Cast No Shadow, Peter Sharp [books to get back into reading txt] 📗

his own. She had joked the first time that they had made love, that two people with the same colour eyes were destined to be together.

“Don’t you agree with what we do?” A pleading note in her voice.

“You know I do!” he lied. “I’m a little grumpy this morning. Take no notice.” In reality he failed to see the point of a small group of Frenchmen and women going out at night and blowing up part of a railway line, then another group of Frenchmen going out in the morning and repairing it, whilst the bulk of the German army in France remained completely unaware that anything untoward had happened.

He understood the philosophy of providing a continuing nuisance effect and of showing the French people that there was resistance to the occupation, but sometimes it was difficult to see the point of some of the operations.

Kelly held her close a while longer, before they left the barn to join the others outside. He was to travel with Andre, a rather taciturn individual, one of the older members of the unit. Kelly liked Andre; he was a calm man who spoke quietly when he spoke at all. It helped Kelly avoid unnecessary conversation and small talk. Like many Alsatians, Andre also spoke German well.

They travelled from the village of Drulingen towards the caves of La Petite Pierre, chatting to passers-by as they met them. They were stopped at one point by a pair of Germans, their papers examined. ‘Yes, they were farm labourers making their way to the farms around Bouxwiller to find work, nothing much doing around Drulingen’. They spoke in German to the two soldiers, laughing and joking with them, leaving them with a wave that was returned. Kelly always found that speaking to the Germans in their own language seemed somehow to play to their egos. The annexed citizens seemed to fully accept and support their German masters and the Germans thrived on this. It probably wasn’t as strong as that, but there was definitely something; the atmosphere seemed to change as soon as you spoke in the German tongue.

They reached their destination before nightfall. Many of the caves were occupied by various families and had been for centuries, but there was a cave system that was always unoccupied mainly because of its unsuitability for habitation, except, thought Kelly wryly, by the resistance.

After dark they were again on the road. After collecting weapons and explosives from a ‘safe’ farm they made their way to a section of the railway line between Strasbourg and Sarrequemines. Kelly set the charges whilst the others took up all round defence. After retiring a few hundred feet, Kelly fired the charges. There was a roar as the explosives fired and they were showered with gravel and shards of wood from the sleepers.

As the smoke settled, they heard shouting and saw flashlights some distance off, and perhaps a mile down the line, shots were being fired. The Germans had laid a trap, but in the wrong place! Quickly they made their way back towards the caves as noiselessly as they could, the tension palpable. Only when they were in the relative safety of the caves did they relieve that tension by slapping and embracing each other, shaking hands and trying to contain their involuntary laughter generated by the release from fear.

Kelly joined in, but he was worried. As soon as the group settled, he raised the question of the failed ambush. How did the Germans know that they would raid tonight? Who could be informing? Was it, dare he say it, one of the group?

Andre pointed out that the whole of the group, all five of them, himself, Dan and Claude and the two girls Marie and Élise had been on the raid. If there had been an informant, that person would also have been killed if the ambush had been set in the right place. Therefore, it seemed likely that this was just a chance ambush patrol. The others agreed. Kelly admitted that it made sense, but he was still uneasy.

As he lay down to sleep, Élise arranged her bedding close to his and lay on her side looking at him, her normally flawless brow creased in concern. She knew he was unhappy. Kelly lay for some time running things over in his mind. These caves were a bad idea. The Germans knew of their existence because of the permanent residents in some of them. It would make sense, therefore, to do a search of the abandoned and uninhabited cave systems. It was such an obvious hideaway.

At length he glanced towards Élise. It was difficult to see her in the gloom, but he guessed she was asleep. He threw off the bedding and as quietly as he could, crawled out of the cave and into the open air. The sky was cloudless and there was a slight cold breeze blowing. Kelly leaned against the rock face and breathed in the cold air. A brush against his hand caused him to start and turn. Élise. She thrust her arms around him as she had done that morning and pulled herself close to him. Kelly knew that, despite everything, he was in some ways a lucky man to have the care and consideration of this delightful girl. He kissed her tenderly, and then under the stars on a rock ledge in La Petite Pierre they made love.

Rockets

Three days after Kelly finally persuaded the group to vacate the caves because of the security risk they represented, the caves were raided and searched. Kelly couldn’t help feeling slightly smug as he listened to the report from the Maquis, read by Andre.

Halfway through the report, Andre stopped and looked up from the scribbled notes directly at Kelly. “You counselled us well, Dan, and probably saved our lives.” Before Kelly could be self-deprecating, Andre went on with the report, stumbling over words as he struggled with the scribble. “They want us to move to St Omer to join