especially clever or anything, they just think they are.’
‘They’re the ones in charge, though.’
The two officers disappeared from view. Now there were only the students from Swordland sitting on the grass in front of the house, six anonymous, khaki-clad men, with a heap of rucksacks and a pile of ugly-looking weapons; and that boy called Benoît who had seemed amused and self-contained, and accepting of her in a strangely familiar way, as though they had known each other much more than that chance acquaintance in a bar.
‘I want to go to France,’ Yvette said. ‘That’s all I want to do.’
‘You’ll go to France. I’m sure you’ll go to France.’
Now the Swordland group was gathering up its kit. They must have been given orders that they were about to depart. She could see Benoît bending to lift his pack and sling it over his shoulder. Perhaps she should stride carelessly out and bid them goodbye and show everyone that she thought the whole incident the most colossal joke. That would put the cat among the pigeons. And then the door to the sitting room opened and there was the earnest Lieutenant Redmond summoning them into his office, exactly like the Mother Superior summoning her to the study for one of those humiliating lectures.
‘What the hell were you two playing at?’ he demanded. He sat at his desk leaving the two women standing in front of him.
‘Soldiers,’ Marian replied.
The lieutenant frowned. ‘It’s not a joke, Sutro. It was an appalling breach of security, and bloody foolish to boot. Surprising them like that. Jumping up like a pair of schoolgirls and … what was it you shouted?’
‘Bang bang, you’re dead.’
‘Bang. Bang. You’re
Similar Books
