Chapter 46: Eve Curie
Two or three hundred years ago, the town we were going to in France might have been a major thoroughfare, going by the heavy, old stone buildings and the general old-world feel to it. But now it was a bombed-out disaster zone. Buildings that had lasted against time couldn't stand against mortars. Walls were tumbled down and some buildings had been completely demolished down to the foundation. Huge gouges from the tracks on a tank tore up the dirt pathways and cobblestones.
The few large buildings that had survived the fighting were packed to capacity with survivors. Tents had been set up by relief agencies. The Red Cross was in attendance with medics rushing around everywhere. Some of the women's medical forces from the Free French Forces had apparently been dispatched as well. A few war reporters walked around as well with cameras, notepads, and grim expressions.
We were there less for medical aid and more for search and rescue. My nose, Yori's ears, Steve's senses and strength, as well as the man power provided by the others, made us ideal for hunting for survivors in the rubble and extricating them.
"You are the team from the SSR?" asked a woman with a French accent. She was lovely, with dark hair pulled back, wisps escaping, and a long, straight, sharp nose. I tilted my head, she looked vaguely familiar…
"Yes, we are, ma'am," Steve said, stepping forwards and offering her his hand to shake. She looked him up and down, then glanced at the rest of us, her eyes lingering for a particularly long time on Yori and I, probably not only because we were women and clearly armed for combat but because Yori was wrapped up in her coat, gloves, hat, and mask once more.
"Then god help us, they sent us a circus," she replied simply. "And it's Eve. Eve Curie."
I gasped aloud. That explained it, why she looked familiar. "You… are Madam Curie's daughter."
Eve raised an eyebrow and glanced at me, smiling faintly. "Of course, everyone knows my mother's work."
"It's not so much that," I admitted a bit sheepishly, moving forward. "Your biography of your mother… it was one of the things that inspired me to pursue a degree in science in spite of my gender."
Eve's face softened slightly. "I'm glad to have made an impression."
"Aside from being brilliant with a knife, Josie also has a doctorate," Bucky said proudly. I smiled at him shyly, a little embarrassed to be around a woman I'd admired for so long.
Eve examined us knowingly. "I see." She turned and gestured for us to follow her. She escorted us through the rubble. All around me I could see restoration and reclamation being done as those who were still fit worked to clear roads for supply trucks to get through. Past that, people moved through the broken buildings carefully, calling out for survivors and working to move rubble and clear bodies. A pair of men with tears silently sliding down their faces carried a stretcher covered in a sheet past us. Going by the size of the lump, it was a child under there.
"We haven't gotten past this point in our grid searches," Eve said, stopping and pointing down the street. "When we first arrived, after the Germans pulled out, people were sent out for a cursory scan to find wounded and bring them for treatment as well as start clearing rubble and looking for survivors. The more in-depth searches haven't moved past here yet. We're trying to be careful not to miss anything, even someone past saving, but the concern is that we're leaving people who need help out there." Eve waved her hand at the section of the city they'd yet to thoroughly comb. "We only have so many people, you see."
"We'll get right to work, ma'am," Steve assured her.
"Good," Eve nodded approvingly, and left us to get to it as Steve gathered us around him to give out assignments.
"Bucky, you and I will head down this street. Dernier, you take Falsworth down there. Jones, you and Morita head that way. Dugan, you and Josie head down there, and Yori, I want you in the air getting a bird's eye view. Tell us if you see anything."
Yori asked, "Are you sure that's wise, here with so many witnesses?"
"Stay high and they won't see you as anything more than a bird," Steve advised. Yori nodded and stripped off her coat, handing it to me. I took it and pulled it on as she took off, quickly gaining altitude.
"I'll take good care of her," Dugan promised Bucky, patting me on the shoulder. I shrugged his hand off and patted him on the shoulder, looking at Steve.
"I'll take good care of him," I promised, and the others laughed as we broke.
It wasn't easy going. We would shout for survivors and then wait to hear anything back, my ears pricked. I could hear the others doing the same as we spread through the streets. Crumbled walls blocked the going sometimes and we had to shift rocks aside to be able to get past. Occasionally we saw puddles of blood from the wounded or dead who'd been gathered in the first wave of searching.
