by Hilary Green
‘No chance!’ Xavier said. ‘The Maquis Serge tried that outside Tannay a few days back and the Boche were waiting for them. They lost four men. The Boche must be guarding all the locks.’
‘No!’ Luke said. ‘Not all of them. The Boche knew something was going to happen there and they were waiting.’
‘What do you know about it?’ the first speaker enquired irritably.
‘We were there,’ Luke said. ‘We had just gone into the lock, when the firing started. Luckily for us, the lock was emptying so we were able to shelter at the bottom until it was over. But it was obvious that the lock-keeper had tipped the Germans off.’
‘What makes you say that?’ Gregoire asked.
‘After it was all over, we saw him chatting to the officer in charge. They were obviously on good terms.’
‘The swine!’ Xavier exclaimed. ‘The filthy collaborator!’
‘Let’s give him a taste of his own medicine,’ someone shouted. ‘We’ll blow up his lock and kill the bastard.’
There was a general yell of agreement and Xavier grinned broadly. ‘OK. That’s our first target settled.’
‘Oh no!’ Christine had kept silent with difficulty but she could hold back no longer. ‘Please don’t do that!’
‘What’s the matter?’ someone jeered. ‘Don’t like loud bangs? Don’t worry, you won’t be able to hear it from here.’
‘It’s not that!’ she shouted back. ‘I just don’t think it’s a good idea to attack the canals.’
‘Why not, Chris?’ Gregoire asked.
‘Well, what about the boat people who earn their living there? It’s not fair on them. And they help to move refugees, like us, and downed airmen, so they can get back to carry on with the fight. If you blow up the locks they won’t be able to do that.’
Gregoire shook his head, not unsympathetically.
‘I understand your point, but it is true that the canals are used to transport vital construction materials for enemy bases and airfields. I’m afraid we can’t let the possible rescue of one or two airmen weigh against that. And as for the men and women who work on the canals, what about the people who work on the railways, or in the factories that we want to target? We shall do our best to avoid civilian casualties, but I’m afraid they have to accept a certain amount of disruption in the fight for freedom. The canals are a legitimate target.’
‘Then we go tonight!’ Xavier said and his men cheered.
‘There’s just one thing,’ Gregoire put in. ‘I appreciate how you feel about the lock-keeper, but you can’t go shooting him out of hand. We are not bandits. We have to abide by some kind of law. Everyone is entitled to a fair hearing. Capture him and bring him back here and you can try him, and if he’s found guilty then it is in your hands to punish him as you think fit. Besides, he may have some useful information for us.’
Xavier grunted. ‘OK. We’ll bring him back and you can see what you can get out of him. But it’ll come to the same thing in the end.’
‘That’s up to you,’ Gregoire responded. ‘But bear in mind, you are fighting for freedom – and that includes the freedom to be given a fair trial. Now, let’s have a look at the map and I’ll show you the other targets I have in mind.’
The two men retired to the tent where Cyrano worked, and Xavier summoned the two others who seemed to be accepted as his lieutenants. Soon all their heads were bent over the maps. The rest broke up into groups, eagerly discussing their own suggestions.
Christine caught Luke’s sleeve as he was about to join one of the groups.
‘Luke, do you think he’s right? Are the canals legitimate targets?’
‘Of course they are,’ he said crossly. ‘I do wish you’d stop putting your oar in. It’s not up to us. We’re just hangers-on as far as the Maquisards are concerned.’
‘You put your oar in, as you put it,’ she said. ‘You told them about the fight at the lock.’
‘That’s different,’ he insisted. ‘That was useful intelligence. And besides….’ He trailed off.
‘Besides what?’ she demanded.
‘It’s different, that’s all,’ he mumbled lamely.
‘You mean it’s different because I’m a girl and you’re one of the chaps now.’
‘No! Well, yes, sort of. I mean, I wish you’d behave more like a girl. Some of the men … I’ve heard them making jokes. It’s embarrassing.’
She looked at him, swallowing back tears. Then anger came to her rescue.
