Cathedral of Tournai

 

December 1942

Tournai, Belgium

“Aimée? Aimée LeJeune? What are you doing here?”

“Jeanette!” Aimée cried, as she kissed the girl on her cheek. “How marvelous to see you, my cousine!”

“Yes, yes,” said the young woman, extricating herself from Aimée’s embrace. “But I’m surprised to see you here on the cold streets of Tournai! And who are your friends?”

“They are from the country, and it has been far too long since they have heard Tournai’s bells or seen the towers of the cathedral,” said Aimée’ with a cheerful smile.

The fliers’ scarves were wrapped around the bottom parts of their faces, not only to ward off the cold, but to keep their features partially hidden. Julienne now realized how clever she had been to suggest this. If Aimée’s cousin had seen these men later, with the other girls who were to accompany them on the train to Paris, all might be lost, depending whose side this cousin was on. It was difficult to tell—perhaps she was merely an ordinary, harmless snoop.

“Tres charming, my dear cousine. But tell me,” she continued, her sharp eyes studying them all carefully, “how did a city girl find the time to make friends from the countryside?”

Julienne panicked. Was this girl spying for the Germans? Were they to be found out just as they arrived at their destination?

Aimée laughed carelessly, tossing the end of her blue scarf over her shoulder. “My, but aren’t you filled with curiosity today, my cousine! I would tell you the story, but I hoped to show my friends Tournai’s miraculous belfry, the one the Boches were unable to destroy. Perhaps I will write you a long, fascinante letter from Brussels when I return home and reveal all! Au revoir!”

“But the cathedral and belltower are both that direction—”

Aimée pretended not to hear as she ended the encounter with a cheerful backward wave. Why had Monsieur Charles and Madame Renée not utilized Aimée before now? Her acting skills were superb. But for all her bravado, her face was now flushed with more than the cold December air.

“You were brilliant, Aimée.”

Excerpt from The Belgian Girls.

 

Andree de Jongh, founder of the Comet Line

"How was it possible that this small, slight woman had crossed and recrossed the Pyrenees mountain range multiple times, rescued dozens of Allied airmen, and kept the Germans guessing for two years? Julienne had already learned that Florentino, Dedee's mountain guide was an enormous, indefatigable man of few words and little patience. What an odd pair they must make! How had this tiny woman gained so much of the large man's trust that he willingly and continually risked his own life to escort her and groups of Allied fliers across the mighty Pyrenees? When she gazed into Julienne's eyes with her intense light ones and greeted her with a friendly, "Bonjour!" Julienne knew the answer immediately; this woman emanated a strength and vitality that could not be measured by stature." 

--Excerpt from The Belgian Girls, page 132-133, where one of my fictional characters meets the very real Andree de Jongh, founder of the Comet Line which rescued 700+ allied fliers from German POW camps during WWII.