Page 145 of The Last Library of Paris

Lara laughed, and Archie called up to the man once more. ‘Thank you for coming. Do you think you could get us out, now? We’re in a bit of a hurry.’

This time everyone laughed. There was a bit of commotion as the Resistance people up top slid a ladder down to us through the gap and we all rearranged the crates to make sure it had space. Then one by one we all climbed up and wriggled through – handing the suitcases up too.

‘Hold on,’ said Lara as she was about to climb the ladder. She put her bag down and disappeared for a minute, then she came back holding the Dorothy L. Sayers novel I had been reading to them all.

‘I want to know who did it,’ she said. She tucked it into her waistband, and hauled herself up.

We let the Brits go first, then Sylvie went up, and when it was just Guy and me left in the basement, I reached for his arm. ‘I’m so sorry,’ I said. ‘I was mistrustful and suspicious.’

Guy shook his head. ‘Don’t be sorry. That’s exactly how you should be in wartime. You were looking out for us all.’

‘I suppose. I feel awful, though. I thought some terrible things about Alain, and he was telling the truth all the time.’

‘Well,’ said Guy. ‘Some of the time.’

‘He loves you.’

‘I hope so.’

I gave him a hug.

‘Just please, be careful.’

‘We will.’

‘All right then,’ I said, emotional but trying to hide it. ‘Up you go.’

Carefully, Guy climbed the ladder, holding on with his good hand. I took one last glance round the basement and then I went up too, wriggling through the gap into the night air.

There were four members of the Resistance including Alain and the older man who’d spoken to Archie. There was also a younger, silent man with bulging muscles and a mallet slung over his shoulder, and a woman who was not much younger than me.

‘Merci,’ I said to them all. It was such a tiny word for a huge deed, but they all nodded.

We were in the courtyard of the library, at the very far corner. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been down that far, even though I’d worked here for so many years. Already, the building looked different. There was a pile of rubble at one side, where the Germans had obviously started clearing the fire-damaged entrance. And my Stars and Stripes flag was lying on top, finally pulled down. I went over and picked it up, folding it so it would fit in my pocket.

Once we were all out, the younger man went to work. He quickly filled in the hole with the bricks he’d knocked out and some of the rubble from the pile, until there was very little evidence there had ever been a hole there. It wasn’t perfect, of course; it was dark and the repairs were uneven. But perhaps no one would notice.

‘We have a place to go,’ said the older man. His name, he said, was Pierre. But he faltered slightly when he said it, which made me think it wasn’t his real name. ‘We can take you there until it is time to get your train.’

‘That would be good, thank you,’ said Archie.

‘We need to go quickly and quietly,’ said Pierre. ‘Stick to the shadows at the side of the street. No talking. Stay alert for any patrols.’

Obediently, we all followed him out of the courtyard, along the street, and round the corner.

It felt as though our footsteps were as loud as thunder, and my heart was hammering like a piston. But there was no one around. A few minutes later – though it felt like hours – Pierre stopped at a tall, narrow apartment block and I watched as he eased a brick out of a gap, and felt for a key. Then he unlocked it and we all filed in, and he shut the door behind us.

As soon as we were inside, Pierre bustled us into the main room of the house, and shut the door behind us. Immediately we all erupted into urgent whispered questions.

‘Did anyone hear you break down the wall?’ asked Archie, looking worried.

Pierre shrugged. ‘Apparently not.’

The woman – I’d heard the others call her Bibi – took pity on us. ‘Our friends set fire to a warehouse across the river,’ she said. ‘Everyone was distracted.’

‘Good thinking,’ said Archie with a mixture of approval and relief on his handsome face.

‘What is this place?’ I asked.