Codename Eagle Read Free Page A

in time.”
    “You think so? Well, let me make this clear: I’m German, but I am
not
a Nazi. I’m a soldier doing my duty for my country, and that’s all.”
    “I understand, of course, but—”
    “Then understand this,” the officer interrupted, giving the Frenchman no option but to hold his tongue. “I’ll work with you because, unfortunately, we need people like you.” He paused, then his voice hardened. “But don’t ever describe you and me as
us
.”
    The Frenchman said nothing more.
    The vehicle had moved off the plateau and was on the stretch of road dropping down through the forest of Bélesta. After ten minutes the driver turned off onto a mud track, which meandered for more than a kilometre through rows of giant silver fir trees. The dim headlights picked out stacks of cut logs dotted along the fringes of the track and then illuminated a large wood-built house.
    There was a sudden, quick movement in the darkness, and the headlights briefly lit up the black eyes of a snarling dog, tethered on a long chain.
    “The barn’s at the back,” the Frenchman said, ignoring the dog and driving past the house into a wide yard with a barn at the far side.
    Two men stood waiting by the back door of the house.
    “Pull up here,” the officer ordered. “We’ll unload our equipment and then I’ll take a look at the car.”
    The driver brought the lorry to a standstill, got out and went to the waiting men, who were in their mid-twenties. They stood watching while the German soldiers swiftly carried clothes, light weapons, a radio transmitter and other equipment into the farmhouse – and even cartons of cigarettes and slabs of wrapped chocolate.
    The dog was still barking angrily.
    “Can’t you shut that thing up?” the German officer said to one of the younger men.
    “No need; there’s no one to hear. And he’ll stop barking when he gets fed up.”
    The officer nodded and was about to go into the house when he stopped and studied the two young Frenchmen standing side by side. It was like seeing double. They were twins, big and strong-looking, and even in the dull yellow light spilling from one window and the open door it was obvious that they were identical. The officer made no comment; he simply looked from one face to the other before nodding again and going inside.
    “He’s a miserable sod,” the lorry driver said quietly to the twins. “And ungrateful. No appreciation of what we’re doing for him, or of the risks we’re taking.”
    The twins exchanged a look, apparently sharing the same thought. “Doesn’t worry Eddie and me, we’re only in it for the money,” one of them said. “And so as long as they keep paying, they can be as miserable as they like. When do we get the final payment?”
    “The big payment,” his brother added with a grin.
    “When it’s all over,” the older man said. “Before they leave.” He glanced through the window into the house. “They’re a tough lot, though, these Brandenburgers. They say every one of them carries a suicide pill in case he’s captured behind enemy lines.”
    “They’re not behind enemy lines,” the twin called Eddie said. “We’re not at war with anyone in the Free Zone.”
    “But they can’t just drop in on us,” the older man insisted, “not according to the new laws. This must be important, and I’d like to know why.”
    “So ask them.”
    “Maybe I will.”
    Eddie smiled. “Come on inside, we’ll make coffee.”
    Fifteen minutes later, the three Frenchman and six Germans sat on a variety of unmatched chairs and benches around a huge, scrubbed wooden table, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. Old oil lamps, belching as much smoke as flame, made the air dense and fuggy.
    Outside, the dog continued to bark.
    The German officer looked at one of the twins. “You said that animal would stop barking.”
    The twin smiled. “It was my brother, Gilbert, who told you that. I’m Eddie, the good-looking one, and the younger