Le Vol Du Corbeau - Tome 2

[4:3] Francois: What’s he doing there. Are you travelling with Germans now?
René: Wait a minute. I’m not their boss, they tell me what to do. Understand?
[4:4] It’s complicated. They’ve requisitioned the barge. I’ve got to get some stuff from Montceau-Les-Mines.
[4:6] They’re having difficulty running the trains. Apparently this affects all areas…
[4:7] René: So they’re confiscating barges. We’ve been cleaned out.
Fancois: And Jeanne?
René: She’s still in the chain hatch. She’ll be finding it a long time.
Francois: Listen, try to engage the Kraut. We’ll wait until tonight and find some way to make him go.

[5:1] Francois: How’s it going Jeanne?
Jeanne: Francois. Not a moment too soon.
[5:2] Jeanne: What’s happening above. I haven’t heard anything.
Francois: It’s okay. You can come out. They’ve left. For the moment anyway.
[5:3] Is your ankle any better?
[5:4] Jeanne: A little. I can put my weight on it.
Francois: That’s the best news of the trip.
[5:5] Francois: The bad is that there’s a Kraut on the prow.
Jeanne: I missed more than that.
[5:6] They need the Himalaya to transport I don’t know what. The problem is that they’ve left a guard to oversee it.
[5:7] Shit! I can’t stay here. That would be daft.
[5:8] Actually, for the time being, it’s probably the place you’re least at risk.
[5:9] It’s as if you’re hiding in the Commissariat.

[6:1] Jeanne: You’re kidding. He’ll demaind my papers.
Francois: He doesn’t care about your papers. He’s not here for that.
[6:2] Come on. He should get used to seeing us.
[6:3] It’s me who’s going to find it particularly difficult to get used to.
[6:4] Look, René’s already made a friend.
[6:5] Ah, there you are. Let me present the other sausage.
[6:6] He seems okay, the Kraut.
[6:7] She’s a cousin. She’s travelling with us to help my wife.
[6:8] My fraulein. She’s pregnant. She’s sleeping at the moment. He really understands nothing. How did you win the war by being bloody stupid?

[7:1] Like I told you, he’s a sausage. Instead of clinking glasses, he put his down.
[7:2] Take your drink. Up yours, you idiot. Good health to the baby. Here’s hoping it doesn’t have your face.
[7:4] Do you want me to rearrange your face with a stick? Or perhaps your baby’s in your wife’s belly.
[7:5] I’m from Strasbourg you idiot.
[7:6] The introductions had been made. René didn’t have a chance. He tried to ridicule a type who spoke French as well as he did. For the reason that he’s Alsation.

[8:1] We’d left Paris two hours ago. Francois Came with us, and disappeared at night. He found clients in the provinces. Sometimes a particularly ambitious project called him back to the capital. Relations with the Alsatian were reduced to exchanging expressions.
[8:2] Three times a day he came to refill his lunch box without unclenching his teeth.
[8:3] He feared everything. He was like a dangerous hound fed in the absence of his masters with prudence and apprehension.
[8:4] For the rest of the time he never left the front of the boat, and René christened it The Occupied Zone.
[8:5] Huguette through patriotic cocquettishness, turned back the clock an hour, reinstating French time from before the occupation. The demarkation line split the barge approximately in the middle. The Free Zone kept the lively party territory, to know the Marquis and the back castle.
[8:6] Nicholas played the role of ambassador for the whole metropolis.

[9:1] He finds the water tastes funny, and asks if there’s nothing else to drink.
[9:2] Tell him instead of water there’s wine at a price. It’s ten francs a bottle.
[9:3] Jeanne: So, you’re going to Montceau-Les-Mines to load what exactly?
René: I don’t know, and it’s best that way.
[9:4] Huguette: Wehn we get there, they’ll tell him, but meanwhile his head’s in the air. It’s like the pump. I asked him two days ago to repair the run-off and…
René: Huguette you’re boring me.
[9:5] On the papers there’s nothing but Montceau-Les-Mines Dock B
[9:6] Francois: The other idiot, he must know all the same.
René: It’s likely. Perhaps I’ll go and ask him the question.

