Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven

Flick left London at dawn on a Vincent Comet motorcycle with a very powerful 500cc engine.The road was deserted.Petrol supplies are strictly rationed, and motorists can be thrown in jail for unnecessary journeys.She drives very fast, which is dangerous but exhilarating and worth the risk for the thrill alone. She felt the same way about this mission, both fearful and longing.He had stayed late with Percy and Paul the night before, drinking tea and making plans.They decided that the group needed six women, the number of cleaners for a shift.There should be an explosives expert, and a telephone mechanic to decide exactly where to place the explosives so that the switching station can be blown up.She wants a good shooter and two soldiers who can fight and charge.Including herself, there are six people in total.

She only has one day to find these people.The team needed two days of minimal training—how to learn to jump a parachute if nothing else—on Wednesdays and Thursdays.They were to be dropped near Reims on Friday and entered the castle on Saturday night or Sunday.One day of free time to adjust for errors. She crossed the river from London Bridge, the motorbike roared past Bermondsey and Ross Hayes, the docks were bombed and the houses were bombed, and then she drove on the Old Kent Road, where pilgrims of all ages went to A must-see in Canterbury.After leaving the suburbs, she stepped up the accelerator and let the motorcycle gallop freely. In an instant, all the troubles were blown to the back of her mind by the wind.

She was at Somersholm, the country residence of Lord Caulfield, before six o'clock.Flick knew that the Baron himself, William Caulfield, was fighting in Italy at this time, attacking Rome with the Eighth Army.His sister, the Lord Diana Caulfield, is the only family member currently living here.Dozens of guest rooms and servants' quarters in the huge villa have become a retreat for wounded soldiers. Flick slowed down, and the motorcycle drove up a boulevard surrounded by hundred-year-old linden trees at a walking speed. In front of it was a huge pink granite building with arch columns, terraces, gables and roofs, and countless Windows and chimneys, everywhere, have a panoramic view.She parked the car in the gravel front yard, next to an ambulance and a few jeeps parked here and there.

In the hall, nurses busily served tea and water.The soldiers are lying here to recuperate, but they still have to be woken up in the morning.Flick asked where Mrs. Riley, the housekeeper, was, and was told she was in the basement.When Flick found her, she was staring worriedly at the boiler, with two men in overalls standing beside her. "Hi, Ma," said Flick. Mother hugged her hard.She was shorter than her own daughter, and as slender as herself, but like Flick, she was stronger than she looked.Flick was suffocated by his mother's embrace.She broke free and said with a panting smile, "Mom, you're almost suffocating me!"

"If I hadn't seen you with my own eyes, I wouldn't know whether you were dead or alive," said the mother.There was still a hint of Irish in her accent, and she had left Cork with her parents forty-five years ago. "Is there something wrong with the boiler?" "The boiler has never boiled so much hot water. These nurses are hygienic and force those poor soldiers to take a bath every day. Go to my kitchen and I'll make you some breakfast." Flick was pressed for time, but she told herself she should spend more time with her mother, and besides, she needed something to eat.She followed her mother upstairs and into the servants' quarters.

Flick had grown up in this house.She had played in the servants' hall, run wild in the woods, had gone to the country elementary school a mile away, had gone to boarding school and college, and returned here for the holidays.She is especially favored here.Ordinarily, a position like her mother's had to give up her job as soon as she had children, and her mother was not fired, partly because the baron was not so conservative, but mainly because he was afraid of losing such a good housekeeper.Flick's father was a butler, but he died when she was six years old.Every February, Flick and his mother accompany the family to their villa in Nice, where Flick learned to speak French.

The old baron, the father of William and Diana, had liked Flick very much and encouraged her to study, even paying for the tuition.Flick was delighted to have been awarded a bursary to Cambridge.He died shortly after the war began, and Flick grieved as if he had lost his own father. The family occupies only a small part of the house now, and the butler's pantry is now the kitchen.Flick's mother boiled a pot of water. "A slice of toast will do, Ma," said Flick. Mother ignored her and started frying bacon slices. "You seem to be doing well," she said. "How's your handsome husband?"

"Michel is alive," Flick said.She sat down at the table.The smell of bacon made her salivate. "Alive? That obviously doesn't sound good. Are you hurt?" "He got shot in the ass, but it was fatal." "You've seen him clearly, haven't you?" Flick smiled and said, "Okay, Mom! I don't want to talk about that." "I can't say no, has he changed his habit of being promiscuous? This is probably not a military secret." Flick had always marveled at her mother's remarkably accurate intuition, which was remarkable. "I hope he's turned around."