"You hearing anyone?" Dugan asked as we turned a corner. I pricked my ears, shaking my head.
"No, I-"
"-dez…"
I straightened up and tensed, waiting for the faint noise to come again. Dugan stiffened as well, knowing I'd heard something.
"Aidez-moi…"
My heart lurched as I realized it was coming from under a caved-in roof two houses down. I pointed and Dugan and I both sprinted to the door, or where it used to be. It had been blown into the street. Carefully, we picked our way inside, looking for signs of whoever was calling and hoping beyond hope that we weren't stepping on them under who knew how much debris.
"Où es-tu?" I called out, and motioned for Dugan to stay in place.
"I-ici… s'il vous plaît…"
I whipped around. There was a chimney with some wall still standing around it in the corner, but there was a lot of rubble gathered up against it. I pointed and Dugan and I picked our way over. We got to work digging through the boards and rocks as we tried to get at the base of the chimney. I pulled a board back and peered through the gap. I could see an old woman curled in the chimney, shaking and crying.
"I see her," I called to Dugan. The woman blinked in the daylight and looked up, an expression of hope crossing her face and lighting her features. She reached out and I slid my arm through the hole, taking her hand and squeezing comfortingly.
It took about five minutes to get enough of the rubble cleared away. We had to be careful not to shift it too much and bring the rest of the chimney down on top of the old woman. When she was free she flew at me, hugging me tightly and sobbing.
"Merci… merci…"
I smiled at her kindly and gestured towards Dugan. "Carry her," I requested. The woman seemed shaky to begin with, not even considering what had happened to her. "Allons-y," I said to the woman. Dugan carefully picked her up and gave her an apologetic smile.
"Sorry for the manhandling, ma'am," he said, before he began to make his way out of the house and back towards the areas of town where the survivors had set up.
I followed more slowly, still listening carefully for any sign of any survivors. I could hear the others calling out in their own searches but nothing else aside from the moving in the rubble. It sounded like Dernier had found someone, he was talking soothingly in French. I could hear Jones talking to someone supportively as well.
"We'll get you out, hold on."
"You're safe now, monsieur."
"Is anyone there?"
"Can you make a noise to help us find you?"
Somewhere, a baby was crying.
"We're going to get you help."
"You're almost out now, hold on."
I jerked as I fixed on the sound of a crying baby. It took me a second to get a fix on the sound, but I soon found it. I shot off down the street, running as fast as I could. Movement made me look up and I realized Yori must have heard it too. She landed in front of me and wordlessly joined my sprint.
We swung around a house and into an alleyway. It was still open, the buildings in this area seeming to have weathered a little better. We peered around the alley, listening for the source of the wailing. I frowned. Something about it sounded off, almost metallic.
"Do you hear that?" I asked Yori uncertainly. "Like it's in…" A dull glint caught my eye. There was a garbage can at the end of the alley with a lid on it. My heart dropped as my anger rose. "Oh dear god no," I breathed as Yori and I raced towards the garbage can and the sound of the baby crying.
I ripped the lid off and Yori plunged her arms inside. Almost immediately she lifted out a squealing, naked baby girl. She smelled and had a banana peel hanging off her foot. Furious at whoever would do this to a child, I pulled the banana peel off and furiously kicked the trashcan, sending it rolling down the alleyway and out into the street, spilling trash everywhere.
"Don't upset her!" Yori scolded as the baby cried louder at the bang. Chastened, I crept closer. I pulled Yori's coat off and draped it over her shoulders in case one of the other searchers joined us. She was looking down at the baby tenderly.
"Sakura sakura," she sang. "Hana zakari…"
The song wasn't really a lullaby but the way Yori sang it made it so. The baby began to quiet and stop her squirming, relaxing a little in Yori's arms. Slowly, her screwed up face loosened a little. She blinked her eyes open and Yori gasped.
