The night of the air-lift, Sibbie, Marjie, Arnie, Paulo, Randie and Cyrus set off for the field that had been earmarked for the aircraft to land. Spotters had gone before them. Marjie had counted a dozen or so men trudging out of camp, making their way to various outposts, all of them armed, all intent on safeguarding the mission by giving an early warning of anything amiss.

Thankfully, it was a clear night with little wind. The planes would always come in low to avoid detection, which was difficult enough, without bad weather. They trudged in silence, through the forest and over rough terrain in the clearings. Marjie walked between her father and her brother whenever the space between the trees allowed.

When they came to the edge of the forest there was a sense of being exposed, but lookouts had gone ahead of them and no concerns were reported. Sibbie had the radio, as the pilot would contact them, once he was near enough and was descending. The rest of them carried torches that would line the route and would be lit as the plane approached.

Nothing seemed untoward, and preparing the landing strip – which meant clearing it of debris and lining it with torches – kept them busy and didn’t give Marjie any time to dwell on the goodbyes that lay ahead of her.

They worked in silence – a silence that a distant drone encroached upon. ‘It’s the plane. I’ll make contact.’ They all waited while Sibbie manned the radio. A crackly voice came over it, asking them to light the torches for the approach and to have the cargo ready. Marjie smiled at her papa and brother being called ‘cargo’.

Running down the length of the landing strip with a lighted torch, she lit the four torches she was responsible for, and as she ran back saw that the others had done the same and the runway was now an illuminated causeway.

Crouching with her papa, Marjie felt his arm come around her. ‘Stay safe, my darling.’

‘I will, Papa.’

Randie crawled forward and held her to him. ‘I’ll be back, Marjie, I promise you. I’ll get well and I’ll come back.’

‘I know you will, Randie, and I’ll hang on to that day, keeping it as a ray of hope in my future. Together, we’ll work for the freedom of our beloved France.’ They clung together.

Papa encircled them both. ‘My children, I am so proud of you both.’

The engine noise increased. The plane was here.

‘Go – go on, both of you – take my love with you and give it to Mama. I wish I could send it to Aunt Ella and Aunt Mags and everyone, too.’

Her father and Randie left Marjie then. They made a beautiful picture, father helping son to safety.

‘Tell Mama that I love her more than life.’