I stepped into the SOE meeting room, William right behind me. Alex sat up, swinging off the couch he'd been lying on.

'Cinderella! How have you been?'

William raised an eyebrow and I sighed, 'Just don't ask. I don't know where he got it from either.'

I turned back to Alex, 'Chucklehead! fancy seeing you here.'

His face twisted into a glare, 'Chucklehead? I'm not an idiot.'

I grinned, blowing a kiss at him as Cap entered the room.

He went red and I chuckled, turning back to the table.

'Our mission two weeks ago was a success and the bridges went down without any incident. Therefore our superiors are sending the whole team back in to assist the Dutch resistance in blowing up a Submarine Control Base in the Netherlands. Anti-aircraft guns mean that there will be no air support. Any questions?'

No one moved.

Cap clapped his hands together, 'Well then Team MOS. Let's get to work.'

Leaning over to William, I whispered, 'Still think it's a stupid name.'

»--«

The mission was just over a week later. We had spent the whole time planning and training as a team. Our superiors found us a nice forest somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Well, as far into nowhere as you can get in England.

I think it was an army training camp or something as when we walked in, the whole area was filled with muscular men in uniform who stared a lot. I tripped several of the worst up secretly with fé, smirking as their friends laughed.

We then pretended to storm a base using rubber bullets. The soldiers we were 'attacking' were also getting trained; at being utterly destroyed by a team of six, including a girl. They very indignantly stated that they were going easy on me.

Pffffft sure.

Only a couple of us got 'injured', Captain Walker's nephew, David and Alex, which I would not be letting him forget anytime soon.

Two days before the mission, we tacked up, storing extra bullets and miles of wire and explosives. Then, after going over the plan about ten thousand times, we climbed into a motorised boat and set sail for the Netherlands.

»--«

The trip over was quite nice, the warm June nights meaning that the sea wasn't as rough as when I crossed the Atlantic in December. William however was still sat inside the cabin, looking very green and chewing a large chunk of ginger.

I sat outside on the deck, watching as the sun went down over the dark outline of England. Alex sat down next to me, both of us staring up at the faint stars that were just appearing.

The night was quiet, the only sounds the gentle slap of waves on the hull and the murmuring of voices from the cabin. I swung my legs out over side and pulled my gun into my lap, taking it apart and cleaning each piece carefully.

Alex just watched, eyes hurriedly darting back out to the horizon when I glanced at him, a small smile appearing on my lips.

I finished cleaning the gun and checked it, making sure that I was fully happy with my work before I put it back together again. I reattached it to my bag and stretched out on my back, looking up at the bright explosion of stars above us.

Alex copied me, putting his hands behind his head.

'It's so peaceful,' he remarked wistfully, 'You would never think that there's a huge war going on.'

I nodded, turning my head to look at him. Alex stared up at the sky, a slight grin on his face, 'Do you think Cap would mind if we just stayed here. You know, have a nice nap, watch the stars.'

He turned to look at me and I realised how close we were.

He seemed to be thinking the same thing because he went red.

'Would y- can I k- ki-'

'Shock? Wilson? You out here?'

Alex and I hurriedly jerked apart, sitting up again. Cap came around the corner of the cabin, two blankets in his hand.

'You guys might want to get some sleep. You won't have much of a chance in the next few days.'

I nodded, grabbing the offered blankets and passing one to Alex. He thanked me quietly, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders.

I shuffled backwards until my back was against the cabin wall and closed my eyes.

»--«

It seems I must have slept because when I opened my eyes again there was a dark coastline in front of me. The others were pretty much all up, save for Alex and I, standing around in the cabin, going over emergency tactics.

Just in case we were spotted.

Dawn was fast approaching, and to make it anywhere near our target, we had to pass through the barrier of heavily fortified islands guarding the entrance to the Ijsselmeer.

Fun, am I right.

Alex and I were soon huddled around a map with the rest of the team, the captain -of the ship, not the team-, a native of the Netherlands, showing us the route we would take and the possible dangers.

We neared the Westgat, a narrow gap between the Island of Texel and Den Helder. There was an outpost there, but the Captain assured us that he could get us through.

Land approaching, our team ducked into the cabin, hiding out of sight of the windows and anyone who could be looking through them.

The water was silent as we sailed into the Ijsselmeer, the quiet filled with tension. Five minutes passed, then ten; then the Captain gave an okay signal. I breathed a sigh of relief, it wasn't that I didn't trust the boat Captain, its just-

Actually, yeah, I didn't trust the Captain. You can't really trust anyone as a spy.

We continued sailing into the middle of the lake, taking the straightest route possible to the town harbour that we would meet the resistance.

By this time, the sun was well and truly on the horizon, it's red toned rays reflecting off the cabin windows.

In other words, we were in trouble.

The sunrise meant that we could see the harbour properly, but it also meant that the Nazis could see us.

