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  The Colonel gazed at her. “Mr. Hamilton left during the night. That’s all you need to know.”

  “Come on, Alice, I’ll take you to the mess hall now,” Vera told her.

  Alice stood up from her seat but before she left the Colonel’s office, she was once again firmly reminded of her apt for secrecy. She walked alongside Vera and for a few minutes, while making their way through the corridor, Alice spent her time sighting each and every person and what they were doing. In one room, a woman stood in front of a map on the wall, pinning a small paper flag into it, others were seated at desks, decoding Morse code messages. Not one person was without a task. When they exited the building, even with the blustery wind, training was taking place in the compound behind a thick mass of bushes. Guns were being fired, using live ammunition.

  Vera placed her hand on Alice’s shoulder, encouraging her to keep moving. “You’ll be training soon enough, I can assure you.”

  In the mess hall, Alice chose a breakfast of sausages, bacon, egg and a piece of toast. She opted to drink tea but as she picked up the hot mug, Vera swiftly snatched it from her. “British love their tea, it’s a giveaway. From now on, you’ll drink coffee and you’ll grow to like it.”

  Glaring at Vera, a frown evolved across her forehead—her eyebrows hooded over her eyes. She swallowed hard. “Then why have it on offer?”

  “To asses even the basic intelligence that you and anyone else here, possess. That’s how easy it is to fail. The simplest thing can be your worst enemy. You will learn fast.” She showed Alice to a table, where they sat. “Am I still considered to be as charismatic to you now?”

  Alice picked up her knife and fork and cut into the sausage, placing it into her mouth gracefully. “Perhaps you have deceived me and led me to believe that you are, if so, then you have many personalities. I’m curious as to know which one is the real you.”

  “It’s been so long, that there is no real me anymore. I adapt to different situations as they arise. You too will soon be a blend of different personalities. Trust me, I can be as cold as the North Pole, if I have to be. Now drink your coffee.”

  Alice lifted her mug to her mouth. Sipping the coffee, she scrunched her nose with distaste. “This is absolutely by far, the most disgusting thing that I’ve ever tasted.”

  Vera placed her fingers on the bottom of the mug and levered it towards Alice’s mouth. “Drink it all up and stop complaining about it.”

  Alice practically gagged when she drank the coffee. She gulped hard, trying not to have it linger in her mouth too long, then as the last of it went down, she smacked her lips and wiped her mouth with her napkin. Vera looked over to the counter and nodded at the woman standing behind it. She nodded back and brought over the coffee pot. She poured it into Alice’s mug. There was no milk, or sugar.

  Her eyes widening, Alice wasn’t too pleased that she was expected to drink another mug so soon after. She gritted her teeth, then picked up the mug and placed it to her mouth. Again, her nose scrunched, this time with the addition of her nostrils flaring. She forced herself to drink it—each gulp being as large as she could make it.

  “When you drink coffee, it is done with refinement, not revulsion. Perhaps when you have learned the art of simply drinking it, you won’t stand out in the crowd,” Vera informed her.

  Alice lowered her head. “It’s revolting,” she muttered under her breath.

  “I heard that.”

  “You were meant to.”

  Vera nodded for another mug of coffee to be poured. “Now, you’ll drink it as if you love it and can’t get enough of that rich roasted taste.”

  More coffee was poured. Alice again, placed the mug to her lips. This time, she concentrated on not making such a fool of herself. She sipped it slowly, then placed the mug back down on the table. “Is that better?”

  “For now but you’ll drink coffee from now on and no more tea.”

  Alice cut another piece of her sausage and placed it in her mouth. While she chewed, she picked up the mug and swilled her food down with it, then conceitedly smiled but her arrogance was short lived when Sergeant Todd entered the mess hall and immediately headed in her direction.

  “Bennet, up on your feet, now!” he commanded in his Scottish accent.

  Alice was unsure of what to do, she hadn’t expected to be spoken to so sharply.

  “Now, Bennet!” he demanded again in his loud and clear authoritative voice. His mouth clamped tight beneath his auburn moustache. Narrowing his grey eyes, his fair-freckled complexion turned a slight shade of red.

  Alice stood up quickly.

