The Iron Storm by CW Browning (best fiction novels to read .txt) 📗

been given a generous allowance in exchange for the use of their property, but I’m not really sure. It’s very convenient to the border, and the house is far enough away from the road that we come and go without drawing any notice.” She laughed suddenly. “Not that there is anyone for miles who would notice. That’s me. Now tell me about you. What were you doing in Brussels?”

“The same thing you’re doing here, I imagine,” Evelyn said with a smile.

“Bad timing with the invasion. Was it very bad there?”

“I imagine it could have been much worse. The main problem was everyone trying to get out of the city at the same time. A building on the same street as my hotel had a bomb dropped on it, and on the way here there were several large formations of bombers flying overhead. But it was the amount of people fleeing the cities that really caused the most problems.”

“I can’t blame them for leaving,” Josephine said slowly. “It’s already bad. Fort Eben-Emael is already in danger of falling. Marc heard it on the wireless tonight.”

Evelyn stared at her, aghast. “What? Already?”

“Yes. The Germans landed paratroopers on the roof. It’s the most heavily fortified fort in the Maginot Line. Once they’re inside, it’s simply a matter of holding it until their reinforcements arrive. Do you have a cigarette?”

Evelyn nodded and got up, feeling numb. “If that falls, Holland is all but lost,” she said, going over to her purse laying on the nightstand. “Any word on where they are in Belgium? We couldn’t find out anything while we were driving. They knocked out the radio towers first thing, so there’s no news right now anywhere in Belgium.”

“The last we heard, they were bombing Brussels pretty heavily, along with Antwerp. In Holland, Rotterdam is getting the brunt of it. Our armies are moving into Belgium to meet them head-on.” Josephine took the cigarette Evelyn handed her with a smile of thanks. “Marc thinks that’s a mistake.”

“Oh?” Evelyn lit a cigarette and passed Josephine the lighter. “Why is that?”

“He thinks that it’s all too easy. He thinks it’s a mistake to send all our best troops into Belgium and not spread them along the Maginot.” Josephine lit her cigarette. “I think he’s being overly cautious. Hitler is attacking where the Maginot Line is the weakest, just as General Gamelin predicted.”

Evelyn was quiet for a moment, then she turned to walk over to the window and push it open.

“And you have faith in General Gamelin?” she asked, turning her head to look at her.

“Well, he’s generally regarded as one of the most brilliant military minds,” Josephine said with a shrug. “That must count for something.”

“And yet he makes his headquarters in a castle with no radio or telephone lines. He’s completely cut off from his men and the world.” Evelyn returned her gaze to the window, blowing smoke outside. “I’ve heard that he uses carrier pigeons to send messages to his commanders.”

“Marc deplores the same thing. He says he is trying to fight with tactics from the last war that are outdated and useless against the technology and speed of Hitler’s armies.”

“And what do you say?”

“I think that you both have valid arguments, but it does us no good to debate what we can’t change. Gamelin is our commander, and he is in charge. He’s sending our troops, and yours, into Belgium as we speak.”

Evelyn nodded and turned away from the window with a sigh. “Hopefully he’s right and we can stop Hitler in Belgium.”

Josephine was quiet for a moment, then she looked up at Evelyn, watching her pace around the small room.

“Who is Jens?” she asked suddenly. “Is he one of your people?”

“No. He works for the Belgian State Security. Or at least he did until this morning. If the Germans are successful, he won’t have a job to go back to.”

“How did you meet him?”

“In a market in Brussels. We went to dinner. He’s a radio operator.”

“And now he’s taking you to Paris?”

Evelyn nodded and walked over to put her cigarette out on the window sill before tossing it out the window.

“It’s strange, really. He showed up at the hotel this morning in the middle of all the chaos and offered to do what he could to help get me back to France.”

Josephine got up and went over the window to discard her cigarette butt. “What’s strange about that? I think it’s wonderful that he helped. How else would you have made it out again? We heard the Luftwaffe was bombing the railway lines. If you’d been able to get a train to Paris, it wouldn’t have been safe.”

“Yes I know, but something bothers me about the whole thing.” Evelyn frowned thoughtfully. “I can’t help but feel that there’s something else, some other reason he wants to get to Paris.”

Josephine raised her eyebrow. “Such as?” she prompted when Evelyn didn’t continue.

“That’s just it. I have no idea. It’s just a feeling I have. Every once in a while I catch a look on his face, almost as if he’s worried about something.”

“Well of course he’s worried! His country is being invaded by Nazis and he just barely got away in time.” Josephine went back over to the bed and threw herself across the foot, her eyes on Evelyn’s face. “You really think something else is going on?” she asked after a moment of silence.

Evelyn nodded. “I know it sounds like I’m being paranoid, but there’s something. I’m sure of it.”

Josephine nodded slowly. “All right. Then we’ll find out what it is.”

Evelyn looked at her in surprise. “What?”

The other woman shrugged. “If your instincts tell you there’s something more going on with your radio operator, then there probably is. All we have is our own judgment in this business. If we can’t trust that, we might as well pack it in right now.”

“What do you suggest?”

“Why don’t you stay here tomorrow?” Josephine suggested after a moment’s thought. “Between the two of us, we should