‘Well, I’m sorry if I embarrass you! I’ll keep out of your way in future.’ She turned away and walked off to the far side of the camp, wishing there was somewhere she could go to be alone. He did not come after her.
By sunset, all the preparations had been made and the men were ready to leave. Luke had asked for and been given permission to join them. Christine had not even bothered to ask. The whole party assembled at the ‘garage’ and piled into the assorted vehicles parked there.
She had been tempted to stay in the camp, but she realized that it would look as if she was sulking, so she went along to wish them luck. The two gazogène vans had been started some time before, as they needed a long time to warm up; the rest burst into life with gratifying promptness, except for one of the elderly Citroëns.
Jean-Claude hailed her. ‘Mademoiselle Christine! Come here, please. We need your expert help.’
Christine peered under the bonnet. A quick check showed her that no leads had come loose and she had cleaned the plugs herself. She pulled out one of the points.
‘This is the problem. They are so badly pitted, it’s no wonder the car won’t start.’
‘Can you mend them?’
‘Not a chance, I’m afraid. They need replacing.’
‘Merde!’ exclaimed the would-be driver of the car. ‘We’ll have to leave it. Come on, lads! We’ll just have to squeeze in with the others.’
They hurried away and Christine looked around for her brother. He was just about to swing himself over the tailboard of one of the trucks. It suddenly came to her that he was about to set out on a dangerous mission. She called his name and he paused and waited until she reached him.
‘You will be careful, won’t you? I mean, I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.’
His face, which had expressed barely controlled impatience, softened and he touched her arm.
‘Don’t worry, Sis. I won’t take any risks. You’ll see. I’ll be back in an hour or two.’
He climbed aboard and she watched as the whole convoy drove away down the forest track and disappeared from sight. Then she wandered back to the almost deserted camp. Cyrano had just returned from his nightly ‘sked’ and was at work decoding the messages. She was tempted to join him, but she had learned that he hated to be distracted from a job that required total concentration. So she sat by the camp fire, gloomily contemplating her lot. After a while, he came to sit beside her.
‘Penny for them?’
She shrugged. ‘Not worth it.’ To her annoyance, her voice sounded husky.
‘Hey, come on! What’s the matter? You’re not worrying about Luke, are you? He’ll be all right, you know. Gregoire knows he’s inexperienced. He’ll make sure he’s kept well out of the firing line.’
‘I suppose,’ she muttered and added, ‘I keep thinking about the Pasquiers, and Bernard and Marie who helped us before. How will they earn a living if the canals are closed?’
‘Oh,’ he chuckled softly, ‘you needn’t trouble yourself about that. The Germans can’t afford to have them closed for long. Xavier and his men may blow the lock tonight, but by tomorrow the Boche will have a working party out there repairing it. In a few days, it’ll be fixed.’
‘It’s a bit of a waste of time, then, isn’t it?’
‘No, because while the Boche are putting right any damage we do, they can’t be using the same resources to build new airstrips or other infrastructure. The busier we can keep them, the more men and materials we tie up.’
&
nbsp; ‘I see.’ She made an effort to smile. ‘That makes sense.’
He looked at her closely. ‘There’s something else, isn’t there. What is it?’
She turned her face away. ‘Nothing. Just.…’
‘Just what?’
‘Oh, I’m fed up with being a girl. Everybody thinks I’m useless, just because I’m not a man.’
‘That’s not true!’ he exclaimed. ‘You serviced all the cars, didn’t you? None of the men had any idea how to do it. And you pulled your weight on the parachutage. Gregoire was very impressed.’
‘Was he?’
‘Certainly. And if it’s any help, as far as I’m concerned, you’re an honorary chap.’ He put his arm round her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. ‘There. Feeling better?’
She glanced into his face, then inched a little further away.
‘Yes, thanks. Much better.’ And for the life of her she could not understand why that was not true.
The sabotage party arrived back just after midnight and she could hear them singing as they parked the vehicles. They trooped back into the clearing, bringing in their midst a pathetic figure whom she recognized as the lock-keeper. He was visibly shaking and begging for mercy. Luke came to find her, his face flushed and his eyes glowing.
