It didn't take long for Jane to return, and she bought with her several soldiers.
"I figured they could lay down some covering fire if we need it," Jane said, panting a little from running in such a cramped position.
"Have you got the wirecutters?" Maura asked, moving to a crouched position. Jane hefted the long-handled cutters up and waggled them in front of Maura's face. Maura grinned and took them from her. "Alright, you wait here -"
"No," Jane said flatly. "I'm coming with you."
"No, Jane -"
"You can't carry a fully grown man by yourself. I'm coming, end of discussion."
Maura had to turn her head to hide her smile. "Alright then," she said, putting her hands on the parapet.
"Y' gonna wanna keep low," one of the soldiers said. "If a Very goes up pause, don' throw yerself t' th' ground. They'll be lookin' for movement. Keep one eye closed an' ye'll be able t' see better once it's gorn. When y' get close t' 'im git down on th' ground an' worm yer way for'ard. Take yer time snippin' the wire. Y' don' wanna be out there for ages cuttin' it down. Pick yer strands carefully an' snip when there's some noise. We'll be waitin' 'ere ready t' lay down some cov'rin' fire if y' need it."
Maura nodded at him, then looked at Jane. "On three," she said, trying to hide the quiver in her voice. "One, two ..."
Maura had only been in No Mans Land once before – during the Christmas Truce of 1914. She had never been 'over the top' when there was a risk of being shot. The second she clambered over the parapet Maura felt horribly exposed. The German trenches were only a hundred yards away. She prayed that no-one sent up a Very flare, she couldn't imagine how the Germans could fail to see them in its stark light.
Maura forced herself to tamp down her fear and began to make her way slowly forwards, doubled up as low as she could. After a few steps she felt something brush against her back and nearly jumped out of her skin, but it turned out to be Jane's hand. Jane grabbed a handful of Maura's apron so they wouldn't be separated.
"Go," she whispered.
Together they made their way slowly between two large craters and past several bodies. In the darkness Maura couldn't tell what uniforms they wore. It didn't matter anyway. She forced herself to focus on where she placed her feet. The ground was still slippery from last night's deluge and patches of it sucked at her boots with a sickening squelch.
After a dozen yards or so Maura and Jane took shelter in a shellhole, careful to keep near the top. There had been gas attacks all day both from the Germans and the Allies, and different kinds of gas were known to settle in deep depressions on the landscape. Neither Maura nor Jane had their gas masks and so they warily kept away from the murky water below.
"How far ahead was he?" Jane murmured, carefully peering over the lip of the crater. "I can't see any wire."
"I'm not sure," Maura replied, panting a little from both fear and exertion. She lay on her back, glad for the chance to catch her breath in the relative safety of the hole. A few shells screamed overhead and landed far ahead. The same German machine gun as before opened up again and sent bullets zipping past them. They had the range of the trench perfectly calculated. Maura could hear the bullets hit the sandbags. She also heard a soldier yell out in shock and hoped he wasn't hit.
Jane swore and ducked back into the hole. "We should have figured out where he was before we left," she said, gripping the handles of the wirecutters tight.
Maura rolled onto her stomach and took her turn peeking over the rim. She saw very little in the gloom. There was a large hump – whether of earth or human remains, she didn't know – a few yards ahead and to their left. Some splintered wood, probably an artillery limber, reached up from the mud a few feet to the right of it. In the distant light of a shell explosion she thought she saw thin coils of wire to the right of that, but couldn't tell how far away it was. She turned and sunk back down next to Jane.
"There's an artillery limber ahead of us, we can take shelter there," she said. "I think I saw wire past that. I'm guessing that's where he is."
"Guessing. Great," Jane said, pushing herself onto her hands and knees. "Alright. Let's go then."
Maura led the way again, having devised the plan. They made good time to the artillery limber and crouched behind it. Maura gripped the wet wood tightly and peered through the gaps. She could see now that the wire was twenty metres directly in front of them, past a vast expanse of clear ground without even a shellhole to hide in. Even as they watched a machine gun sprayed across the earth in front of them, kicking up little fountains of dirt. Her heart sank.
