BooksBarbecue
Back Dragonfly Save as PDF
Chapters (117)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. The Cast of Characters
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. The Recruits
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. The Missions
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  65. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  66. The Game
  67. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  75. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  76. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  77. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  78. CHAPTER SEVENTY
  79. CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
  80. CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
  81. CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
  82. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
  83. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
  84. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
  85. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
  86. CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
  87. CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
  88. CHAPTER EIGHTY
  89. CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
  90. CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
  91. CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
  92. CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
  93. HOME
  94. CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
  95. CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
  96. CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
  97. CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
  98. CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
  99. CHAPTER NINETY
  100. CHAPTER NINETY-ONE
  101. CHAPTER NINETY-TWO
  102. CHAPTER NINETY-THREE
  103. CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
  104. CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE
  105. CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
  106. CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
  107. CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT
  108. CHAPTER NINETY-NINE
  109. CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
  110. CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ONE
  111. Acknowledgments
  112. Discover More
  113. About the Author
  114. Reading Group Guide
  115. Discussion Questions
  116. A Conversation with Leila Meacham
  117. ALSO BY LEILA MEACHAM

The captain had heard of a nun joining the partisans, reputed to be a crack shot. “How could they force you to permit them to use your room?”

“They…threatened to kill me and the mother superior. When I refused, they pushed a French policeman, known in the neighborhood as the guardian of the wall and protector of the mural—the sweetest man who ever lived—into the path of an oncoming train as proof they meant what they said.”

The captain had read of the policeman’s death in the papers. Shocking.

“And how would they have gained access to your room without being noticed?”

“They entered by the fire escape when I was at the fashion house. I…was to leave the attic window unlatched and my door unlocked.”

“What about their names? What did they look like?”

“I do not know, but I would recognize them again, that’s for sure.”

The captain made a note. “Did you ever learn their call signal?”

“The what?”

“Never mind. Did anybody else in the convent know what was going on?”

“No, Capitaine, no one.” Her voice had faltered to a frightened whisper.

The captain believed her. Every point of her story bore out as the truth. He should have her arrested for her cooperation with the Resistance, but the girl had had no choice. She was clearly innocent of covert activity. “Very well, Mademoiselle Dufor,” he said, riffling some papers to appear official, “ I see no reason to detain you longer—”

Suddenly the door burst open, and the German SS commandant of the Drancy internment camp, accompanied by a woman and several other SS men, filed into the room. Behind them, the captain’s desk clerk lifted his shoulders and spread his hands in frightened apology for the break-in.

The captain leaped to his feet. “May I help you, Herr Commandant?”

“That’s her,” the woman said, pointing at Bridgette. “That’s my designer.”

“She is coming with us, Capitaine. Madame Richter has need of her services,” her husband ordered.

The captain would not have dreamed of protesting. Besides outranking him, the commandant was a member of the SS. The French captain acquiesced gracefully and quickly, glad to be rid of the problem of Mademoiselle Bernadette Dufor. “She’s all yours, Herr Commandant,” he said.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

Saturday, June 10, 1944. Madame Gabrielle Dupree took her derringer from its hiding place under a floorboard and slipped it into her apron pocket. If it was discovered on her, she would claim that it was for self-defense against the growing unrest in the streets now that the Allied invasion was underway. People’s houses were being broken into with impunity since domestic burglaries were not high on the response list of the French police.