David Walker tuned the radio to the frequency we'd agreed with the Dutch resistance and muttered into the headset while it spewed out numbers and coordinates that meant nothing to me.

They obviously meant something to Walker and the boat Captain because he swung the boat around, heading straight for the shore. Cap stood up, moving to converse with the Captain. After a few minutes he turned back to us, his face grim.

'We were spotted about ten minutes ago. The resistance has an agent in the local base and they alerted Harderwijk. The Resistance has diverted us to the closest shore. From there, there'll be a guide to show us the way to a farm that will hide us till nightfall. Clear?' We nodded, 'Okay then MOS, pack up, make sure you have everything you need.'

»--«

Five minutes later, we landed on the shore, scrambling out and straight into the tree line to find cover. As soon as everyone was off, the boat left, heading for a secret bay where he could hide for the day.

There was a crack behind us. In an instant, I had my glock out of it's holder and in my hand, finger on the trigger.

A man- no, more like a boy- stepped out from a tree, hands raised. He spoke the code words in hesitant English and I lowered the gun. His face showed some sign of relief and I frowned. What were they doing, sending a child unused to danger to lead a SOE team into enemy territory.

'Vooruit.'  Lead on.

The look of relief fled over his face again.

What? Eight hundred years is more than enough time to learn a load of languages.

Mainly European though.

The boy led us through the forest, eyes darting nervously at every sound. A branch cracked loudly under his feet and I winced, whispering to Alex, 'He's almost as noisy as you, if not worse.'

Alex smiled, 'Well, that's a competition I don't mind losing, and besides, have you seen him? I doubt he's even old enough to fight.'

I nodded, turning back to check on William, who grinned at me from the back, pointing to me and Alex and making a heart shape with his hands. My face went red and I stuck my tongue out, ignoring the rest of the team chuckling behind us.

»--«

The forest soon ended, replaced by tilled fields and grazing farm animals. A farm house stood out, surrounded by several barns. Our guide led us towards it, staying close to the hedge borders of the fields. He motioned for us to wait by the end of the hedge, then ran across the yard and up to the front door. A woman opened it and a conversation ensued, snatches of their words floating over to us. She motioned towards a barn with her hands and the boy nodded, running back over to us.

'You need to- to- um...'

'Follow?'

'Ja! Follow me.'

He led us towards one of the barns, skirting around the edge of the yard, and ducking behind the various chicken coops. The boy unlocked the door and motioned us in.

Inside there were stacks of hay, some climbing halfway up the walls. The boy guided us towards the hay, motioning to climb up where the bales made a sort of staircase.

'Safe place uhhh achter,' he said, looking at me for clarification.  behind.

'Behind.'

'Dank je.'  Thank you.

I smiled in reply, following Alex as he scrambled up the hay. Once on top we crawled forward until we reached a sort of room where there was no hay, apart from one to help us down. I slid down before Alex could, landing with a fwooth in the softish hay.

'That's really fun. I think I'm gonna do that again.'

And, to the amusement of the boy who had followed us up, I proceeded to climb back up the hay and slide down again. Harris followed me, grinning as he slid down, 'That is fun.'

The boy stayed at the top, passing down a basket of food that the farm lady had sent. He then left, promising to return at lunchtime.

We all settled down, backs against the hay and dug into the basket. Inside were several boiled eggs, a thick loaf of homemade bread and some kind of spread in a jar.

We ate quickly, gobbling down the delicious food.

None of us had had food this good since the beginning of the war, what with all the rationing and all that jazz.

The basket was soon empty, the last scraps of bread shared out. Now it was waiting time. Harris and Walker lay down, intending on getting some sleep, the rest of us chatting quietly about everything and anything to pass the time.

»--«

About two hours after we arrived, we heard a jeep pull up outside the house and someone shouting orders.

Nazis.

I presume.

Cap quickly woke the other two up, just in case we had to fight our way out. Then we all sat in nervous tension as the voices got louder and louder.

Soon enough they were right outside the hay. We were literal stone, covering our mouths to mask our breathing. The soldiers walked the whole way around the stack, not thinking that there could be someone on top or in the middle of the hay.

The voices got quieter. We all breathed a sigh of relief as the jeep started up and drove away.

After that we all tried to sleep, preferring it to waiting aimlessly.

»--«

At lunchtime the boy returned, bringing another basket. We woke up to eat, much the same as before, except with a couple of ripe strawberries each.

Also in the basket was a pack of cards. Harris dealt them out and we played several rounds, playing each game until we got bored of it and moved onto a new one.

»--«

The rest of the day passed quickly, taken up with naps, chats and card games until we got tired of them.

»--«

With nightfall came the reappearance of the boy. Once we were out of the hay room, he handed us each a sandwich and led us round the back of the barn and back into the forest. The boy handed Cap a map, pointing to the location of the farm and the VLF station at Kootwijk. Cap thanked him and he nodded, disappearing back to the farm.

Then we set off into the darkening forest, beginning the hike to our target.

[17,983 Words]