"We can't do it," she said. "It's suicide."
"No, I see him," Jane said, pointing to where a body lay hung up on the wire. Maura saw the silhouette move slightly and a low moan reached her ears. "We have to go. Otherwise he'll die."
"We'll die if we go out there," Maura replied. "Wait, no! Jane -" But Jane was gone. Maura swore under her breath and followed.
They inched their way into danger on their stomachs with their faces pressed to the muck. Maura turned her head to the side and didn't look forwards, just reached, dragged then paused. Reached, dragged then paused. It seemed to take an eternity to crawl those few metres to the wire. Thankfully the man was hung up on the outer edge and they didn't need to crawl through the wire itself to reach him. He started crying when he saw them.
"God's sent me some angels," he declared. Jane giggled but Maura hushed them both. Together she and Jane looked at the wire, trying to decide which bits to cut. He was well tangled – both of his legs were wrapped tight with barbs biting into his trousers. Maura could see a dark red stain soaking the fabric around his right knee. He was in a lot of pain.
Slowly Maura and Jane worked at freeing the man – who told them his name was Charles. They did as instructed and waited until there was a shell blast before snipping the wire. It didn't take long to free Charles' injured leg and lower him to a more comfortable position while they worked on the other. After half an hour of steady progress there was just one strand left to cut, but it was wrapped around his foot and out of reach from the ground.
"I'm going to have to get up," Jane said.
"No! There has to be somewhere else to cut!"
"There isn't," Jane hissed in reply. "We don't have time. It's nearly dawn." Sure enough there was a faint blush on the eastern horizon. It wouldn't be long until they were visible to the enemy.
"Fine, but hurry. And Jane?" Maura grabbed Jane's arm as the Boston woman raised herself. Jane turned to look at her. "Be careful."
"Always," she replied, flashing a wide grin that made Maura's heart flutter.
Cautiously Jane rose herself to her knees, craning to reach the wire she wanted. Carefully she manipulated the wirecutters until they hugged the thin metal and waited for an explosion.
It all happened in an instant.
A shell exploded close by – close enough to buffet Jane who shifted her weight to accommodate. In the same breath a Very flare leapt up from the German lines and Jane was illuminated in startling brightness. A Spandau opened up directly in front of them. Jane buckled with a yelp. Maura threw herself over Charles, the force of her weight yanking his leg free from the wire. Together all three of them rolled down a small slope and landed in a heap at the bottom – slap bang in full view of the German trenches. The machine gun barked off another round, narrowly missing them. Maura felt a bullet whizz by her head.
"Get up!" she screamed. "Get up! We have to go!"
Together she and Jane hauled Charles to his feet, abandoning caution and staggering at a hasty jog-trot back towards the Allied lines. Another round of machine gun fire followed them past the artillery limber, past the shell-hole Maura and Jane had taken shelter in. They zig-zagged to avoid another machine gun that opened up to join the first. Dirt kicked up inches from Maura's left foot. She stumbled, dropping Charles who yelled out. Ahead Maura heard voices and the click of rifles being loaded.
"Covering fire!" she screamed, grabbing Charles by the lapel and dragging him along the ground. They were just metres from the trench. Her heart thundered in her ears, or maybe that was the volley of small-arms roaring to life from the Allied parapet. She could see the rounded helmets of the soldiers. Two metres left. Another round of machine gun fire swung her way. Charles yelled out.
Maura's breath was knocked from her lungs as she tripped into the forward sap and fell to the bottom of it with a crashing thud. Charles landed next to her with a grunt. Above them the Australians continued firing. Maura had never been more pleased to hear gunfire in her life. Every fibre of her being was drained. She would have happily lain there in the dirt for the rest of her life. But her relief was short-lived.
"Where's the other one?" Charles asked.