Le Train

Ka-dit-ka-dit Ka-dit-ka-dit Ka-dit-ka-dit

Through the fog, the rapid staccato of steel on steel penetrated his unconsciousness. He was becoming aware of movement beneath him, a scratchy fabric- Mohair perhaps? – against his cheek. He stirred, realizing he was someplace unfamiliar, as the sound of a train whistle shrieked. His body ached all over.

Where was he? He thought back. The Gestapo. They had picked him up in the Marais and taken him to their headquarters on Avenue Foch. Torture. He had broken but not completely, given the Nazis enough to believe but not betray the whole operation. How many days, in and out of consciousness: beatings; burnings; electric shock; soaking wet and left in a freezing cell. It took all of that before he broke – but not completely.

Recent events started to come back. The Gestapo had dragged him half-conscious and thrown him in a car, under guard, headed out of Paris. Had they put him on a train? He heard the shriek of the train whistle again, and the rhythm of steel wheel on rail was certain.

But something…had happened. He remembered being tossed about violently inside the Gestapo car, losing consciousness again amongst broken bodies and glass in the upturned vehicle. So how did he get on a train?

He struggled to raise himself up on an elbow. He tried to open his eyes, fluttering in the light. He could see the window shade was closed, the overhead light illuminating a train compartment. The luggage rack high above the seat across from him.

“Hello Paul.” The voice was familiar, very familiar.

“S-S-Sophie?”

He couldn’t believe his eyes. She sat across the compartment from him, backed into the corner by the corridor, dressed all in black. “Am I dead? How did I get here, on a train?”

“No Paul, you aren’t dead, though it would be easier for me if you were. You see the Resistance got word you were being transferred, and we…

“Rescued me?”

“Recovered you, Paul.” She sighed and broke eye contact.

“Recovered?”

“Remy and Marcel are dead, Paul. We know you broke.”

His expression slumped. Remy and Marcel had paid the price for his weakness, there would likely be others to follow. “What happened?”

She still wouldn’t make eye contact with him. “They went down in a gun battle when the Gestapo tried to pick them up. They killed three Nazis before they died. The entire cell has been compromised, and everyone has scattered.”

He wished she would look at him now. Look at him with love like she used to when they were both in the fight together. “I tried so hard not to be broken. But, after so much, I just couldn’t. I gave them Remy and Marcel because they knew the least important information to give the Germans. I didn’t tell them our plans or contacts or anything else.”

She regarded him now with what she took as a look of pity. “Five days, that’s how long it took the Gestapo to break you. Five days I prayed every moment that you wouldn’t die. Five days that I wished that you would die to be out of your suffering. Five days of constant worry and fear that I would lose you.”

“I talked because my interrogators brought your name up more than once. I knew if I gave them something I could deflect them away from you and you could gain time to get away from Paris. I knew I was a dead man, but Sophie, I tried to protect you.”

Tears were now welling up in his eyes, and for the first time she could truly see how badly he had been battered by the Gestapo and from the grenade attack. His face was badly bruised, and his nose clearly broken. His eyes, normally warm and joyful were dead, ringed by dark black circles and peering out from behind his hair, matted with blood. He was covered with dried blood from cuts where the automobile glass had hit his face and hands. She could no longer see the handsome man with the easy smile she loved. He was gone forever.

There was a rap on the compartment door, and it slid open. Etienne, the leader of their cell of the Resistance stood in the doorway. “He’s awake?”

Sophie nodded and looked away.

Etienne came in an sat on the seat next to Sophie, also dressed all in black and regarded Paul with judgement. “Do you know why you’re here Paul?”

He shook his head.

“You became a major liability to the Resistance when the Gestapo picked you up Paul. You were the number two of our cell, you knew too much, and when Remy and Marcel died, it became clear that you had talked. For the sake of the Liberation of France we have to silence you.”

“The Liberation? Did the Allies invade?”

“Two days ago, Normandy. This is a crucial time Paul, and we have all been compromised because of you. The Germans were planning on sending you to Berlin. It was only a matter of time, and they would have known much, much more about our operation. Your name and face are all over France now, and the Gestapo is hunting you. We all are having to go into hiding, but there is no place where you aren’t a danger to us Paul.”

“The Gestapo caught me by surprise, plainclothes officers as I walked through the Marais. I didn’t have time to act, otherwise I would have killed myself. I didn’t want to talk, I never thought I would, but believe me Etienne, I didn’t sell out our entire operation, just Remy and Marcel. And I’m sorry I did.” He stared at the carpet now. He knew he was too big a liability to live.

“I understand Paul, honestly, I do. There have been many times where I wondered what I would do if the Gestapo ever took me. But we all knew the risks, and we all know the consequences.”

He now sat all the way up in his seat. Every fiber of his body was in pain, but he did it anyway. “So, what happens now, where are we going?”

Etienne took out a cigarette and offered one to Paul. “This train is essentially stolen. We have members at the Gare de l’ Est who helped us conceal this train’s departure for an hour or so before the Nazis know what happened.”

He looked at Etienne puzzled, and then at Sophie, who remained silent, working the hem of her skirt in her hands. “So, we’re heading…East?”

Etienne smiled a little. “Temporarily. Of course, Paul, you aren’t really going anywhere.” He leaned over and lit the cigarette hanging from Paul’s lips before lighting his own. “In a way Paul, we are carrying out one of your grandest ideas to kill two birds with one stone.”

He took a drag on the cigarette. It wasn’t good tobacco, if it was tobacco at all. “If the Allies have landed in Normandy, then the Germans must be sending reinforcements. So, the Germans must be sending reinforcements by troop train.”

“Exactly!” Etienne said, leaning forward and gesturing emphatically. “We know there is a troop train that will be coming through ahead very shortly. This train is loaded with high explosives and will derail at high speed while both trains are passing through a critical junction for transports from the east. The accident will wreck the troop train and will trigger the explosives to ensure it’s complete destruction as well as the rail junction. It will delay German reinforcements from the east to the Normandy front.”

“Almost exactly what I would do.” He smiled, revealing his front teeth had all been broken out. “But I’m guessing you aren’t staying aboard the train to its conclusion, how will that work?”

“Brake van at the end of the train. When it’s time to depart, the engineer will jam the throttle wide open, and we all will disconnect the van from the rest of the train and brake it to a halt. The local Resistance cell will then help us disperse across the countryside.”

He took a few drags from the cigarette. “It’s brilliant, really. I hope it works. Of course, I will be here to see if it does.”

“If it does, we’ll give you full credit. You’ll go down in history as a hero of the Resistance, and no one outside of our immediate cell need ever know you broke under interrogation. And liberation is what we all have been giving our lives for.”

He nodded and gave a wan smile. “I understand.”

Etienne stood and kissed him on the forehead. “No more pain, no more suffering, mon ami.” He gently took Paul’s right wrist and locked a handcuff on it, then locked the other cuff to the brass luggage rack. “We can’t risk you deciding to jump off the moving train at the last minute.”

Etienne stood in the doorway and said, “Don’t be long, Sophie,” without looking back.

He and Sophie looked at each other, before he finally spoke. “You know I have always loved you.”

She nodded, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “In a different world, I think you and I would have gotten married and grown old together. Maybe had lots of kids.”

“Old.” And for the first time in his life, he knew he would never know what that really meant.

“Be happy Sophie, put my memory to rest and live your life.”

She stood, kissed him tenderly on the lips and slipped a pistol into his hand before heading down the corridor.