CHAPTER TEN
“I don’t like it.” Bernard shook his head and frowned. “I don’t care if you say you are a wizard...we shouldn’t be sending in women like this, especially to such a dangerous place.”
I gave him the evil eye, but decided not to say anything. I grew even more irritated when I nearly hit the roof of the car a couple of times as we ran over a few bumps in the road. “Do you think you could not give me a concussion before I reach Vélizy?”
“See? Can’t even take a car ride, yet you’re going to sabotage a factory. What sense is there in that?”
“I can stop your heart from beating and cause major explosions with my spells. I’d stop talking if I were you.”
He snorted. “My great-uncle was a Philosopher. The Gray Tower made him leave early. He locked himself in his room and kept writing out equations until he buried himself under the weight of all his papers! I hope you’re not crazy like that.”
“Not in the least.”
“We hadn’t seen a wizard in the family since then,” he said, shaking his head. “Do you suppose your kind is dying out?” He gestured with his right hand when he saw me raise an eyebrow. “I meant no offense.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that the world’s off-balance.”
“I’ll agree with you on that.”
We passed Paris around 10 a.m., and Bernard drove at a leisurely pace toward Vélizy-Villacoublay. I was about to ask him to stop the car and let me walk from there, but he suddenly slowed and parked the car on his own. There were two other civilian cars ahead of us, and they had also stopped. The Nazis had set up a checkpoint with two trekkers, and about four men from the German Armed Forces present. Further down the road, I thought I saw an armored car.
“Here, Noelle. Put this on.” He handed me a silver ring and placed a second one on his left ring finger. I got the hint and slid the ring onto my finger. I stretched and yawned as I reached toward the back, grabbing a shawl and pulling it over my head. I didn’t know who was still out looking for a dark-haired girl named Emelie. To my surprise, I felt a pang of disappointment at abandoning that codename, but like Renée said, it didn’t change who I was inside.
One of the civilian cars ahead of us passed through the checkpoint and two of the soldiers went to the car in front of us and began their query. The other two watched while toting their rifles.
“Have your wits about you, woman.” Bernard wiped his greasy face with a handkerchief and sighed.
“I’ll tell you what, try having your wits about you when you run into a Cruenti. This is nothing.”
“What’s a Cruenti?” He put on a false smile and rolled down his window when he saw one of the soldiers heading toward us.
The soldier looked bored as he stopped at the window and leered at me. “Where are you headed?” His hands rested on top of the car; he cocked his head to the side and awaited an answer. His partner stood a few feet away with his hands nonchalantly folded behind his back, probably ready to draw a weapon at any moment.
“Good morning.” Bernard reached into the glove compartment and showed him some papers. “My wife and I are headed into Vélizy-Villacoublay.”
“On what business?”
“We wish to visit Saint Denis church.”
Well, at least he didn’t say we were vacationing or staying with a relative.
“You came all this way just to go to some church?”
I spoke up. “You see, my husband read somewhere that if you pray at the altar at Saint Denis church, that it would cure you of impotency.”
The right corner of the soldier’s mouth twitched when he saw Bernard go red. “Maybe you shouldn’t have married such a fat old man.”
“That’s what my mother told me.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“You don’t object if a man beats his wife, correct?”
The two soldiers farthest ahead let the car in front of us pass. They called out toward our interrogator. He waved his hand and responded to them in German, then leaned back in to speak with us.
“Just remember that the curfew still applies, and the bounty’s still being offered if you’re interested. Just report any suspicious persons or activity to us.”
“Understood.” Bernard nodded solemnly.
“Can’t believe these bastards have got me minding grandmothers and impotent men. I’ll be glad when the SS gets here.” He said this under his breath in German, apparently not thinking we heard or understood.
“Thank you.” Bernard smiled. The soldier waved us through and rejoined his companions. Through the rear-view mirror I could see them doubled over in laughter.
“Not bad, Noelle.” Bernard wore a wide grin.
“Is that a compliment?” I smiled back at him.
“Underneath that middle panel in the back, there’s a bag with some weapons and supplies. Take whatever you think you need.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come?”
“Father Alexis trusted me with you. I couldn’t risk you getting hurt.”
He furrowed his bushy brows and looked ready to argue. “Well...never be afraid to call on me, mon chérie.”
“I won’t be.”
Camaraderie and dedication like this kept spies like me going. I spent most of my time living other lives, going by other names, and not really having a place to call home. Yet, when I found myself surrounded with people like Jasmine, Renée, Father Alexis—heck, even Penn—I felt like I’d found a place where I belonged; physical borders or distances didn’t matter.
Before I parted ways with Bernard (who planned to head further south before cutting across the Seine and going back up north), he left me with a few gifts: a Fairbairn fighting knife, a leather fold with a variety of small knives and daggers, a radio transmission jammer, and a set of pencil fuses. With disappointment, I decided that my steel knife would have to double as my alchemy knife. I still carried my red garnet lipstick, but I wasn’t sure if I had left my emerald spectacles back at Father Alexis’ secret room or somewhere in the car. I didn’t have the time or patience to go looking for them, so I secured everything else I needed and said a final goodbye to Bernard before walking the last mile into Vélizy.