Silent Killing

by Shiralyn J. Lee

  Carl slowed the car down, and driving through the last portion of the thick forest, they drove into an open space, where he brought the car to a stop.

  “Ah, you’ll be glad to know that we’re here,” George informed her.

  Carl stepped out of the car and then opened the back passenger door for the two occupants to get out, and then opening the boot he handed them their relative suitcases. “They’ll be waiting for you inside,” he told them.

  The air smelt earthy from the damp mossy ground and hints of pine drifted across with the cool night breeze.

  “Ready?” George asked her, holding his hand out in front of him to lead the way.

  Alice followed closely behind him as they walked towards a single-level, white painted brick building. Inside, he led her along a narrow hallway, until they reached a closed door at the end. He wrapped his knuckles twice on the door and waited for the command to enter. Two men, both dressed in military uniforms, were sat behind a large oak desk. The room itself—plain white bricked walls, a collection of foldable chairs in the centre and a large map on the wall behind them. Happy to see the pair, they both rose from their seats when Alice and George entered and stood in front of the desk.

  “It’s good to see you again, George,” Colonel Simms said, holding his hand out to shake.

  George shook both of their hands. “Yes, Colonel, and you too, Sergeant Todd.”

  Sergeant Todd pushed a book out of his way on the oak desk and sat on the edge. He plucked his spectacles from his face, pulled a handkerchief from his trouser pocket and wiped the lenses clean, then placed them back on his face. “Alice Bennet,” he said, nodding with approval. “You must be exhausted after such a long journey, I do hope that Mr. Hamilton hasn’t taken up too much of your time, boring you with his witty charisma?”

  Her eyes gazed at Colonel Simms, then roamed across to Sergeant Todd. “I can’t complain,” she answered firmly. “Although I would disagree with your remark of his wit being boring.”

  “A sense of humour, good to know,” the Colonel said, smiling pleasantly at her. “Please, take a seat, both of you,” he offered, sitting back down in his own chair. “I’ll keep this as brief as possible, as I’m sure you’re both in need of a good night’s sleep. As you are probably aware, Miss. Bennet, your brother Arnold, an extremely brave man and, may I add, a hero who died for his country, worked for us. Everything he did and that we do, is top secret. You will only be informed of what you need to know, I hope that aspect is perfectly clear?”

  Alice sat down on a wooden chair in the front row, placing her suitcase next to her on the floor. She nodded that she understood the information so far. George sat next to her. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his jacket. “Am I allowed to know how my brother died,” she asked the Colonel directly.

  The Sergeant turned his head to look down at the Colonel. The Colonel gave a single nod. “He was on a mission in France. Yes, I know you were sent a telegram, stating that he died on the front line but we couldn’t allow anyone to know of our existence, or what we do here. It’s easier to intercept the truth, when necessary. He died in an ambush in Dieppe. He had been double-crossed by one of our own spies, unfortunately, this does happen. I know that it doesn’t make it any easier for you to hear, Miss. Bennet, but as I said, he died during a brave act. I only wish that we could award him a medal for his bravery.”

  Alice lowered her saddened eyes. Quietly, she said, “Where is his body?”

  George coughed politely to interrupt. Although he’d only known Alice for a matter of days, he felt that he was the closest person whom she could portray as a friend. “His body would have been cremated in Dieppe. I’m afraid that the work we do is top secret, and retrieving his body would again draw attention to our cause. I’m sincerely sorry, Alice.”

  “I understand, George. I’m just hearing about my brother’s death for the first time and it’s a hard fact to absorb so easily. So he was a spy? Is that what you expect of me? Am I to assume that I’m to enter a German occupied country and spy for you?”

  Colonel Simms leaned forward. He placed his hands flat on the top of the desk. “We do have a certain kind of mission in mind but for the time being, you’ll be here training physically, learning to shoot a gun, how to defend yourself and how to kill without anyone being alerted to your presence. There’s much more to this, but for now, I think you should get some sleep. We do have other women here, they work as radio operators and decode messages. You’ll be sleeping in the women’s barracks along with them.”