At first, I thought the baby was blind. Her eyes looked oddly foggy, the iris nearly indistinguishable from the white and the pupil more silver than black. I reached out a finger to her curiously, trying to see if she would track it with her eyes. She did, gurgling and reaching out to grasp my finger in hers, her grip surprisingly firm.
I tugged my finger back in surprise and showed it to Yori. Ice crystals melted on my fingertip as we watched. Looking closer, I noticed a faint fuzz of white hair beginning on the baby's head.
"She's like us," Yori said, and she was trembling in her rage. "They left her here… in the garbage… because she's like us…"
This was striking a little too close to home for Yori, who had been abandoned herself by her own parents because of who and what she was. She clutched the baby girl to her tightly, her posture blatantly defensive.
"We need to get her looked at," I reminded Yori gently. "We can't just stay here."
We turned around and were greeted by a camera flash. A reporter stood at the end of the alleyway with his camera raised, staring at us in awe.
"You're with the SSR, right?" he asked eagerly, ignoring the girl in Yori's arms as she squirmed and rubbed her eyes, mewling in protest at the light. "Tell me, you women are the medics for the team, right? You patch them up once they get out of the thick of it?"
Yori wasn't having him and I noticed her hand faintly beginning to glow.
"No comment," I told the man coldly, shoving past him and urging Yori along. She kept her head low to hide her mask and try not to look as strange. The reporter was determined though. He raced after us.
"You in the hat, why do you wear the mask? Were you disfigured? Is that why you fight?"
Yori looked like she was about to turn around the rip the man's throat out, so I took the liberty of scaring him off before she could. I drew my sidearm and leveled it at his head. He paled and shook.
"No. Comment," I growled. He nodded frantically and backpedalled, peeling off down a side street.
"Thank you," Yori said, her voice shaking with suppressed emotion. "I'd really hate to have to kill someone in front of a baby."
I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her through town towards the medical tents. Once people saw us they assumed Yori was a victimized mother I was escorting to the makeshift hospital and cleared the way for us. It was Eve who recognized us and ushered us towards a screened-off bed in a tent. Yori sat down, still rocking the infant and cooing to her.
"Where did you find her?" Eve asked worriedly, looking uncertain about taking the baby away from Yori. I didn't blame her, the mask was off-putting.
"In a god damn trash can," Yori snarled. Eve's eyes hardened in anger and she stretched out her hands.
"Let me have her," she requested. Yori shook her head and held the baby closer protectively. Eve huffed. "I understand you want to take care of her but she needs to be looked at by a professional, alright? There are more people out there that need you and this baby will be here when you come back."
Yori was visibly reluctant but she handed over the baby. "If she freezes something and you hurt her for it," Yori said, standing up. She raised her mask, revealing her mask and baring her canines in a snarl, "I will kill you."
"Yori!" I hissed, a little embarrassed even though I understood where she was coming from. To her credit, Eve only paled a little at the sight of Yori and then set her jaw.
"If I hurt a baby, you have my permission."
Yori still didn't look pleased to be leaving the baby behind but she also seemed to respect Eve a little more after that statement. She nodded to the woman as we headed back out to search.
Yori took to the skies again and I met Dugan back near where we'd split with the old woman. I explained to him about the baby and he was outraged as well. Together we combed through the streets as the day began to grow long. We didn't find any more survivors but we found several bodies that we made a note of for the men with stretchers to come and reclaim, throwing tattered curtains or bed sheets over them to keep the carrion birds off.
When darkness fell we headed back to our little fortress in the middle of the ruin. I wasn't surprised to see that the others were making their way back, discussing who they'd found. Yori landed silently next to me and took her coat back again, tugging it on and hustling on ahead of everything.
"What's her hurry?" Steve asked in surprise as Yori hustled towards the medic tent.
"Something happen?" Bucky asked, draping an arm over my shoulder. He was dirty and sweaty but I was too. I didn't protest the gesture as I answered,
"Yori and I found a baby."
"Thank god you found her, who knows how long she's been alone in this mess," Falsworth congratulated.