[10:3] René: Well?
Nicholas: He doesn’t know anything.
René: That’s all? Nothing to add?
[10:4] Nicholas: Yes, he told me perhaps it’s a cargo of manure. He has nothing to do with it. Oh yes, he asked if the wine was ten francs a litre.
René: No! Not per litre, per bottle.
[10:5] Nicholas: Well at that price he’d prefer to drink his own piss.
Huguette: How crude he is.
[10:6] The war didn’t affect the hills of L’Yonne. It’s a civil, opulent and comforting area, dressed up with the fantasies of gren alfalfa supported by hot golden wheat. The gentle grumbling noise of the motor sent me into a gentle doze. I thought then about Cécile, and the bastard who turned me in before waking. The nightmare was my reality.

[11:1] The Alsation never chatted. During the day he stayed cloistered in an eerie silence, but caught up during the night. Incoherent phrases rung out from the front of the boat, swearing some in German, some in French.
[11:2] The Eastern front doesn’t bother him during the day, but lives again during his nights, feeding his nightmares with ghastly visions of lost lives.
[11:3] He lost sleep in the ruins of Starlingrad, and perhaps reason.
[11:5] Is he dreaming or is he raving?
[11:6] Was he even sleeping? No one was brave enough to find out.

[12:2] Jeanne: Francois!
Francois: Up already?
Jeanne: It’s as if I’ve never closed my eyes.
Francois: You’re not used to the fresh country air.
[12:3] You think! It’s that Alsatian. He’s never let go of the Russian campaign.
[12:4] He’s completely cracked. He bawls half the night. I’m terrified he’ll burst into my cabin.
[12:5] I’d be be more comforted if you were on the boat.
[12:6] Jeanne: Tonight, are you working?
Francois: Why?

[13:1] Jeanne: Because I’d be happier if you were sleeping on the barge.
Francois: Ah, I understand.
[13:2] Is it just to reassure you, or to please you?
[13:3] Jeanne: I could say it would please me to be reassured.
Francois: That’s daft. For me it’s the other way around. It would reassure me to please you.
[13:4] Huguette is already at the bridge.
[13:5] Huguette: What a night I’ve had my poor children. He’s disturbed that Alsatian. And so coarse. It’s horrible. You’ve got a motorcycle now?
Francois: Since last night.
[13:6] Nicholas: Oh, she’s a beauty.
Francois: Here Jeanne, this is for you. Now you can run like a rabbit.
[13:7] Thank you Francois. They’re splendid. I must say you work in the better areas.

[14:1] Francois: I didn’t steal them. I bought them. With vouchers as well.
Jeanne: Thank you Francois.
[14:2] Francois: And what’s more I bought another pair for Nicholas.
Huguette: You’re too good Francois.
[14:3] Francois: I hope they’re his size.
Huguette: I suppose we can change them if not.
[14:4] Not those. I p;icked them up when the saleswoman was writing out the receipt.
[14:5] Look, René. Two small eyes.
[14:6] René: Crap! I’ve had a terrible night. I cut myself shaving. He’ll kill us all.
Francois: Well, I have a little comfort.
[14:7] Château Latour 1923. You’ve saved my health. Where did you get them?
[14:8] Chaptal Street. It was gathering dust in a callar beside the motorcycle. Very near your bookshop. Oh yes, I forgot the most important part there: it’ll be open tomorrow.
[14:9] Is that ture? And you tell me like that! You couldn’t have mentioned it earlier?

[15:1] Jeanne: Before stopping at the bookshop, take a tour around the area to see if there’s a car that’s suspicious.
Francois: You don’t want me to take you to your house? If there are cops in the bookshop I’ve a pretty good chance of sniffing them out.
[15:3] Jeanne: Have you spotted anything?
Francois: No, nothing.
[15:4] Francois: Now, you’re sure you don’t want me to come with you?
Jeanne: No, stay there. And keep the motor running.

[16:1] Jeanne: Excuse me Sir, have you anything about the Louvre museum?
Shopkeeper: I’m afraid there’s not much on the shelves…
[16:2] Shopkeeper: ...but I’ll take a look back here. If you’ll follow me.
Jeanne: What happened? I thought you’d closed.
[16:3] Shopkeeper; My sister in law died in the bombing of Caen. I closed the shop for three days.
Jeanne: Sotry. My condolences.
[16:4] I’ll leave you in peace while I check the front desk.
[16:5/6] I’d hoped for a message from Cécile, but it was a little note from Michel. My dear Jeanne, these are your final orders. For the moment the party asks us to forget them, to put ourselves out to pasture, quitting Paris if possible. On Tuesday I’ve a contact with a comrade who can hide us in Limoges. If you get this message in time, meet me on Tuesday at noon by La Chapelle metro. I hope I’ll have more precise instructions to give you.
[16:7] Letter: I have no news of your sister. I fear the worst. The party is sure she’s been arrested.
Jeanne: My poor Cécile. I’ll leave you in turn a little note in the meagre hope that you’ll read it one day.