  Shocked at the revelation that she was expected to kill someone—a thought that hadn’t actually crossed her mind, she drew in a sharp breath, reached for the pearl necklace that she was wearing and apprehensively fiddled with it. “I hadn’t counted on the thought of actually killing someone. I mean, I’ve never had that in me, the notion that I would be put in a position to take someone else’s life. I’m not sure that this is something that I can do.”

  The Colonel rose from his chair and walked over to the door. He opened it and motioned for someone to come in. “Miss. Bennet, or rather, Alice. This is Martha Jones, she’ll walk you over to the women’s barracks. I expect you to have a good night’s sleep and tomorrow we’ll begin your rigorous training. And one more thing. The war has changed so many of us, whether military or civilian. You’ll be surprised at what you are actually capable of when faced with certain dilemmas.”

  Martha, a woman in uniform, yet still elegant and graceful, smiled at Alice. “Come this way,” she told her. She led her out of the building and holding a torch to light their way, she walked Alice across the gravelled pathway and over to the women’s barracks. “We have teams so that we can work around the clock twenty-four hours. I’m afraid that the war and those who fight in it, don’t consider the time factors. Now, you’ll find the women here to be of professional conduct, even though this is a British run camp, most of them are Canadian but we do have one, or two British women and there’s also an American. We’re quite a mixed bag.”

  “By the high presence of security, am I to take it that there’s no leaving the camp freely?”

  “We do prefer our staff to remain here, as the less people who know of our existence on the outside, the better. There are some Canadian women who live close enough to bicycle here but even they prefer to stay, as the forest at night really isn’t a safe place, not with bears and coyotes prowling through the forest. Everyone here has signed a secrecy act, so tomorrow morning that will be the first thing that you’ll be doing. If you were to divulge to anyone, anything that you know of this place, even that it even exists, it will be considered an act of treason, so please, adhere to the rules and the secrecy act.”

  The women’s barracks—a brick building painted green, to blend in with the forest, offered little in the way of a comforting home. It was plain and quite clinical in appearance. Martha held the door open for Alice to enter. Inside, everything was neat and orderly. Cots, ten on each side of the room, with army provision bedding, a tall locker to hang clothes in on one side and the other side of the cot, a small chest of drawers. Still using the torch, Martha quietly showed Alice to her assigned cot, as there were several women who were sleeping.

  “Thank you,” Alice whispered. “You’ve been very kind.”

  “It’s my job. Now, you can hang your outfits in here and anything else will go in the drawers. You can have your personal items on display, such as a photograph of a loved one, or your favourite romantic novel. Now, as soon as you’ve unpacked, you should get straight to sleep.” She patted Alice on her arm, then opened the top drawer of the chest. She pulled out a torch and turned it on. “Here, you’ll need this to see what you’re doing.” She placed the torch on its butt end, so that the light shone upwards and didn’t disturb any of the women who were sleeping. “Well, good night, Alice,” she whispered and then quietly and respectfully walked past the cots and out of the barracks.

  Alice placed her suitcase on top of the bed. Sh
e snapped open the locks, looking around to make sure that she didn’t disturb anyone. Then she opened the locker door and grabbed some of the wooden hangers—hurriedly hanging her outfits on them and then put her personal items in the drawers and her shoes in the bottom of the locker. She placed a framed photograph of her brother, her hairbrush and a book on top of the chest, positioning them tastefully, then undressed, folded her clothes into the top drawer, put on her nightgown and placed her suitcase beneath the cot. Prising back the blanket and sheet on the cot, she slipped into bed, turned the torch off and within minutes, she was fast asleep.

  Chapter Three

  Before the morning light had broken through the dark dawn sky, Alice stirred after hearing whispering voices coming from across the room. She opened her eyes. There were two women standing by their cots, dressing into their khaki serge-wool uniforms. They were trying to converse as quietly as possible and hadn’t realised that they had disturbed the new recruit. She studied them—watched their mouths move, as they passed pleasantries between themselves and observed their mannerisms. One of the women wore red lipstick, whereas the other had a plainer look about herself. Both of them had neatly pinned their hair back and positioned their dress-caps perfectly.