"Yes, well, I can understand why no one would think to look for a baby in a trash can," I said, voice shaking with rage. An unwilling growl began to brew in my chest. "She's like us," I added to Steve. "Considering Yori was also abandoned… it hit a little close to home."
"Christ," Steve cursed. "No wonder…"
Eve saw us coming and hustled over to us. "I see Yori didn't kill you," I observed weakly as she greeted us. Eve smiled faintly.
"No, she didn't," she agreed. "She's holding onto that infant like it's the last lifeboat on the Titanic, however."
I bit my lip. "You understand… Yori may want to keep the child. I don't know for sure. But she and I… we understand that child like no one else is going to," I said delicately. Eve looked me over speculatively.
"You too? Then I don't think there's anyone else better suited to take the child, honestly. She seems healthy, which is a surprise considering how long she must have been there."
"You don't have a problem with them taking a French child out of France?" Steve confirmed. Eve looked at him.
"According to the Vichy, I'm not French either, so why should I care?" she asked lightly. She turned around, thrust her fingers in her mouth, and gave a piercing whistle. Two men hurried over to us. "You, fetch the other woman and the baby from the medical tent, then bring her to where we've set up for them." She nodded to the second as the first hustled off to follow her orders. "You, escort them to where they'll be staying for the night, got it?"
"Come along," the man invited us, gesturing for us to follow him.
"Thank you for understanding," I said to Eve earnestly. She grinned.
"Are you kidding me? For once I know something about science that my siblings don't."
Aidez-moi – Help me
Où es-tu? – Where are you?
Ici- here
S'il vous plaît – please
EVE CURIE:
A note about my inclusion of Eve Curie. She is a real person, she's really the daughter of Marie Curie, and she really did write a biography about her mother and fight in the Free French Forces. Several parts of this story have been inspired by stories from my great-great aunt and uncle. My uncle fought in France in WW2 and when he worked as an attaché to the embassy in Greece in the 60s, he and his wife met Eve Curie, then Eve Labouisse, the ambassador's wife.
She made a splash when she arrived. The previous ambassador's wife – who my aunt DID NOT like at all – had decorated the ambassador's residence in French artwork. Eve took one look at the art work and decided that it had no place there in the American ambassador's residence. She had all the pictures replaced with those by American artists. In addition, during formal dinners when she and her husband had to sit on opposite ends of an incredibly long table, she would put her fingers in her mouth and whistle when she wanted his attention. That little whistle she gives is in homage to that.
One day when they were in Greece, my aunt rode on the back of my uncle's motorcycle while they toured. It was what the Greek women did but it would have been kind of unseemly for them to do at the time. Anyway, they saw a car with embassy plates on the road pass them and when they got to Knossos at Crete, they realized it was the ambassador and his wife.
The tour guide who was showing them around was apparently being very obnoxious. He kept drawing attention to the fact that he was showing around the ambassador and his wife. It made Eve very uncomfortable, so she asked my aunt and uncle and the other couple they were there with who also worked at the embassy to join their group to take some of the pressure off. There were several other places they went that day where the Labouisses visited as well and they ended up joining their group quite a bit.
The next day, my aunt and her friend were invited to lunch at the ambassador's residence by Eve. Apparently, she'd seen my aunt riding on the back of my uncle's motorcycle and thought it was great. When she was in the French Resistance, she'd also ridden a motorcycle and was very jealous that my aunt got to ride. When my aunt and uncle left Greece, the Labouisses threw them a farewell party. They were the only people of lower rank that was done for, and the party was attended by people like the Greek president, a famous Greek general, and other dignitaries and military officers.
Anyway, I just wouldn't have felt right if I didn't include a little bit about Eve in my story. She died at the age of 102 in NYC. I don't know much about what she got up to during the war years but my aunt was very fond of her and she's always sounded like a fascinating woman from my aunt's stories. From what I was able to figure out she would have been serving as in the women's medical corps of the Free French during this time although I have no idea where in Europe she would have been.
Anyway, that's been my rant and I hope you enjoyed it. I know I always like knowing a little bit about the behind-the-scenes of the stories I read.
