The Ariadne Objective by Wes Davis

Author:Wes Davis [Davis, Wes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-46015-8
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2013-11-12T05:00:00+00:00

SOON AFTER HE arrived in Cairo to await reassignment to SOE, Moss began to hear horrifying news from the desert where the Coldstream Guards were still engaged in heavy fighting. One day an old acquaintance turned up with his left arm blown off and told him that three other comrades of theirs had been killed in action, including the closest friend Moss had ever had. A few days later he met another friend, whose right arm had been blown off, who reported still more casualties. It was utterly devastating news, and by his own theory it would be a long time before he could see it all clearly.

At the time, Moss was engaged to a young woman named Patsy, who was supposed to come out to meet him. He took a room above the cinema at Shepheard’s Hotel, bought a ring he could not afford, and waited, but she never arrived. His assignment to SOE came through on September 24, and there was still no sign of Patsy. Soon, however, a letter arrived from her breaking off the engagement. Moss sold the ring and used the money to finance two more weeks at Shepheard’s, before moving to his SOE quarters. But it was not long before he began plotting to move out of Hangover Hall. By chance he found an airy villa in a leafy neighborhood north of the Gezira Sporting Club, which was practically a second home to the British officers stationed in Cairo.

At first he moved in alone, then began recruiting a handful of SOE officers to join him and pitch in on the rent. Paddy Leigh Fermor signed on right away. But he and Moss worried that the house would fall into shambles when they were sent into the field. If they could convince a few women to share the place, they reasoned, it would remain occupied as the men came and went on various missions. They had asked two of the young English women who worked with SOE, but they were still making up their minds when Moss decided to ask a young Polish countess, in Cairo working with the Red Cross, whom he had met earlier that summer.

Sophie Tarnowska was a striking, slender woman with shoulder-length fair hair swept back from her face. She had remarkable green eyes and a smooth high forehead. Even her hands were beautiful. She spoke English with a charming accent. Her manner was graceful and self-assured but also lighthearted. Moss had to admit that she was as captivating a woman as he had ever met, but she also managed to seem like one of the boys.

Moss and Leigh Fermor were happy when Sophie accepted the invitation to join the new household that was forming in Gezira. But then, when the time came to move in, the other two women backed out, and it looked as if the plan would fall through. Sophie worried about the impression that might arise if she was the only woman living in a villa full of men.

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