Alternate History
The kids were fed up.
Another day out and it was too hot, then too cold, then splattering hailstones.
But Bailey just wanted to go. They were at a section of hills and caves in the Peak District and it was unbelievably boring.
He looked over at Sasha and Harry, in the group of three that Mike and the guide told everyone they needed to be in, and asked, "What to go off and sit down?"
Sasha nodded and little Harry simply followed them.
Retreating into a cave, they sat down on the cold, smooth surface. Bailey kicked rocks as the noises echoed off the walls, Sasha peered around them and Harry looked at the leaflet he'd picked up from the tourist centre.
"Says here that there are sometimes unexplained sounds coming from the caves." Harry pointed in the leaflet.
"On leap year, the caves emit a bright light. It lasts for five hours and nobody goes in there. They're scared. But sometimes they hear animal noises and shrieking."
Sasha made a face. Bailey just scoffed. "Rubbish."
"There's a reason for everything." Harry told him.
Sasha asked, "Hold on. Leap year, that's today."
Then they heard a wail. A horrible, whistling wail. It suddenly became colder. Much colder. As if they were dead.
Then it all stopped.
Looking at each other, the three ran out as if wolves were at their heels, before stopping. The tourist centre was still there.
But the others had gone.
"Oh!" Bailey groaned, but Harry and Sasha began gingerly making their way down.
At the path leading to the car park, just a short way down, none of them seemed to notice that the cars were different models and makes. In fact, almost as if they had stepped out from the seventies.
But then they saw what looked like a soldier. Standing at the gate leading out onto the tarmac. Talking to what looked like a security guard, they were smiling, laughing.
Sasha started to go up to ask where their group was, when she looked again at the soldier.
He had a strange hat on, with little wings on the front. He was also dressed in black.
But the nearby car made her blood run cold.
There were tiny flags on the sides of the vehicle. Tiny Nazi flags.
"Harry, Bailey," she began, unable to keep the terror from her voice, walking backwards, "I think we're in trouble."
She pointed. Harry and Bailey looked up and then ran behind the tourist centre, ducking down.
"What was that?" Bailey asked.
Sasha shook her head, unable to believe what she'd seen. "It – it can't be."
Bailey gave a suggestion, thin as it was. "Maybe it's a film?"
But none of them believed that.
Harry looked at the leaflet. "The cave..." he started, "it said – for five hours, there's a light –"
"We didn't see a light!" Bailey nearly shouted in frustration.
Harry, however, put a hand up. "I think that it allows – follow me."
He raced back up, even though he was terrified the Nazi would see him. At the top, he retreated back into the cave. As if looking through a window, he turned back and saw the other children, tired and irritated, with Mike talking to May-Li. Harry tried moving forward, but it was like walking into a wall. It shimmered and all three were able to see.
Just like a before and after photo; one on each side. But only one way out.
He looked back at them. "Five hours. We have to survive for five hours."
Eventually, they got hungry.
Bailey, lying dumbly on the cave floor, moaned, "I'm hungry. Do they have vending machines in Nazi England?"
Harry then looked out again. The car park was almost empty. They needed food.
After going down, they saw the security guard asleep at his desk, snoring, with papers pushed around and instead of a phone, a transmitter radio.
The papers were in German, of course. But as Harry peered, they seemed to change into English.
Then they saw. There was no food.
Sasha groaned, leaning against the side of the building and sinking to the floor. "What now?"
Harry swallowed. "We have no choice. We have to find food."
Bailey and Sasha looked at him as if he were crazy. But he was already going off to a map of the area, right by the entrance.
A village was nearby. Just a few minutes' walk.
It was the most dangerous and heart-stopping journey they'd ever had. sometimes, they'd duck behind a bush if they thought a car was coming. What should have been a five minute walk took almost twenty.
But soon, they reached the village.
A village square, with a maypole in the middle, cars parked along the roads and children walking together, talking. Quite a lot of them blonde.
The clothes looked more akin to the seventies than the twenty-first century, and the newer buildings looked more like old sixties designs. The names on the buildings seemed to change as they looked at them. A library, grocery, bakery, an electronics store ("Wonder what's there." Bailey said), a clothes store and a travel agency. Aside from the signs saying 'Jews Forbidden', it appeared rather pleasant.
