Jackdaws

Paul laughed. “You guys,” he said. “You crack me up.” An army cook arrived at half past six, and before long they were sitting around the big table eating fried eggs and thick rashers of bacon. Food was not rationed for secret agents: they needed to build up their reserves. Once they went into action, they might have to go for days without proper nourishment.

The girls came down one by one. Flick was startled by her first sight of Maude Valentine: neither Percy nor Paul had said how pretty she was. She appeared immaculately dressed and scented, her rosebud mouth accentuated by bright lipstick, looking as if she were off to lunch at the Savoy. She sat next to Paul and said with a suggestive air, “Sleep well, Major?”

Flick was relieved to see the dark pirate face of Ruby Romain. She would not have been surprised to learn that Ruby had run off in the night, never to be seen again. Of course, Ruby could then be rearrested for the murder. She had not been pardoned: rather, the charges had been dropped. They could always be picked up again. That ought to keep Ruby from disappearing, but she was as tough as a boot, and she might have decided to take the chance.

Jelly Knight looked her age, this early in the morning. She sat beside Percy and gave him a fond smile. “I suppose you slept like a top,” she said.

“Clear conscience,” he replied.

She laughed. “You haven’t got a bloody conscience.” The cook offered her a plate of bacon and eggs, but she made a face. “No, thank you, dear,” she said. “I’ve got to watch my figure.” Her breakfast was a cup of tea and several cigarettes.

When Greta came through the door, Flick held her breath.

She wore a pretty cotton dress with a small false bosom. A pink cardigan softened her shoulder line and a chiffon scarf concealed her masculine throat. She wore the short dark wig. Her face was heavily powdered, but she had used only a little lipstick and eye makeup. By contrast with her sassy on-stage personality, today she was playing the part of a rather plain young woman who was perhaps a little embarrassed about being so tall. Flick introduced her and watched the reactions of the other women. This was the first test of Greta’s impersonation.

They all smiled pleasantly, showing no sign that they saw anything wrong, and Flick breathed easier.

Along with Maude, the other woman Flick had not met before was Lady Denise Bowyer. Percy had interviewed her at Hendon and had recruited her despite signs that she was indiscreet. She turned out to be a plain girl with a lot of dark hair and a defiant air. Although she was the daughter of a marquess, she lacked the easy self-confidence typical of upper-class girls. Flick felt a little sorry for her, but Denise was too charmless to be likable.

This is my team, Flick thought: one flirt, one murderess, one safebreaker, one female impersonator, and one awkward aristocrat. There was someone missing, she realized: the other aristocrat. Diana had not appeared. And it was now half past seven.

Flick said to Percy, “You did tell Diana that reveille was at six?”

“I told everyone.”

“And I banged on her door at a quarter past.” Flick stood up. “I’d better check on her. Bedroom Ten, right?”

She went upstairs and knocked at Diana’s door. There was no response, so she went in. The room looked as if a bomb had hit it-a suitcase open on the rumpled bed, pillows on the floor, knickers on the dressing table-but Flick knew this was normal. Diana had always been surrounded by people whose job it was to tidy up after her. Flick’s mother had been one of those people. No, Diana had simply gone off somewhere. She was going to have to realize that her time was no longer her own, flick thought with irritation.

“She’s disappeared,” she told the others. “We’ll start without her.” She stood at the head of the table. “We have two days’ training in front of us. Then, on Friday night, we parachute into France. We’re an all-female team because it is much easier for women to move around occupied France-the Gestapo are less suspicious. Our mission is to blow up a railway tunnel near the village of Marles, not far from Reims, on the main railway line between Frankfurt and Paris.”

Flick glanced at Greta, who knew the story was false. She sat quietly buttering toast and did not meet Flick’s eye.

“The agent’s course is normally three months,” Flick went on. “But this tunnel has to be destroyed by Monday night. In two days, we hope to give you some basic security rules, teach you how to parachute, do some weapons training, and show you how to kill people without making a noise.”

Maude looked pale despite her makeup. “Kill people?” she said. “Surely you don’t expect girls to do that?”

Jelly gave a grunt of disgust. “There is a bloody war on, you know.”