It was only after getting a job serving tables in a small outdoor cafe that Lilian finally made contact with the underground, through a man named Marc. As she cleared a table one afternoon, without looking up from a newspaper he was reading, he directed her attention to a man in his early 30's who was sitting at a table drinking coffee. Marc had heard through reliable sources that this man had connections with the Resistance.
Lilian scribbled "Long live France . . . I must speak with you" in French on a piece of paper. She put it on the saucer of a cup of coffee and took it to the man's table. Ten minutes later, she returned to clear the table, lifted the cup and saw what she had prayed she would see. There was another small piece of paper. In the kitchen, she carefully unfolded it and read the words: "124 Bordeaux 7: 00 p. m. Alone."
Lilian's heart raced as she knocked on the door of 124 Bordeaux. When it opened, a woman smiled and asked in French,
"Did you come alone?" Inside, two men and another woman were playing cards and took no notice as Lilian stepped inside and shut the door.
The woman said,
"My name is Marian, what would you like me to do for you?"
"I want to join the Resistance . . . can you help me?"
Marian gave a small laugh and said,
"Now why would an American girl, who can't yet be out of her teenage years, want to join the French Resistance?"
"Because the Nazis killed my father and put my grandmother in Auschwitz."
One of the men playing the card game, tossed a card onto the center of the table and without looking around said,
"How do we know you are speaking the truth?"
Lilian said, "You don't."
He smiled, turned and looking at her said,
"Why then should we trust you?"
The woman who let her in whispered loud enough for all to hear,
"I trust her."
The man then said,
"We will contact you at your work," then he nodded to the woman to see Lilian to the door. The meeting only lasted about two minutes, but it sent Lilian's heart racing, this time with excitement.
That night Lilian thanked God for the meeting, and then opened a Bible she had brought with her from Poland. It was a Bible her father started reading while they waited and prayed that the British and the French would reach them before the Germans. She began reading, something she would do every night from then on.
The next day she lifted a thousand coffee cups, looking for a note. Each time she became more and more disappointed.
A week passed and still no one contacted her. It was evident that they didn't trust her. Just when she had resigned herself to the fact that there would be no communication, she saw a small folded note as she lifted a cup. On it she read the words:
"If you would like to join our card game, come to 73 La Havre at 7:30 tonight. We only need one player so come alone." Lilian put the note into her pocket, then whispered,
"Thank you, Lord."
To be continued.