Hiding in an alley as a motorbike cruised by with a sidecar, Bailey asked, "What kind of food do you think could be here?"
Sasha groaned. "I'd even eat Mike's rock-hard pineapple cake now."
That made Bailey's blood run cold.
Were the others in this world?
It depended on their parents and grandparents, obviously, but even he knew there could be a chance. Johnny might be in the army, but fighting for the wrong side. Kazima and May-Li may exist, but by all likelihood would be still in Somalia and China. The twins may be subject to testing. Tyler and Finn would definitely not be alive.
He pushed this out of his head as he asked what they had in mind.
Eventually it was decided between them that Harry would go into the bakery and into the library to try and figure out what happened. Bailey and Sasha would be behind the dustbins.
Harry was shaking as he stepped out to the bakery.
He watched the other customers enter and copied them. Behind the counter, a man was rolling pastry and a few adults were examining dishes under a sneeze guard. Some children were grinning at gingerbread.
Aside from a few definitely un-German dishes such as custard tarts and cherry pie, there was apple strudel, Berliner, small rolls (Buchteln), pretzels, a bowl-shaped cake (Gugelhupf), crescent-shaped biscuits (Vanillekipferl) and white bread rolls (Damupfundel).
Harry's eyes scanned the floor for any money that might have been dropped, but he saw the baker's back was turned and the till open. Heart in his mouth, he grabbed a note. Looking down at it, he saw it was a ten-pound note. But instead of the Queen, it had the British flag.
Then a voice made him jump.
"Can I help you?" the baker asked. Harry glanced up and then pointed at some of the dishes.
"Can I please have a pretzel, some Damupfundel and apple strudel, please?"
The baker got out a white paper bag and asked, "How much Damupfundel?"
Harry told him, "Three, please sir."
"How much apple strudel?"
"Three, please."
"Eight pounds, three shillings, please."
Harry handed the note over and the man gave him the paper bag. "Have a good day." The man smiled brightly at him, "Would you like a Lebkuchen?"
Small gingerbread with honey and nuts in a bowl.
Harry shook his head, before answering, "Not really."
The man pushed himself up from the sneeze-guard and said, "Well, if you're interested later on, I'm selling some at the festival."
Harry simply walked out. Luckily, the library was on the way back to the alley.
He went inside and noticed the old librarian sitting at the front desk. She was at least eighty. She'd have been alive when Britain was invaded, he thought.
Glancing at the children's section, he wandered in. A few books he recognised, such as Heidi and The Jungle Book, but there were Blyton covers with blonde children.
He picked up a book with pictures of Roman soldiers, Viking longships, old sailing ships and Nazi flags. A children's book.
Hoping no-one saw him, he sneaked out.
As Bailey scoffed the Damupfundel, Harry and Sasha peered.
Harry read.
"In 1944, the Germans launched an attack on Dover via Calais. The British army were already in France in Normandy so the country was almost entirely undefended. The Germans were merciless, storming villages across the east coast and shooting any LDV where they stood. They rounded up villagers and placed them in halls, churches and cellars while they went on to London.
They besieged Parliament and forced Prime Minister Winston Churchill into the Tower of London, later transferred to Colditz. The Royal Family were forced to change Windsor back to Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and the army were told to call the troops back from France.
America was attacked by the Japanese in Los Angeles and Seattle, with Germans (having taken over Britain's Empire) marched through Florida from the Caribbean and the northern states from Canada. Eventually, after a stand-off of 173 days, President Roosevelt gave the Treaty of Detroit where he agreed to allow Nazis into the country and to surrender to Germany and Japan.
Russia retaliated by sending armies to Canada and China, but was overtaken by the Japanese. Eventually, the British army in Africa attacked southern Europe and Asia, forcing the Nazis back from Russia.
Hitler escaped into hiding in February 1945 and Joseph Goebbels became Fuhrer. Soon, Russia and the African British forces had blocked the Nazis in and built the Polish Canal – no land east of Poland belongs to the Nazis, as do any land east of Switzerland or south of the Pyrenees. However, they do control via the British Empire, Jamaica, Australia and New Zealand, Canada and many other countries.
America and Russia are distanced from Nazi Britain, which ceased all fighting in 8th November 1947, instead peacefully living in Europe."
Harry stopped, before turning to another page. It stated at the top Family since 1947.
Sasha read it.