  “Follow me,” he told her. Alice followed him outside. He changed his quick walking pace into a jog—she immediately followed suit. They jogged over to the firing range inside the compound, where men were crawling in the muddy grass, holding rifles and others were aiming their guns at hanging dummies and firing away. “Stand over there.” He pointed towards a group of trees. In front of them, a large glass panel. “Face the glass when you get there.”

  Alice hesitantly took a step forward.

  “Keep going,” he told her. “And stand up straight, they’ll need to get a good view of you.”

  She moved slowly towards the glass panel. Her eyes darting in all directions, she tried to understand just what it was that she was doing. There was fencing with barbed wire behind the trees and beyond the glass was a muddy field with a few tall trees darted here and there. She walked halfway along, when the Sergeant yelled for her to stop.

  “Stop there and face the glass.”

  She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face the glass. Staring at the trees, she grew unnerved. There were the muzzle ends of rifles sticking out from behind them—this was very concerning for Alice. Her inquisitive frown dissolving from her face, she looked over at the Sergeant, licking her lips nervously—her eyes filled with fear. “Why am I standing here? This doesn’t feel right, please tell me, why am I here?”

  Sergeant Todd looked over to his right, to where the trees were. “Fire!” he shouted.

  Men holding rifles, quickly emerged from behind the trees. Placing the butt of their rifles to their shoulders, they tilted their heads and rested their cheeks on the stock. Each agent took aim, squeezed on the trigger and fired. Alice, horrified, screamed. Covering her head with her hands, she rapidly crouched down—tears flowed freely and uncontrollably. The bullets hit the bullet-proof glass—the only thing protecting Alice from being killed. She was petrified beyond belief. Dropping down on her belly, using her fingers to pull her, she crawled back towards the Sergeant, letting out short screams with each shot that hit the glass.

  The Sergeant, a firm-slim build of a man, stood with his hands at his sides, unmoved by her situation. Alice made it to his feet, sobbing and cursing at him. “Just what the hell was that about?” she yelled at him as she rose to her feet. “Is this how you scare people half to death?”

  “Bennet, remember where you are. From here on out, you’re owned by us. If I say jump, you’ll jump and ask me how high. Now get back out there and show me that we’ve not chosen a dud for a spy.”

  Her face flushed red with anger, using her hands, Alice wiped the falling tears from her cheeks. Whether it was her determination to show him that she could do this, or, the pure fear of not knowing what would happen to her if she didn’t, she swiftly turned her back to him and marched out into the centre, where once again the firing commenced. Her bravery showed through her rigid stance, even with her teeth gritted and the tears still blurring her vision.

  For what seemed like an eternity to her, was in fact, just a mere few minutes of rounds being fired at the glass. She breathed deeply once the cease firing order was given by the Sergeant.

  “Bennet, stop snivelling. Get over here and follow me.” He turned around and began a jogging pace, where he took her to another compound, again, fenced off and edged with barbed wire. “Take this rifle, hold it as if it’s the only thing between your life and death itsel
f, because out there in the real world, it is.” He handed her the rifle and showed her how to hold it. “Now, get down on your hands and knees and crawl beneath the barbed wire. When you get to the end, without catching your clothing on the wire, you’ll jog back here and start again. And keep your head down, there’ll be shots fired over you, live shots, so be warned.”

  Alice dropped to her knees. Holding the gun firmly in her hands, she lowered herself flat to the ground and crawled along by using her elbows to pull her forward. Her face trailed in the mud as she kept her head low, crawling beneath the barbed wire. The first obstacle caught her clothing, causing her to stop and unhook herself from the sharp spike. She continued to crawl—the rifle held away from the ground at all times.

  Others had joined in the task just after her and were obvious in their training that they had done this on more than one occasion. They crawled faster than she did, enabling them to reach the end of the course long before her.

  “Move it, Bennet,” Sergeant Todd yelled at her. “Speed is of the essence. You will get yourself killed and quite possibly anyone who is with you.”

  Alice angrily pulled herself along. After catching her clothing on the wire spikes several times, she reached the end of the course, rose to her feet and jogged back to the start, to begin the procedure again. She repeated again and again for a solid hour, with Sergeant Todd yelling out at her to hasten her pace. This was her first actual physical training and she was exhausted already.

