The silence of Nadine in Nazi- occupied France was disturbed one fair night, by the sound of a pair of heels tapping against the cobblestone ground. A woman, perhaps in her mid twenties, held the hand of a younger girl – a child who simply glanced at the scenery surrounding her. Such a sight was not abnormal. Perhaps she was the child's caretaker, bringing her back home, or maybe she was the child's mother, spending the evening with her delightful daughter. However, as the woman and the child walked down the stairs into the tavern, Aldo Raine knew that was not the case.
"Now who th' fuck is that?" Lieutenant Aldo Raine wondered aloud as he watched the two figures disappear down the stairs.
The room was thick with tension, as the awkward silence fell heavily on everyone seated in one particular table. Two men stared at each other, neither of them daring to blink. The tension was noticeable, even from the entrance of the bar. However, the sound of one man's laugh breaking the silence caused the woman to pause for a slight second, as rage filled her entire being. The younger girl stared up at the older woman, nodded to her, and together they both entered the room.
"It's a joke. Just joking," The man said to the others seated at the table, however, it was clear to see just how uncomfortable everyone else was.
"Allow me to refill your glasses, gentlemen, and I will bid you and the Fräulein adieu." The man spoke in German, the other man sitting diagonal to him simply stared before a smile graced his lips. As he was about to open his mouth to speak, a falsified gasp rang out.
"Major Dieter Hellstrom, is that you?" The foreign accent interrupted whatever the man in the Nazi uniform was about to say, and it was clear to everyone that this woman was neither French nor German. The man, Dieter Hellstrom, stared blankly at the man he was originally speaking to until he looked at the woman.
"Ana Maria? It's been quite a while, how have you been? What are you doing here?" Ana Maria walked over to the man as he stood up and gave him a kiss on one cheek. "Yes, it has been quite some time, no? I've been well, how have you been Major? It's been many months since I last saw you." The woman's English sounded strange to everyone in the bar, and everyone quieted once again to try to pinpoint where the woman was from.
"Ah, yes, it has been too long. It's such a pleasure to hear that Spanish accent again. Say my name, one more time," Dieter laughed as Ana Maria playfully slapped his shoulder, as one would to an old friend. "Major, you're too much!"
"Ah, music to my ears," he held Ana Maria and got a good look at the Spaniard, who simply grinned at him, "Now Ana, what brings you here? Especially at this time in the night, with such a delightful little girl?" He inquired as he smiled at the quiet girl.
"Oh yes, she is my younger sister, Isabel. Isabel, this is my good friend, Major Dieter Hellstrom." Isabel simply stared at the man in front of her, until a smile graced her features and she held out her hand, "Hello." Dieter smiled at her as he shook her hand as Ana Maria continued, "We are here to meet my brother, who we haven't seen in a very long time."
"At a place such as this? Don't you think this is a bit of a strange location to have a rendezvous with someone such as your brother, especially with a child as young as your sister?" At this, Ana Maria rolled her eyes, "Always the nosy one, no? My brother is passing by for a visit before he continues on to España to visit some old friends."
"I see, but a bar?"
"We Spaniards like our drinks, thank you very much. But, in reality, my sisters are working and Isabel greatly wanted to see Antonio." At that, Dieter let go of Ana Maria, who looked at Isabel. "Isa, why don't you sit in that chair right there, while we wait for Antonio, yes?"
"Hello, darling, I'm Bridgette Von Hammersmark," The beautiful blonde said gracefully in English with a German accent, bringing Ana Maria's attention to everyone else in that table. After witnessing the nervous glances that the men around her gave each other, she decided it was time to intervene, "And I'm afraid that I'm here catching up with some old friends."
"Oh, I'm very sorry. Major Dieter, you are quite rude, you haven't properly introduced me to your friends. Hello, I'm Ana Maria, that's Isabela." At this, the man sitting diagonal of Dieter nodded and smiled at the beautiful woman.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ana Maria, I am Captain Ernst Schuller. Lieutenant Henrik Heinemann and Wilhelm Dorschner." The man waved his hands at the two men sitting across each other, the one to the right nodded and said, "Schön, dich kennenzulernen," while the other man across him simply nodded. Ana Maria stared at the "Captain," and quickly realized that his was an imposter. Even without being German herself, she knew that his German accent when speaking English had a strange ring to it. However, she dismissed the discovery, seeing as this could only work in her favor.
