The Front Lines series

5

RAINY SCHULTERMAN—NEAR ANGOULÊME, NAZI-OCCUPIED FRANCE

The boat ride up the Charente had been pleasant and mostly problem-free. Rainy and her two French companions had been stopped and their boat boarded by the milice, the French police supposedly under the control of the treasonous Vichy regime, but effectively now under direct Nazi control. But this had been handled with some of the currency Rainy had brought with her.

At the dock in Cognac there had been another offer of currency and another cursory look around the boat before its cargo—mostly oysters, but some black market cigarettes as well—could be off-loaded.

The truck had been where the truck was supposed to be, already loaded with three big barrels of Cognac, the local brandy named for the town. It was just under a hundred miles from Cognac to Limoges, and the first part of that had been easy as well.

Rainy found herself almost relaxing, or relaxing to the extent she could, while crammed onto the narrow bench between Étienne and Marie. The seat had a loose spring that seemed determined to dig a hole into Rainy’s tailbone.

The countryside outside the truck’s dirty windows is beautiful, though bleakly empty to Rainy’s New York City sensibilities. From time to time Rainy asks Marie what is growing in a particular field.

“Grapevines, of course.”

“Ah. Right. I’ve seen grapevines before.” She has, but not being very interested in agriculture Rainy has not quite made the connection between the stunted, misshapen vines and grapes. Or wine. “And what’s this now?”

“That? Why that is maïs—corn—to feed the geese and the ducks and the pigs.”

“Huh.”

It is a boring drive. The only interesting bits come when the road winds through a village, but after a while all the villages look the same. Stone houses, tile roofs, small windows, narrow doors opening directly onto barely-there sidewalks; a baker, a butcher, a grocery store, a café, a shoe store, a dress store, all with small display windows, many with no sign to indicate their function because this area does not get many tourists, certainly not since war came.

“Okay, what’s going on there?” Rainy sits forward, suddenly alert. The field beside the road has armed civilians slouching before it.

“Ah, that is tobacco. It must be guarded.”

“We have a choice,” Étienne says. “We are coming to La Rochefoucauld. There we have a split. We can go left which avoids the town and goes most directly to Limoges. Or we can go through the town and then pass through the forest, where we may come upon elements of our friends, the Das Reich. The Boche hide their tanks under the trees, fearing the RAF.”

“That sounds good,” Rainy says. But she senses something in the way Marie glances at her brother and makes a face.

Sure enough, as they enter the town, Étienne suddenly announces a need to stop off and check on a friend.

“A friend?”

Étienne shrugs. “A person I know.”

“A woman,” Marie says with sudden heat. “A woman who is a collaboratrice horizontale.”

“A what?”

“A horizontal collaborator, a woman who sleeps with Germans.” She spits dramatically out of the window and makes a gesture with her hand like she’s trying to fling her chin at Étienne.

“She sometimes provides useful information,” Étienne says defensively.

“Yes, but to whom?” Marie demands sourly.

Étienne shrugs. “Marianne is a patriot.”

Marie’s response is a snort.

“She may be able to give me information about the Das Reich. It is true that one of her . . . friends . . . is a Sturmbannführer, what you would call a major.”

In the end the decision comes down to Rainy’s need to use the toilet and her desire to stretch her legs. The stop is approved.

Étienne parks in a narrow street near a small, arched bridge over the River Tardoire. The street is walled by limestone and stucco homes built right to the edge of the road. Windows are mostly shuttered, though Rainy hears a child singing through one open second story window.

“There is a café just over the bridge,” Marie says, leading the way as a somewhat embarrassed Étienne knocks on one of the doors. They cross the bridge and Rainy is delighted to see an impressive chateau looming over the town. It is like something from a fairy tale, something a princess might inhabit while pining for her Prince Charming.

So this is France, Rainy thinks. She’d always hoped to visit France, but not like this.

They find the café, a small, dark room smelling of damp limestone, garlic and red wine. There are six tables, only two occupied, and a small bar with no stools.

At the threshold Marie freezes for a moment and Rainy plows into her. It is immediately clear what has made Marie hesitate: one of the tables is occupied by a middle-aged French couple; the other is occupied by three German soldiers, junior officers by the look of their youthful faces, and confirmed by collar-boards with three silver pips. They are the equivalent of lieutenants, Rainy’s own rank.

And they are Waffen SS, as clearly indicated by the twin lightning-flash insignia. They wear camouflage uniforms, not the formal black, and Rainy notes a grease stain on one man’s trouser leg, evidence that they are not on leave or enjoying a day pass, but have managed to escape some sort of field maneuver for a quick bite in town. No doubt the food is better in the café than in the field kitchen.

