Second Night
From a safe distance Siegfried and Starker watched their hideaway crumble to the ground. Then, the two stared at each other's soot-filled faces and started to laugh jubilantly. "Shtarker," Siegfried shouted as he dropped Tara to the grass, "Ve're alive, ve made it!" He clasped his minion's brawny arms, and they circled Miss King in a victory dance.
"I hate to throw a wet blanket over your happiness," Tara said sarcastically, "but you're plan will be in vain if any of my friends were killed by that fire. The remaining spies will most definitely refuse to give you the papers after the heartache you caused them."
"So vhat you're saying, is zey vould just let you die along vith whoever was consumed by ze flames?" Siegfried asked. "I don't zink zey're zat selfish and inconsiderate."
Tara crossed her arms defiantly before replying, "We'll just see, Herr Siegfried; we'll just have to wait and see."
Starker had been spacing until the sight of a very alive Maxwell Smart alerted him. "Boss, Mazvell Shmart isn't dead!"
Siegfried glared at Starker, as if he were insane, but when he spotted his archenemy, he cursed perceptibly. "Vell, I'm certainly glad I kept you, cutie, because I'm going to have to exchange you for Shmart, again."
Just then, a completely black animal limped over to them. "Oh, Luddy was injured in the fire!" Tara nearly sobbed. She tightly hugged the abused puppy, glad that at least Mr. Smart and the dog were safe.
Tara King needn't have worried for her allies, for the Steeds were in the company of Maxwell Smart, the luckiest man alive. Max had blown up his own honeymoon boat while still on it and had lived to tell the tale, so a building fire was insignificant in comparison. And even though Smart had tripped on his own feet as he had tried to escape the fire, he had managed to make it to safety before the first explosion.
Unfortunately, several of Siegfried's own men died in the fire-a fire he had created. Once the foursome spotted the first dead body, they meekly and reverently bowed their heads. "How sad to think that man could have been one of us," Agent 99 murmured.
"Yes," Max agreed, "if only Ziegfried had used his amazing ability to create special affects for goodness and niceness instead of evil."
"You called that 'special effects'!" cried Steed disbelievingly.
"It's no reason to get irate," Emma chided him. "I suggest we go back to our hotels, change, and get some supper. I can tell that Steed is in urgent need of champers."
"I could use some vittles of my own," Max declared, "but I refuse to call my food, champers."
Steed decided against being patient as he retorted, "Champers is short for champagne, you ignoramus!"
"99, did Mr. Steed just insult me, or compliment me?" Max gazed vapidly at his wife, who declined to answer.
****************
It was late when Tara and her captors' arrived in England, but none of them was tired. They returned to the first abandoned warehouse, where Miss King let Luddy roam around. Since there was no furniture in the building except in a room that must have been the manager's office, the three people quickly situated themselves in there.
Conrad took charge of the leather swivel chair and propped his feet, still in their large army boots, up on the desk. He removed the file he had received from Mr. Smart, childishly kissed it, and poured over its contents. It took only a second for Starker and Miss King to realise something was terribly amiss.
"I have been duped!" Siegfried hopped out of his seat, the chair bobbing back and forth from the abrupt movement. He cast the manila folder onto the dusty desk before bellowing maledictions that made Herr Shtarker blush in shame.
Curious, Tara browsed the forgotten documents and burst out giggling. "Steed gave you his recipes, how clever!" Soon she was sniggering uncontrollably, large tears streaming down her face. Conrad Siegfried had stopped his tirade to stare bewilderedly at the hysterical girl. Starker, who was easily influenced, joined Tara's merriment. The two sunk onto a decaying sofa in order to keep from rolling on the floor.
Ludwig von Siegfried had many faults, but none so appalling as his short temper. His fiery outbursts were what caused him to commit many grave felonies. Upon witnessing his two companions laughing at him, he ordered shrilly, "Shut up zis instant, or I vill shtrangle you boz vith my bare hands!"
Tara dutifully obeyed, but Shtarker continued his chuckling. Siegfried's eyes bore down on his thug, and Miss King hastily smacked the slow man to silence him. This time, Starker clamped his mouth shut, but his whole body still writhed with subdued laughter. In no time, he was snickering again; it was contagious, and soon Tara King was howling with delight.
Abashed, Ludwig von Siegfried stormed out of the room, muttering something about "revenge." When Tara noticed how upset her captor was, she immediately stopped her laughing. However, she feared the damage was already done. Conrad Siegfried was determined to avenge his embarrassment if it killed him in the process.
Starker was full with glee at the prospect of being alone with Miss King. He casually wrapped an arm around the voluptuous Britt. "I have been vaiting for zis moment since I first laid eyes on you."
Tara shrugged the strong man's arm off, but the arm quickly found it's way around her again. "Starker, this may come as a relative shock, but I have no interest in you at all!"