"Now, I realize that I'm interrupting, but I'm only waiting for my brother to get here. In the mean time, drinks anyone? One, two, three… Excuse me sir, six whiskeys, s'il vous plait." The bartender nodded, and soon enough, everyone had a shot glass in their hand. Ana Maria smiled, held up her glass, and downed her drink with everyone besides Isabel following suit. The woman couldn't help smiling to herself, even more so after catching what 'Captain Ernst Schuller' had in his right hand under the table.
"Now," Ana Maria walked to where her sister was sitting. The young girl had been playing with a lose thread that hung off of an uncomfortable Lieutenant Heinemann's sleeve, who shifted his arm away. "Before my brother gets here, I want to tell you a quick story. I'm sure you'll all enjoy it, particularly you, Major Dieter Hellstrom."
"Espera," the little girl cut in quietly. She whispered something in Ana Maria's ear, who simply nodded. Isabel stood up and walked to the bartender, who pointed directions to the young girl.
"Forgive me, she had to go to the bathroom. Now, where was I?"
"You were going to tell us a story." Dieter smiled politely at Ana Maria, who in turn smiled back. However, the smile did not reach her eyes.
"Oh yes, I remember now. Today is an important day, are you aware of that Major?" The woman sat down where Isabel was seated, and then placed her hands under her chin. The rest of the men and Bridgette Von Hammersmark looked terribly confused.
"Is it? I was not aware of this." He cocked his head and held a devilish grin that wiped the smile off of Ana Maria's face. To her, the games were over.
"Yes, it is a very very important day. You see, this very day today, a family – the Landau's – was brutally killed. But they were very nice; they took my family in after we left Spain during the Spanish Civil War. We were allowed to live in their house, and in return we helped with the farm, the children, and so forth. That is until one day, some people came into the house and started killing everyone. Monsieur Emanuel, Madame Sura, little Ezra, even the dog. And then they got to the rooms on the second floor." Loud laughter was heard from the German's seated in the other table as they played their games, but the table in which Ana Maria was sitting in was barren of noise.
"Major Dieter Hellstrom, do you know what it is to be 'actualized'?" The woman inquired, cocking her head to the side as she smiled at the expressionless man. He stared at her with a blank face until he smiled once again and said, "Nein, no, what is that?"
"According to Viktor Frankl – a Jew in Auschwitz, yes word does travel fast of these types of things – to be actualized is to be the most humane. Do you think you became less actualized after you and your men slaughtered the Landaus?" The other guests in the table didn't know how to react at what Ana Maria, and Dieter's face remained unchanged.
"Or after you killed my parents? My brother who tried to protect us? My youngest sister, only a few months old, who wouldn't stop crying? Or when one of your men shot Josefa in the stomach, killing her child, or my sister and I? Who you and your men raped over and over and over…" At this, silence filled the table and feeling the tension, the other table began to quiet down too. More silence, until Major Dieter Hellstrom looked Ana Maria in the eye, grinned, and said, "How sad."
"You Nazi fuck." The gun Ana Maria hide beneath the table made it's way to the surface, and the next few moments became a blur. The bullet left the angry woman's gun, hitting Dieter in the side. Three shots were heard thereafter: one from 'Captain Schuller,' another from 'Lieutenant Heinemann,' and a third from a little girl that hid behind a wall, and aimed at the bartender that was already grabbing his shot gun.
The room became a battlefield, full of chaos and blood in the next few seconds. Bullets flew in the air after the first shot was heard. Heinemann stabbed Hellstrom with a dagger, Dorschner shot two Germans and the barmaid; Schuller flew backwards, having been shot twice. Von Hammersmark flew out of her chair as well, however Ana Maria was not sure why.
From behind the wall, Isabel shot another soldier, and Heinemann was letting the bullets fly from his gun into the large German woman across the room. The room was a blood bath, and as soon as the shooting stopped, Ana Maria pointed her gun to the man closest to her, Dorshner, who clutched his leg in pain. It was clear to see that although these soldiers were alive, they were severely injured.
"Nobody move!" She exclaimed as she kept her eyes focused on the man. Another click was heard, and Heinemann knew another gun was pointed in his direction.