Three Schmeisser submachine guns lean against the wall by the table.

One of the men, an Untersturmführer with prominent brows and a mangled left ear, looks up. He grins wolfishly at Marie. Then sees Rainy, sees the widow’s black, and nods politely. He tears off a chunk of bread and goes back to his plate of langoustines.

Sitting too far from the SS men will be a signal. So will sitting too close. Marie guides them to the one table that is neither.

Rainy sees a hand-lettered sign pointing to “WC,” the toilets, which are outside in an alley, a Turkish-style squat toilet with privacy provided only by a short, greasy draw curtain. Rainy does what is necessary, all the while in a sort of fugue state, half paralyzed with fear, half working through the odds.

Every part of Rainy resists going back into the café. Of course she knows she must, she can hardly abandon Marie, let alone her mission, but it will not be pleasant eating within a few feet of the Germans.

Back inside, Rainy listens while Marie orders a dozen oysters, two cheval steaks—horse meat, the only meat on the menu—and fried potatoes, as well as white wine and a bottle of mineral water. All perfectly normal and perfectly unremarkable.

Rainy has her back to the Germans and listens intently while seeming to carry on a sort of minimalist, whispered exchange with Marie.

Water, wine and a baguette arrive, and are plopped on the table by the proprietor, who is the only visible staff.

The Germans discuss prostitutes in ways that make Rainy glad Marie does not speak German. Though some notion of what they are so crudely talking about must have penetrated Marie’s consciousness, because she blushes and bites her lip.

The oysters arrive.

The Germans move on to talking about someone named Burkhart, who is apparently a drunk, a loafer, and utterly useless, but knows all the best jokes. The Germans begin repeating jokes and laughing in a deliberately noisy, demonstrative way that makes the older French couple cringe.

The Germans call for another bottle of wine. Their second? Their third?

The atmosphere in the room, never exactly convivial, grows increasingly tense and menacing. Drunk German soldiers are never a good thing; drunk SS are worse. Drunk members of the Das Reich are worse still. Rainy has read the dossiers: the Das Reich fought on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Red Army, where even among the brutal forces in that pitiless fight, the Das Reich stood out for its monstrous treatment of prisoners, civilians, and especially Jews.

The Untersturmführer with the mangled ear is clearly looking at Marie, but also, increasingly, at Rainy.

The oysters are cleared away and the steaks arrive.

In ten minutes they can be finished and on their way. Ten minutes. Ten minutes in which Marie and Rainy must mimic an innocent pair of young Frenchwomen who have stopped for a quick lunch. Two women who are aware of the Germans, but not overly aware.

Suddenly Mangled Ear pushes back from the table, wobbles a bit to the hooting enjoyment of his compatriots, demands to know where the toilet is, and lurches right into Rainy and Marie’s table.

Rainy glances at Marie and sees fear in her eyes.

“Pardonnez moi,” the German says in barely-decipherable French.

“Pas de quoi,” Marie says in a whisper. She looks down at her plate.

“Untersturmführer Fritz Weiss, a votre service, mesdemoiselles. Zwei, er, deux jolies mademoiselles. Pourquoi toute seul? ”

It’s mostly French, not grammatical, but comprehensible. He’s asking why two pretty young women are there alone.

Marie offers their cover story. They are traveling to a wedding, the madame’s wedding, in fact, in the company of Marie’s brother, Étienne, who will be back at any moment.

At this the German grabs a chair, pulls it close and sits down with them. “You don’t mind? More wine here! The ladies are parched!” He leers openly at Marie’s chest and she pulls back. Then he turns shrewd eyes on Rainy and asks, “Where are you from?”

“Fouras,” she lies in a hoarse whisper she hopes will disguise her accent.

The Walther is hard against her back. A suicide pill is sewn into the collar of her dress. She can feel the knife strapped to her leg.

The German waves that off. “I mean your family. You’re not French.”

Rainy offers a baffled smile. Marie steps in and says of course she is French, they are cousins.

The German tilts his head to the side. Then he reaches over, takes Rainy’s chin and turns her face sideways in profile.

“No Frenchie ever had a nose like that,” he says, and now the other two Germans are quiet and attentive, sensing their companion is up to something.

Rainy allows the hand, then, with disdain, pushes it away.

“I know a Jew when I see one,” the Untersturmführer says, his voice silky but slurred with drink.

Rainy puts on a baffled look.

The German rests both his elbows on the table and leans close, his breath stinking of red wine and cigarettes. “I’ve seen many a Jew,” he says, watching Rainy closely. “I know the look of a Jew. I know the smell of a Jew.” He has a sudden idea. “Patron! Bring us ham!”