[17:1] Francois: Well?
Jeanne: Let’s get going. Can you drop me at La Chapelle?
Francois: Any news of Cécile?
[17:2] No sign of Cécile. Michel is gone. They can’t come up with anything better than sending me to Limoges.
[17:3] They’re not going to see me there in Limoges. Francois, you have to help me.
[17:4] I can’t sit around with my arms crossed anymore. I have to know where she’s imprisoned.
[17:5] Francois: If she’s in Germany?
Jeanne: Don’t say that. There must be someone who can give us information. There’s the procurator who indicted her.
Francois: Agreed. Then what?
Jeanne: Then it would be enough to pay him a little visit.
[17:6] Jeanne: Rifle through his papers. WE might find a dossier on Cécile.
Francois: Okay, and you think I’m the man for this. That’s nice.
[17:7] Jeanne: Do you know where the procurator hangs out?
Francois: No, that’s the problem. There’s someone who might be able to give us information. If I hurry, I can get to them before midday. Is it okay to leave you here. La Chapelle is just here. I’ll pick you up in an hour at Charonne metro. What do you want at La Chapelle?
Jeanne: I’m meeting Michel.
Francois: Be careful.

[18:1] ‘Be careful’. Two words that filled me with fear. Climbing the metrol stairs, I had the feeling I was mounting the scaffold.
[18:2] If René was right, and Michel was the bastard who betrayed me, I was sticking my head on the block.
[18:3] No, Michel’s not a bastard.
[18:4] To denounce me in revenge for being dumped, no, that’s not Michel. He’d be the last one to pull that stunt. Instead, my sister, he could have done it.
[18:5] All the same he’s in enough shnit to abandon her to her fate.

[19:1] She’s been arrested. Too bad for her. The survivors to the country. Take their chances in Limoges. They can wait for me in Limoges. He can wait for me, that bastard Michel.
[19:2] Shit! Michel!

[20:3] Francois: Good day Commissar.
Commisar: What are you doing?
[20:4] Commissar: What do you want?
Francois: Your gun for starters.
[20:5] Don’t move until I say so. Keep your arms up high. That’s right, like you’re greeting your masters. You can wash your hands at the same time.
[20:6] Ah it’s you. I recognise you. You were in the cell with the girl wearing the red beret.
[20:7] Francois: Is iut fear making you polite? Back in your office you were very familiar. Returning to the girl. Were you going to turn her over to the Germans?
Commissar: Not at all. I put here file to one side.

[21:1] It’s my assistant. He palmed her off on the Krauts. He’s very zealous. I hope the bastards haven’t stopped her.
[21:2] Francois: “The bastards”. “The Krauts” You’ve some way of talking about your friends.
Commissar: They’ve never been my friends. I’m aobliged to work for them, but my heart’s not in it. I try to slow them down..
[21:3] Commissar: Sometimes I have the opportunity to help the resistance.
Francois: Ah, because now you’re part of the resistance.
[21:4] Commissar: It’s a very big word, but when I can, I do my bit.
Francois: So this is really good luck. Tell me this…
[21:5] Michel was caught in a round-up.
[21:6] Francois: Not good. I’ve had news. Do you remember the Commisar?
Jeanne: You’re surely not counting on him to help us?
Francois: Yes. He’s an arsehole of the first rank without any doubt, but that’s why he’s got a lot of things to make up for. He’s not going to pass up this opportunity.

[22:1] Francois left for Paris again. We’ll pick him up again tomorrow at Châtillon. Huguette lent me clothes because mine needed a little wash.
Huguette: Take it Jeanne. You can keep the shirt.
[22:2] I’m not going to fit in it again.
[22:3] René: Gorgeous.
Huguette: Blue suits you. It looks better on you than on me.
[22:4] René: It’s not a question of the colour.
Huguette: Thanks René.
[22:6] French soldier: They can’t have got this far. Turn through all these little houses.
Huguette: Who are they looking for?
[22:7] René: How do you expect me to know?
Huguette: Jeanne, we should put her in the chain hatch until we’ve passed the village.
[22:8] In the chain hatch? But he’s up front.
[22:9] Shit. I’d forgotten about that sod.
[22:10] Huguette: But they’re not after us.
René: Whydo you want them to ask us anything?
[22:11] Ladies and gentlemen, your papers.