‘Success?’ she asked, unnecessarily.
‘Oh yes. Piece of cake, really.’ His casual tone belied his expression. ‘Not a shot fired. Xavier and three of the others just knocked at the door of the lock-keeper’s cottage and when he opened it they shoved the muzzle of a rifle in his gut and marched him back to where the rest of us were waiting. Then we fixed the explosive charges with a ten minute fuse and got well away before it went up.’
‘So, you didn’t actually see what happened?’
‘Yes we did. We parked up on the edge of the forest, where we had a good view down to the canal. There was a bit of a delay and then boom! A big flash and terrific noise. I bet it shook the locals, and any German patrols that were around.’
‘But you couldn’t tell how much damage it had done from there, could you? she queried.
‘Oh, it blew the lock gates off all right. We could see the water flooding the banks of the canal downstream. The moonlight reflected off it.’
She looked across the clearing to where the lock-keeper was being tied to a tree.
‘What do you think will happen to him?’
‘There will be a trial. Gregoire will insist on that. But there’s no doubt about his guilt. I imagine he’ll be shot.’
‘Luke, has it occurred to you that the only evidence against him comes from us?’
He glanced at her and then away.
‘Well, there’s no doubt in my mind. He deserves whatever is coming to him.’
The trial took place immediately after breakfast the following morning. Chairs were set out for Xavier and Gregoire and the rest of the men gathered round squatting on logs. A third chair was offered to Cyrano but he declined, so one of the older members of the Maquis, a man called Alphonse, was co-opted as the third judge. The lock-keeper was untied from the tree, where he had spent the night under guard, and dragged into the centre of the circle.
‘You are charged with collaboration with the enemy,’ Xavier said solemnly. ‘You knew there was going to be an attack on the lock and you warned the Germans, so that they were lying in wait. A firefight followed, in which four patriots were killed. How do you plead? Guilty or not guilty?’
‘It wasn’t my fault,’ the man babbled. ‘How did I know there was going to be an attack? The German patrol just happened to be there.’
‘Guilty or not guilty,’ Xavier persisted.
‘Not guilty.’
‘I call the first witness. M. Serge, please step forward.’
A man whom Christine had not previously noticed stood up. He was a littler older than most of the others and his upright bearing suggested a military background.
‘I am the leader of the Maquis Serge. On the fifteenth of May, my men and I planned to attack the lock at Tannay. We did not wish to cause any civilian casualties, so we warned the lock-keeper, the accused, to keep out of the way. When we arrived, we were immediately confronted by an armed German patrol, which was obviously lying in wait for us. In the ensuing fight, four of my men were killed.’
‘Thank you, Monsieur. So, that disposes of the excuse that you did not know what was going to happen. What do you have to say?’
‘The Boche just happened to be there. What else could I do? They threatened to shoot me if I didn’t keep quiet.’
‘That is another lie. We have a witness who saw you fraternising with the enemy after the attack. I call M. Luke to give evidence.’
Luke stumbled to his feet, his face first red and then pale.
‘Tell us what happened when you were passing through the lock.’
‘We had to lie low at the bottom of the lock while the fight was going on. But after it was all over we saw him – the accused – talking to the German officer.’
‘Did it seem as though he had been forced to co-operate with them?’
‘No, they seemed very friendly. They were sharing cigarettes and laughing.’
‘Thank you. That is all.’ Xavier conferred briefly with his fellow judges, then continued. ‘You have been found guilty. The verdict of this court is that you be shot as a traitor to France.’
There was a growl of general approbation and the two men guarding the prisoner grabbed him by the arms and marched him off into the woods. Xavier called several names and the men chosen picked up their rifles and followed him.
Christine, numb with shock, saw one of them thrust a spade into the lock-keeper’s hands. She looked at Gregoire and saw that he was already heading in the opposite direction, towards his car; while Cyrano had returned to his table in the tent. She looked at her brother.
‘This is horrible!’
