“Now then, take down this information—to the very letter. Nothing must be incorrect or you’ll end up in Istan-bloody-bul. I want you to read it back to me.”
With a piece of paper in hand, covered with details about the airfield and notes for Elaine that made little sense to Maisie, she made one more telephone call, leaving a message. It was not long before Ulli Bader called her back, unable to disguise his surprise when she asked him to arrange for a motor car at an early hour to take her and another person to the smallholding where Leon Donat was in hiding. She informed him that there would be one more stop as soon as Donat was collected, but she would give him the details when she saw him. He stipulated a meeting place and a time the following morning. Maisie knew then that when she left the hotel on the morrow, it would be without her belongings. There must be no indication that she was leaving Munich for good.
Schwabing was as busy as ever as Maisie made her way to the house where Elaine had been living. She hoped Elaine had returned to sleep off her hours in the pub, and had not brought company with her. Maisie watched the door for a few moments, feeling the cool air as it found her neck and wrists. She pulled up her gloves and wrapped her scarf a little tighter. Soon the landlady left the building. She did not turn the key, but set off, leaving it to close and lock in her wake. Seizing her opportunity, Maisie crossed the street, catching the door just as the latch was about to click. Upstairs she rapped on Elaine’s door.
“It’s open!” Elaine called out in English.
“Hello, Elaine,” Maisie said as she entered, closing the door behind her.
Elaine came to her feet. “I thought you were one of the girls. What are you doing here, Maisie? Shouldn’t you have left Munich?”
“I had hoped you’d have left Munich by now—but you didn’t follow my advice.”
Elaine shrugged. “I didn’t want to leave, and no one came to arrest me, so I took my chances.” She scooped up clothing strewn across the chair, threw it onto the bed, and held out her hand. “Take a seat.”
“I cannot stay long.” Maisie stepped closer to Elaine, so close her request couldn’t be ignored or brushed aside. “Elaine, I have a very, very important task for you. It is not one you can refuse, for it is on behalf of your country.”
She saw the edge of Elaine’s lip began to twitch, as if she wanted to smile, as if she were about to laugh out loud, but at the same time her shock at the gravity in Maisie’s tone was apparent. She seemed to stand straighter, staring directly at Maisie. In that second, Maisie saw the look of determination she’d seen before on John Otterburn’s face.
“What do you want me to do?”
Maisie explained the mission that lay before them in detail. She described how Elaine would meet Maisie and the motor car, how they would drive to a smallholding and assist a very sick man to the airfield. She gave Elaine information about the aircraft and its destination, handing over the notes she’d made during the call to John Otterburn. She told her that the entire expedition would not be without risk—a high level of risk.
Elaine looked at Maisie and then at the notes, nodding as if someone were giving her verbal instructions. As the seconds passed, Maisie feared she would refuse, that the Otterburn resolve had taken Elaine in the opposite direction, that she would dig in her heels and never leave Munich. But Elaine gave a half smile. “Piece of cake. But I hope my father doesn’t think I’m going to be back in his suffocating fold in a couple of days.”
“To be frank, I don’t care what your father thinks. What you do when you get to Zurich is up to you. You will have done a real service to Britain, and I will ensure you are remunerated for your time and for the chance you’re taking. I just want to get Donat to Zurich.”
Elaine shrugged. “Switzerland might turn out to be fun. Goodness knows, it was when I was sent to school there.”
“One more thing, Elaine—you must not on any account speak to anyone else between now and tomorrow morning. Not Mark Scott, not your officer friends, not even the girls here in the house.”
Elaine nodded. “I will follow your instructions without fail, Maisie. But one thing to get straight—my country is Canada first, Britain second. I’ll do a job for the latter to protect the former—because as sure as God made little apples, where Britain goes, we go too. And if there is one thing I have come to know since I came to Munich—because I’ve had time to do a lot of thinking—it’s that if I wanted to go anywhere, in truth, it would be right back across the Atlantic with my boy.”
Maisie looked at Elaine Otterburn, at her bright eyes, her upright stance, the fierce determination in her countenance, as if she were clenching her teeth while she awaited Maisie’s reply.