"Well, do you have any specific meaning when you talk about reforming evil and returning to righteousness?" Flick didn't answer directly: "Have you noticed, Mom, men sometimes don't seem to see how stupid a girl is." Mom snorted in disgust. "That's the way it is. I reckon that girl must be pretty." "Ok." "Young?" "nineteen." "Have you made it clear to him?" "Well, he promised to change." "If you weren't running around all the time, he might be able to keep his word." "I hope so."

Mom looked a little unhappy and said: "Then, you have to go back, right?" "No comment." "Aren't you doing enough?" "We haven't won the war, let's just say I haven't won it yet." Mom put in front of Flick a plate of bacon and a few eggs, which might have been a week's ration.The word of protest was on his lips, and Flick suppressed it.It's better to accept the gift happily, besides, she can't help but want to gobble it up. "Thanks, Mom," she said, "you spoiled me." Her mother smiled contentedly, and Flick chewed.As she ate, she thought mockingly, no matter how much she tried to avoid it, her mother had already figured out everything she wanted to know without any effort. "You should be working in military intelligence," Flick said, his mouth full of fried eggs. "You're the best interrogator. You've got me clean."

"I am your mother and I have a right to know." It really doesn't matter much, Mom won't bring up these things again. Mother sipped her tea and watched Flick eat. "You just want to win the war on your own, don't you?" There was both doting and sarcasm in her words. "You have been an independent child since you were a child, and you are a little too independent." "I don't know what happened. I was always taken care of. When you were busy, there were always five or six servants around me." "I think maybe it's because I've been encouraging you to be on your own early, because you don't have a father. Every time you ask me to do something for you, like put on a bike chain, sew a button or something, I'm like, 'Try it yourself, If it doesn't work, I'll help you. 'Nine times out of ten you did it yourself." Flick finished the bacon and wiped the plate with a loaf of bread. "Mark helped me with a lot of things." Mark is Flick's brother, one year older than her. Her mother's face froze. "It's true," she said. Flick sighed inwardly. Mom and Mark had a big fight two years ago.He worked as a stage manager in a theater and lived with a man named Steve.Mom knew early on that Mark was "not marriage material," but on a whim, Mark told her mom too frankly that he loved Steve and that they lived as husband and wife.It was a fatal blow to the mother, and she stopped talking to her son since then. Flick said, "Mark loves you, Ma." "Now it counts." "I wish you would be willing to see him." "No problem." Mom took Flick's empty plate and washed it in the sink. Flick shook his head dissatisfied and said, "Mom, you are too stubborn." "Isn't that where your stubborn temper comes from?" Flick smiled wryly.She was often said to be stubborn, and Percy said she was as stubborn as a mule.She also tries to be easygoing. "Well, I think you can't help yourself. Anyway, I don't want to argue with you, especially after I just had such a rich breakfast." Having said that, she still hopes that the two can reconcile as soon as possible. It seemed that she couldn't do it today, so she stood up. Mom smiled and said, "It's good to see you. I've been worried about you." "I have other reasons for coming here, and I want to talk to Diana." "About what?" "I can't tell you." "I'm afraid you're not going to take her to France with you." "Mum, shhh! Did anyone mention going to France?" "That's what I thought. Because she's a good shot." "No comment." "She will drag you down and kill you! She doesn't know what discipline is, how can she know this! She didn't receive such an education when she was young. Of course, it's not her fault. But if you count on her It would be too stupid to do anything." "Yes, I know that." Flick said impatiently.The decision has been made, and she doesn't want to discuss this issue with her mother. "She did several war-related jobs, and she didn't do well in any of them." "I know that." But Diana is a sharpshooter, and Flick has no time to pick and choose, so he can only use what is available.Her chief concern was that Diana might refuse.Organizations cannot force anyone to work on covert missions, which are entirely voluntary work. "Where is Diana now, do you know?" "I reckon she's in the woods," said Mother, "she's been out shooting rabbits early in the morning." "I guess she is." Diana loved all game sports: fox hunting, deer hunting, hare chasing, grouse shooting, even fishing.If there is nothing better to do, she will shoot rabbits. "You can find her by hearing the gunshot." Flick kissed his mother on the cheek. "Thank you for your breakfast." With that, she walked towards the door. "Don't run to the point of her gun," Mom called after her. Flick went out through the staff exit, past the garden outside the kitchen, and into the woods behind the house.The trees were lush with