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| Mad Medusa (short and complete) http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8090 |
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| Author: | chattie [ Mon Jul 05, 2010 4:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
First attempt at a drabble so crossing my fingers... Mad Medusa 1944, France The words were so faint that the interpreter had to bend quickly to catch them. He straightened up again with his forehead creased in a frown. “Well?” demanded his superior. “What did she say?” “I’m not... It sounded like... It sounded like Je ne suis pas une méduse veule.” “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m not... a mad Medusa?” “I don’t think the last word was folle. It sounded more like veule.” “Which means what exactly?” “I don’t know, sir. I’m sorry. Shall I fetch a dictionary?” “Later. I don’t think it’s material. It’s just a bit of nonsense. One of those nonsense phrases the BBC broadcasts as coded instructions to the Resistance. ” Nevertheless, the senior officer leant back in his chair and looked thoughtful. “Is is poetry, do you think? There was something in the last communiqué from HQ about poetry. They’ve picked up that there was a line from a Verlaine poem putting some task on standby and when the second line is broadcast the task will be activated. Could it be Verlaine?” Béatrice, slightly more conscious than they suspected, had to hide a smile. At this stage, they were not aware that her German was fluent and it was not a fact that she wished to give away yet. She would reveal it no doubt at some point, just as she suspected that she would reveal much else. But not yet. The longer she could hold out, the longer she gave Marc Antoine, Juliette, Ferdinand and the others to disperse, to get the radio into hiding and pass the explosives on to a Maquis contact. She bitterly regretted that she had left her glasses in the bathroom when the Gestapo troops had burst in for her ‘L’ pill was hidden in the tip of the left earpiece and she had not had time to retrieve the glasses and bite down on the cyanide which would have prevented all of this. She was under no illusions, for that part of her SOE training had been quite clear. If you are caught, you must try to kill yourself because eventually they will obtain all the information they want from you. She had been beaten several times now and her face was swollen and bloody from the blows. She had endured cigarette burns to her forearms and the back of her neck. But she had not talked. Not yet. But she knew she would. It had all seemed so innocuous. The ad in the Times asking for bilingual French and English. She had assumed there would be secretarial work involved but the series of interviews which she had been passed through had never involved a typing test and had become progressively odder. Eventually they told her why they were interested in her. She did not meet the usual criterion of having lived in France but her French was indeed bilingual and of a purity which would pass for Parisian. The fact that she was as fluent in German was what had tipped the scales in her favour. Or perhaps against her favour considering the predicament in which she now found herself. This was her fourth mission and she had perhaps become a little too cocky and recognised it now with regret. She thought of the key members of her group. Marc Antoine, the witty debonair young man who she suspected was English but she had never managed to prove it. He was a master of disguise and she thought he must have graced many an amateur dramatic session in the past. Ferdinand, older, almost certainly French and with an engineering background put to effective use in sabotage activities. And Juliette. Pretty Juliette, who she had known years before under her real name which she must now forget, as a girl a few years below her at school. Soon now the Gestapo would tire of this red herring. Verlaine, indeed! And her interrogation would then be more severe. There would most likely be humiliation, rape, and pain far in excessive of that inflicted by the unimaginative techniques as yet employed. But in the meantime she was buying the time that the others needed. God grant them a safe escape and me a swift end, she prayed. ***************************************************** Switzerland, 1957 The dark-haired woman in the sunshine yellow dress and with a floppy sunhat in her hand paused as she entered the chapel. She had been prevented from attending the school’s Coming of Age celebrations five years previously because of the birth of her younger son but, if she had come then, this would not have yet been standing and she would have not seen, as she was now seeing, the window at the chapel’s eastern end. It depicted a girl, in the distinctive current uniform of the school, releasing a dove which was flying upwards to a break in the clouds. Beneath the picture appeared the simple words In memory of those called to Higher Service. She drew a deep breath then as she gazed at it and thought again of the dilemma which had finally brought her here to Switzerland. There had been an appeal five years ago – not just to raise money for the building of this chapel and its Catholic counter-part – but for information about ‘lost’ Old Girls. She had seen one name amongst them and until this day had been uncertain whether to respond or not. Facing this window and what it stood for, she still did not know what to do. She could supply some details but she did not know ultimately what had happened. All she knew was that there had been some sort of betrayal. Troops had come but those that were being sought were long gone and they had taken out their frustration on the villagers. Jules... Jules who had first taught her how to love had been shot and it had taken her years to get over him. Only now, married to Alex and with their two sons to bind her closer still to him, could she begin to forgive and try to understand. It was Béatrice’s fault. But would she have had any choice? She knew that Béatrice had been captured and presumably she had not been able for one reason or another to commit suicide. Sooner or later they would have broken her and Béatrice would have been forced to talk but there had been time enough for Marc Antoine to take her and the radio to safety some thirty miles away and she owed her life to that delay. Only God knew what had really happened and perhaps it was better that Béatrice remained a ‘lost’ Old Girl, known to God and commemorated by this window marking her call to Higher Service. There was a Visitor’s book by the door of the Chapel and she stopped to read a few of the comments written in it, mostly by fellow Old Girls. Then she took out her pen and wrote the following words: In memory of ‘Béatrice’, an Old Girl of this School called to Higher Service and in recollection of the phrase she once taught me in French, which in turn she heard from Mlle Lepattre. I am not a spineless jellyfish. Je ne suis pas une méduse veule. ‘Juliette’ |
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| Author: | sealpuppy [ Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:06 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
Oh, this is so touching, Chattie, and so plausible. But who are they? |
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| Author: | Fatima [ Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
I'd also like to know who they were, please Chattie. This was such a believable story. Thank you. |
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| Author: | ivohenry [ Mon Jul 05, 2010 9:36 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
