Chapter 50 Chapter Forty-Nine

Flick could hardly believe she had gotten this far.Four of the original six "jackdaws" had escaped, despite their shrewd opponents and bad luck, but now they were in Antoinette's kitchen, a few steps from the Place Saint-Cécile , right under the nose of the Gestapo.In ten minutes, they will be walking towards the gate of the castle. Antoinette and four of the five other cleaners were strapped firmly to kitchen chairs.Paul gagged several people except Antoinette.Each cleaner carried a shopping basket or canvas bag with food and drink—bread, cold potatoes, fruit, a small bottle of wine or substitute coffee—for their half-past nine break. Yes, because they are not allowed to use the German canteen.Now the Jackdaws hastily emptied the bags and filled them with what they were going to take into the castle: flashlights, guns, ammunition, and 250g sticks of yellow plastic dynamite. "Jackdaw" has always packed these things in a suitcase, but it seems strange to carry such a suitcase to work in the hands of the cleaners.

Flick soon realized that the bag the cleaners had brought wasn't big enough.She herself was to carry a Sten submachine gun with a suppressor in three sections each a foot long. "Jelly" needs to use a shockproof box to carry sixteen detonators, an incendiary thermite bomb, and a chemical body that generates oxygen, in order to ignite and support combustion in enclosed spaces such as bunkers.After they put the ammunition in the bag, they had to cover it with the cleaner's food bag, but there was no room inside. "To hell with him," said Flick irritably, "Antoinette, do you have a big bag?"

"What do you mean?" "Bags, big bags, like shopping bags, you should have them." "There's a bag in the pantry that I used to do my grocery shopping." Flick found the bag, a cheap square bag made of reeds. "Great," she said, "do you still have those bags?" "No, how can I have two?" Flickr needs four. There is a knock on the door.Flick made his way to the door.A woman in printed overalls and a hairnet stood, the last of the cleaners. "Good evening," said Flick. The woman hesitated for a moment, a little surprised to see a stranger: "Is Antoinette there? I received a note..."

Flick smiled reassuringly and said, "She's in the kitchen. Please come in." The woman walked into the house, obviously familiar with this place, and when she entered the kitchen, she stopped and screamed softly.Antoinette said: "Don't worry, Françoise, they tied us up to show the Germans that we are not helping them." Flick took the woman's bag.It was a mesh bag knotted with string, good for bread or a bottle, but not at all for Flick.In a few minutes, the climax of the whole task will be reached, but this kind of detail problem has involved Flick's energy.If this problem is not resolved, she cannot continue.Forced to think calmly, she asked Antoinette, "Where did you get that woven bag?"

"The little store across the street, you can see it from the window." It was warm in the evening so the windows were open and the blinds were drawn for shade.Flick opened the shutter a little and looked out onto Castle Street.On the other side of the street was a shop that sold candles, firewood, brooms and clothespins. She turned to Ruby and said, "Go get three more bags, quick." Ruby walked to the door. "Buy different shapes and colors if you can." Flick worries about attracting attention if the bags are all the same. "it is good." Paul tied the last cleaner to a chair and gagged her.He apologized and looked very pleasant, and the woman didn't resist.

Flick hands Jelly and Greta the cleaner's pass.These documents have been kept with her until the last moment, otherwise, if Jackdaw is arrested, they will reveal the purpose of the operation if they are found.Flick, Ruby's pass in hand, went to the window to watch. Ruby came out of the store, holding three different woven bags.Flick breathed a sigh of relief.She looked at her watch. It was two minutes to seven. Disaster ensued. Ruby was about to cross the street when a man in a military uniform approached her.He wore a denim shirt with buttoned pockets, a dark blue tie, and dark trousers tucked into high boots.Flick recognized the uniforms of the militia, the secret police doing dirty work for the regime. "Oh, it's broken!" she said.

Like the Gestapo, the militia was a bunch of stupid, brutal guys who couldn't get into the regular police force.Their chiefs, too, were of the same sort, only from the upper classes; Paul came over and looked over Flick's shoulder. "Damn it, that's a bloody militia," he said. Flick was thinking quickly.Was this an accidental encounter, or was it a planned security campaign against the "Jackdaws"?The militia is a notorious gang of good-for-nothings who display their prestige by harassing their fellow citizens.If they didn't like how someone looked, they would stop them, scrutinize their papers, and even find a pretext to arrest them.Does the interrogation of Ruby belong to this kind of situation?Flick hoped so.If the police stopped everyone in the streets of Sainte-Cécile to check their papers, Jackdaw would never even get near the gates of the castle.

The policeman began to question Ruby at length.Flick couldn't make out what was said, but she heard the words "mixed race" and "dark skin" and felt that the police might be mistaking the darker Ruby for a gypsy.Ruby pulls out his papers.The man looked at each of them carefully, then continued to question her, but did not return the documents to her. Paul drew his pistol. "Put it back." Flick ordered. "Are you going to let him arrest her?" "Yes, that's all," said Flick coldly, "if we shoot now, we're finished—and the operation is over. Whatever happened, Ruby's life didn't blow up the telephone exchange." Important. Put that damn pistol back."

