Big Bang Fic: Rat and Sword Go To War, Chapter 3 part 2

[narniabb_mod]

Title: Rat and Sword Go To War
Author: rthstewart
Rating: T, for a soldier's salty language
Pairings/characters: Peter Pevensie, Susan Pevensie
Disclaimer: This work of historical fiction is offered respectfully and with deep admiration for the men and women herein depicted as well as C.S. Lewis and the other content owners of the Chronicles of Narnia and

Comments

[snitchnipped]

No words for the first scene. There are no words. (Except for: Poor Tebbitt.)

Ooh, and quite the entrance into France! Susan hit the ground running. “Name him Hans after his father.” LOL.

And so we meet the Madame! And a clever test with the cheese...and how it's merely "fine" in comparison to Narnian cheese!

I'm supposed to watch a movie right now, but I see my company is still napping, so on to Chapter 4!

[rthstewart]

yep, about that first scene. I'm pretty vague about it... it's easy for the reader to forget her actual age -- she is 17 at this point and Peter is 18. Tebbitt never forgets it, at least not entirely. But she's not going to accept no, and later for an answer.

The cheese was just an idea leftover from Maenad of the Maquis -- that the French have a very special bond with their local product and to typical English wartime palates and even the more varied Narnian palate, they have no way of knowing what the French of particular locale grew up with and whether by those standards it is good or bad. It's the concept of terroir applied to cheese. It's a very local specialty and the sort of test that the feared Milice might be astute to, but no one else.

[lady_songsmith]

It's interesting how much is in the details in such an age. Today, you have to think, things like the cheese would matter less to globalized palates. Certainly one would still be expected to know the region's specialties, but a British girl could have tasted plenty of French cheeses, and a French girl might not.

[rthstewart]

I'm also playing with the idea in Maenad, too, that there is a particular French bond with their local and national products. Thank you for commenting.

[l_a_r_m]

Even just that first line. EVEN JUST THAT FIRST LINE ARE YOU SLEEPIN OKAY BB? WHAT'S WRONG ARE YOU NERVOUS TOOOOOOOO? GETTING UNCOMFORTABLE FLASHBACKS

[rthstewart]

Thank you for being so understanding of this being Susan's war story. I had initially thought to put Susan in the fake baby for the whole story and dismissed it as too cumbersome (literally and figuratively).

It had not occurred to me to think that the fake birthing was metaphorical but it does work that way a bit, doesn't it?

I am so glad this is pushing all your Tebbitt/Susan buttons!

[vialethe]

Argh that first scene...so much yes! They think it's goodbye and he's got all the information that could save her or just as easily damn her and it's all ugh and perfect at the same time!!

And of course, Susan's fake birthing was hilarious...poor Hans indeed. He'll never know why all his men are laughing behind his back.

[rthstewart]

A part of the tale of the night of the D Day raid involves Commander Hans Schmidt in an open car, careening across the bridges with food, wine, and a partially dressed girlfriend. Or, there is lingerie in the car when he is eventually apprehended by the Allies. It seemed safe to assume that having a baby or two in the area was possible.

I'm glad too that you appreciate the irony. Tebbitt and Susan, and all spies, have to be accustomed to the lack of reveal, the deception, and still have to trust each other regardless. Susan will realize eventually just how profound the deception was later in the story. It is, I think a terrible life.

Thank you so much!

[rthstewart]

Grrr. I seem to have deleted my reply by accident. Thank you! Yes, I assume Susan is 17 at this point, though it made me a bit uncomfortable, it's consistent with the time. I've read of several young women who were telling their military boyfriends they were older than they were. And for plot's sake, I've got Peter, Susan, and Edmund's birthdays early in the year.

Madame Vion is a real person, she was mayor of the local town, there are streets named after her and from the google translated page, I learned she was anti-communist. Beyond that, I know nothing. I assume she must ahve been a very clever and cautious person to have run all those resistance operations out of the hospital for years and not get caught. The expression used to describe her, la comtesse, shows up in the Pegasus bridge books.

Thanks so much. I so appreciate it.