“Ham, monsieur?”

“Something pork. Ham. Bacon. A snout, a trotter, it doesn’t matter.”

As they wait, the air is so tense it vibrates. A small slice of ham appears on a plate. The German tears open a piece of the baguette and carefully folds the ham into it, making a sandwich.

“Eat it, Jew.”

Rainy picks up the ham sandwich and takes a bite.

Jewish, but not kosher, you stupid Nazi asshole.

Rainy smiles and renders her hoarse whisper again. “Merci.” Thank you. And proceeds to eat the rest of the sandwich.

The other two Germans now erupt in guffaws, yelling good-natured taunts to their fellow, who smiles and nods a sort of apology to Rainy. He gets up unsteadily and heads for the back door, toward the toilet.

At that moment, Étienne comes rushing in the front door and in an agitated voice says, “We must go!” and only then spots the Germans.

Étienne freezes. The Untersturmführer with the mangled ear stops. Marie’s eyes go wide. And from outside on the street comes the shrill sound of a furious Frenchwoman shouting, “Liar! Bastard!”

It all looks like a domestic row of some sort and the Germans are grinning again in anticipation. Until the woman bursts in through the door, still yelling curses at Étienne and then turns to the Germans and says, “Il est maquis, lui, ce bâtard! ”

He’s maquis, the bastard.

There is a frozen moment when the entire scene is an oil painting. Two Germans are seated. One German is turning back toward them. Étienne is blushing, already embarrassed and now appalled. Marie stares at her brother, her expression torn between rage and fear.

Rainy does the math.

Three Germans.

Truck down the street.

A long way still to go.

And then: no choice.

She pulls the Walther from her back, points it at the two seated Germans, BANG! shoots the one on the left, then BANG! the one on the right. Mangled ear is caught off-guard, but after a split second’s hesitation, rushes at Rainy. She fires.

Jammed!

Marie pushes the German and he stumbles, but in the wrong direction: toward the stacked submachine guns.

Rainy is up, knocking the table over. She slams the Walther down on the German’s head, hitting him on the crown of his head, stunning but not killing him. He staggers to one knee. The cutlery and glasses and bottles have all fallen to the floor. She dives for a broken water glass, cutting her own palm, seizing the glass by its base and plunging a pointed shard into the German’s neck.

But his collar-board turns the glass shard aside, and now, drunk or not, the German’s training kicks in. He twists and drives a fist into Rainy’s belly, doubling her over. The glass drops from her hand.

The German is bigger, stronger and more experienced at hand-to-hand combat. Rainy knows she will lose if she doesn’t end this quickly. But how? With what?

But then a knife appears, one of the fallen steak knives. Rainy dives. The German dives atop her, hands scrabbling to grab hers. Rainy stabs the knife at his side, but the blade is too weak to penetrate his uniform and the tip breaks off. He shifts his grip, wrapping big hands around her neck. She stabs the broken blade into his neck, not a fatal cut, but enough to cause him to rear back, roaring curses.

Rainy kicks wildly, rolls away, uses a table to pull herself up, grabs a chair and slams it against him, like something out of a western barroom brawl. It does not break, rather it bounces away, having done no real damage.

Rainy grabs a wine bottle from the German’s table and smashes it against his shoulder, meaning to go for his head. He kicks, hitting her shin. She swings again and this time catches the German on the bridge of his nose. Blood gushes, filling his mouth and spilling out.

He is stunned but still dangerous. Rainy takes her time with the next blow, bringing the bottle hard against his temple. He drops to his knees and Rainy pushes him onto his back, straddles him, fights past his flailing hands, finds the handle of the knife and begins sawing the short blade back and forth across his throat. Like she’s trying to slice a tough roast.

The last of the cheap blade snaps off and she tosses the hilt across the room.

The German is bleeding profusely from several wounds, but he is not dead. He crawls across the floor now, trying to reach his Schmeisser, but his way is blocked by one of his companions, lying on his side and trying to get at the hole Rainy’s bullet left in his chest.

Rainy smashes the bottle against the back of Mangled Ear’s head, and this time it breaks, leaving the mouth of the bottle intact, and with a single long, pointed shard of heavy green glass.

Rainy straddles the German from behind, awkward in her bulky black dress, and stabs the shard into his jugular, then twists it back and forth, cutting deeper and deeper as warm blood flows over her hand.

She feels the way his muscles no longer seem to be acting under conscious control. Still she saws and digs and twists until she is sure, absolutely sure, that he is dead.

