When the clock struck ten he went out into the deepening twilight to stare into the gloom toward Ste. Mère. What if the Nazis had opened the ambulance and found Ronald? Perhaps the Maquis had failed to meet them.... He tried not to think of such things.
Now it was eleven o’clock and long past time to go to bed. From several directions there was strong antiaircraft firing, and the echo of bombs.
In spite of the curfew order, André began to walk stealthily down the road. Those Nazi gunners might open fire on any vehicle bringing his family home.
Halting, listening, he picked his way to a bend of the highway. After a little while he began to realize how tired he was.
Drowsily he looked for a sheltered spot in the hedge, and sank down among the ferns and the tall grass. The rich smell of earth and spring growth rose around him. A few fields away a horse whinnied, and from far in the distance came the long, high-fluted note of a train whistle....
Some time later he awoke with a start, and wondered where he was and how long he had slept. All around him hung thick, velvety blackness.
Something had wakened him. It was the sirens and fire alarms in Ste. Mère.
And then he heard the planes.
Drumming overhead, throbbing so that the earth shook under his feet, he heard them coming.
Then he saw them. A brilliant moon outlined their wings.