The Iron Storm by CW Browning (classic literature books TXT) 📕

Evelyn smiled at her sentimentality and picked up the suitcase, pulling it off the bed. She grabbed her purse with her other hand and turned to leave the room. It had been sheer luck that they’d parked on the field adjoining the farmhouse, but she was glad they had. She was glad to have spent this short time with Josephine, Marc and Luc. If nothing else, the three of them had shown her clearly that dedication and loyalty crossed the line of family and status. They had become family out of necessity, but their loyalty to each other was unquestionable. It showed Evelyn what would be needed in the long months ahead. There was no way to fight this war alone, and she was no exception.

As she went down the stairs to the ground floor, Evelyn felt a pang of envy. Josephine was settled in once place, working with the same people, building a network based on trust and loyalty. She, on the other hand, had been to three different countries in two months, not including England, and had met and worked with different people each time. Somehow she thought she’d rather have Josephine’s arrangement. Almost as soon as she thought it, though, Evelyn found herself shaking her head. No. She wouldn’t trade traveling for all the farmhouses in France. She loved it, and loved meeting different people in different cultures and societies. And she was good at it, she was discovering. She seemed to be able to make contacts and gain trust fairly easily, and none of them had any inkling that she wasn’t exactly who or what she pretended to be. That was why Bill had recruited her, for her ability to travel within Europe, speaking the languages and blending with the populace until no one would ever dream that she was, in fact, an English spy.

That was her strength, and where she could help the most in this war. While she still envied Josephine’s easy friendship with her team, Evelyn recognized that she was happiest doing what she was doing, even if it was tiring to be constantly on the move.

“I’ll take that the rest of the way,” Luc said, appearing from around the corner at the bottom of the stairs. “Go into the kitchen. Josephine made coffee and Marc has gone for fresh pastries.”

“Fresh pastries!” she exclaimed. “I feel like royalty!”

Luc laughed, taking her suitcase from her hand. “He had to go into Maubeuge early to meet with someone, so he said he’d get a few things. Bread and pastries, and some cheese and wine for you to take with you.”

“Oh that’s not necessary,” she protested. “You’ve already done enough for us!”

“He insisted. Marc likes people to think that he’s rough, but he’s not. His heart is as big as he is.”

Luc waved and went out the front door with her suitcase. Evelyn smiled and turned to go down the corridor to the kitchen, the smell of coffee greeting her as she went.

“Luc just took my suitcase and went out the door,” she said, entering the large and sunny kitchen. “I hope he’s not going to carry it all the way out to the car.”

“I brought it around to the house,” Jens said from the table. “So he’s only taking it a few feet.”

“Oh good!” Evelyn smiled at Josephine and went over to the coffee pot on the stove. “He said Marc went into Maubeuge.”

“Yes. He had to meet someone very early, so he’s bringing back some food for you to take with you.”

“That’s really not necessary, but I’m sure we’ll be glad of it later today,” Evelyn said, filling a cup.

“I’ve been looking at the map and Marle isn’t very far at all,” Jens said.

“No. It won’t take you much more than an hour to get there,” Josephine told them. “You should be on your way to Paris before evening.”

Jens smiled at Evelyn. “See that? You might be home by nightfall.”

“And you will have your first look at Paris,” she replied. “I just wish it was under better circumstances.”

“It is life right now,” he said with a shrug. “At least I am here.”

Josephine got up from the table. “I’d almost forgotten. I have that letter of introduction for you. Luc and I both signed it. I’ll go get it from the other room.”

Evelyn nodded and carried her coffee over to the table, sitting down and sipping it.

“It’s very good of her to write that letter,” Jens said. “I still feel like a fool when I think about the information I sent on to Asp.”

“Then I wouldn’t think about it,” she said with a quick smile. “You’ll take what you have now to this Marcel, and we’ll be on our way. You’ll never have to think about the retched Asp again.”

Jens nodded and fell silent for a moment, then he looked at her with an unreadable look on his face.

“What will you do if the Nazis break through and go to Paris?” he asked.

“I suppose I’ll go south to my family.”

“I don’t know what I shall do,” he said slowly. “I don’t know anyone in France, and I don’t know where to go.”

Evelyn looked across the table at him and felt a wave of sorrow go over her. He had committed treason against his government by stealing secret information to pass on to the French in the hopes that it would help them. He had risked everything to do what he could for a cause that was not his own, but that he believed in. Now he was in a strange country with no friends, no family and no idea what to do next. It was a position no one should have to be in, and yet there were hundreds of Belgians just like him, all looking for an escape from the threat of the Third Reich. She didn’t even know if he had any money with him. Aside from her, he was completely alone in the midst