Chapters (117)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- The Cast of Characters
- CHAPTER ONE
- The Recruits
- CHAPTER TWO
- CHAPTER THREE
- CHAPTER FOUR
- CHAPTER FIVE
- CHAPTER SIX
- CHAPTER SEVEN
- CHAPTER EIGHT
- CHAPTER NINE
- CHAPTER TEN
- CHAPTER ELEVEN
- CHAPTER TWELVE
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN
- CHAPTER SIXTEEN
- The Missions
- CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
- CHAPTER NINETEEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY
- CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
- CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
- CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
- CHAPTER THIRTY
- CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
- CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
- CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
- CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
- CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
- CHAPTER FORTY
- CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
- CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
- CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
- CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
- CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
- CHAPTER FIFTY
- CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
- CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
- CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
- CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
- CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
- The Game
- CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
- CHAPTER SIXTY
- CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
- CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
- CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
- CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
- CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
- CHAPTER SEVENTY
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
- CHAPTER EIGHTY
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
- HOME
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
- CHAPTER NINETY
- CHAPTER NINETY-ONE
- CHAPTER NINETY-TWO
- CHAPTER NINETY-THREE
- CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
- CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE
- CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
- CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER NINETY-NINE
- CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
- CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ONE
- Acknowledgments
- Discover More
- About the Author
- Reading Group Guide
- Discussion Questions
- A Conversation with Leila Meacham
- ALSO BY LEILA MEACHAM
“To Dragonfly,” they all chorused, tapping glasses, and Victoria added tipsily for good measure, “God save the king and bless America.”
And all you wee lambs, the sergeant thought.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Are you all tucked in, miss?” the pilot of the Lysander asked the sweet-faced young agent he was about to drop off in occupied France, a regular Kewpie doll. It took all kinds to do what she’d been trained for, but bejesus…a pretty little thing like her?
Bridgette nodded and wriggled into a more comfortable position in the small aircraft’s cramped quarters, grateful that she did not have a parachute strapped to her back. She was to be set down in a farmer’s field ten miles from Paris, which would be signaled only by short bursts of light, quickly extinguished. She’d scramble down a fixed ladder on the port side of the fuselage and head toward a signal she hoped would be flashed by her contact and not a cadre of Gestapo agents. A vehicle was supposed to be waiting to spirit her away to assume her new life as Bernadette Dufor, newly hired assistant to Madame Jeanne Boucher, owner of the couture fashion house La Maison de Boucher—the House of Boucher.
The flight plan had called for an approximate two o’clock touchdown. They were taking off at midnight—plenty of time to calm her nerves, Bridgette reckoned. She mustn’t panic. Whatever happened, she must not panic. She must trust the pilot to get her to the drop-off point safely, though her confidence would have been considerably bolstered if she hadn’t been told that the Lysander would be flying without its usual defense, communication, and protection equipment. The aircraft’s belly had been painted matte black to be invisible to searchlights, and its upper surface had been camouflaged in dark green and pale gray colors to conceal it from enemy night fliers. If those tricks failed, they would be at the mercy of ground fire and the German Luftwaffe.
“Not trying to scare you, miss,” the Special Operations Executive officer in charge had said. “Just giving you a chance to back out while you can. It’s my job.”