[23:1] Solider 1: That’s in order.
Soldier 2: Have we checked the young lady’s papers?
[23:2] French soldier 1: Well? Come on.
Jeanne: This is stupid. I was sure I had them wqith me. I must have left them…
French soldier 2: Come on, get off.
[23:3] Jeanne: No, wait. It’s daft. I need to help Huguette because she needs a lot of sleep.
French soldier: We don’t care. Without papers you’re ours.
[23:4] Gentlemen, gentleman, a second.
[23:6] German Soldier: You can’t make me do this. I didn’t freeze my balls off on the Russian front for you to pick up my fiancée at the first opportunity.
French soldier: Excuse us. We couldn’t have known.
[23:7] German soldier: So we’re okay then? You don’t want to see my papers?
French solider: No, no, you’re joking.
[23:8] Yes, I’m joking.
[23:9] Come on honey, they’ve got work. We can’t detain them any longer.

[24:1] German: That’s it. They’ve left.
Jeanne: Well thank you.
[24:2] German: So, don’t you have your papers?
Jeanne: Yes, they must be in mt cabin.
[24:3] German: Do you take me for an areshole? I wonder what you’re hiding?
Jeanne: I assure you…
German: Shut up!
[24:4] I understood your little game from the start. You almost collapsed with fear in front of the militia.
[24:5] You can’t imagine how that pleased me, a little liar all a tremble, dripping with fear.Get ready to make up for your lies.
[24:6] Wow, you have a temper.
[24:7] You want to play? Wow, you really turn me on. We’re in for a treat, us two. Why are you shaking when you hold the gun? Ah, you’re telling yourself “I made a mistake. I have the gun, but I’m even more afraid than before.”

[25:1] Go on. What are you waiting for? Shoot.
[25:2] Okjay, give it here. I’ll make the choice for you.
[25:3] You should but a bullet in the barrel first, dear.
[25:4] Now take it. It’s loaded.
[25:5] You see. It’s not easy coming up against a bastard like me. Believe me, it’s not a bullet for you.
[25:6] You need to give it a go.
[25:7] You don’t know if I’m playing a trick to please you.
[25:8] I’m going to smoke my cigarette peacefully. During that time I’m going to let you take me down.

[26:1] But if you don’t shoot before I finish my smoke, then I’ll do what I want with you. You see, it’s very exciting, this little game.
[26:2] This could be my last.
[26:3] You don’t imagine you can do it. You’re thinking of the shit that will come down on your friends.
[26:4] A nice way of thanking them after they’ve hidden you. René and Huguette shot! Before then, tortured. And before that the child if they find him. It seems they love doing that.
[26:5] You could tell yourself “I did a good job”.

[27:1] But they aren’t there. I know that you are going to take it to avoid all that waste. You owe them that.
[27:3] You know I’m right, don’t you? You see, you lowering your head.
[27:4/5] Right, put down the gun nicely and we’ll play another game.
[27:6] Did you hear a shot?

[28:4] Oh crap!
[28:5] Crap. It’s all messed up.
[28:6] My God! My God!
[28:7] Huguette: What’s happened?
René: What’s happened is that she’s nothing better to do than kill the Kraut.
[28:8] Huguette: Jesus Christ! It’s not happening. Why were they arguing?
René: Huguette shut up. Please shut up.

[29:1] Good, we can’t stay here. Perhaps you heard a shot in the village. Ah Francois, you’re good luck. She’s done it now, your friend.
[29:2] Jeanne! Jeanne, what happened?
[29:3] Calm down. Come on, calm down.
[29:4] You had no choice.
[29:5] What a bloody mess. What do we do now?
[29:6] How are we going to get out of what she’s done? She only has to give herself up. If she doesn’t, I’ll take the responsibility.
[29:7] René didn’t speak to us any more.
Francois: I think he wants me more than you.
Jeanne: He’s right. I’ll give myself up.
Francois: And that changes what? The fact that they’ve hidden you puts them in the same basket, and René knows that.

