Chapter 1

The group were supposed to have arrived around midnight. Earlier that evening, the weather had been clear with a light breeze and a few clouds occasionally obscuring the moon. Ideal conditions for parachuting. Even as she left the safe house, Gina could tell the weather was beginning to change. By the time she arrived at the contact point, dark black clouds were scudding across the sky as the wind began to blow more strongly, while a fog bank was slowly engulfing the river valley below. Around twelve, she had heard the sound of a plane in the distance but it didn't come anywhere near the jump zone. For the next hour, she sat quietly on the increasingly damp grass, watching for any signs of the approaching men. It was possible they had landed further afield and were taking longer to reach her. However, it was now almost one o'clock. Maybe the drop had been abandoned. She wouldn't be able to find out until the morning. Absently gathering together the small pile of sticks she had created, she walked back down the road.

The team had been to northern France and southern Belgium several times. Gina met them at the appointed places, took them to a safe house, provided them with food and equipment, then organised their routes home. She hadn't been involved in any of the missions with the men recently, instead she had watched from the shadows - just in case. Chief was well aware she was there and always gave her a silent salute, as he drove the others away. There had been no mishaps so far. After all, every one of them had been hand-picked because they were extremely good at whatever they were asked to do, be it a confidence game, stealing cars, scaling walls, setting explosives, robbing banks and, of course, killing the enemy. All for the war effort and the chance of a parole and a new life after the war, should they survive.

Their arrangement appeared to be working well, at least as far as Garrison and the men were concerned . How she spent her time, between their missions, was her affair. What her brother and his Commanding Officer didn't know, wouldn't hurt them and the less they knew the better. They weren't the only ones fighting this war, despite whatever Casino and Goniff might have to say on the matter.

Looking around the area one more time, she dropped the handful of broken twigs she had been carrying, at the side of the road, before making her way through the trees to a clearing, where she had left the van. She would come back after her early morning delivery round.

GG

The flak at the French coast had been more intense than usual, meaning the pilot had had to gain height rapidly after crossing the Channel, carrying them further inland than they should have been. As the officer in charge of his group of men, the co-pilot had kept Garrison informed, but he was already aware they were now some distance from the drop zone. Feeling the movement of the plane, as the pilot attempted to hold it steady, he also realised the wind at this altitude was stronger than he would have liked for a parachute jump. When the co-pilot had signalled them to get hooked up, Garrison had tried to ensure everyone left the plane as close together, as was safely possible. Unfortunately, just as Actor reached the door, turbulence shook the plane, knocking him back. The pilot was already turning away from the area as Garrison and Actor finally managed to launch themselves from the plane.

As they floated to the ground, both men surveyed the area below them, trying to pick out significant landmarks. The enforcement of strict blackout rules, meant that buildings, even small towns, were difficult to spot at night. There were also no signs of the other parachutes and no way of judging how far away the rest of the team may have landed. Knowing his scout, Chief, had an excellent sense of direction, Garrison hoped he would be able to round up Casino and Goniff, then meet up with their contact. There was no time limit on this mission but the rest of the men would be vulnerable in enemy territory, if they couldn't find anywhere to hide in the meantime. He and Actor, however, had a good command of the language and should be able to talk their way out of most situations, if necessary.

At that moment though, Actor was struggling to control the direction of his descent in the strengthening wind. Ahead he could see a line of trees bordering a river or a road. Looking back he could just make out the other parachute and knew he was going to land some distance from Garrison. Making a decision, he allowed the wind to carry him over the trees and the stream beyond, rather than become entangled in the branches. He landed softly in a meadow.

Garrison had watched Actor's parachute pull sideways. Although he was also being dragged in the same direction, there was still going to be a couple of miles between them. Looking to his own safety, he just managed to avoid another copse of trees, landing in the field beyond. He had hardly slipped out of the parachute harness, when a group of armed German soldiers emerged from the trees. He had nowhere to go and the odds were stacked against him, so Garrison complied with the order and raised his hands.

GG

As usual, Chief had left the plane first, enjoying the sensation of falling through the chill night air. It also gave him the opportunity to map out the terrain below, from this unique perspective. He'd heard the pilot tell Garrison that the plane had had to veer off course and that it would take too long to come back around. If there were ground patrols in the area, another fly pass would alert them, putting both the team and the plane at risk. Looking around for landmarks, he could see the shimmer of water in the moonlight ,as a river snaked its way across the landscape but it was much further off than he had anticipated. Identifying other landmarks from the map that Garrison had shown them earlier, was becoming increasingly difficult because of the gathering clouds and the gusting wind. Trying to control his descent, he glanced up and behind. There was another chute, that must be Casino. Higher up again, he though he glimpsed a third parachute but the darkness and mist in the air made it hard to see. Approaching the foggy ground below, he readied himself for the landing.

