They obediently sat at the large, scrubbed pine table that took up the centre of the room as Claudette placed steaming bowls of soup in front of them. While she was eating, Holly discreetly looked about the room. It was a typical farmhouse kitchen, low-beamed with a flagstone floor and a fire blazing in the inglenook above which shiny copper pans were suspended. Old, much-loved wing chairs covered in colourful cushions stood either side of it and a large pine dresser holding Claudette’s cherished china stood against another wall. Brightly coloured rag rugs were thrown down on the floor and pretty flowered curtains hung at the tiny leaded windows, tightly drawn against the bitter night. It was far from salubrious but very warm and cosy. The soup was delicious too and she emptied her dish in minutes. Now they had arrived safely she was suddenly so tired she could have fallen asleep where she sat but she knew that the real work must begin straight away if they had any chance at all of saving the airman.

I wonder where he is? she thought to herself. Surely the Le’Fetes would not be foolish enough to have him staying in their home? If they did and the enemy discovered him there they would be signing their own death warrants. And then her unspoken question was answered when Monsieur Le’Fete dragged the table to one side and folded back the carpet beneath it to reveal a trapdoor, and when he opened it, Holly could see a flight of steps leading down into darkness. ‘Put the table back until I knock, just in case,’ he said to his wife as he lit an oil lamp so he could show them the way. He knew that he could never be too careful.

Richard followed Monsieur Le’Fete with Holly behind negotiating a very steep, wooden staircase. When they reached the bottom of it she was shocked to see how huge the cellar was. It must have run the whole length of the cottage and although it could never be classed as warm it was nowhere near as cold as she had expected it to be.

She noticed the beds then, four in a row along one wall, all with iron frames and gaily coloured patchwork quilts on them. There was also a table and chairs and various other bits of furniture dotted about including a small screen with a bucket standing behind it that they could use should it not be safe for them to use the toilet outside. The Le’Fetes had clearly gone to a lot of trouble to make the room as comfortable as they possibly could. On the end bed they saw the patient. He looked to be somewhere in his mid- to late twenties and his face was beaded with sweat. His dark hair was also damp and his breathing erratic so Richard wasted no time in hurrying across to him to take his pulse, which was racing dangerously fast.

‘Let’s have a look at this leg then, old chap,’ he said cheerfully, although he suspected that the airman couldn’t hear him. When he turned back the sheets Holly gasped as she stared down at his leg and the vile smell issuing from it hit her full force. It was clearly badly broken just below the knee and she could see a bone poking out of his skin.