A few hours later, Frau Irmgard Telemann, a middle-aged widow from Hamelburg who served as housekeeper for father Geisler, was walking her dog in the woods along the Flenzheimer Straße.
It was misty and chilly, but the dog – a German shepherd – loved the long Saturday-morning walks with his mistress. In these woods, at this time of day, he could run around free and give outlet to his playful sleuthy nature.
But when they were about two kilometers from town, Stefan suddenly stood stockstill sniffing the air. And then he ran off at top speed along the road.
"Stefan! Here!" Frau Telemann ordered.
But the dog paid no attention to her commands. He came to a halt by the side of the road and barked fervently at something in the ditch there.
"Stefan!" Frau Telemann called out again.
But the dog kept barking, and ignored her calling.
"Stupid dog," Frau Telemann muttered as she hurried after him. "What have you found this time? Not a dead gopher again?"
She stepped into the verge to grab him by the collar. But then she saw what he was barking over. And she cried out in shock.
A body.
At first she thought it was some kind of an alien: the multi-coloured limbs, the bald head, the black eyes, no eyebrows...
But then the eyes opened slightly, and the broken lips whispered: "Hilfe..." It was a woman. Naked. Badly manhandled.
"Mein Gott," Frau Telemann whispered – shocked. "What have they done to you?"
She had to get help. But how? "Can you stand?" she urged the woman.
There was no reaction. Had she died?! Had that "Hilfe" been her last word?
Carefully she stepped down into the ditch.
No, the woman´s eyes followed her; she was not dead. Not yet.
Frau Telemann knelt down and carefully brought her arm under the cold, bruised shoulders. "Can you stand?"
A barely visible shake of the head this time. And Frau Telemann felt a slight panic coming on. Obviously the poor woman was in no condition to walk all the way back to town with her. But how could she possibly leave her here in order to go and get help herself?!
That´s when Stefan pushed his snout in her neck. "Wroof!" he told her. And she sighed with relief.
"Of course! You are such a smart dog; you can go and get help, can´t you?"
She searched in her pockets for writing material, and found a small pencil and an old receipt. With trembling hands she scribbled down a few lines, pushed the little scrawl deep into one of her gloves and held it out to the dog.
"Stefan! Go to father Geisler! Quick! Run! Understood? Father Geisler!"
A muffled wroof as the dog took the glove from her. He gave her one last look; then he jumped back onto the road and took off in the direction of Hamelburg.
"Please, God, let him go straight to father Geisler! And let help come quick, so that this poor woman may live!"
Then she took off her coat and spread it out over the bluish bruised body. She took off her shawl and wrapped it around the poor bald head, leaving only the face free.
"Danke," the woman whispered barely audible.
And Frau Telemann took one of the icy cold hands in hers and began to pray. As fervently as she had never prayed before in her life.
xxx
Father Geisler was just about to start on his breakfast when he heard Stefan´s muffled barking outside. It took a few minutes before he realized that the dog wasn´t barking at Frau Telemann´s door, but at his own. Apparently he wanted to come in.
Why, was he alone? Where was Frau Telemann?
Father Geisler went to the kitchen to open the door for the dog. Stefan simply raced in, turned back to him and laid down a black leather glove at his feet.
"What´s this, boy? Isn´t that Frau Telemann´s glove?"
An urgent barking in reply, and father Geisler suddenly worried. "Is she in trouble?!"
More barking. Then Stefan took the glove from him and... what... tried to chew it up?!
"Hey, what are you doing?!" If only that dog could talk and explain!
But hey, what was that!
He took the glove from Stefan again. A white corner stuck out. Paper. A note?
It was indeed: "Found badly manhandled woman by wayside Flenzh. Str. Need doctor and transport urgently!"
"Good Lord!" father Geisler exclaimed. He grabbed his coat and hat and gallopped out of the door, with Stefan high upon his heels. Dr. Bauer lived only a few streets away...
It was a pale Dr. Bauer to open the door at father Geisler´s urgent non-stop ringing. "Father Geisler! You?! I thought...!"
Father Geisler had no time for social amenities. "Get your instruments and your car. Quickly!"
Dr. Bauer had enough experience to recognize an emergency. Without asking questions, he grabbed his bag, his coat, his hat and his keys, and within twenty seconds the priest, the doctor and the dog sat in the car.
"Where to?" Dr. Bauer demanded as he started the engine.
"Flenzheimer Straße."
The doctor nodded, and turned the car out into the street. "What happened?"
"Don´t know. Frau Telemann writes she has found a badly manhandled woman." He showed him the note.
"Hm," was all Dr. Bauer said in reply. But his brow furrowed and as soon as they were out of town, he pushed down the pedal to near maximum speed.
"There!" father Geisler pointed.
Dr. Bauer had seen Frau Telemann, too, standing in the verge, waving her arms urgently, and he pulled over beside her.
Father Geisler was the first one out of the car, but when he laid eyes on the creature lying there in the ditch, he staggered back. "Good Lord! Please save this poor woman! And bring those responsible for her present state to justice..." he added under his breath.
