Page 124 of The Last Library of Paris

‘No doubts,’ said Henry. ‘We are doing the right thing.’

‘Me neither,’ said Lara.

‘Okay,’ I said, taking a deep breath. ‘Henry, you get the tickets in our new names. I’ll go and speak to Edith, and Lara, can you get clothes and makeup? And pack a couple of suitcases? We’re not staying obviously but we’ll look awfully suspicious if we travel without luggage.’

‘Righto,’ said Henry, as Lara said: ‘Leave it to me.’

‘Great.’ I looked at them both. ‘Then we’re all set. Let’s go.’

Chapter 33

We got to the station early because Henry had been warned it would be busy and we were glad we did. It was packed with people everywhere we looked.

‘Right,’ I said before we went through the large entrance way. ‘We’re now Rhodri, Ada and Marta. Even when we think we’re alone.’

‘Fine,’ said Henry, in a slightly deeper voice than usual.

Lara looked at him. ‘Just speak normally, Rhodri,’ she said in her American accent, but quietly. ‘You’ll never keep that up. You too, Marta.’

I nodded. ‘Let’s go,’ I said.

Inside, the station concourse was bustling with passengers. And Nazis. I’d lived in Lisbon since before the war, and I was used to seeing Nazi soldiers and officers all over the place, but seeing so many, all together, was disconcerting.

‘They’re all going to Paris,’ said Henry in my ear. ‘The train will be full of Germans.’

My palms began to sweat as I looked around at the sea of grey and black uniforms. Would we stick out like sore thumbs?

Lara looped her arm through mine. ‘Marta, let’s go and find our seats,’ she said gaily. ‘Heavens, I’m glad we have our tickets already, just look at the chaos around the booking office.’

Sure enough, there were crowds of people swarming the ticket booths, both soldiers and civilians – most of them dressed in expensive clothes, brandishing money.

We skirted round the groups and headed towards the platform. It was easy to know where our train was leaving from because it was the only one in the station. Steam was already belching from the funnel. It was hot and smoky and smelly, and every part of me wanted to spin round on the shoes I’d borrowed from Lara and run.

But I didn’t.

‘Stick together, everyone,’ I said, sounding to my own ears just like my games mistress from school. ‘We don’t want to get lost.’

There were several Portuguese ticket inspectors at the gate, all looking rather bored. Though I could tell by the way their eyes kept flicking to the groups of Nazis that they were actually rather nervous. As we paused to get our tickets out, I took the chance to scan the crowd. I could see Lara and Henry doing the same and I was proud of them for being so alert.

‘Boa noite,’ I said to the ticket inspector. He barely glanced at us, just nicked our tickets with his little machine and waved us aboard.

‘We don’t have a cabin,’ said Henry. ‘There were none available. But the carriages should be quiet overnight, and we can find a little nook to settle in.’

He led the way – just as Rhodri would – and I felt that flicker of pride again. Towards the end of the platform, Henry stopped.

‘This looks good,’ he said. He opened the door and a porter darted forward and took our bags. If he was surprised by how light they were, he didn’t show it. We climbed up the stairs and Henry led the way into an empty compartment.

The porter lay down our bags and hovered. I raised an eyebrow at Henry, who realised what was expected and gave him some money.

‘Obrigado,’ he said, backing out of the carriage and sliding the door closed.

‘This is fancy,’ said Lara in Ada’s voice. She was so clever with characters, picking them up and wearing them like other people wore a coat. Whereas I felt edgy and uncomfortable in shoes that pinched my toes, and my wig itched.

‘The SudExpress was always the finest way to travel,’ said Henry. He looked at Lara. ‘Only the best for you, cariad.’

Lara blew him a kiss and took off her neat little jacket. She and I were both wearing clothes she’d bought on our last undercover mission when she’d played the wife of an Austrian aristocrat. She looked better in them than I did. She also looked like she was enjoying herself enormously, which she probably was.

We all sat down and got comfortable. I crossed my fingers, hoping no one else would come into our carriage.