Betty Wynne Jones is really Beatrice, is that who she is? Timing doesn't seem to fit as she wouldn't really be old enough in 1944. |
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| Author: | Alison H [ Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:13 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
I'm assuming Beatrice is a code name, but I don't know who she could be. That was so sad and so very plausible. |
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| Author: | Abi [ Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:15 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
That was really moving and sad. Would also like to know who they were. Thanks Chattie. |
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| Author: | Fiona Mc [ Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:23 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
That was so moving, though am deeply curious as to who they were. Thank you |
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| Author: | Liz K [ Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:48 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
ivohenry wrote: Betty Wynne Jones is really Beatrice, is that who she is? Timing doesn't seem to fit as she wouldn't really be old enough in 1944. Also thought this but couldn't think who the other girl would be who was below her at school by a few years. |
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| Author: | chattie [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 7:52 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
I couldn't really find anyone who actually fitted the bill so I'm afraid they are not 'real'! It just struck me that the sort of trilingual training that a CS girl would have received in the 30s could have been terribly useful to Military Intelligence during the war. Actually, a very naughty plot bunny was whispering this story to me half the way home one evening last week - up to the point when I remembered that I wasn't meant to be going home but picking up my son first! So that bunny made me quarter of an hour late fetching him (not quite as bad as it sounds as he is 17!). Guilt-feelling Mum and Bad, Bad Bunny. |
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| Author: | JellySheep [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 10:04 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
Another one who was moved by this, and hopes that we'll see more of your writing in the future if it's like this. |
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| Author: | chattie [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 11:19 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
JellySheep, your words are very kind! I have two other plot bunnies sticking their noses out of their burrows but they would be for much longer projects so I'll have to see what happens! |
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| Author: | Mona [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 11:35 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
Thank you chattie, this is lovely. |
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| Author: | chattie [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 2:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
Thanks to everyone for their kind words and encouragement! I did rather hit the 'submit' button before leaving work last night in cowardice (i.e. knowing I wouldn't be reading any comments until the morning) but you've all cheered me up no end on what has otherwise been a rather nondescript day! |
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| Author: | Llywela [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 2:23 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
This is a really nice story - well done for your first attempt. The atmosphere is suitably pensive, and the intrigue over the individuals behind the code names adds to that. |
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| Author: | Identity Hunt [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 3:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
I thought this was wonderful - thank you for posting it ! |
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| Author: | MaryR [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 8:35 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
Beautifully written, Chattie. Thank you for hititng the Submit button.  I have to say, if I had been Beatrice, I too would have given in. I find it so hard to conceive of courage that can endure torture and not break. But then, none of us knows ourselves until the moment of truth. This was very realistic. |
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| Author: | chattie [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 8:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
MaryR wrote: I have to say, if I had been Beatrice, I too would have given in. I find it so hard to conceive of courage that can endure torture and not break. But then, none of us knows ourselves until the moment of truth. This was very realistic. I think this was what I was trying to get across in (a) Juliette finding it difficult to come to terms with the fact that Béatrice had to give in when she must have gone through the same training and would have known deep down that it was unlikely that she could endure what would have been inflicted on her and not break and (b) the spineless jellyfish quote - Béatrice was using it to remind herself to hold on as long as she could for the sake of the others - and that was what ultimately saved the life of Juliette and the others despite the reprisals that affected others. |
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| Author: | Mia [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:45 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
Excellent - I really like the ambiguity over the identity. |
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| Author: | Sugar [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
That was so plausible for any of the older girls. Thank you |
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| Author: | Miss Di [ Tue Jul 06, 2010 11:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
I'm glad you felt brave enough to post, that was very moving. |
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| Author: | cal562301 [ Wed Jul 07, 2010 2:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
Well done, Chattie. That was a very moving story and a great attempt for a first drabble. Hope you keep listening to those other plot bunnies! |
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| Author: | chattie [ Wed Jul 07, 2010 3:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
cal562301 wrote: Hope you keep listening to those other plot bunnies! Well, I've now got an idea for a prequel to this drabble so I'll see how it goes - looks as if it might well be a longer one this time though. |
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| Author: | Lyanne [ Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:46 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
Oh good, we like longer drabbles! |
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| Author: | ChubbyMonkey [ Thu Jul 08, 2010 6:17 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
Thankyou - to add to the praise of others, this was a wonderful drabble. |
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| Author: | Elbee [ Fri Jul 09, 2010 4:07 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mad Medusa (short and complete) |
That was very moving and beautifully written. It could have happened to so many CS girls during the war. Thank you, chattie. |
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