Temperance's Trial: Virtues and Valor Series, #1

By Hallee Bridgeman

The Third Reich Seeks to Extract the Information She Alone Knows

MARIE GILBERT and her elder brother flee from Vichy France after the Gestapo arrest her father for suspicion of aiding Jewish children to escape the oncoming fascist front. Once in London, Marie is recruited into an experimental all female cohort dubbed the Virtues, a collection of seven extraordinary women with highly specialized skills.

Known only by her code name, TEMPERANCE, she is trained to operate a wireless radio and returns to her beloved France. With a new identity, Marie clandestinely communicates vital intelligence directly back to Headquarters but unwillingly attracts the attention and apparent adoration of a handsome but ruthless Nazi officer, Oberleutnant LEOPOLD SCHÄFER.

As the H-hour to execute their daring mission draws ever closer, Marie plays a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the unrelenting and merciless young Lieutenant Schäfer and the Nazi soldiers under his command.

TEMPERANCE'S TRIAL is part one of eight serialized novellas entitled the Virtues and Valor series.

Seven valorous women — different nationalities, ethnicities, and social backgrounds — come together as a team called the Virtues.

In 1941 Great Britain a special war department assembles an experimental and exclusively female cohort of combat operatives. Four willing spies, a wireless radio operator, an ingenious code breaker, and a fearless pilot are each hand-picked, recruited, and trained to initiate a daring mission in Occupied France. As plans are laid to engineer the largest prison break of Allied POWs in history, the Nazis capture the Virtues' radio operator. It will take the cohesive teamwork of the rest of the women to save her life before Berlin breaks her and brings the force of the Third Reich to bear.

Some find love, some find vengeance, and some discover the kind of strength that lives in the human heart when all they can do is rely on each other and their shared belief. Courage, faith, and valor intersect but, in the end, one pays the ultimate price.

Introducing the Virtues and Valor series by Hallee Bridgeman. Eight serialized novellas, each inspired by real people and actual events, reveal the incredible story of amazing heroines facing the ultimate test of bravery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Olivia Kimbrell Press
• Release date: Oct 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781939603456

Hallee Bridgeman

Hallee Bridgeman is the USA Today bestselling author of several action-packed romantic suspense books and series. An Army brat turned Floridian, Hallee and her husband finally settled in central Kentucky, where they have raised their three children. When she's not writing, Hallee pursues her passion for cooking, coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. An accomplished speaker and active member of several writing organizations, Hallee can be found online at www.halleebridgeman.com.

Book preview

TEMPERANCE'S TRIAL, A NOVELLA

Temperance's Trial, a Novella: Virtues and Valor series, Part 1

Virtues and Valor Series, Part 1

a Novella by

Published by

Olivia Kimbrell Press™

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Temperance's Trial, a Novella; Virtues and Valor series, part 1

First edition. Copyright © 2014 by Hallee Bridgeman. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or recording — without express written permission of the author. The only exception is brief quotations in printed or broadcasted critical articles and reviews. Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, organizations, places, locales or to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or publisher. The characters are productions of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

PUBLISHED BY: Olivia Kimbrell Press™*, P.O. Box 4393, Winchester, KY 40392-4393

The Olivia Kimbrell Press™ colophon and open book logo are trademarks of Olivia Kimbrell Press™.

*Olivia Kimbrell Press™ is a publisher offering true to life, meaningful fiction from a Christian worldview intended to uplift the heart and engage the mind.

Some scripture quotations courtesy of the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Some scripture quotations courtesy of the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas-Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Some lyrics taken from the hymn In the Hour of Trial, J. Montgomery, 1834.

Original Cover Art and Graphics by Amanda Gail Studio.

All images from the public domain and conform to fair use.

Library Cataloging Data

U.S. Library of Congress Control Number: 2014949655

Bridgeman, Hallee (Hallee A. Bridgeman) 1972-

Temperance's Trial; Virtues and Valor part 1 / Hallee Bridgeman

80 p. 23cm x 15cm (9in x 6 in.)

Summary: A female wireless operator in Nazi controlled Occupied France during World War II risks her life at every turn.

ISBN: 978-1-939603-45-6 (ebook) ISBN: 978-1-939603-56-2 (special ebook)

1. Christian fiction 2. World War II 3. war stories 4. spies 5. historical fiction 6. espionage

PS3568.B7534 T941 2014

[Fic.] 813.6 (DDC 23)

DEDICATION

Dedication

For Those who Served…

THIS series is dedicated to the amazing women who have worked, planned, strategized, served, led, and fought alongside men throughout human history.