[30:1] Lock by lock we neared our fate. Each of us in our silence considered a solution to our insurmountable problem.
[30:2] It appears there’s been some fighting.
René: It appears so.
Man: The bargees are the kings of petrol, never in the same place, always able to avoid annoyances.
René: Not always.
[30:3] Man: I definitely thought we were due a storm, then this came loose. The martins are flying higher. It’s a good sign.
René: Not always.
[30:5] Huguette: What are we going to do? We can’t leave him there. And all that blood. He’s bleeding like a rabbit. It’s disgusting. Oh, what awful luck.
René: Don’t touch anything for the time being. There’s no punishment for stupidity.
[30:6] I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to refurbish my parquet. I really want to wipe a rag across it.
[30:7] You’ll kill us with your flooring. You really don’t know! You’re household shit will have us in front of the firing squad.

[32:2} Francois: Are you okay Jeanne?
Jeanne: Yes. And the others?
[32:3] Jeanne: There’s no damage? No-one’s wounded?
René: Ah, the smokers.
[32:4] Are you okay Huguette? You’ve gone pale. You’re sure you’re alright?
[32:5] All the same, without my little wall…
[32:6] The boat’s chipped all over. Take a glance up the front Nicholas, check there isn’t too much damage.
[32:7] Francois: Huguette’s seems like she’s shivering.
René: Are you feeling any better, Mother?
[32:8] Huguette: Jesus Christ, I’m afraid for the little one.
René: Don’t worry, nothing happened to Nicholas.
Huguette: I wasn’t talking about Nicholas!
[32:9] Dad, dad. The corpse is wounded.

[33:1] Ugh, a massacre. Huguette, stay away. In this state he’s ghastly.
[33:2] It’s not a pleasant sight.
[33:3] He’s got at least three wounds, and they’re not the same calibre.
[33:4] Wait! They’ve saved our skin those airborne whores.
[33:5] Yes, we only have to say that he was killed during the British attack.
[33:6] Ah, they knew we had a German on board. It’s because of him they attacked us?
[33:7] Huguette: They’re camels all the same. They could have wounded someone.
René: Listen, shut up. Sit down there and shut up.

[34:1] Nicholas, head for the lock. Say there’s been gunfire, we have a victim.
[34:2] I don’t think that’s necessary. Look.
[34:3] Have you any wounded?
[34:4] Medic: Can I do anything for you?
René: For him I don’t think there’s any choice to make. For our part there’s no need to hang around.
[34:5] What about the lady? Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?
[34:6] Huguette.
[34:7] I think… I think I need to lie down.
[34:8] My poor Huguette, they just missed you.

[35:1] René and Nicholas didn’t want to leave Huguette. Everyone crowded into the back of the ambulance. The driver perched the Alsatian beside him.
Francois: He must be an optimist, that new born, to start pushing his nose out now.
[35:2] Francois: Jeanne, don’t do this.
Jeanne: I’ll be okay.
[35:3/4] Cry a little, then. Listen do you want some good news?
[35:5] I’ve got the Procurator’s address. Tomorrow at this time I’ll be burgling his home.
[35:6] Oh! Really.
[35:7] I’m such a problem for you.
[35:10/11] That night I understood how a thief operates. He takes a place in your life without you noticing.

[36:3] Jeanne: What’s the time?
Francois: I don’t know. My watch has stopped. Twenty past eight by the clock. I’d have thought it was later.
[36:4] Jeanne: The baby was born at this time.
Francois: When he sees what a planet of shit he’s fallen into…
[36:5] …he risks starting to tipple from birth.
[36:6] And at three he’ll be touring the pubs with René.
[36:8] Francois: I promise you news of your sister tonight.
Jeanne: If you could find the truth.
Francois: And her little friend, perhaps he was also suckered.
Jeanne: It’s possible. He had to go to Paris the day I was arrested.

[37:1] Francois: When burgling the Procurator, I’ll try to find news. What’s his name?
Jeanne: Sarlat. Julien Sarlat. You’ll be careful? Promise me.
Francois: I know my trade.
Jeanne: So a thieving is a trade, now?
Francois: If vocation if you prefer. You know, we’re working the same cause, taking from the rich to give to the poor. I just avoid the intermediaries.
[37:2] Jeanne: You’re full of it.
Francois: In essence there are practically no differences between a Communist and me.
[37:3] Jeanne: Some slivers, perhaps.
Francois: Like what?
[37:4] I don’t know. You think of yourself first, while a good Communist thinks of others first.
[37:5] No, you Communists don’t think of others first, but in the place of others.
[37:6] Jeanne: Wait until they take power. I’ll train you.
Francois: You see, just like I said.
[37:7] Jeanne: You are an egotistical little thief.
Francois: Say therefore that you’re happy to have one to hand. I can’t hang about any more. I’ve more than three hours to go.
[37:8] I try not to be late. It is my trade.