  The blustery wind had brought down the rain—it was hard and falling sideways. There was no let up for Alice, or any of the other agents. No matter what the conditions, they were all expected to train in it and were offered no protective clothing.

  The mud had become slippery, making it harder to jog in it but still, the agents continued to train and Sergeant Todd continued to yell. In the afternoon, storms had erupted, with thunder rolling and lightning striking. Alice shivered from the wet and cold but her determination kept her going.

  The rain dripped from the peak of Sergeant Todd’s cap and dribbled down his face. He ignored it, as if he was standing happily on a warm sunny afternoon. “Gather round, all of you,” he shouted. They all gathered and huddled around the Sergeant—Alice was the only female amongst them. “Keep jogging on the spot. Now, you’re going to learn how to shoot with the rifle you’ve all been holding for the past few hours. These are No. 5 MK Enfields. Treat them with respect at all times.”

  Tiredness showed on everyone’s faces, as they jogged over to the far side of the compound.

  Alice was breathless. She tried hard to keep up with them, struggling as her arms ached, her legs hurt and her back stiffened.

  “Bennet, you’re the newest recruit, so I’ll show you personally how to shoot your rifle. Everyone else can watch and follow my instructions. First, steady your position. This is very important, as you may be somewhere of an awkward nature. Balance is important. Second, upturn the palm of your hand and use your fingers to make a V. Next, seat the gun in your supporting hand and support the rifle fairly close to the trigger guard.” He looked around at each recruit. “Has everyone got that so far?”

  “Yes, Sergeant,” they all answered.

  “Now, put the butt of the rifle into your shoulder, to firm it in to place. That’s very important, so don’t forget it. Nobody should be firing without having the rifle in place, it can cause an accident, you can end up injured and in hospital if you’re on allied turf, or dead, if you’re on enemy ground. Now, drop your cheek to the rifle like you want to make love to it.” Some of the recruits sniggered. “Steady on, lads, there’s nothing to laugh at, right, Bennet?”

  Alice, shivering hard, raised her face to look up at the Sergeant, even with the rain hitting her. “Yes, Sergeant.”

  “Now, to ready your position, you need to cock your head slightly to the side. Align your eye with the target. Take the safety off, keep your breathing controlled, nervousness is tardiness. You could miss your target and be killed. What do you not want to be?”

  “Killed, Sergeant,” they immediately answered.

  “Now, when you breathe out, squeeze the trigger, while maintaining your sight on the target.”

  They all followed the instructions and fired their rifles at the hanging dummies 200 yds. in front of them. Alice was the last to fire her rifle—she missed her dummy completely, she was the only one who did.

  Feeling useless, she dropped her shoulders. “I’ve never fired a gun before,” she grumbled to herself.

  “Bennet, you will be firing this rifle again and again, until I’m satisfied that either you can fire and hit your target, or, you have no skills with rifles. There is no other option. Your elevation was too high, aim lower on the next round.

  Alice repeated the procedure and just before squeezing the trigger, she aimed slightly lower, breathed in and fired. Her shot was successful. She hit the dummy in the assumed shoulder. “Yes,” she said out loud.

  “Well done, Bennet. Now keep it up.”

  Alice smiled proudly to herself. For the rest of the afternoon, she practiced her firing shots, some were good, others not so good but she knew that she was going to have plenty more practice during her time there.

  “Okay, everyone cease firing. You’ll hand your rifles in to Sergeant Jenkins on your way out of the compound. Bennet, well done, you proved me wrong today. I thought for sure that you would fail this task. It just goes to show and remind me that I should never underestimate you or anyone else. Looks can be deceiving, so let that be a lesson to you all. Jog to the Sergeant and then to the barracks. If I see anyone walking, you’ll all be paying the consequences for it. Dismissed!”