  “I sat polishing these brass buttons for ages last night,” the plain woman mentioned, as she held her tunic jacket out in front of her, inspecting it for any blemishes.

  The other woman, her back to her friend and buttoning up her jacket, glanced over her shoulder and smirked. “And just who are you trying to impress?”

  The plain woman slipped her arms into her jacket and hurriedly buttoned it up. “I quite resent that remark.” Arching her eyebrow and presenting her colleague with a mischievous smile, she scanned the room for any would be prying eyes. “Well, if you must know, that Mr. Hamilton is here again, I saw him arrive late in the night. A girl has to look her best when the opportunity arises. Mind you though, he was with a woman.” She looked over at Alice, thinking that she was asleep, she nodded in her direction.

  Alice pretended that she was still asleep and remained still.

  The other woman looked over at her. Her eyes scanned Alice’s face for a few moments. “She’s a pretty little spark, isn’t she?” she whispered even lower.

  The plain woman surveyed Alice’s looks. “I suppose she is.” She turned her head slightly, to survey her colleague. “Is she your type?”

  Before the conversation could continue, Martha entered the barracks. Holding some folded clothing in her arms, she nodded and smiled at the two women and then veered straight to Alice’s cot. Believing that she was still sleeping, she gave her a slight nudge. “Alice,” she said quietly, bending over her.

  Alice turned over and pretended that Martha had woken her. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Good morning, Martha.”

  Martha smiled. “Why don’t you go and freshen yourself up and then put these clothes on. The Colonel has instructed me that you’ll be starting your training immediately. I can’t promise that you’re going to have an easy time of it, so be prepared for some gruelling drills.”

  Alice sat up in her cot—her owl-like eyes blinked, then immediately looked at the two women, who in return, stopped whispering. “Martha,” her words uttered through her breath, as she turned back to look at Martha. “What does George do?”

  Martha placed the clothing on the end of Alice’s cot. “Let’s just concentrate on what you’re going to be doing, shall we?” She turned to walk away—looking back over her shoulder, she said politely, “The colonel’s waiting for you.”

  The two women, side-by-side, walked quietly past Alice’s cot. The woman wearing the lipstick made sure to make brief eye contact with her—her red lips parted slightly, breaking into a friendly smile.

  Alice, her eyes hooked on the exchanging glance, ruffled the blankets away from her and slipped her feet out onto the cold wooden floor but her gaze was abruptly broken. A tree branch tapped the glass window pane as a gust of wind had picked up outside and howled through the hollows of the building. Startled, she turned quickly to look at the window behind her. Seeing that it was nothing to worry about, she immediately turned to look back at the woman, who had already exited the building.

  •••

  After washing her face and brushing her teeth, Alice dressed in the khaki uniform that she had been given by Martha—a pair of culottes, a shirt, a cropped jacket and a pair of brown leather brogue-style shoes. Seeing that others were now sleeping in their cots, she quietly made her way to the door and exited the building.

  The high wind whipped up—trees swayed sideways and leaves flitted through the gust as the airstream ripped them from the branches. Alice held on to her cap, as she made her way across the gravel. She looked around her, sighting the other four brick buildings, all built in close proximity to each other. There were three cars parked at the side of the building she was headed for and bicycles propped against its wall. Two women stood outside by the main entrance, chatting and smoking cigarettes and to the left—a field cordoned off with fencing and several men crawling across the grass on their bellies, holding rifles in their hands. The two women stepped aside as she entered the building. Everything appeared different in the daylight. She hadn’t noticed the maps placed on the corridor walls, nor had she seen the operators intercepting Morse-code messages in a room to the side when she had left the previous night.