[38:1] I was concerned about staying alone on the barge, with its creaking. Perhaps she also had to digest the events of the past few hours.
[38:2] If I had a good book… But René, Huguette and literature, that’s a ménage à trois! There wasn’t a single book aboard the Himalaya. I tried the lock.
[38:3] I might have something for you, but make sure you don’t lose it.
[38:4] It was my husband’s favourite book, so I’m fond of it.
[38:5] Cyrano De Bergerac. I had to read it at college, but apart from the tyranny of the nose I remembered nothing. It didn’t look that bad.
[38:7] It’s actually very good
[38:8] I hear footsteps. Francois already? It’s not possible.

[39:4] Cécile: Oh Jeanne
Jeanne: Cécile! My Cécile! It’s really you. Where did you come from?
[39:5] I believed you. Finally. You can’t imagine the wreck I’ve become.
[39:6] Jeanne: How did you find me?
Cécile: Coming back from Brive, I stopped at the bookshop and stumbled on your little note. Have you got anything to drink?
[39:7] Jeanne: Certainly. But in my note I only gave you the name of the boat, How did you track it down here?
Cécile: It wasn’t difficult.

[40:1] Cécile: By asking the bargees lock by lock. The most difficult thing was making the journey on a bike. It was good when it was flat.
Jeanne: What were you doing in Brive?
Cécile: Looking for Julien.
[40:2] I thought it was him that persuaded you to return to Paris.
[40:3] There, there. What happened?
[40:4] Was he arrested? Was that it?
[40:5] No, no. His train was bombed.
[40:6] Cécile: At the hospital in Brive they told me…
Jeanne: If he’s at Brive, he got out. It’s a good hospital. What did they tell you?
Cécile: They told me he hadn’t suffered.
Jeanne: Oh, you poor thing.

[41:1] Cécile: And you Jeanne, tell me.
Jeanne: I tell you, it’s a little complicated.
Cécile: I won’t insist. Is there really nothing to drink?
Jeanne: Oh yes, sorry. I’ll get something. Wait here.
Cécile: I’ll fetch my bike.
[41:2] I wouldn’t like anyone to pinch it. It belongs to the guy in the bookshop.
[41:3] Do you want a hot drink or cold? You must be dying of hunger. Here, drink a little Bordeaux, it’ll do you good.
[41:4] Right, I don’t even know where to start. On June fifth, there was a knock on my door at night.
[41:5] Jeanne: …and that’s how I came to know René and Huguette. You need to go to bed. I’ll continue tomorrow.
Cécile: No, go on, I’m listening.
[41:6] Even in bed Cécile didn’t want to sleep. We talked very quietly, like young lassies whispering our secrets.
Cécile: It was Julien who saved me. Without his accident I’d never have gone to Brive and the Krauts would have arrested me. I think about it every night before I fall asleep. Sometimes I don’t sleep.
Caption: But 130 kilometres by bicycle return themselves in sleep.

[42:1] When I think of my poor Francois breaking into the Procurator’s office when Cécile is sleeping peacefully behind me. I’ve put him in danger for nothing. In the end I have faith he’ll compensate for that. It astonishes me how he emerges from places with his hands in his pockets.
[42:4] Shit! It can’t be. The bastard who denounced me pinched his tirade from Cyrano. And from the Duke of Guiche if you please. “a thousand small disgusts add to the sum of what’s not remorse, but a vague unease”” “The struggle against the black market sadly has its price.” This is the other bastard who turned me in. Talk about a surprise. They don’t come worse than that.

[43:2] Wait until I tell Francois. I bet he thinks Cyrano is a type of aperitif. I think that’s him. I hear the noise of a motor.
[43:4] Is that you?
[43:5] Commissar: Yes, sorry. I can imagine your disappointment.
Jeanne: Where’s Francois?
Commissar: He’s been arrested.
Jeanne: Why aren’t you saying I’ve had him arrested.
[43:6] Jeanne: We should never have trusted you.
Cécile: Who is it?
Jeanne: A cop. A dirty cop who’s come to arrest us.
Commissar: If I’d come for that do you think I’d have come alone? As for Francois, I’ll repeat that I’m not to blame. A colleague of mine warned me. I don’t understand. I definitely told him he had to scarper before midnight.
[43:7] Yes, I know. The procurator was having dinner at the Ministry.
[43:8] That’s what he did.
[43:9] And he found Francois in his office at twenty past twelve. I’ve been told by colleagues it’s improbable.