  Chapter Four

  Alice stood beneath the shower of warm water. She rinsed the mud from her skin and the filth from her hair. Before she was finished, the water turned ice cold, causing her to hold her breath and rapidly turn the shower tap off. She reached over for a towel. It was small and threadbare—almost useless for its purpose. She dried as best she could, then put on a dry, clean uniform and made her way back to her cot. She opened the top chest-drawer but her eyes were quickly drawn to the objects on top. The book she had placed next to the framed photograph of her brother was missing. She looked around at the other chest of drawers, to see if anyone had taken it to read. Her legs still hurting from the rigorous training, she sat on the edge of her cot, feeling slightly deflated.

  The door at the end of the barrack opened—Vera walked in. She looked contented and wore a half-smile when she approached Alice. “So, how did your first day of training go, not too harsh, I hope?”

  Alice hunched and lowered her head. “My book is missing. I placed it on the top of the chest when I arrived and now it’s gone. I don’t think that it’s right for me to go searching through everyone else’s belongings but it’s also not acceptable that one of them took it from me. I’m not a thief and I don’t expect to be associated with any, not here anyway.”

  Vera sat next to her on the cot. She sighed heavily. “You are not amongst thieves, not that we are aware of anyway. There is one thing, though. You did notice instantly that an item was missing. If you are on enemy ground and have some vital evidence of some sort, you may have an invasion perhaps from the Gestapo, or, even those we are trying to protect and save. Once you are away from here, anything goes, and I mean anything. Now, you’ll find your book over there, in the top drawer of Mary’s chest. Don’t worry, she didn’t steal it, it was placed there on purpose, by me. Be aware of tests of all natures.”

  Alice lifted her head and turned to look at Vera. She was worn out. “I should have known, shouldn’t I?”

  To show her compassion, Vera patted her back. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. Every single person here has been through this rigorous training regime. You’ve done well for your first day, better than some I could mention. Now, I’m sure you must be hungry, why don’t you come with me and we’ll get something to eat together. You can tell me a little about yourself an
d maybe I can guess a few things.”

  “Yes, I’d like that. I’ve fallen short of friendly faces right now.”

  Vera stood up and strolled over to Mary’s chest of drawers. She opened the top drawer and removed Alice’s book. She studied the cover, running her finger over the title as she read it. “So, you like romance?”

  “Yes,” Alice replied, nodding her head.

  “Have you read this book yet?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “I have. You do know that S.J. Lee writes about controversial subjects, don’t you?”

  “Controversial, as in?”

  “Her leading characters are all women. Do you get my drift?”

  Alice stood up, her face flushed red. “As I said, I haven’t read it yet.” She held out her hand for Vera to return it to her.

  Vera held the book against her chest. Arching her eyebrow, she smiled cunningly. “Well, it seems as though we may both have a little secret, or two, of our own.”

  “The book, please,” Alice asked, with her hand still out.

  Vera handed it back to her. “Come on, let’s eat before you start your next round of training.”

  “I just need to eat and sleep.”

  Vera shook her head. “I’m afraid sleep’s a long way off for you.”

  •••

  Alice was hungry. She ate stodgy mashed potatoes, a piece of chicken, peas and lots of gravy. “I haven’t eaten this much food since I was a child.”

  “You’ve been extremely active these past few days, with travelling and not much rest before your first round of training, it’s bound to have had an effect on you.”

  Alice finished her meal. She placed her elbows on the table and clasped her hands together beneath her chin. “When you received that injury beneath your eye, did you mean that you killed the assailant immediately?”

  “Yes, it was an instant reaction. I had been double-crossed by my colleague, who had fooled us all. He had been working with members of the Gestapo, feeding them important information about our mission and about this camp. He didn’t get too far with passing on any secrets. Not being trained here, and only, apparently, helping out the cause, he was desperate to press me for information. I’m not an idiot, I knew straight away that he was up to something and it wasn’t on our behalf. He was waiting for my return back at the hotel room we had been staying in. We’d pretended to be a married couple, whose home had been destroyed in raids. Upon my return, I entered the room and at first I didn’t know where he was. He had hidden behind the door, so when I closed it, he jumped out behind me with a wire garrotte but unfortunately for him, he didn’t manage the task. I moved too quickly for him and with my line of training, I pulled him down to the ground. There was a struggle and he managed to pull a knife on me. We both held the handle and somewhere in the struggle, I tugged it loose from him and managed to stab myself.”