She swallowed again. If only he knew.
‘I am glad that all that business in France is over. But I worried about you when you were gone. You know my feelings on this. I don’t think we should involve women in war work.’
She sat down in front of his desk and took his hand. ‘Sometimes, Father, they need us for the reason you talked about. We can slip unsuspected and silently in and out of worlds where the enemy feels the same way and dismisses us as just women. What better disguise do we have than being female?’
He shook his head and sat back on his chair. ‘But it’s a hard life, Vivienne. I’ve been in a war. I know. You’re making life-and-death decisions, not only for yourself, but for other people. I’m not sure you would have the aptitude for it. You’re quite a reckless person, my dear.’
She was taken aback with the brutal truth of what he was saying, especially with the overwhelming guilt she felt. But if anything, instead of deterring her, he made her more focused to get it right this time. He was trying to be kind, trying to hold onto her for himself. After losing her mother, he had become clingier. But she also had her own journey and had to prove, not only to her family but also to herself, that she was capable of doing the right thing.
‘We all must do what we must do, Father,’ she stated defiantly.
He looked up quizzically, as though he sensed something else behind her statement.
Vivi continued, ‘I wanted you to know how much I love you and admire you.’
He seemed surprised at her confession. They weren’t a family for flowery language. In fact, this was the first time she’d ever told her father she loved him, and it appeared to unsettle him.
He responded by squeezing her arm. ‘You’re a good girl, Vivienne. Don’t tell anybody else I said that.’
She knew that was his way of saying he loved her too. She then got up quickly and left, first slipping her poetry book onto the corner of his desk. Vivi didn’t want him to see the tears that had started streaming down her face, and she needed to prepare for her mission.
At the beginning of her shift, Vivi and Marcus went over the plan. Since his health incident, he was still in the side room, which wasn’t bugged, so they could speak freely. At seven o’clock she would bring his food, and the equipment he would need for the mission would be smuggled in on the tray. She had managed to get hold of a gun, her father’s old weapon that she’d found in his office drawer, and she’d been amazed to note it was still loaded. Also, a knife to pick the handcuffs that still kept him locked to the bed.
Marcus wasn’t terribly strong yet, but at least he was walking around. Vivi knew the hardest part would be getting him across to France. Once they were in occupied land, he could move freely in his German uniform with her by his side.
Earlier that day she’d taken items from his suitcase that was being kept in Matron’s office. Once she gave him his food, with the things he would need, she would return at ten o’clock, the time she normally would check on him. Then would come the hardest part. She would go into the room and Marcus should be ready. At that point, once she exited the door, he would knock out the guard. If there was any resistance, she too had the skill to subdue the soldier. She would then remove the soldier’s sidearm in case she needed it as well. Vivi had also managed to smuggle out Marcus’s French Resistance clothes and she hid them out of sight on the grounds. He would wear them on the trip over, only changing into his uniform once they got close to France. This would stop the fisherman from being suspicious when they boarded the boat.
At seven o’clock she brought in the food, and Marcus watched her as she hid the gun and the knife under his pillow. He seemed heartsick as he watched her.
‘You’re very brave, Vivi. I know how much this is costing you.’
She nodded, unable to speak.
He continued, ‘But if something goes wrong, you will be giving up your honour.’
She shook her head. ‘But if everything goes to plan, I can be sure the right people know the work you’ve done.’
He looked bleak. ‘But there’s also a chance they won’t find out. I want to make sure you’ll be able to live with that.’
She thought about her siblings and her father. Yes, it was hard. Harder than she ever thought it could be. But she also thought about the troops, the young men and women fighting so hard to win their freedom. Marcus still had a tremendous job ahead of him, and she could help him.
‘I’m not worried about it. I’m a firm believer that the truth always comes out in the end. I don’t know how but I just know that things are going to turn out all right.’
He nodded at her, and she left the room, noticing the guard barely turned to acknowledge her, which was good.
By nine thirty that night, she had prepared everything else she needed. Buried in the bushes in the garden were her things. She would tell Marcus of her plan to go with him once they got to the boat. She walked around the house one last time, her heart breaking, but she knew she had to do this.
Going up to Marcus’s room at ten o’clock, she acknowledged the guard, who already looked half asleep. Going in, she helped Marcus out of bed, as he had already picked the lock of his handcuffs. When he had his balance, he nodded to her and she opened the door. The guard didn’t even turn around, and Marcus hit him heavily and he groaned as he crumpled to the floor. Vivi felt a twinge of regret, but after checking he was just unconscious, beckoned Marcus out.
Checking the passageway, which was empty, the two of them pulled the man into the room and onto the bed, where Marcus shackled his hands. They also tied something around his mouth so he couldn’t cry out. It would be at least three hours before someone else came to check on Marcus. Hopefully it gave them enough time to get away.
Making their way southward down the corridor, Marcus limped and breathed heavily as he leaned on her arm. He was obviously in some pain but shook his head dismissively when she asked about it.
Just as they got on the downstairs landing, Tom’s door opened, and he came out into the hallway, standing in his blue-and-white-striped pyjamas, his well-loved bear folded under his arm, and stared at them. His eyes screwed up as he noticed Marcus, as if he was trying to figure out who he was.
‘Tom,’ Vivi whispered in a reassuring tone, ushering him back into his room. ‘What are you doing out of bed?’
‘What are you doing, Vivienne? Why are you walking around with one of the sick soldiers?’
‘I have some important work I need to do, but, Tom, you need to go back to sleep.’
She put him in bed and kissed him on his head, whispering into his hair, ‘Don’t forget who I am, Tom. Don’t ever forget.’
Then she rushed from the room, hoping that he would alert no one else to what he’d seen as they moved stealthily down the rest of the corridor.
28
Marcus and Vivi made their way to the back of the house, through the family quarters. This was not guarded, and she knew they had less chance of being stopped. Vivi opened the patio doors in the library, which she had unlocked the hour before, and they slipped out into the garden.
Though he was in some pain from his injuries, Marcus managed to keep up, and she could hear him breathing heavily as he followed her. Vivi cursed the fact that there was a full moon and hoped that no one would see them leave. When they reached the bushes, he changed into his French Resistance clothes she had stashed there, and she pulled out her hidden bag of belongings too. Marcus, whose full concentration was on staying upright while he dressed, took a minute to register what she was doing.