‘How long would this go on for?’ the man beside her asked.
He received a shrug in reply. ‘Hours, days? Your guess is as good as mine. The best answer is probably until they get information out of you. Either way you’d probably be shot dead or left to rot at best.’
‘So we mustn’t get caught,’ Hazel said. ‘The point of your story is that no matter what, we mustn’t get caught, and even if we’ve been drinking we need to be able to talk ourselves out of any situation and not let even the smallest mistake give away our legend.’
‘I see we have a fast learner amongst us. Good work.’
‘Is it true that we have just as much of a chance at coming home as dying over there?’ Hazel asked.
Ralph leaned against the wall, his expression sombre. ‘It’s true. It’s about even whether you’ll make it home or not, and it’s one of the reasons we give you every opportunity to pull out if you’re not sure about what you’re doing.’
‘How many have you lost?’ she asked, needing to know more about what she’d be facing. The more she knew, the better she could deal with it all.
‘That’s not information I can share with you. But I will tell you this,’ he said, leaning forward. ‘One of our operatives, a woman who was one of our best, was under suspicion for some reason. She was caught because she looked the wrong way when she crossed the road. It was as simple as that – their suspicions were confirmed instantly when they saw that she wasn’t a true Frenchwoman.’
Hazel’s mouth went dry. The weight of what she was putting herself forward for was starting to rest more heavily on her shoulders. ‘She was killed for this?’ She had to ask the question.
‘Yes. Her life was over because of one thing she did that gave her away as not being French.’
‘I don’t believe you,’ her travelling companion said, stepping forward. ‘You’re trying to scare us on our first day to see who turns tail and runs for the hills.’
‘No, he’s not,’ Hazel said, finding her voice again. ‘We already knew the chances, we came into this knowing the odds.’
‘Take a look over these things.’ Ralph gestured at the grotesque instruments. ‘Familiarise yourself with them, train yourself to fear them enough that you won’t ever let yourself be put in a position where they’re used on you. You need to find a balance between fear and bravery, and remember that nothing is as crucial to you as living and breathing your legend, and staying smart every second of every day when you’re in the field.’
Hazel absorbed his words. She wasn’t in this to end up dead or tortured, but he hadn’t scared her any more than she’d already been scared, either. This was her calling. She’d never felt so strongly about doing anything in her life, and she didn’t even know what was required of her yet. All she knew was that whatever her field assignment was, she’d be responsible for helping to bring down the Nazis and their network, and that was all she needed to know.
‘When do we start our training?’
‘Tomorrow. If you make it until the end you’ll be here for three or four weeks. You’ll learn Morse code and be given instruction in explosives.’
A tremor ran through Hazel’s body; she didn’t know if it was fear or excitement, or perhaps a combination of the two. Never in her life had she thought she’d be learning about explosives or understanding how to translate and send codes. Yet here she was.
‘Can we make a start tonight?’ she asked.
‘You don’t get points for trying to be teacher’s pet here.’
She laughed. ‘You have me all wrong. I just want to learn everything I can to increase my odds of getting back home at the end of all this.’
She received a smile for her joke, although she noticed that her fellow prospect was not laughing. He had his arms folded across his chest, and his face was impossible to read, mouth in a tight line.
‘What is it you want to learn first?’
‘I want to know how to protect myself,’ she said. ‘If I’m caught and there’s a chance of surviving, I want to know what to do.’
She’d always been the friendly girl, the happy girl, the girl who’d make a lovely wife and was a good best friend. But here, it was like she was playing a character, being someone she’d never dreamed she could be, and she liked this stronger version of herself.
‘You’ll need to pass beyond this level to get to weapons training, but I promise you that we’ll teach you everything we can while you’re here.’
She opened her mouth to say something in reply, then shut it when he started to speak again.
‘To be honest, as useful as all that will be, your ability to speak perfect French and blend into your surroundings without being discovered is the best weapon you have. I can’t stress enough that you must practise your language skills and become up to date on the current situation in France. The more you know, the more chance you have of not being discovered.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, relieved. If there was one thing she knew, one thing she’d excelled at in school and when she’d been sent abroad, it was how to speak perfect French and be mistaken for a local.
CHAPTER SIX
ROSE
