‘Your brother? But I don’t understand. Oh, I see – of course you couldn’t risk being recognized. Well done, Marjie. But a bit elaborate, don’t you think? You could just have kept your head turned away from him.’

Marjie felt conflicted; if she told André what she suspected, she might as well sign Monty’s death warrant.

Her heart pounded as indecision divided her loyalties. Would André remain as alert as he could, if he knew the truth? Desperate to save her brother’s life, and yet to protect herself and André, Marjie frantically sought a reason why they should get away from here as quickly as possible. Suppose the driver had been looking and saw us running. Oh, what shall I do?

Making her mind up, she told André, ‘It is vitally important that I am not recognized. My cover will be blown and our safety, and that of our comrades, will be compromised. We need a plan to get away from here without being seen, because we will draw suspicion anyway – a gendarme and a woman walking on the train tracks.’

‘Yes, you’re right. Maybe you should have done as I said, because now we are in a position that it is difficult to get out of.’

Opening her handbag, Marjie took the gun from her make-up case and assembled it. This only took seconds, with all the practice she’d had. ‘Take this, André.’ Bending down, she took off her boot and accessed the bullets and handed them to him. As André took them, his frown told her that he thought her completely mad. ‘Just do as I say, André. There are times when you shouldn’t question me, and this is one of them. I am in charge of this operation until we reach the safety of our camp.’ However, now Marjie wondered if even that was safe.

André loaded the gun. Marjie accessed the knife from the inner cushion of her boot, before quickly putting it back on.

‘Now, this wall gets lower a short way along. Follow me. But keep close to the engine at all times.’

The sound of the guard’s whistle reached them, giving Marjie a small amount of relief. Had the gendarmes searched the train and allowed it to go on its way? Would she be better to hide in the old engine than risk being seen?

At that moment the gods were with her, as another train approached in the distance. Stopping her progress, she waited. Once the train approached the station, she knew the old engine would shield her if she made a run for it, but what of the passengers? Would they be too busy getting ready to get off the train to notice her? Unsure, she stayed still. Looking back, she saw that André was close behind her and thanked God that he’d decided to let her dictate what they did.