Hiding his chute, Chief picked up his pack and quickly made for higher ground, away from the mist in the valley. He was hoping the slight rise would enable him to get his bearings, as well as look for any signs of German soldiers in the area. With his back to the river, he scanned the terrain in all directions. Seeing nothing moving, he started off towards the place where he estimated Casino had come down. He had skirted a couple of fields, when a slight sound ahead, made him wait and listen. Step by step he inched forward. Then movement near a field gate toward the end of the field, caused him to halt again, slowly melting into the darkness. Allowing his knife to slip into his hand and opening it quietly, Chief crept forward. There in the shadow of the gateway, Casino was cursing quietly to himself as he tried to hide his parachute under the hedge.

With relief, he took a few steps back, then hissed softly. Casino whirled around, gun in hand, but let it drop as Chief stepped into view.

''Nearly got your head blown off, Geronimo,'' whispered Casino, pulling more vegetation over the white cloth under the hedge.

''Shouldn't make so much noise Pappy,'' smiled Chief. ''Seen any of the others?''

''No. Thought the Limey was right behind me but I didn't see where he came down. The wind was rough, he could be anywhere''

''Saw somethin' come down that way,'' indicated Chief.

''Ok, let's go see.'' Casino picked up his pack, ready to follow the scout, knowing his sense of direction was second to none.

GG

Goniff had come down in a potato field, where a final flurry of wind had caught the parachute and knocked him off balance, as he wriggled out of his harness. Trying to overcome the slippery folds, he stepped awkwardly into one of the ruts, felt his foot go over and knew he had wrenched his ankle. Sitting down on the top of the earthy mound, he dragged the rest of the chute together, then sat quietly, listening for any signs that he had been spotted. His ankle throbbed but he was able to twiddle his toes. Deciding it wasn't broken, Goniff looked around for shelter, somewhere he could rest for a while out of the wind and wait for the other guys to find him. In the dim light, he could just make out the roof of an old shed in the corner of the field. Digging into the loose earth of the banked up soil, he crammed the chute into the hole and hoped it would stay hidden until harvest time. Then, by a process of crawling and hobbling, he managed to make his way down one of the furrows to the field boundary. From here he followed the hedge line to the corner of the field, softly cursing the brambles, thistles and nettles which got in his way. ''Why's it always the prickly stuff, wot's wrong wiv buttercups and daisies?'' he thought to himself.

The building turned out to be a ramshackle lean-to. It had a wall at the back but the sides were open. The roof, or what was left of it, was supported by two wooden pillars. A rusting tractor took up half the space, while the rest of the floor was strewn with piles of straw and sacking. Hopping forward into the building, Goniff's feet became entangled in something hard and spiky, causing him to stumble forward onto a pile of straw. Carefully sitting up, he gingerly unpicked the barbed wire, which seemed to have a life of its own, leaving gashes on his hands, arms and legs. Checking the area around him was free of further sharp implements, he burrowed down into the straw to get warm.

GG

Chief and Casino spent the next hour scouring the nearby fields but weren't able to locate any of the missing members of their team. In the dim light it was almost impossible, even for Chief, to tell if anyone had been through the fields recently. Nor were his acute senses picking up any signs that anyone else was in the immediate vicinity.

''So what now? We can't spend all night tramping around fields.'' Casino griped. He was tired and fed up and sure he had felt drops of rain. ''If the others are together, they're gonna make for the contact point, right? They're probably sitting in the warm somewhere right now. Yuh any idea where it is?''

For reply Chief just turned on his heel and walked off, with Casino following in his wake. Casino always protested about something and it wasn't worth arguing about, especially as he was probably correct in his assessment of their current situation. Not that Chief would give him the satisfaction of telling him that. So he retraced his movements until he reached the high ground. From there he looked towards the river and gazed along its length until he spotted the bridge where the road crossed.

''Need to make for the road, this side of the river. That's the contact point.'' Casino looked in the direction Chief was pointing but wasn't sure he could see either a road or a river. However, the younger man hadn't been wrong yet, so he let Chief take the lead. As they descended into the valley, the mist engulfed them but Chief continued on without hesitation. Then, through the gloom, a line of trees began to appear. Scrambling up the bank beyond the trees, they emerged onto a road.

''This it?'' asked Casino, looking up and down the empty road. But he got no reply as Chief started walking slowly along the verge on the far side of the road. Eventually he bent down to look at something. Next he moved into the trees until he came to a clearing. Casino followed.

''Been a vehicle here. Just one person, though.'' stated Chief.

''How can yuh tell that in the dark?''

''Just can. Need to wait here till morning.'' So saying, Chief sat down with his back against a tree and closed his eyes.

''And that's it? We just sit here till daylight. I gotta be outta my mind following you.'' But, with an expressive shrug, Casino propped himself against a tree and also settled down to wait. Chief smiled in the darkness.