White Mouse by Nancy Wake

Author:Nancy Wake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2012-12-17T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Hubert and I were parachuted into France near Montluçon, and were taken to the nearby village of Cosne-d’Allier, where I did my meet-the-people in the village square.

I did not meet the farmer on whose property we had landed. Had the Germans made any enquiries regarding the activity so close to his farmhouse on the night in question, he wanted to be able to say he had gone to bed early and had not heard any strange noises.

Although we would have been happier and felt safer away from Cosne-d’Allier, we were waiting for someone called Hector to contact us, as he was our only link to Gaspard, the leader of the Maquis d’Auvergne. This was the group we were to work with, but we had to be taken to them by an intermediary.

By now I had given Hubert a watered-down version of my social début in the village and he was even more anxious to find another place to live. We discussed the pros and cons fully and agreed we would wait another day, but miraculously Hector arrived the next morning. Trouble in his own area had been the cause of his delay.

There was no bathroom in this old house and I had been washing myself from neck to knee in a tiny cabinet de toilette. I was tired of standing up in the cramped roomette, so I got a big basin, filled it with water, took it back to the bedroom, sat down and started to wash my feet, at the same time discussing our immediate plans with Hubert. My revolver was by my side.

In walked Hector, who took one look at me, my feet and my revolver and laughed for at least two minutes. Actually neither of us thought it was very amusing but perhaps the long delay we had experienced had made us lose our sense of humour. Every time he recounts this tale my feet get bigger and the basin gets smaller, and the last time I heard the story I had a Bren gun by my side!

We were greatly relieved to see him in spite of the fact that he did not have the information or addresses we required, but as he promised to send them with his courier in two days’ time we were both happy to think our troubles were over.

Our happiness was short-lived as the courier did not arrive. And we did not see Hector again until after the war. He was arrested, survived Buchenwald and now lives on the outskirts of Paris. Sadly we had to face the cold truth. For the time being we were up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Hubert and I both decided we would have to forget all about security and confide to a certain extent in our host Jean and his wife. This done, he thought he might be able to find Laurent’s hideout. Laurent was one of the leaders of a local Maquis group, and he would be able to take us to Gaspard, who was in charge of all the separate groups of the Maquis in the area.

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