Sophie lay still for a moment, catching her breath. The ground beneath her was damp with dew, the faint scent of decomposing vegetation mingling with the more earthy tones of rich soil. Sophie pushed herself to her knees and disengaged her harness. She pulled her helmet from her head and glanced around. She was on the edge of a long field, a dark wall of bushes or trees surrounding all four sides and swallowing any moonlight. There was no sign of any of the canisters that had been dropped prior to her jump. She had no idea where or when the reception committee that was supposed to meet her would materialize but for now she needed to take care of her parachute and get out of the open. Quickly, she gathered the lifeless silk in her arms and dragged it toward the nearest tree line, away from the exposed field.

In the shadows of the trees, the silence was unnerving, broken only by a tentative rattle of the leafy branches above her head as the breeze meandered through. Sophie strained her eyes but nothing moved. She whistled, two descending notes that should have identified her to the reception committee, but there was only more silence in answer. As the minutes ticked by, she wondered if she’d been dropped in the wrong spot. Or if she had somehow drifted far, far off course.

But staying here, crouched in the damp and the dark, was accomplishing nothing. She couldn’t still be here when the sun came up in a few hours. She stuffed her parachute and helmet under a low bush and stripped the supporting bandages from her ankles, adding them to the concealed pile. Then, as silently as possible, she struck out toward the building she thought she’d seen on her descent.

An owl hooted in the distance, the eerie call echoing through the trees. Sophie focused on keeping her breathing quiet and even and her footsteps deliberate and careful. A thick layer of damp and rotting leaves muffled her footsteps as she moved forward until she arrived at the edge of what looked like an abandoned farmyard. Was this the right farm? Was she even near Gasny?

Closest to her, a small cottage squatted, its windows boarded up, the door drawn tightly closed. There was no telltale smoke curling from the chimney nor laundry hanging from the empty line to the side. Beyond the cottage, the larger outline of a barn loomed. Sophie crouched low and hesitated, unsure if she should approach—

She froze as a glimmer of light appeared beneath the cottage door. It was snuffed out almost as quickly as it had appeared but Sophie knew that she hadn’t imagined it. She was not alone. Again, she hesitated.