"I don't know who any of you are, but I'm sure as hell none of you are Nazis. Speak." As the man on her left, Dorshner, was opening his mouth to speak, a noise was heard outside.
"You outside! What are you? British, American, German?" Ana Maria kept her gun pointed towards the men as she yelled out. "We're American." The accented voice threw the woman off a bit, but she held her composure.
"How many alive on our side?" The man yelled out after there was a pause. "Two men, both are shot and bleeding, but if they try anything, I'll shoot them." There was another pause and then a groan. "Wait, a woman too!"
Dorshner was about to say something, when Ana Maria yelled, "Quiet!" The man above could be heard saying, "Wicki?" To himself, but then continued, "What's your name, girl?"
"Ana Maria Del Bosque." The woman called out and waited for a reply. "Ana Maria… that don't sound like a kraut or baguette lovin' name."
"That's because it's not. I'm from Spain."
"And what is someone from Spain doin' here. Y'all are neutral."
"Listen, the only reason I was here tonight is because I wanted my revenge on Dieter Hellstrom." There was another pause, and then Ana Maria asked, "And what is your name?"
"Aldo. Annie, how's about we have ourselves a deal?"
"What kind of deal, Aldo?"
"How's about you let me and my men come down here, pick up our people and be on our way. No guns! No guns me, no guns you! You'll be on your way and we'll be on ours." At this, the two men looked at Ana Maria expectantly.
"And how do I know you won't come and shoot me, Aldo? I have my little sister here, she's only ten. Please, don't give my other sisters more people to mourn over." She pleaded loudly, the first time in the entire night worrying over her and her sister's safety.
"And what in the hell is a ten year old doing in a fuckin' tavern?" His voice called out.
"It's a long story."
"Okay, forget I asked. I won't shoot you, I give ya my word. Just let me and two of my men retrieve our people and we'll both be on our way. It's that simple, Annie." The woman thought it over, and looked into the eyes of the man on her right, 'Heinemann,' who stared at her with cold eyes, and then the man to her left, 'Dorshner,' who simply nodded at her. Ana Maria looked over to Isabel, whose eyes were fixated on Heinemann's back, but whose small hands were trembling. The only thing that the woman could think to herself was, 'What have I done?'
"Aldo, I'm trusting you. Come down. " She back away from the two men with her gun pointed at them until she stood next to Isabel. She lowered her gun, and stared expectantly at the stairs, where she saw a man peek down and quickly disappear.
"Annie, what's with the ten year old holding the machine gun, I thought we had ourselves a deal." Throughout the entire ordeal, Ana Maria had failed to notice that not only had her younger sister kept her gun raised, but had also switched her Savage Model 1907 for a machine gun. She looked at Isabel who only stared back at her sister, her lower lip quivering. "But…" Ana Maria simply nodded and then pressed her lips into a firm line.
"Okay Aldo." When Ana Maria said this, a man with a military styled mustache took cautious steps down the stairs, two other men trailing directly behind him.
The men quickly gathered their people, Aldo being the last one to go up, slightly struggling to help Dorshner up when they realized that his leg was wounded as well.
"Aldo?" Ana Maria looked at her sister, bit her lip, ad then looked at the man who was about to walk up the stairs. She had figured who his men were, specifically 'Heinemann,' but once she saw Aldo, she was sure of whom they were. "You're Aldo the Apache, correct?"
"Yes, Annie, I sure am." He said suspiciously, wondering where this girl would lead them into the conversation. She chewed on her lip some more and then said, "And you work for America, correct? Against the Nazis?"
"Yes ma'am we sure do."
"…Your men are wounded. My sister used to be a nurse in Spain. Let me help. Please."
"After having one of my men die and two more about to follow suit. Nah, sweetheart, I don't think so."
"Well where will you go? I'm offering you food, a place to stay for a couple of days and medical attention. What doctor would want to help you in Nazi-occupied France? Please, Aldo, I just wanted Hellstrom dead, and now he's dead. I want to help as much as I can."
"And why are you so intent on helping us?" At this point, Dorshner was all but blacking in and out, his head bobbing as he leaned against Aldo.
"I don't know... I'm tired, Aldo, tired of this war. My home is not too far from here, but we have to hurry before German's show up." Aldo stared at Ana Maria in the eyes for a few moments, mulling over his options.
"Alright, Annie, I'm gonna trust you with this."