[44:1] Cécile: If he based his timing on this clock, it’s not astonishing. It’s an hour slow.
Jeanne: Shit. That’s due to Huguette. She considered it a point of honour to stay on French time.
[44:2] But you can get him out of there. That can’t be difficult for a Commissar.
[44:3] If he’s in a French prison, I can do something, but the procurator is a bigwig. He’s supposed to ensure the state’s security.
[44:4] He’s directly under the control of the Krauts. I’ll try to transfer him to us, but it’s not warranted. He was going through dossiers about the resistance.
[44:5] Your Francois by trying to keep French time has ended up in a German prison.
[44:6] The Germans won’t let him go just like that.
[44:7] There’s no time to lose. To get him out I’m going to need your help.
[44:8] Jeanne: What have I got to do?
Commissar: Trust me.
Jeanne: That’s not easy.

[45:2] My dear Commissar, since you’ve not brought me a new boarder, what can I do for you?
[45:3] At the moment I need to borrow one of your prisoners. You see this woman is accused of murder, a sordid story of adultery very far from your preoccupations.
[45:4] So?
[45:5] Commissar: So she claims a certain Francois Michaud is responsible.
German: And that Michaud is here? You’re sure?
[45:6] Commissar: I’m certain, and I’d like to borrow him for two or three days. Time to clear up this affair.
German: I’ll go and see what I can do.
[45:7] Commissar: If he arranges it am I on your good side?
Jeanne: Yes, I see. Anyway, congratulations.
[45:9] German: Your Michaud is a dangerous terrorist. I can’t do anything for you. Sorry.
Commissar: Let me have him for just three days.

[46:1] Commissar: If Michaud is a terrorist, perhaps he’s also an assassin. If I can prove that, then this girl is innocent.
German: Don’t insist.
[46:2] Anyway, it’s not up to me. All I can offer is that you can interrogate him here.
[46:3] Commissar: But this young woman is at risk of the guillotine beacuse of him. Let me have him for just two days.
German:I’ve already told you it’s not possible.
[46:6] You don’t need me anymore. It’s the cell opposite the stairs. Tell him we’re doing everything we can to get him out of here. I’ll unlock the handcuffs.
[46:7] Francois?

[47:1] Francois: Jeanne, what are you doing here? Have the arrested you?
Jeanne: No, don’t worry about that. It’s a trick of the Commissar’s to get you out of here.
[47:2] Jeanne: What have they done to your face, the bastards?
Francois: Don’t look at me. At least spare me that.
[47:3] My poor Francois. We’re trying to sort out your transfer.
[47:4] Jeanne: Keep well my Fracois, keep well.
Francois: It’s too late for that. There’s a departure tonight for Germany. I’m afaid I’ll be part of that trip.
[47:5] Oh no.
[47:6] It’s all my fault. I should never have asked you to burgle that place.

[48:1] Jeanne: Because you know me you tried to help me and I’ve led you up the creek. It’s all my fault.
Francois: No, it’s the complete opposite.
Jeanne: Whjat are you saying?
[48:2] “I risk, like the Duke of Guiche a thousand small disgusts that add to the sum of what’s not remorse, but a vague unease”. “The struggle against the black market sadly has its price.”
[48:3] Jeanne: You, it was you.
[48:4] You remember my little secret on the rooftops? That was my plan. Denounce people for black marketeering, have the police lock them up for a day or two and let me get about my trade.
[48:5] When I saw your name and address on scanning your papers, I realised it was you I’d denounced the day before.

[49:1] I couldn’t know that you were part of the resistance or that the cops would find guns under your bed. I dropped you in the shit my poor Jeanne.
[49:2] Francois: You see, that’s why I can’t look you in the eye right now.
Jeanne: Be quiet. We’ll get you out of here Francois.
[49:3] Francois: The one time I break in for something worthwhile it turns to shit.
Jeanne: WE’ll get you out of here. I promise.
Commissar: Come on, we have to go now.
[49:5] Jeanne, we can’t hang around here any longer otherwise they’re going to end up taking us as well.

