World at War, 1944

by Mary Pope Osborne

  “Thanks,” said Annie.

  “You’re welcome,” said the woman. She waved two fingers and kept pushing the carriage across the square.

  “Friend,” Annie said to Jack.

  “How do you know?” he asked.

  “She gave me a V Is for Victory sign,” said Annie.

  “Or maybe she just happened to use two fingers to wave to you,” said Jack. “Even though the milkman was a friend, we can never be sure who our friends and enemies are. Remember the farmer and the girl in the cart?”

  “Yeah, I didn’t see that coming,” said Annie.

  “Not in a million years,” said Jack.

  “I thought—” said Annie

  The roar of engines interrupted her. Four open black cars rolled into the square and parked in a line. Each car had a red, white, and black symbol on the side. Jack recognized it as a swastika, the symbol of the Nazis. Soldiers got out of the cars and stood at the edge of the square, watching the shoppers. They wore gray uniforms with black belts and tall boots.

  “Enemies,” Jack said under his breath.

  “Definitely,” said Annie.

  With the arrival of the Nazis, the atmosphere in the square changed. Vendors fell silent. Shoppers lowered their heads and grabbed the hands of their children.

  “We should catch that train as soon as possible,” said Jack.

  “You bet,” said Annie. “Look normal.”

  With their hands in their pockets, Jack and Annie walked as calmly as they could from the market toward the train depot. With quick steps, they crossed the street and entered the small station.

  “Tickets,” Jack said to Annie. He headed to the ticket window and placed some coins in front of the ticket agent. “Two for Mondeville, please.”

  The ticket agent counted out some coins, then gave Jack two tickets. “Thank you,” said Jack. He and Annie stepped away from the window and walked out to the tracks.

  Jack noticed that the waiting passengers were anxiously watching a scene at the end of the station platform. Some Nazi soldiers had stopped an old man. The man had his hands in the air. He looked terrified as the soldiers checked his pockets.

  “What are they doing?” Annie asked.

  “Don’t look,” said Jack. He grabbed her hand so she wouldn’t hurry to the man’s aid.

  But he felt fury, too. Why torment an old man? he wondered. He wanted to shout at the Nazi soldiers: LEAVE US ALL ALONE! But just like the other bystanders, he was too scared to do anything. He gripped Annie’s hand tighter and pulled her in the other direction. “Come on.”

  To Jack’s great relief, he heard the train whistle blow. Soon the train rounded the bend, puffing steam. The crowd stepped back as the black engine chugged into the station. It let out an ear-piercing shriek and jolted to a stop. Doors slid open and people stepped out onto the platform and headed for the station.

  “All aboard!” shouted the conductor, and the waiting passengers moved toward the tracks.

  Jack and Annie climbed into one of the rear cars. “Where are our seats?” Annie asked Jack.

  “I don’t know,” he said. He looked at their tickets. “It says ‘second-class.’ ”

  “Excuse me, where are the second-class seats?” Annie asked an older woman with a friendly face.

  “Follow me.” The woman led them up the train corridor and stopped in front of an empty compartment. “You can sit in there,” she said, then continued on her way.

  Annie and Jack opened a glass door and stepped into a small space with four seats. Jack pulled off his field pack and sat down next to Annie near the window.

  “I hate them,” said Annie.

  Jack knew exactly who she meant.

  The whistle blew. The train jolted and began moving. Huffing and puffing, it left the depot and chugged down the tracks away from Caen.

  “It’s a short ride,” said Annie.

  “Not short enough,” said Jack. “Listen.” Even above the roar of the train, he could hear boots stomping down the corridor outside their compartment.

  “Ignore them,” said Annie.

  “Got it,” said Jack.

  “Oh, Jean! Look! Lovely trees!” Annie pointed out the window.

  “Yes, Aimée! They are lovely!” exclaimed Jack. “Remember—”

  Before he could finish, the door to the compartment slid open. Two Nazi officials stood in the doorway. “Identity papers, please?” one said.

  Jack’s heart started to pound, but he turned and faked a friendly smile. “Oh! Yes, sure,” he said. He pulled out his identity card and showed it to the official. Annie smiled and showed her card, too.