  As she pushed open the glass-panelled door, the woman from the barracks with red lipstick was headed towards her. Her rich chocolate-brown eyes, spaced evenly apart beneath thinly plucked eyebrows, shaped into a perfect curve, were locked onto Alice’s, her smile, slight but friendly. Her pace stopped when she reached Alice. “The Colonel’s waiting for you in his office,” she told her in a subtle tone. “I’m Vera Bradshaw, by the way. No need for introductions, I already know who you are.” She held out her hand for Alice to shake.

  Alice responded and shook her hand. “Well everyone certainly seems to be friendly, so far.”

  Vera stood tall with certitude. Her smile extended across her face, defining her narrow pinched nose and the cute creases that appeared on the sides. A small scar beneath her left eye became prominent as her cheeks raised. She knew that it was noticeable when Alice’s eyes lowered slightly. Feeling vulnerable, she raised her hand and placed her slender fingers over the unsightly mark, feeling the groove. “I received this wound on a mission in France, if that’s what you’re looking at?”

  Embarrassed, Alice diverted her eyes. “Please forgive my ignorance.”

  “Tell me without looking at my face again. Describe everything that you’ve noted about me in the few seconds that you had to absorb any details.”

  Alice lowered her face and closed her eyes. “Your straight hair is the colour of honey-wheat, your eyes brown, the darkest brown there is, you pluck your eyebrows and shape them neatly to accentuate the shape of your eyes, your nose is narrow and creases when you smile, your skin tone pale, your lips thin and coated in red lipstick. The scar below your left eye, a single neat plain line, extending from the corner of your eye to the centre. Your fingers are long and slender, your structure lean, and your personality is charismatic. You seem to have the knack of effortlessly winning over the affections of others and there’s a secret. I’m not yet sure if it’s a dark secret but one exists and it’s something to do with your liking women.”

  Intrigued, Vera tilted her head. “You have memorised well but I am confused as to how you assume that I can effortlessly win the affections of others when you don’t even know me and how you have deduced that I like women.”

  Alice slowly opened her eyes and raised her face to look at Vera. “I must go now, I’ve kept the Colonel waiting long enough.” She bypassed Vera and continued on her way to his office.

  Vera turned her head—keeping it low, she glanced past her shoulder, her eyes following the path of Alice’s. “A man did this to me. A traitor amongst us. Oh, he’s paid the price with his own life, I did no
t hesitate in taking it. Mark my words, if you were to find yourself in such a situation, it’s imperative that you must be prepared for the consequences.”

  Alice stopped walking. Without turning, she replied, “Isn’t that why I’m here?” She then carried on to the Colonel’s office.

  •••

  Knocking on the office door, the Colonel called for her to enter. Alice opened it and entered. She was presented with Colonel Simms, who was seated behind his desk and Sergeant Todd, who was standing in front of it.

  “Good morning, Miss. Bennet. Please, make yourself comfortable and take a seat. Sergeant Todd, that will be all for now, thank you.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” he said. “Morning, Miss. Bennet.” He walked over to the door and left the room.

  The Colonel opened a card file. Inside it, documents that were to be signed. He sifted through them and then pointed out where each one was to be signed. “These are official secrecy acts, you must sign them before we can proceed any further.”

  Alice lifted her hand and slid the files across the desk towards her. Reading over the words carefully, she was assured that as long as she didn’t speak of, or repeat anything that she was to be taught, the contract was mainly asking her to keep her silence. She picked up the pen and signed her name.

  “You will be shown to the mess hall, where you will eat breakfast and then shortly after, your first training session will commence.” He stood up and made his way to the door—opening it, he called for Miss. Bradshaw.

  Vera entered the room moments later. Standing—almost stiffened, she held her arms rigidly at her sides. “Yes, Sir?”

  “Ah, Miss. Bradshaw, I’d like you to show Miss. Bennet to the mess hall and then once she’s eaten, take her straight over to Sergeant Todd.”

  “Yes, Sir.” She looked down at Alice. “Would you care to follow me?”

  Alice nodded. Before leaving, she asked the Colonel, “Is George still here?”