Temperance's Trial is specifically dedicated to Eileen Mary Didi Nearne and Florence Violet McKenzie OBE (nee Wallace), aka Mrs. Mac. To read more about these true heroines, read the Inspired by Real Events section at the end of this novella.

***

PROLOGUE

Prologue

Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France, 1940

THE small but ancient church where the reverend André Trocmé preached his Sunday sermons lay dark and quiet in the middle of the peaceful French night. The light of a third quarter moon painted the still countryside silver and black, and nearly every home had extinguished their candles and gaslights. Even the electric lights in the town square had been darkened shortly after sunset. To all appearances, the night would pass quietly and without incident.

Marie Gilbert woke with a start at the sound. She could hear the pounding on the front door from up in her room. She rushed out of bed urgently. Without turning on the lamp, she threw off her nightgown and quickly slipped her dress over her head. As she buttoned the top button, her bedroom door flew open and her brother — Edward — ran inside, going straight to the window and looking out into the back garden.

Go! their father ordered from the doorway. Don't look back.

Papa! Marie cried as Edward put an arm over her shoulders and guided her to the window. Come with us.

Her father adjusted his coat and buttoned it at the waist. He spoke directly to her brother, his tone ignoring her pleas completely. Take her to Switzerland. Don't look back.

He straightened her bed and flipped her pillow over in case the authorities felt it. He didn't want to risk them detecting her body heat. He picked her nightgown up off of the floor and shoved it into the top drawer of her bureau before he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Edward looked out the window again. Marie felt her stomach knot in fear. Edward, how can we leave him?

Because he said we must, he answered almost impatiently before he pushed the window open and looked all around. The cool evening breeze filled the room and made Marie shiver. Whispering now he asked, Can you make it to the tree limb?

Marie looked at the branch that nearly brushed her window, remembering all the times as children they had jumped from her window to the limb. The last time their father had caught them, he'd threatened to have the tree cut down if they ever did it again. I haven't in years. I'm a grown woman now. I don't know —

Edward held out his hand. No time to waste. We'll go through the trees until we're in the Philipe's yard. Ready?

Marie took a deep breath, and slipped a leg over the window sill. She looked down into the yard two stories below. Without hesitation — well, maybe with a little bit of hesitation — she reached her hands out and leapt forward.

The trees on the estates had occupied this land far longer than the houses they presently shaded, so long that their stout branches actually entwined. Marie and Edward moved as carefully and quietly as possible through the branches. In the dark, whiplike twigs scratched at her face and pulled at her hair, but she kept silent. Hearing a ruckus below, she paused just at the fence line and looked below and behind her, seeing the Vichy police officers and the Nazi Security Forces haul her father out of their home.

Biting back a cry, she met Edward's eyes. His face looked grim, but he didn't say a word. He just pressed his lips together and gave a harsh shake of his head, silently urging her onward.

They didn't climb down out of the trees until they arrived on the far side of the Philipe's yard. Marie rubbed her burning palms against the sides of her dress. Silently, they dashed across the grass and over the fence into the garden of Edward's friend, Andre. In the far back corner, next to the stone fence, Edward knelt at the ground and removed a stone from the bottom of the pillar. He reached inside and pulled out a packet, quickly opening it and inspecting the contents.

Here, take this, he said, handing her identification papers and a small cloth bag. They identified her as Andre's sister, Muriel, despite Muriel's age being closer to 30 than Marie's own 20. Inside the bag she found a blonde wig to cover her brown curls. With the wig on, the picture would match well enough, and at a glance the papers looked good.

Do I call you Andre now? she asked as he quickly pasted a mustache onto his clean shaven face.

Yes, for now. He counted a stack of francs and shoved them into his jacket pocket. I have a car waiting in Tence. We'll drive to Firminy then take the train to Geneva from there. Hopefully, it will be far enough away that they won't look for us.

They tried to leave no trace. Over fences, under cattle gates, and through the wilderness, they ran and hid until they reached Tence. There in a barn on a farm on the outskirts of town, they recovered the car Edward had secured. The keys lay under the third nest from the right in the chicken coup. They pushed the car out of the barn and down the lane before starting the engine.

As they drove along the dark roads, Marie thought of her father.