‘It’s called justice,’ he replied brusquely, but she saw that he had gone pale.
There was a pause in which the sound of digging could be heard. The whole Maquis waited and no one spoke. Then came the sound of shots and there was a collective exhalation, as if they had all been holding their breath, and the group dispersed about their normal tasks. Xavier returned, grim faced, and in the forest, spades could be heard at work again. Christine looked at Luke.
He got to his feet. ‘That’s over. I’m going to the range to practise.’
Once again, Christine found herself at a loose end. She decided on an impulse to go exploring. A walk in the woods would be good exercise; it would keep her mind off what had just happened. She wondered briefly if she should tell someone what she intended, but decided against it on the grounds that she would probably be forbidden to go. She set off along the track that led past the ‘garage’. As she reached it a voice hailed her.
‘Mademoiselle Christine!’ Jean Claude ran across to met her. ‘You remember what you said about replacing the points in the Citroën?’
‘Yes.’
‘I have a friend, an old school friend, who works in a garage in Montsauche. He might be able to help.’
‘I don’t see what good that is,’ she responded. ‘How would we get in touch with him?’
‘That’s easy! We can drive down there now in the van.’
‘Drive into a town? Can we do that?’
‘Of course. How do you think we get our supplies?’
‘But what about the Germans. Suppose we get stopped.’
He grinned. ‘There aren’t any Germans in the Morvan.’
‘None at all? Are you sure?’
‘Oh yes. There are German garrisons in Nevers and Château Chinon and from time to time they send patrols through this area, but they stick to the main roads. They know we are in control everywhere else. They don’t risk venturing into the forest. And all the local people are on our side, so we soon get to know if there are any about.’
‘Well, if you’re sure about that, I suppose it’s worth a try.’
‘Let’s go, then.’
She hesitated a moment. Luke would wonder where she was. But then he was occupied on the rifle range and wasn’t bothered about her, and Gregoire had vanished as he so often did and Cyrano was busy.
‘OK. Let’s go!’
As they bumped down the forest track, she said, ‘Who was that man who said his group had been betrayed by the lock-keeper?’
Jean Claude looked puzzled. ‘Serge? He’s the head of the Maquis Serge, obviously.’
‘You mean there are other groups in the area? I thought there was just Xavier’s and the Maquis Vincent.’
‘Oh no. There are groups scattered all over the Morvan: Maquis Serge, Maquis Jean, Maquis Bernard, Maquis Socrate. There may be others but those are the ones I know of. Of course, those aren’t their real names, any more than Xavier is really called Xavier.’
‘What is his real name, then?’
‘I’ve no idea. Does it matter?’
‘Why don’t you all amalgamate and make one big force? Surely that would make you more effective.’
‘Move everyone together into one big camp? Then if the Boche decided to attack they could wipe us all out. This way, if they manage to locate one group, the others are still safe and the Boche have no idea where we are hiding or where the next attack is coming from.’
Christine nodded. ‘Yes, that makes sense. I see now.’
They came out of the forest onto a road and she said, ‘So you are really able to drive around without worrying about running into a German patrol?’
‘I told you, there are no Germans in the Morvan.’ The van rounded a bend and Jean Claude stood on the brakes. ‘Merde!’
Ahead of them, a convoy of German trucks and armoured cars was drawn up on the side of the road. The soldiers had left the vehicles and were lounging on the verge, smoking and chatting. So far, they showed no sign of having noticed the van.
‘Don’t stop!’ Christine said quickly. ‘If you do, it will look suspicious. Drive on past them. After all, this is just a harmless-looking butcher’s van. If anyone asks, you’ve just been out delivering orders.’
Jean Claude glanced sideways at her, his face pale, but he nodded and let in the clutch. The van drove slowly past the convoy and none of the men gave it more than a second glance. Just ahead of them was a T-junction, and on the corner there was a garage. As they passed it they saw why the convoy had halted; a staff car was drawn up on the forecourt and a sweating mechanic was struggling with one of the wheels, while a German officer paced around and a corporal, presumably his driver, stood watching.
