The Six Daisies

Chapter One

Maria was in her front living room pacing back and forth in front of the large bay windows. She was dressed in a long dark coat, black hat and a pair of men's shoes with worn-out soles she had found lying in the gutter. Her suitcase, a small brown one with a crumbling and peeling exterior that once belonged to her father sat at the back door ready for her escape.

She didn't have long. The gun shots were echoing up the street towards her and children's screams filled the air. She peered out from behind a heavy blind. The street was still in forced blackout and all she could see were the pinprick headlights of the police van carrying her Jewish friends. She looked across the road at the Wasserman's house and saw them climbing over their fence and disappearing into the night.

Maria looked down at her arm and traced the faint outline of the star she was forced to stitch in. When she joined the Six Daisies she'd cut the threads loose, risking not only her life but those of her family and friends.

She was running out of time. The French police were moving closer, picking off their targets one by one. They were warned that the police were to raid their neighbourhood. The Red Orchestra had filtered information to her through their intricate resistance network and she had passed the facts down the line of the street. But she didn't think it would happen so soon.

Maria moved away from the window and back to the stairs. She sat down next to the wooden desk that she used to do her homework on. In the faint moonlight she could make out her name she had scratched into the desk many years earlier. But now it was just her. She didn't know what had happened to her family. She had gone out at night to transport an infant to a safe house a few streets over, and when she returned the door was kicked in and they were gone. Neighbours said they heard a lot of shouting and gun shots, but were too afraid to venture outside to watch. She can only assume that like other Jewish families in her neighbourhood, they were transported to a concentration camp.

The police were only a few doors down. She could hear them yelling at the occupants to get out of their house. There was banging and the pleading sounds of mothers being forcibly torn from their children. Windows were being smashed. She could hear the shards of glass tinkling down onto the footpath. Shadows started darting past her window. A slew of gunshots cut through the air and then silence.

Suddenly the phone rang.

Maria quickly grabbed the receiver and gave her all clear code. She waited for the familiar voice to deliver the instructions.

'Infant. Boy. 55 Rue De Dubois.'

She slammed the receiver back down, ran to the back door, grabbed her suitcase and left.

Outside the air was bitterly cold. She could see her breath bouncing in front of her as she pushed aside the hidden plank in the fence which swung away, leaving her enough room to slip through and into the neighbouring yard of Madame Laurent.

She'd known Madame Laurent for many years. It was her that got her involved with the Six Daisies. Madame Laurent was one of the six founders of the resistance group created to save the lives of Jewish children. When the Gestapo first started deporting Jews to the camps, they never took children. They were simply too young to be of use to them. The Gestapo believed they could easily brainwash the children out of their Jewish culture and into their preferred German ways. But as the war grew more violent, so did the Gestapo. They started deporting anyone who was Jewish, regardless of age. Children as young as three were being ripped from their families and thrown into concentration camps. They didn't survive alone for long, and if they did, they were taken to the gas chambers and slaughtered.

Maria sunk to the ground and crawled around the grass, feeling her way forward until she found a small rock. She pulled on the rock and up came a large hidden door. A loud crash behind her tore her attention away from the shelter. She could see between the gaps in the fence the police swarming her house. Quickly she threw her suitcase down the stairs, shuffled her petite body inside and closed the door. Above her, she could hear the muffled footsteps of the police raiding her back yard. She could hear their dark voices but couldn't make out what they were saying. Maria stayed still, not willing to move in case they could hear her. Gradually, the officers moved away and onto the next property.