  The soldier looked carefully at the cards, then handed them back. “Your bag now,” he said to Jack, holding out his hand.

  “My pack? Sure,” said Jack.

  But before he could hand over his field pack, Annie snatched it away from him. “Why do you want it?” she asked the man, grinning.

  “I need to look inside it,” said the official.

  “Really?” said Annie. “There’s nothing interesting inside.”

  Why is she doing this? Jack wondered. He couldn’t think of anything in the pack that could get them into trouble—just lunch and Jack’s pencil and notebook, with all the notes torn out.

  “Give it to me,” demanded the official.

  Annie didn’t move. Her smile had faded, replaced by a look of fear.

  What is wrong with her? Jack wondered. He gently pried the field pack loose from her grip. “It’s okay,” he assured her. “He can look in it.” Grinning crazily, he handed the field pack over to the soldier.

  The Nazi unbuckled Jack’s pack. He reached in and pulled out the small cloth sack that Suzette had given them. He opened it and took out two apples, a chunk of cheese, and two pieces of black bread. He handed the food to the other official. Then he reached deeper into the field pack and pulled out some papers.

  Jack was confused. Where did those come from?

  The soldier held up one of the papers. It was one of the flyers printed by Tom and Theo!

  HOPE AND COURAGE!

  FREEDOM SOON!

  The soldier put the papers back into the pack. Then he narrowed his eyes at Jack. “So you are working for the other side?”

  “What? No!” said Jack. He looked at Annie. “How…?”

  “Sorry,” Annie whispered. “I wanted to help them. Tom and Theo.”

  “Stand up!” the official barked at Jack.

  “No!” cried Annie. “Please! He didn’t do anything! It was me! I did it!”

  The Nazi official pushed Annie aside. “Boy, I am placing you under arrest,” he said. But just as the man reached out to grab Jack, an explosion rocked the train car.

  The sound of screeching brakes split the air. The train ground to a sudden stop. Jack and Annie were thrown from their seats.

  The soldiers fell to their hands and knees. Passengers scrambled up the corridor, screaming and yelling: “What happened? What happened?” “Resistance!” “Blew up tracks ahead!”

  The two Nazis jumped to their feet. Ignoring Jack and Annie, they hurried away from the compartment.

  Jack looked out the window. A few hundred yards in front of the train, black smoke was rising into the air. “Plan Green!” he said. “Let’s get out of here!” He grabbed his field pack and started out of the compartment. But more soldiers were running down the corridor, shoving all the passengers aside.

  Annie grabbed Jack’s arm. “The window!” she cried. “Out! Climb out!”

  Jack straddled the window ledge, then swung his leg over and dropped to the embankment below. He reached up and helped Annie drop to the ground, too.

  “He reached up and helped Annie drop to the ground, too.”

  Looking down the tracks, Jack saw train workers and soldiers running toward the billowing black smoke. Sirens were screaming. Passengers were fleeing from all the cars on the train.

  “Come on!” said Jack. He and Annie ran down the embankment
toward some woods near the tracks. Then they took off through the brush, weaving around mossy trees and pale spring ferns. They pushed back twigs and vines, trying to get as far away from the train as possible.

  “Are we heading in the right direction?” Jack asked, panting.

  Annie pulled out the compass and looked at it. “Yes! Southwest!”

  “Good! Keep going!” said Jack. They ran until they came to the edge of a road. Up the road, a bridge crossed a wide river. A sign next to the bridge said RIVER ORNE.

  “That’s the river we want!” cried Annie. “Cross a river to find a cave!”

  “Cross it!” said Jack. He and Annie hurried to the bridge and raced across the river. On the other side was a small restaurant. A sign on the front said SYLVIE’S BISTRO.

  “Stop! Stop!” said Jack, gasping. “Before we go any farther, let’s stop there—rest—and make a plan—”

  “Great, I’m dying of thirst,” said Annie.

  They caught their breath. Then they straightened their berets, smiled fake smiles, and walked into the bistro. Inside the crowded dining room, the air smelled of coffee and cigarette smoke. Jack and Annie slipped over to an empty table and sat down.