[50:1] Don’t panic. The Germans are overflowing. I’ll try to have him transferred again. At least he’s not already in Germany.
[50:4] and with all the bombings it would astonish me if many trains are leaving.

[51:1] Dear Cécile, at this end of August the infection of FFI armbands must surprise the resistance fighters. It’s an epidemic. It started with the Commissar. He embarked on the delicate task of cleaning up the police services.
[51:3] The new world in construction excludes barbarians, who already know they face justice.
[51:4/5] We aren’t too deprived. The Commissar has arranged for René and Huguette to become concierges at the national archives. The waste of their barge, sabotaged by the Germans, was a hard blow for them.
[51:6] I’m sending a photograph of their small family. The baby is healthy and already weighs more than ten pounds. They named him Francois.

[52:1] Dear Jeanne, sorry for not following you back to Paris. You told me that you’re working at the chemist’s on the Rue de Provence.
[52:2] I’ve found a job thanks to René’s brother. He’s the chef in an orphanage near Guéret. He’s the total opposite of his brother.
[52:3] As tall and as thin as a bicycle, as calm and discrete as a priest, they’ve only a single shared trait..
Brother: To celebrate your arrival we’ve opened a little bottle.
Caption: my dear Jeanne, have you managed to find out anything about Francois?
[52:4] Chemist: Jeanne, someone was asking for you.
Jeanne: Oh?
Chemist: A young man. I understood he came from Germany.
[52:5] Oh. Has he gone?
[52:6] Yes, but not to Germany. He’s waiting for you at the Comet bar.
[52:9] Jeanne: Ah, Michel.
Michel: You seem happy to see me. That’s nice.
[52:10] Yes, I er… I’m surprised, but certainly pleased. When did you get back?

[53:1] This morning. A friend from the party told me you drink here. I came at once.
[53:2] Do you remember the last time we saw each other? It was on the metro platform. You seemed extremely upset that I’d been pinched.
[53:3] It’s funny, that look, it helped me survive the camp. For me it said ‘she loves me a little still. It’s worth the trouble not to crack.
[53:4] Michel: It meant the opposite of the look you had when you came in.
Jeanne: I’m very sorry Michel, but…
Michel: I’m boring you. Go.
[53:5] Do you want anything back?
[53:6] I’ve not seen Michel for a month, and worse there’s no news of Francois. The Commissar is doing everything he can to find out about an escape or a hypothetical liberation.
[53:7] He assumes a conviction in inverse proportion to the slim possibility I forsee. Days pass and I hear no more Huguette to supply all sorts of optimistic alternatives.

[54:1] Caption: Dear Cécile we have already reached the end of November with no news of Francois. Winter has already announced itself more severely than in the past few years. I spent my evenings at René and Huguette’s. There is a good atmosphere at their small house, and good wood stove that they’re happy with. It’s also happy when it comes to being fed. At the moment it’s bricks of confectionary paper with a stock of expired tickets.
Jeanne: What have you got in those files?
[54:2] Commissar: The head of your good Field-Marshall. He wanted to donate himself to France to lighten his misfortune.
[54:3] René: Well, he’s managed it this time.
Jeanne: You always burn the ones your love Commissar.
Caption: Dear Jeanne, I’m in my ninth week at this orphanage. I hope to help these children who’ve restored my taste for life. They suffer silently and play noisily, and strangely, more than their sobbing under the covers, the joyous shouts of their stampeding, or their breathless smiles during a snowball fight being tears to my eyes.
[54:4-8] I’m making some progress with the plan. I can look at the photo of Julien without my eyes filling with tears. I even manage to finish my sentence when I talk about him.

[55:1] Cécile, my morale has reached rock bottom. I don’t spend evenings at René’s any more. In your last letter you wrote about the snow that in which the orphans play. It’s falling here as well, but it’s a miserable snow that powders the queues. I’m writing in my bed, wrapped in three sweaters that are not help in keeping the cold at bay. It make four less near the window. How is he doing in Germany?
[55:2] Yesterday at the chemist’s a former prisoner related the condition of the deportees as they arrived at the work camps. Then he was quiet, his dry cough punctuating the silence, the emotion making his hands tremble. He couldn’t even collect his change. What hope is there of seeing Francois again?
[55:3] My poor Cécile, every necessary product for life has a ration book with renewable tickets…

[56:1] …and hope should have one. It’s the one most lacking.
[56:4] Put it down. He’s already in Switzerland.