"Roughly 40,000 members of the Nazi Party took fancy to British women, married or otherwise, blonde or dark-haired. Any Christian women available were forced to marry the Nazis and therefore produce members of a strong race.
From the week they landed, Nazis rounded up all Jews, including those having escaped from mainland Europe, and began transporting them to Poland and Germany for labour. When it arose that this would be expensive, camps were set up in Norfolk, Dorset, Wales, the Highlands and Derbyshire, where Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and Jehovah's Witnesses were sent.
Upon signing the Treaty of Detroit, all Jews in America were sent to gas chambers. In Florida, they were fed to alligators. Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies and Mormons were also locked up. All physically disabled people in the Nazi Empire and America were sterilized. Mentally disabled people are still hard to find, as some parents may hide the condition from authorities.
Of the undesirables left in Britain, over ninety-eight percent of whom are working as domestic servants to officials or building roads or houses."
Sasha asked, "This is a children's book?"
But Harry was slightly unwell. This was going too slowly. He wanted to get away.
They heard soft music next to them. Peering out behind the dustbins, the three of them saw happy children, many blonde, dancing and laughing in the village square. All in uniforms.
"A festival." Harry muttered, as he went forward.
German music played while children ran round the maypole, adults sat in chairs and stalls of food and drink were set out. It looked like something from Mike's childhood; guess the number of sweets in a jar, ring toss, coconut shy, maypole.
Harry went to the maypole where children were shrieking in delight. Then he felt somebody behind him.
A tall girl, maybe sixteen years old. Hair in plaits, in a uniform, wearing a small hat. League of German Maidens.
She laughed, telling him, "Go on, have a dance."
Then she put her head to one side. "Why aren't you in uniform?"
Harry thought quickly. "My mother's ironing it."
Then the girl put a hand on his back in a friendly gesture. "Well, go and get it. But be quick, the Altemutter will announce the winners soon." Then she told him, "Be a good boy and give the Commandant his chair when he gets here. Should be any minute now."
Then she looked at a large clock on the nearby church steeple.
"Where is Rosalie, she's late again!"
Harry looked up at this strange girl, wondering where he'd seen her before.
She went to a stall and picked up a magazine called Das deutsche Madel, before fanning herself with her hat.
Harry's eyes widened in utter disgust.
Lily.
Lily Kettle was a Nazi.
Going back to the alley, he saw a car stop abruptly in front of him. The tall soldier from the park. Other Lily went to him excitedly, doing a Hitler salute, grinning immensely.
He did the same back at her and lifted her up as she squealed with delight.
"Commandant, you've come!" she smiled. He gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Wouldn't miss it for all the apple strudel in Berlin."
Then she looked back as two smaller girls, aged twelve and ten, the Jungmadel, came up, in small red skirts and flowery tops.
"Edelweiss! Rosalie! You're late!" she snapped, blushing.
Her sisters looked down at their feet before Other Lily gabbled, "Don't mind them, come and have some cake."
As they slowly walked towards the food table, Harry following them at a pace, she asked the Commandant, "So how are things in the camp?"
He shrugged. "Rush as always. You'd think there wouldn't be anyone left, but some African Jews keep coming to try and free them. Berliner?"
"Nein." Then she asked, "How did Freida's audition for the art museum go?"
"Quite well, but one of the others called her a Jew, she hit her and it's likely she won't get it displayed."
Other Lily looked at the alleyway, as it caught her eye. Someone was running out of there. The little boy from the maypole. Then two others. A dwarf. A black boy.
All wearing strange clothes.
"Wait here, Commandant." She told him, as she felt in her pocket for her handgun.
The Jungmadel had taught her to be fearless. That she was better than everyone else, with her blonde hair. Green eyes, yes, but then again, the Nazis allowed green eyes as they would become blue through eugenics.
Her mother had died of cancer when she was only nine. Edelweiss was six and Rosalie just four. Her father was hard-working, but instead he was crumbling. She knew what she had to do.
She reported him. Because he was a drunkard.
She learnt to ignore the labour camps. The ones suffering. The misery.
Because she was worth it.
She smiled to herself when she thought about when the Nazis had sent letters to American soldiers, over the sides of planes.
Letters to black soldiers, saying they needed to help Nazis.
But instead of being kind, the Nazis instead made them into slaves. Sterilized them. Refused to let them be human.
