A Spy Sat Down Beside Her
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
April 1941. The
Ian Steele stood behind Bob Keity. Both men had already clipped their parachute snap catches to the jumping wire. A drum was pounding at high speed in Ian’s chest. He clenched his hands to keep them from shaking. But, there was no way he could back out now. The jumpmaster checked the time on his watch and then yanked the door open. Frigid air rushed in that matched the chill in Ian’s heart. Keity braced his hands around the edge of the doorway and launched himself into the night. Ian hesitated, then followed him. His parachute harness jarred tight and looking up, he saw that his parachute had opened. Elated, his fear was chased away. Looking down, he could see, in the faint light of the coming dawn, Keity’s parachute swaying in the wind.
As he went down, Ian paid no attention to the sound and coldness of the wind, just concentrated on what he had been told about the landing position – keep your hands on the shrouds, bend your knees with your knees and ankles close together, relax. His supply bag, dangling 20 feet below him, hit the ground first, made him know that he was there in spite of the uncertain light. He landed heavily, rolled over twice, then sat up and pressed the release button of his parachute. He was alive.
He couldn’t see Bob Keity anywhere but was sure they would find one another as soon as it got lighter. He took a warm coat, cap and a trenching shovel out of his supply bag. He struggled out of his flying coveralls and buried them, the supply bag and the parachute in a small ditch and threw the shovel as far as could into the bushes.
In the first light of dawn, he started looking for Bob Keity. Then he found him. Nothing at
Ian had no strength, no sane thoughts. He hoped he was in a dream. Then, he realized that it would soon be daylight. He had to do something. He knew that he would not be able to stand the anguish of touching the mangled body of his friend, try to pull him off the gate post. Keity’s parachute was tangled in the fence. His supply bag had burst open. Ian took out the shovel and threw it into the brush. Maybe whoever found Keity would not think to look about for another parachute buried nearby, might believe that he was alone. No use taking his fake identity card. It had nothing in it to point to Ian or anyone else nor had Keity anything on him to show that he was a member of the British Secret Intelligence Service.
He thought of hiding in the brush, sort of standing on guard, until someone came and removed his friend’s body. But, if someone searched the area, they would be sure to find him, especially if they had dogs to sniff him out. What were his choices? The navigator of the Formats Book Details Late 1940. Hitler''s armies are ravaging Europe. Ian Steele and Margaret Whitcombe of the British Secret Intelligence Service, meet in London, fall in love. They are soon separated. Margaret is assigned to SIS, Zurich, and Ian parachutes into Occupied France to gather intelligence for the British. The lovers meet again in Tours, where jointly they have taken on a special mission upon the personal orders of Winston Churchill. They are in an unending battle with the Gestapo but manage to elude the Nazi patrols with the help of members of the French Resistance, many who die for their beliefs. Their mission takes them through the death Swamps of Poitou to the Bay of Biscay, where a British submarine picks up Margaret, but Ian is left behind. The Gestapo capture him, gun him down, leave him for dead, but he is rescued by French peasants. When Margaret, at SIS London, doesn''t hear from Ian, she, disguised as a nun, returns to Tours to look for him. She learns that French collaborators have put Ian in a Toulouse prison. She vows to free him. Ken Byrns was born in North Dakota and spent most of his boyhood in Colorado and New Mexico. He attended San Diego State College and the Graduate School of Northwestern University. He is a graduate of Colorado Northern University {BA), George Washington University (MA) and the Canadian National Defence College. He is a Lieutenant Colonel, USAFR (Intelligence). He spent twenty-three years in the American Foreign Service. He started his diplomatic career in Mexico and served in a half-dozen posts abroad, ranging from South Africa to Iceland, before ending up in Izmir, Turkey, where he was Consul General. He then opted for early retirement to go into the fields of foreign trade and investment. His work took him all over the world. He has had short stories, poems and articles published. He self-published a novel entitled The Daughter of Ramon Godoy, based on his experiences as a Vice Consul in Mexico City. He is now working on another novel. He is retired, lives with his wife, Ginny, in Powell, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. They have eight grown children, four of whom are adopted. Ken Byrns spends much of his time writing but also keeps active in community affairs and plays tennis the year-round.
About the Book
About the Author