new leaves, and the nettles were waist-high.Flick was wearing motorcycle boots and leather pants, brushing through low weeds and bushes.The best way to attract Diana, she thought, was to issue a challenge. She walked about a quarter of a mile into the woods before hearing the gunshots.She stopped, listened for directions, and called, "Diana!" No one answered. She walked in the direction of the gunfire, yelling a few times a minute or so.Finally she heard a response: "Here, what are you talking about, you idiot!" "I'll come over and put down the gun." She found Diana in a clearing, sitting on the ground with her back against an oak tree, smoking a cigarette.The shotgun lay wide open in her lap, ready to be reloaded, and beside her lay half a dozen dead rabbits. "Hey, it's you!" she said. "You scared all the rabbits away." "Anyway, it will come tomorrow." Flick looked at her childhood playmate.Diana was boyish, with dark hair cropped short, and freckles on her nose and sides.She was wearing a hunter jacket over a pair of corduroy trousers. "Hello, Diana." "Bored, lost, frustrated, and everything else." Flick sat down on the grass beside her.Everything may be easier than she imagined. "What's wrong?" "My brother went off to Italy and I'm here in the English countryside, rotting away." "How is William?" "He's all right, he's helping the war effort, but no one's giving me a proper job." "I might be able to help you." "You're from the emergency nurse team." She took a sharp puff on her cigarette and exhaled the smoke. "Honey, I can't be a female driver." Flick nodded. Diana really couldn't let go of her arrogance to do odd jobs as servants for the war, but most women were assigned similar jobs. "I came here just to introduce you to something more interesting to do." "What's up?" "You may not like it. It's very difficult and dangerous—" Diana looked at her suspiciously and said, "What was it about? Driving in the dark during blackout?" "I can't tell you too much because it's confidential." "Flick, dear, you don't do that kind of spying, do you?" "I didn't get to be a major by driving generals and taking them to meetings." Diana stared at her hard: "Are you serious?" "It's true." "My God." Diana couldn't help being surprised. Flick needs confirmation that she's volunteering. "So you're willing to do something very dangerous? I mean, you're likely to die from it." Diana was not afraid, but excitedly said: "Of course I would. William can take the risk of joining the war, why can't I?" "Are you serious?" "I take every word seriously." Flick secretly breathed a sigh of relief, she had recruited the first team member for herself. Diana seemed very enthusiastic, so Flick decided to throw some cold water on her first. "There's a condition here that you might find harder to accept than the risk itself." "What conditions?" "You are two years older than me, and your social status has always been higher than mine. You are the daughter of the baron, and I am just the child of the housekeeper. It's nothing, and I don't have any complaints. My mother also said, what should it be?" That's what." "That's right, dear, so what do you want to say?" "I am in charge of this operation, and you have to respect me." Diana shrugged, "That's not a problem." "It could be a problem," Flick said emphatically. "You won't get used to it, but I'll be strict with you to get used to it as soon as possible. I have to warn you first." "Yes, sir!" "We don't have a lot of etiquette in that department, so you don't have to call me sir or ma'am. We have strict military discipline though, especially once the operation starts. If you forget that, you have more than me to worry about losing my temper." .If you violate the order, I have the right to execute you." "Honey, that's too dramatic! But of course I get it." Flick couldn't guarantee that Diana really understood, but she was good enough.Flick tore a pad from the lining of his suit and wrote an address in Hampshire on it. "Pack up enough for three days. This is where you're going. You take the train from Waterloo to Brockenhurst." Diana looked at the address and said, "Oh, isn't this Lord Montagu's estate?" "Most of it is taken up by our department now." "What's your department called?" "Bureau of Internal Affairs and Research," Flick said under the usual pseudonym. "The name is more exciting than it sounds at first glance." "Just try your best to guess." "Then when do I start?" "You got there today." Flick stood up, "You start training tomorrow morning." "I'll go back to the house with you to clean up." Diana also stood up, "Can you tell me a little bit about the situation first?" "I've said everything I can say." Diana grabbed the shotgun, looking a little embarrassed.When she met Flick's eyes again, there was a candid expression on her face for the first time. "Why me?" she said. "You probably know that no one wants me." Flick nodded and said, "I'll tell you the truth," she looked down at the bloody dead rabbit on the ground, and then she turned her eyes to Diana's beautiful face, "You're a killer," she said, "it's just It's what I need."