  “I’m so sorry,” Annie said, leaning toward Jack. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble. I—” Before she could go on, a teenage waitress brought silverware and menus to their table.

  “May I help you, sir?” the girl asked Jack.

  For a moment, Jack just stared at the dark-haired, rosy-cheeked girl. He was still in a daze both from being arrested and from the explosion.

  “Can we have two lemonades, please?” Annie asked.

  The waitress nodded and left.

  “I’m so sorry!” Annie whispered again to Jack. “When I went down to the cellar to get our stuff, I grabbed a bunch of flyers and put them in your field pack.”

  “Why?” asked Jack. “Why would you do that?”

  “I thought while we were looking for Kathleen, we could do what Tom and Theo did,” said Annie. “You know, put up flyers when no one is looking. It seemed like a good—”

  “Okay, okay, I get it,” said Jack. “But we can’t worry about their mission. We have our own mission.” He reached into his pack and pulled out the flyers. “We have to get rid of these. If we don’t—”

  “Jack!” Annie said, looking over his shoulder.

  Jack turned around. The waitress was standing behind him with their lemonades. When her gaze fell on the flyers in Jack’s hand, her eyes widened. Jack clutched the batch of papers to his chest. Without a word, the waitress put down their drinks and hurried to the kitchen at the back of the bistro.

  “We have to go,” said Jack. “She saw the flyers!” He jammed the papers into his pack.

  “Wait,” said Annie.

  “We can’t!” said Jack. “She’s gone to tell someone, like her boss. They’ll call the police!”

  Before Jack and Annie could stand up to leave, the waitress burst out of the kitchen with a tall, stern-looking woman wearing an apron. The woman’s heavy shoes clomped on the wooden floor as she headed over to Jack and Annie.

  “My mother wants to talk to you,” the waitress said.

  Oh, no! thought Jack.

  The woman pulled up a chair and sat down. She leaned forward. “Tell me, please,” she whispered. “How do you know Tom and Theo?”

  Jack and Annie stared in shock at the woman. Before they could answer, the door to the bistro swung open, and three Nazi soldiers entered. The men ignored everyone as they sat at a corner table not far from Jack and Annie.

  The young waitress moved quickly to serve them.

  “My name is Sylvie,” the girl’s mother said softly to Jack and Annie. “I am a friend of the twins. A good friend.”

  Jack was wary. Is she really a friend? he wondered.

  Annie did not seem to have the same doubts. “Oh, wow, hi,” she said in a low voice. “We know their parents.”

  “I have never met Tom and Theo’s parents,” said Sylvie. She glanced at the table in the corner. The Nazis were laughing loudly with her daughter. “In the Resistance, we keep our personal lives secret from each other. That way, other families might avoid punishment if one of us is caught. Do the parents know what happened to their sons?”

  “No. Only that they were caught in Paris,” said Annie. “They don’t know if they’re in prison or not.”

  “Tom and Theo are not in prison. They are safe,” Sylvie whispered. “With help from others, they escaped from jail and fled to the south of France. Then they crossed over the Pyrenees mountains into Spain.”

  “That’s great!” whispered Annie.

  Jack looked at the Nazis. They were still joking with Sylvie’s daughter. Was there any chance Sylvie was working with them? What if this was a trap? Was she making up the story about Tom and Theo?

  “Are you sure that’s true?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at Sylvie.

  “I understand your caution,” Sylvie whispered. Then she slowly moved two silver spoons into the shape of a V.

  Jack nodded. Okay, he thought. He was willing to take the chance that Sylvie was telling the truth.

  Sylvie then straightened the spoons. “It is very dangerous for you to carry these flyers,” she said under her breath.

  “I know. It’s my fault,” said Annie. “I wanted to help Tom and Theo. We got caught on a train, and Jack was almost arrested. But then the tracks got blown up and we escaped.”

  Sylvie smiled. “You are brave,” she said. “In this time, even children must be brave.”

  “But helping Tom and Theo isn’t really our mission,” said Annie. “We’re trying to find a friend and help her escape to England.”

  Jack glanced again at the corner table. The Nazis were studying their menus now.