Reviews for Temperance's Trial

[becky_l-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Exciting First Installment of WWII Tale...I liked this very much in spite of my prejudices against WWII stories. Hallee Bridgeman's first installment out of seven has left me hanging, searching to see if somewhere I can find installment #2 and somehow quench my thirst for the continuation of this thrilling spy story.Marie, having been forced to evacuate France, has gone to England. There she becomes a part of a special group of the Resistance Movement. She re-enters France as a seamstress, while covertly operating a coding machine to transmit messages back to England about the Germans.How long can "Temperance" keep up this subterfuge, especially when a good looking young German officer starts seeking out her company? Bridgeman leaves us hanging, as wartime often did. Now we hurry and wait, just like the military!I received this book from bookfun.org in exchange for an honest review.

[grammy57 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was amazing. It was a fictionalized story about the actions of a real person. It is well written and riveting. My only regret about this book is that it ended way too soon. I am anxiously looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I highly recommend this book. You will not be disappointed. I was given this book in exchange for my honest review.

[jbarr5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Temperance's' Trial by Hallee BridgemanDedication starts this book off and prologue goes over the 1940's in France from one families life.Marie and her brother are sent away as the soldiers come to get their father. They escape and get separated and she ends up in England in 1941.With her new identity and papers she is sent to occupied France where with the help of others she's posing as a seamstress but is really a coder. She collects information and codes it into the machine and sends them off to England to help them overtake the soldiers in France.There is one time she learns of the farmers and they are going to be captured and while trying to send a message about the fires she is not so careful about the wireless machine.Hard to read about the torture they put her through til a German soldier that she's friends with comes to her rescue but that's not the end of the story.It continues on in the next book.The real events that inspired this book are also told, British words and phrases, French and German are also explained.Other cool things are vehicles are explained.Next books in the series are summarized and there are discussion questions for your club to answer.Many quotes from the Bible are also given. Excerpt from the next book is included at the end.About the author is included also at the end along with links to her social media sites.Other works by the author are highlighted also.

[beverlylynnt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

To better understand what the book, Temperance's Trial is about, we must first become acquainted with the Virtue and Valor series. This is a series like a television mini-series, in which an entire tale is told in seven episodes. Every book in this series is inspired by real people and real events. The setting and time frame is World War II in Occupied France, and England. "Seven women from different backgrounds and social classes come together on the common ground of a shared faith. Each will earn a code name of a heavenly virtue. Each will risk discovery and persevere in the face of terrible odds." Part 1: Temperance's TrialPart 2: Homeland's HopePart 3: Charity's CodePart 4: A Parcel for PrudencePart 5: Grace's Ground WarPart 6: Mission of MercyPart 7: Flight of FaithAbout the book:One night Marie and Edward were awakened with pounding at the door of their home and they knew their moment had arrived. Brother and sister fled out the back window while their father distracted the forces at the front door. Eventually Marie and Edward Gilbert made it safely to England where they promptly joined the Royal forces to fight back. Even Marie joined a special unit for undercover work in the war. Her code name was Temperance. She and other women in her unit underwent rigorous training in their specific skill sets. She was trained in sending and receiving coded messages quickly. She was given the cover story, and even learned, to be the local town's seamstress. Once ensconced in her role and war work in France, many months passed without incident. A Nazi Lieutenant began to pay her attention. Temperance wondered if he suspected her real occupation or was just attracted to her naturally. She needed to be careful. Because her transmissions could be triangulated, she needed to find a different place to transmit her messages each time. Then one day she was alerted by courier that her position had been compromised. She managed to send out a partial code to London before she was captured and arrested. In prison, she was interrogated, beaten, stripped and humiliated, doused with frigid water repeatedly, and suffered broken bones, without mentally breaking. She knew a large resistance operation was coming soon, and she would not betray them. The story ends with a cliffhanger. It continues in the next episode of the series. My review:The author has written a suspenseful, action-packed story that I was able to read in just a couple of sittings. I enjoy reading historical fiction filled with details as a result of good research. This is that kind of book. I found it easy to imagine myself along side the main characters. I felt admiration, fear and concern for Marie as she faced constant danger weekly in France. Her personality is written well and I feel that readers of all ages will identify with her plight.The one element I found to be most compelling was the faith and support of the seven members of the special team--the Virtues. They trained together, prayed together, worshiped together, and offered each other emotional support. Once in France, Marie worked alone most of the time. She read her Bible often and prayed, leaning on God for her comfort. Her faith in Him played an important part of her character. As short as this episode is, I felt I had come to know this character, and could have called her a friend. I am looking forward to reading more novellas in this series. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from The Book Club Network on behalf of the author and Olivia Kimbrell Press. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”