It took about a day or so for the Basterds to reach the outskirts of Clichy. As planned, only Hugo and Wicki were standing outside of the town's entrance. The rest (along with Delma) were hiding like always.
"We should have brought the girl." Hugo muttered.
"I know…it would have been wise to bring her in case anything looked familiar, but stupid at the same time."
"Still, where are we suppose to look first?" Wicki gave a glance to the psychopath.
"Stores, bars, and anywhere where something seems out of place I guess."
"That may take a lifetime." Wicki looked forward once more, and started walking.
"Which is why we need to go now."
--
--
Although it was still daylight, Delma was fast asleep in Private Ulmer's arms. Kids, especially girls in general, always looked cute sleeping. The men were also silent, just waiting and watching.
"You think she's ok? I mean, ever since we picked her up…Delma's been a bit calm." Aldo turned to the young soldier and shrugged.
"Guess the lil' thang's tryin' to suppress everthin'. She don't know what's been goin' on and I reckon, she never wants to know." The girl twitched and moved around trying to be comfortable as nightmares were forming in her dreams.
--
--
The two Germans walked up to an old, abandoned house, remembering what had happened during inquiry.
"Ostheim ? J'ai su d'une jeune dame par ce nom. Emma Ostheim, très beau." (Ostheim? I knew of a young lady by that name. Emma Ostheim, very beautiful.) The bartender at a local bar called "Le Toile" answered while pouring drinks for other customers.
"A-t-elle fait a-t-elle eu une autre famille?" (Did she have any other family?) Wicki pressed on, taking a sip of scotch.
"Mmmm…Elle était toujours avec le garçon Louie Archibald. Les parents étaient allemands, mais il était Français né." (she was always with a boy Louie Archibald. The parents were German, but he was French born.)
"Étaient?" (Were?) Hugo questioned this time, coldly staring at the Frenchman after a sip of his on scotch. The bartender shifted his eyes nervously, grabbed some glasses to clean and then leaned forward.
"Apparemment, l'Archibald cachaient des juifs. Plus de cinq d'entre eux. Je ne sais pas leurs noms, mais je sais que Louie et Emma n'étaient pas là au moment du tir." (Apparently the Archibald's were hiding Jews. More than five of them. I don't know their names, but I do know that Louie and Emma weren't there at the time of the shooting.) He leaned back and went back to serving a few drinks to customers at the end of the bar. Wicki felt his stomach dropped and he looked at his comrade, who was staring and his liquor for the longest time. Hugo picked up his glass and drained the rest in a few gulps.
"Savez-vous où l'Archibald de phase?" (Do you know where the Archibald's live?) Hugo asked quietly as the bartender came back to their area. The man gave the two soldiers a suspicious look.
"Non… mais demandez autour. Je suis sûr que quelques personnes les ont sus." (No...but ask around. I'm sure a few people knew them) The two customers nodded their heads in a small thanks, paid for their drinks and left.
And with a few more sources that they gathered, it led them to the Archibald house.
"We should do this quick, just in case we don't look suspicious." Wicki said, not even bothering to look at Stiglitz. He on the other hand, nodded in response and went in first. As soon as the door was opened, the scent of death filled the air. It was quiet all around except for the soft footsteps that were made by the soldiers. In the main entrance room, there was a table with chairs that were knocked over. A couple of cabinets that lined the right wall had cracked windows and chipped kitchenware. A hallway on the left lead to stairs going up to the second floor and a small study that was still on the first floor.
"I'll check the upstairs, you check around here and the basement assuming that there is one." Wilhelm began ascending up the staircase, leaving Hugo alone. The psychopath went straight and turned to the study. It was painted half way and up a pale green when there were spots that weren't covered by a bookcase. A light, wooden desk was in the middle of the room with a black leather and wooden chair. He walked over to it and ran a hand over the surface. There were no pictures on top, but he checked the drawers just in case. As he opened the drawers one by one, there was very little or useless items in each of them…except one. The middle drawer on the left was locked. No matter how much Hugo jiggled it, it wouldn't open. He proceeded to get his pistol gun and gave the lock a couple of shots. It opened like a charm. Upon opening it, it was filled to the brim with papers and not just bills. Memorbila, pictures, and a small leather bound journal. He put everything from that drawer on the service, sorting the pictures out from the papers. While going through several pictures, Stiglitz noticed a name written in cursive on the back…"Ostheim". He flipped it over and was surprised at what he saw. There was a father holding his wife in one arm and placing a hand with the other arm on a young boy at least 13 years old. Next to the boy was a young girl at least 16, facing more towards her mother and he saw why. In the mother's arms was a baby. Delma, Hugo thought. He carefully placed that picture off to the side and he rummaged through the pictures a bit more. Stiglitz came across another picture, one whose back read "Louie and Emma". It was a picture of a boy, no more than 24 and a girl that was around the same age. Hugo leaned back with a sigh and examined the two pictures together. The bartender was right…Emma was beautiful, but pictures could only tell so much. Yet with these, hopefully they can tell a lot more than he thinks. Footsteps were heard coming from the staircase, and Hugo immediately got up and started to put everything back except for the two pictures. When he got to the journal, however, the soldier was hesitant. If it was kept in a locked drawer, then perhaps it was holding some type of secret? Hugo closed the drawer, and safely tucked the journal into his uniform, just in case.
"Did you find anything?" Wicki spoke up through the walls. Hugo stepped out of the study and nodded at him, holding up the two pictures causing the other Germans' eyes to widen.
"This is…her family?" Hugo nodded.
"What did you find?" Wicki shrugged.
"Nothing much. Everything looked alright when I went up there, but Rain would be pleased to know that there's pictures." Hugo nodded once again. A small awkward silence filled the space between them.
"Well, if that's it, then we'd better get some more supplies. I think the boss also wanted some new clothes for Delma." Hugo gave yet another nod and headed towards the door. Wicki smiled and shook his head, hoping the others were having a bit more fun than they were.
--
--
She was caught. There was absolutely no place to go, no one to go to. Puppets were swaying all around her, dark red paint was dripping from the puppets. What was even worse, was that the faces sowed onto the puppets…were her family. Her father, mother, brother, aunts and uncles and cousins were just hanging by the neck with thread. Loud noises sounded through the air and a man in a Nazis uniform with many medals stood behind the puppets like a giant. His eyes glowed bright red and his teeth became a pointy grin. He pointed a gun at her and slowly said, "Auf Wiedersehen, kleine Ratte." And then, he pulled the trigger…
Delma bolted from her once comfortable sleeping position in Aunt Mar's arms and looked around, terrified.
"Delma…what's wrong?" Omar looked at her, concerned. She didn't answer though…she just kept looking around, her eyes swelling up with tears. Then, her eyes landed on Aldo. She stared at him, and he stared back…a bit worried. They've never really exchanged words, nor has she ever really said his name often, but Delma finally knew what to call the big leader.
"Papa…" She whimpered quietly, the tears fell fast across her cheeks.
"Wh-what did she say?" The Lieutenant nearly fell over in shock whereas the Private looked crestfallen. Everyone else just stood still, not wanting to say anything. Delma held out her arms at Raine and cried harder.
"Ich wünsche Papa!" (I want Papa!) The leader didn't know what to do…even though she was holding out her hands to him, he wouldn't have minded holding her for a bit, but with the title of "Father"? Well, he just looked around…with only one question in his mind. Where the fuck were Wicki and Stiglitz?
Wow, isn't it amazing on how a good chapter can come up after writing a not so good chapter? I think I'm finally off of writers block!...for now at least...anyways, review por favor? Thanks!