  “Is there any way I can help you?” said Sylvie.

  “Yes,” said Annie. She slipped Kathleen’s rhyme out of her pocket and put it on the table. “Our friend sent us this coded message.” Sylvie discreetly looked at the note. “The only lines we don’t understand are the last ones.”

  Jack glanced at the soldiers again. One of them looked up and his gaze rested on Sylvie. “They’re watching you,” Jack whispered.

  Sylvie nodded. Then she laughed. “So you both love apples?” she said.

  What is she talking about? Jack wondered. Is she speaking in code?

  “Yes, we love apples,” Annie said, smiling.

  “What kind of apples do you like best?” Sylvie said.

  “Um…I like Granny Smith apples,” said Annie. “So does Jack.”

  “Good, good!” said Sylvie. “Well, we have very delicious varieties of apples in this area. They have funny names, such as the Gentle Bishop and Skin of the Dog. But my favorites are the Yellow Knights and the White Calves.”

  Jack didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure how to play this game.

  Annie looked calmly at Jack. “Yellow knights,” she said, “and small, round cows.”

  “Oh…oh,” said Jack. Apples! So in her note, Kathleen was secretly writing about apples! Not knights! Not cows!

  Annie laughed. “And can we find those delicious varieties of apples somewhere near here?” she asked.

  “Oh, yes,” said Sylvie. “In fact, my bistro is on the Road of Rocks. Down the street is a deserted château with a small orchard. Beautiful Yellow Knights and White Calves grow on trees there. So perhaps that is where you will find what you’re looking for.” She casually tapped the note. Jack saw that her fingers were pointing to the line a crack in a rock beneath the boughs.

  “Cool,” Jack said. “Thank you.”

  “You’re most welcome,” said Sylvie. She stood up and straightened her apron. “Enjoy your day, children. I hope you find the apple of your dreams.”

  “With your help, I think we will,” said Jack. He glanced at the Nazis. The soldier was no longer looking at their table. He was lighting a cigarette and listening to his friends. Jack flashed a quick V Is f
or Victory sign at Sylvie. She smiled, then crossed the dining room back to the kitchen.

  “Friend,” Annie said to Jack as she put the note back into her pocket.

  “Big-time,” Jack said. He checked a clock on the wall. “It’s almost two. We have six hours left.” He took a long sip of lemonade, left some money on the table, and stood up. As he and Annie quietly slipped out of the bistro, he heard the Nazis laughing with each other.

  It was still cloudy outside. A damp wind was blowing.

  “This is the Road of Rocks,” said Annie, looking at a sign. “Now we just need to find a deserted château. What’s a château?”

  “I think it’s like a big, fancy house,” said Jack.

  “Cool,” said Annie. “Let’s find it.”

  “Oh, wait,” said Jack. “We have to do something first.”

  “What?” said Annie.

  “Come with me,” said Jack. He led the way around the bistro to an open window in the back. Through the window they saw Sylvie in the kitchen. She was stirring a pot on the stove.

  Jack looked around to make sure that no one was watching. Then he called in a loud whisper, “Sylvie!”

  She looked surprised and came over to the window. “Yes?”

  “Could you do us a favor?” said Jack. “Could you send a wireless message to the BBC?”

  She nodded.

  “Could you have it say…” Jack thought for a moment. “Have it say, Your twin unicorns are free in Spain.”

  Sylvie looked puzzled.

  “Tom and Theo,” said Jack. “Their parents will understand what that means when they hear it over their wireless. It will make them very happy.”

  “Yes,” said Sylvie. “I will do that.”

  “Thanks!” said Jack.

  “Good work!” Annie said as she and Jack slipped back around the restaurant.

  “Yep,” said Jack. “Now, a deserted château with apple trees!”

  “Onward!” said Annie.

  As they started up the Road of Rocks, Jack and Annie strolled past a couple of houses, a churchyard, and an ancient-looking cemetery. They passed a butcher shop, a bookstore, and a bakery called La Baguette.

  “I don’t get it,” said Jack. “Why would Kathleen be hiding in a cave? It seems so safe here. Why doesn’t she come out in the open?”