Dr. Bauer showed less shock. He pulled back the covering coat, and almost dispassionately checked out the badly bruised body. "Concussion, possibly broken facial bones, wound at the back of the head. Neck seems to be okay. Broken collarbone, dislocated shoulder, possibly broken ribs. Several. Hypothermia, dehydration, possibly pneumonia. Severe bruises and grazes all over. Might have been raped as well."
He covered the poor body again with the coat and looked up at father Geisler. "We have to get her to my place. You take the legs; there does not seem to be major damage there. I´ll take the head and the body. But careful! Frau Telemann, open the back door of the car, please."
Very carefully the two men maneuvered the beaten body onto the back seat. And as a shaken Frau Telemann in father Geisler´s coat started her wandering back home with the dog, the car quietly passed her with its precious load.
"Do you think what I think?" father Geisler asked quietly.
"Gestapo," the doctor replied toneless. "I bet you a thousand marks that she was supposed to die in that ditch."
"I don´t bet," the priest answered in the same manner. "But I share your opinion completely."
"And that´s why I´m not taking her to the hospital," Dr. Bauer said determinedly. "Not unless it´s absolutely necessary. I´ll try and see what I can do for her at home. If she makes it all," he added sottovoce.
"I´ve been praying since I saw her lying there.
"Then please, father, keep praying."
xxx
The first thing Magda noticed as she slowly drifted back to consciousness was the warmth. There was a friendly warm temperature all around her. And she wasn´t naked anymore.
No, not really. She had no clothes on, but she was covered by something soft. Heavy, but still soft. A... a blanket. Many blankets.
But as she became aware of her body being nicely covered up under warm blankets, she also became aware of the body itself. And how it hurt. Her head, her face: eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, chin... her shoulders, back, chest, arms, stomach, legs... Had she been through a clothes-wringer or something? Or in an accident? Run over by a train perhaps?
She couldn´t remember. Coldness, yes. Darkness, fear... Fear!
She wanted to sit up, to run, to flee!
But the slightest muscle movement gave her such a jolt of pain that she groaned, and she gave up before she had even started to get up.
Someone reacted to her moans and bent down over her. A man. He looked vaguely familiar, but her head hurt too much to try and remember where she had met him.
"Meine Frau? Fräulein? What is your name? Can you tell me your name?" the man asked.
He sounded urgent. But even though she was sure she knew the words he used, she couldn´t possibly put a meaning to them. Let alone answer the... yes, the question. He was asking something. A question.
No, he was speaking again. She tried to concentrate on what he said, to make sense of the sounds he uttered. One word she understood: "Safe." She even sort of remembered what it meant.
Safe. She was safe.
And with a shallow sigh she fell asleep.
xxx
When she woke up again, her head seemed a lot clearer than before. She opened her eyes – slowly, for even that hurt – and discovered she was lying in a room she had seen before. The wallpaper, the small painting on the wall... Where was she?
The same face she had seen before bent down over her again. "I see you are awake again. Are you feeling a little better?"
She wanted to say something, but all that came out of her throat was a hoarse croaky sound.
Her pounding head was gently lifted up, a straw touched her cloven lips. Yes, there was her mouth. A straw. Drinking. Thirst!
She took an eager sip, and almost choked on it right away.
"Easy now," the voice soothed.
She knew that voice. Who was this man? D... D... David?
No.
David.
Where was David?
She wanted to ask where David was, but her mouth wouldn´t quite cooperate.
David. Why did she want to know where David was?
David was... David was...
Her lips tried again to form the difficult sounds. And the man – an old man, she registered – noticed and bent down over her again.
"What is it?"
Another try. She wet her lips. "Dav... Dav-vid," she then croaked. "Where´s Da... vid..."
"David? Who is Da...?" Suddenly Dr. Bauer choked on his words, and his eyes widened in shock and surprise. "Magda? Magda Nowak?!"
"Yes," she answered with difficulty. That was right, wasn´t it?
No, wait. She was Magda... Magda... Kirchhoffs! No. Magda Nowak. That´s right. She was married. To David Nowak. That´s why she wanted to know where David was. He had fled over the roof, together with... with... well, whoever it was. And she...
All of a sudden she burst out in tears. Dr. Bauer carefully lifted her up a little and cradled her in his arms.
"Where´s David?" Suddenly that was all she wanted to know. All she could care about.
But no matter how much he would like to, Dr. Bauer could not answer that question...
xxx
A few days later, when she had recovered enough to be able to coherently relate what had happened, Dr. Bauer was relieved to hear that at least she hadn´t been raped.
"I kicked him full in the guts when he tried to," Magda told him with grim satisfaction. "The guards had to carry him out. And when he came back for his revenge, I had the distinct impression that he hadn´t quite recovered enough to try it a second time."
Dr. Bauer chuckled. "Good on you. Though he might have gone easier on you, had he had the chance to..."
"That is just the outside," Magda replied with great dignity. "All that counts is that he hasn´t smudged the sacred inside: the parts I want only David to touch."
"Yes." Dr. Bauer smiled. "You are probably right: that is the most important thing."
Magda sighed. "If only I knew what happened to him..."