Paul tucked the pistol under the waistband of his trousers. Ruby's conversation with the militiamen intensifies.Flick watched in horror as Ruby swapped the three woven bags for her left hand and put her right hand in the raincoat pocket as the man grabbed her left arm, apparently to arrest her. Ruby was quick.She dropped the bag and took out her right hand from the pocket, holding a knife in it.She took a step forward and slashed hard from the waist and hips. The knife penetrated his uniform shirt from under the ribs and stabbed straight to the heart. Flick said, "Oh, fuck it."

The man let out a cry, which turned into a terrible moan.Ruby pulled out the knife and gave him another blow, this time from the side.He shrank his head and opened his mouth, screaming in pain and silently. Flick wondered what would happen next.If she could have dragged the man quickly out of sight, they might have gotten away with it.Anyone seen stabbing someone here?Flick's shutter sees limited.She pushed the window slit wider and leaned out.To her left, Castle Street was empty except for a truck and a sleeping dog by the door.Looking the other way, she saw three men and a woman in police uniforms on the sidewalk.They must be the Gestapo in the castle.

The militiaman fell on the pavement, bleeding from his mouth.Flick wanted Ruby to be careful, but before she could yell, the two male Gestapo pounced and grabbed Ruby's arms.Flick drew back immediately and closed the shutters.Ruby lost. She continued to look out through the slit in the shutter.A Gestapo smashed Ruby's arm against the shop wall until she dropped the knife.The girl bent over to see the bloody militia.She held up the man's head to talk to him, and then said something to the two men.They yelled at each other.The girl ran into the store and came out with the owner in the white apron.He stooped to look at the militiaman, and stood up again instantly, with a look of disgust on his face—whether it was the man's horrific wounds, or the hideous uniform, Flick could not tell.The girl ran in the direction of the castle, presumably to call for help; the two men cut Ruby's hands behind their backs and headed in the same direction. Flick said, "Paul—go, pick up the bag Ruby dropped." Without hesitation, Paul said, "Yes, ma'am." He walked out. Flick watched him walk up the street and across the street.What will the shopkeeper say?The man said something to Paul.Paul didn't answer, just bent down, quickly picked up the three bags, turned and walked back. The shopkeeper stared at Paul, and Flick could see what he was thinking: first surprised by Paul's indifference, then puzzled, looking for possible reasons, and finally began to understand something. "We're moving fast," Flick said, as soon as Paul entered the kitchen. "Bag everything up and get out, quick! I hope we get through the checkpoint when the guards are happy for Ruby. ’ She stuffed the large flashlight into a pouch, then the disassembled Stern, six thirty-two-round magazines, and her share of plastic explosives.Her pistol and knife were in her pockets.She covered the weapon with a cloth and placed a serving bowl wrapped in baking paper on top. Jelly said, "What if the guard at the gate searches our bags?" "That would be the end of us," Flick said. "We'd kill as many enemies around us as possible. Don't let the Nazis take you alive." "Oh, my God," said "Jelly," but she inspected the clip of her automatic pistol expertly before snapping it back into place with a decisive snap. The clock in the church in the town square struck seven. They are all ready. Flick said to Paul: "Someone will surely find out that there are only three cleaners instead of the usual six. Antoinette is the supervisor, so they may ask her what's wrong. If anyone comes here, You just shoot him." "Ok." Flick kissed Paul on the lips quickly and hard, then walked out, followed by Jelly and Greta. On the other side of the street, the shopkeeper was still staring at the militiamen lying dead on the ground.He caught a glimpse of three women, then looked up into the distance.Flick guessed he had figured out how to answer when someone asked him: "I don't see anything, there's no one else there." The remaining three "jackdaws" walked towards the square.Flick walked briskly, she wanted to enter the castle as quickly as possible.She saw the gate at one end of the square directly in front of her.Ruby and her two captors had just gone in.Well, Flick thought, at least Ruby was in. The Jackdaws reached the end of the street and began to cross the square.The windows of the sports cafe, which were shattered in the shootout last week, are now boarded up.Two castle guards ran across the square with rifles in hand, their boots tapping the cobblestones, apparently running toward the wounded militiamen.They didn't pay attention to the cleaning ladies who hurried over. Flick arrived at the door.This is the first moment of real danger.There is only one guard left here, and he has been watching the two colleagues running across the square behind Flick.He glanced at Flick's pass and waved her over.She went through the door, then turned and waited for the others. Then there was Greta, who was also let by the guard.He was more concerned with what was happening on Castle Street. They're almost done, Flick thought, but as the guard checked Jelly's credentials, he glanced into Jelly's bag. "What smells so good," he said. Flick held his breath. "A little sausage, that's my supper," said Jelly. "You smell garlic." He waved her to let her in, then turned his head and looked towards the square.The three Jackdaws walked up the short drive, then up the steps, and finally into the castle.