She stands back and tosses the bloody bottle aside.

The French couple, the patron, Marie, Étienne, and Étienne’s prostitute, Marianne, all stare at her.

Rainy retrieves her Walther, works the slide to eject the jammed round, and in French says, “Messieurs, dames, I am going to tell you what happened here. These Germans got drunk and picked a fight with a truck driver who is heading west, toward Cognac. There was a fight, the truck driver had two friends, and they killed the Germans. Is that clear?”

No one answers.

“Is that clear?” Rainy demands. The patron and the French couple all nod yes. Étienne’s friend is backing toward the door, looking very much as if she might scream.

Rainy aims the Walther and BANG! shoots her in the heart. Étienne lets loose a whinny of protest.

“Going west,” Rainy says, her voice genuinely ragged now. “Truck drivers going west toward Cognac. Stick to that story and you’ll be all right. This is maquis business, not yours. But if you betray the Resistance . . .” She lets the threat hang.

Three minutes later they are panting and gasping in the truck and driving at an average, unremarkable speed toward the east, toward the pleasant woods of the Périgord Limousin.

“We should have taken their guns,” Étienne says, speaking for the first time.

“No, you imbecile,” Marie rages. “We should not have stopped to see your mistress and you should not have found a way to make her angry!”

“If we took the guns it’d look like maquis to the Krauts for sure,” Rainy says, her voice far calmer than her heart or brain. “Drunk truck drivers getting in a bar fight don’t take Schmeissers.”

Silence. Then Étienne says, “You didn’t have to kill Marianne.”

An even longer silence. Then in slow, measured but furious tones, like slow-motion violence, Rainy says, “Your arrogance ends right here, right now, Étienne. You screwed up. You could have gotten us all arrested or killed.”

“You have no—”

“Shut up!” Rainy snaps. “This is my operation from here on in.”

“We do not take orders from the American—”

“Stop it, Étienne.” Marie’s voice, like Rainy’s, is tense and barely under control. “She’s right. You were careless. That woman died because of you. And we all nearly ended up in an SD interrogation cell! Because of you and your . . . your needs.”

Étienne does not argue further. He continues driving and stares straight ahead.

Rainy uses the silence to put herself back together. The crisis is always easier than the aftermath, she has learned that. In a crisis it is all about speed and decisiveness. The aftermath, the sick feeling that comes with each obsessive mental replay of digging broken glass into a man’s neck, feeling his blood, smelling it . . .

And the hole that appeared not quite perfectly centered in the mistress’s chest.

Her hands tremble so she sticks them in her coat pockets. How long will it take the milice to show up on the scene? Would the SD get there first? Did the patron and the French couple have the nerve to lie to the SD?

No. But they might just repeat what she’d said about heading west. That very small ruse might just work.

But deep inside her a voice says, “No.”

No, they would not convince the SD, not for five minutes. So, make a plan, Rainy! They had a good ten minutes’ head start, but the SD could radio ahead, they could call in planes, they could mobilize the entire French police force as well.

Which meant the likelihood was they were not going to make it to Limoges. That was just the reality.

Time to hide.

And what better place than the middle of the Das Reich division?

“We’ve got a cargo of cognac,” Rainy says, “and a bunch of thirsty Germans somewhere around here, right? So let’s go make a sales call.”

6

RAINY SCHULTERMAN—NEAR LIMOGES, NAZI-OCCUPIED FRANCE

They drive the truck-load of cognac and black market cigarettes around for a full day. Rainy’s thought had been to use the cognac as proof of innocence, as proof that they were just smugglers, black marketeers. Surely, she figured, surely they would be stopped at a roadblock and then could negotiate a deal for the cargo. It had seemed so terribly clever when she’d thought of it.

They have three transport barrels of cognac, three hundred and fifty liters or roughly ninety gallons each, plus two hundred cartons of cigarettes of ten packs each. The Das Reich might be Nazi fanatics, but in war no one ever has enough alcohol or smokes, and Rainy is reasonably sure that an offer to sell and, crucially, a promise to return with more, will get the attention of any divisional quartermaster.

There is only one flaw in the plan: they encounter no roadblocks. Twice they pull off the road to avoid German staff cars racing by, perhaps in pursuit of them, perhaps not.

The first night after killing the soldiers Rainy, Étienne and Marie sleep rough, driving the truck down a dirt track deep into the Limousin forest. Étienne and Marie sleep cramped in the truck’s cabin, and Rainy wedges herself into a place between two of the barrels in back. It is not comfortable, not even by army standards, and she sleeps very little. When she does sleep she is kneeling beside a river of blood, washing her hands in it.