Of course not, Other Lily thought to herself, because only Aryans were human.
Where had that black boy come from? Had he managed to get away from his master? And the dwarf, that was a subject of interest. She didn't know there were any dwarves left in Britain. Yes, there were rumours about some across Greece, but not here. Why was the blonde boy with them? Surely he'd know better. What would his parents say?
Nevertheless, Other Lily began to follow them at a distance, as they headed back through the fields.
The three of them had reached the cave. Holding themselves together, they waited in horrid silence. Bailey's watch said there were only fifteen minutes left.
Something they couldn't wait to end.
Harry muttered, "I'm never going to take anything for granted again."
Bailey nodded. "Too right, Harry."
Then they heard something.
Hard-nailed boots sounding on a rough surface. Echoing throughout the cave.
Then someone was there.
A gun cocking.
They all looked up and saw. Other Lily was there, having changed from her skirt into black leather trousers. Her plaits hung down and her thick boots were more like a man's. She looked hilarious and terrifying at the same time.
Harry stood up. Other Lily snarled.
"Filthy." Then she walked over to Sasha and held the muzzle of the gun right under her jaw.
She demanded, "You two, now, come with me. I need to get you to the main camp."
"Camp?" Harry asked, barely able to believe what she was saying.
Other Lily snapped, "The camp. Down the hills. Built 1947, do I look that thick to you?"
Then Bailey started. "Just don't hurt us. We're not from here."
Harry shot out, nearly shouting, "Lily, we're from another world."
She paused, looking a tiny bit scared. "How do you know my name?" she asked, quivering.
Harry carried on. "In a different world, we were friends. You're happy. You live with your dad and your sisters in Wales. Your friends love you. In a different world, Hitler lost. But it's a happier world, where we can do what we want. You're just a slave."
Other Lily's brow furrowed. Then she asked, "Why should I believe you?"
"Look this way. You can see another world. Your best friend, Carmen..."
"You think I'd be friends with a senorita?" Other Lily spat."You must be mad."
But Harry was glancing quickly at the way down. Shimmering, he could see people wandering around. A search party, for them. Bailey moved slowly behind Harry, looking out.
Other Lily then started to look, slowly. People, people that weren't down there. A chill ran down her spine as she mused it over.
Then she smiled.
Shooting at the cave wall, as the boys ducked, she dragged Sasha down as the girl screamed.
Five minutes later, Other Lily had pulled Sasha to the building at the gate. Sasha, struggling and weeping, hitting the stern girl, as Other Lily dragged her along the path. The tall, wire fence surrounding a building. It may have been an old barn.
Sasha was shoved inside and Other Lily shut the door. Looking across at the men on top, wearing gas masks, she grinned.
The weekly preparation. Down to the minute.
Sasha glanced round as all the naked people stood with her. squashed, barely able to move. Then screaming. Insufferable screaming.
Sasha closed her eyes and waited for her death.
Bailey and Harry waited, the seconds ticking into minutes.
"We can't go!" Bailey shouted, but Harry argued, "We need to help her!"
"If we go now, we may never get home!" Bailey was close to tears.
But Harry stared, tense, as he held out a shaking, thin finger. The barn, almost built into the hills. With a smoke tower attached.
Smoke.
Billowing out.
He squeezed his eyes shut and turned back. The wail began and the cave rumbled. They stood against the second entrance, pushing themselves against the invisible wall. Trying what they could.
Then they were dragged forwards, as if by giant-sized hands. Onto the hard floor.
Then they heard somebody shouting.
"We found the boys! The boys! They're here!"
But even as they airlifted them to hospital, just in case, Harry sobbed quietly to himself.
He was lucky. He lived in a world where he could choose. Choose what he wanted. Where everyone could do what they wanted.
It wasn't a perfect world. Far from it.
But he lived in a time and place where people weren't killed for being different. Where he could live without fear.
Vile people like Hitler didn't belong in this world.
Other Lily didn't belong here, with her brainwashed mind and her ruthless attitude.
Too many had fallen.
Enough was enough.
Only he and Bailey would know what happened to Sasha. Nobody else would believe them.
Until they reached the hospital, he didn't let his eyes close. Only then did he let himself go to sleep.
That night, he slept without nightmares, to his surprise. But he still didn't stop thinking about Sasha. And how he never wanted to be in a world like that again.