I don't own rights or characters from Inglorious Basterds.
First chapter fixed up and ready to go. I encourage readers to let me know what you think.
Chapter 1: German Charm
"Guten Morgen, die meine Dame!" The young German on the ground shouted excitedly up to the French woman balancing on the ladder. "How are you on this fine day?" Trying her best to come off as pleasant, she patiently answered him. "Just fine, Frederik. What brings you here again?" She looked at him, and looked back up at the bulletin board above the theater's entrance, changing the marquee's letters with care.
It was no secret Frederik had a crush on her. Ever since he met her in the exact same situation, he kept coming back to visit. She humored him, but unfortunately found it hard at times to hide her irritation. After all, she had work to do. Besides, he thought the world of himself as it was, and had become known far and wide for feats she found hard to believe.
She was also spoken for, but due to what society deemed inappropriate, the true nature of the relationship had to be hidden at all times.
Not that it was a problem, she knew how to keep secrets. Her whole life in recent years was a complete secret, in fact. To the world around her and the strangers who never knew her, she was just Emmanuelle Mimieux, French business owner. The truth was, she was alone in the world. Only her boyfriend and assistant, Marcel, knew her true identity, and for her own good, it was a part of her she had to do away with forever since that tragic day back in 1941.
It was a hot day when Shoshanna's world turned upside down. Laying still and silent in the basement of the La Padite farm house, the entire Dreyfus family held their breath and prayed. Times were terrifying, and thanks to their neighbor, he didn't hesitate let his house become a refuge.
Through the cracks, she could make out enough of what was happening to know it wasn't good. A Nazi in a long black leather jacket strode across the floor, the steel on his boots loudly hitting the wood as he walked caused her heart to race. Perrier La Padite's three daughters shared the nervous mood, their eyes darting back and forth, with looks of discomfort on each of their faces.
A sly grin on his face, the Nazi gracefully bent down to kiss the first girl's hand. "Col. Hans Landa of the SS, madame, at your service!"
The farmer could only look sympathetically at his daughter, and gesturing to a table, invited the unwelcome guest to have a seat.
Sitting down, Hans Landa removed his hat and placed it on the table. The SS skull logo, a sickening reminder of what he was, staring back at them all. La Padite, not wanting to be rude, asked his daughter Charlotte to bring the guest some wine. Silently, she obeyed, and started across the room, only for the man to catch her arm. "Merci beaucoup, Monsieur La Padite, but no wine. This being a diary farm one would be safe in assuming you have milk?"
"Oui" Charlotte meekly responded, her arm still in the man's hand. It was obvious he gave her the creeps, with that look in his eye as he smiled suggestively at her.
"Then milk is what I prefer!" Letting go of her as she went to grab the milk.
Finishing the milk all in one go, Hans Landa set the empty glass down on the table, while the family nervously looked on. "Monsieur, to both your family and your cows, I say bravo!"
Inviting La Padite to sit down at the table as well, Landa leaned in and in a hushed voice asked if the girls would be sent outside, as there were important matters at hand. Obediently, the three left the house, and the two men remaining got down to business.
Switching to English, Shoshanna and her family down below could no longer understand the conversation. With hands over their mouths, their eyes darted back and forth quickly as they could only watch.
"Do you know what they call me?" Hans Landa asked the farmer, who nodded his head. Being a detective of the SS, it was Landa's job to know everything about everyone, and he didn't disappoint. "Tell me what you've heard?" He asked, pleasantly.
Sighing and closing his eyes, La Padite replied quietly, "They call you the Jew Hunter." Going on, he added, "The Germans looked through my house nine months ago, and found nothing." He lied, with as much of a straight face as he could put on.
The conversation went back and forth for what seemed an eternity, the Nazi listening to the farmer as he talked and gave his version of the story, with his papers neatly spread out on the table. For quite some time it all seemed to go along smoothly, and then it all went downhill as Hans Landa's interrogation got the better of him. The only thing the Dreyfuses could gather from anything were their own names, Jacob, Miram, Bob, Amos, and Shoshanna.
Holding her brothers hand, her jaw clenched tightly as she feared the worst. She could only see the look of panic on the farmer's face as he broke down, and the Nazi standing up. Walking across the room, flourishing his arms dramatically, he reached for his hat and put it back on his head.
"Monsieur La Padite, I thank you for the milk, and your hospitality. I do believe our business here is done."
Calling to the girls outside, but waving instead for three of his men to come in, Hans Landa smiled sickly and with a wave of his hand at the floor, bid the Dreyfuses "Adieu!" On cue, the trio in black emptied their machine guns into the floor, while the farmer wept with his head in his arm at the table. Game over, secret told.
Laying still, saturated in the blood of her family, Shoshanna was paralyzed in fear. Her brother, now dead, still clinging to her hand. Realizing she was still alive, overcome by a sudden wave of panic and adrenaline, she rose up from the floor. Not even waiting for the German monsters to leave the house, she decided to make a break for it. As quietly as possible, Shoshanna crept over to the basement window.
Hans Landa of course, was on top of it, and motioned for his men to be still. Spotting the teenage girl's movement between the cracks, he calmly walked to the front door. Drawing his walther, he aimed it at her as she ran. Out of his range, he put down his gun. "Au Revoir, Shoshanna!" he called out to her, knowing she couldn't possibly survive.
How wrong he was! Staying at safe houses along the way, even sleeping in the woods, she had safely made it through with the help of kind strangers. Her name had been changed as a given, and she could never think how to repay the hospitality of Ada Mimieux, who gave her a job, a new identity, and a new life. Her new home itself was like a dream! The massive estate was a stark contrast to the farm she had grown up on.
Just the mere thought of the past stirred up a mixture of emotions she hated to deal with. Sneakily wiping a tear from her eye with her sleeve, her head turned from the lovesick German boy below, she continued with the game.
"I don't mean to be a bother, but I've been meaning to ask you to come to dinner with me tonight?" adding, "To discuss plans for the big night, you know. Just us this time." Frederik's desperate determination was almost charming, had he not been a filthy Nazi, the root of all evil as far as she was concerned. She wished she could have turned him down, her last "dinner date" ending with Hans Landa next to her! Thank God he never saw her face prior to that!
Sighing, she walked down from the ladder, and over to him. Forcing a smile she continued her happy act, "Fine, you win. I'll go. I'd rather not call it a date, if it's all the same to you though." She wished he would take the hint. It did no good to argue, after all Frederik Zoller had friends in high places, and the last thing she wanted was to end up on their bad side. It was better to just go with the flow, as she had been.
A look of excitement and disappointment came over his face at the same time. At least it was progress, wasn't it? "Merci beaucoup, Fraulein! I will pick you up at sundown!" Fidgeting and biting his lip, he added, "Wear something nice, ja?" Emmanuelle nodded, and returned a half hearted smile, before excusing herself back in the building, and away from Frederik.
Thinking out loud to herself, her words echoing off the marble walls a little too loudly, "I can't believe I have a date with a Nazi!"