"You are just playing hard to get, mein lieb, but zat can be expected from a beauteous and intelligent voman like you!" Starker leaned forward for a kiss but found nothing but air, since Tara had jumped up from the couch.
She headed for the door, but the incorrigible goon grabbed onto her multi-coloured scarf. She nearly gagged as she was pulled backwards into his arms. Tara King had known many suitors in her young life, but she had never predicted that an enemy agent would be smitten with her. As she struggled against Starker's hold, the impetuous thug began to sing a melody that she was quite familiar with. It was an old tune that Emma Peel had told her had been a favourite of a demented traitor, Max Prendergast.
Jedesmal, wenn ich wach bin, denk ich an dich
Meine Liebe, meine schöne Rose
Ich denk an dein Lächeln
Ich denk an deine Augen
Ich denk an die schönen Stunden.
Jedesmal, wenn wir küssen, bin ich hilflos
Meine Liebe, meine schöne Rose
Hilflos in deinen Armen
Hilflos bei deinem Charme (?)
Hilflos in deiner Nähe.
Ich bin ganz verliebt, ich liebe dich
Ich bin Sklave deiner Wünsche
Im Traum erscheinst du mir
Junge, zarte Rose.
Tara groaned as Starker finished the song, completely out of tune. He then twirled her around in order to plant an amorous kiss on her lips, but she evaded his mouth. With all her strength, she broke free from his grasp and fled to the other side of the room. Starker began to follow, but she circled the desk to the other side. Now they were opposite each other once more. They repeated this process four times, Starker shouting declarations of love, Miss King yelling words of desperation.
From inadequate nourishment, Tara was growing exhausted. She rounded the corner of the desk for the fifth time when she heard heavy footsteps advancing toward the room. In a moment, Siegfried was in the doorway glaring at his right-hand man.
In desperation, Tara flew to his side, shrieking, "Siegfried, save me from this madman!" She nestled herself into his outstretched arm and wrapped her own arms around his neck, as if holding on to him would anchor her down.
"Vhat is ze meaning of zis, Shtarker?" Conrad's voice commanded attention.
"I vas merely telling Fraulein King how much I love her-"
"Zis is KAOS," screeched Siegfried, "ve don't love here!"
"Actually, you can only love yourselves," Tara caustically interjected. Conrad stiffened at this cheeky retort, but he made no attempt to remove her arms from his neck.
After Ludwig spoke loudly in German, Starker reluctantly exited the room. Miss King slowly unwrapped herself from Siegfried and said, "I'm sorry for flying at you like that, but I wasn't thinking clearly." She added softly, "I'm sure your wife would be enraged if she knew a young woman like me was-"
Conrad interrupted her in a strange tone, "I have no wife; I made her up so I vould never have any silly KAOS girls trying to date me."
Tara felt as peculiar as Ludwig sounded, but she only answered, "You certainly have an eccentric way of doing things, Herr Siegfried." Suddenly, her stomach growled noisily, causing her to blush and Siegfried to raise an eyebrow. She pointed to the folder as she began, "Listen, it's a shame to let those recipes go to waste. Is it at all possible to make that special omelette I promised you?"
"Vell, zere is a shmall kitchen that I inshtalled in case I had to live here for a while, but I don't know vhat kind of food is in ze fridge."
Clutching the file in one hand and Siegfried in the other, Tara declared, "We'll improvise, OK?"
As Tara and Siegfried exited the office, Starker spotted his "love" holding hands with his boss, and jealousy gripped him. Why didn't she ever hold his hands affectionately? Starker disregarded the fact that Tara was dragging Siegfried to the kitchen, he protesting wildly while she tried to hush him. He entirely dismissed the idea that perhaps she was merely leading Conrad somewhere; all he saw was Tara clutching his boss.
Love had that effect on the dim-witted German. While some, like Emma Steed, were able to tolerate their significant other's flirting with member's of the opposite sex, Starker wanted Tara to pay attention only to him.
In a vindictive frame of mind, he called up the German motel he had recommended to the Steeds and Smarts. He had made up his mind to tell them that Siegfried was plotting a gruesome revenge, and if they had any common sense, they would not make any more negotiations with him. If the spies believed Starker, they would most assuredly not give Siegfried the papers, thus there would be nothing to trade for Tara. Then Starker would love and nurture her, making her fall madly in love with him.
It was a juvenile idea, but it was running through the simpleton's brain as he hurriedly phoned the sleazy motel. To his disheartenment, the Avengers and Smarts had checked out. His discouragement was assuaged in the next second when the desk clerk informed him they had left a message saying that if Siegfried called, he should phone them in England the next day.
Giddily, Starker hung up the phone. Soon he would be able to carry out his ingenious-to him-plan. He would avenger himself for Siegfried's mistreatment; Ludwig von Siegfried had taught his crony well.
In the fairly new kitchen, Tara was humming softly as she scoured the room for the right ingredients for Steed's omelette. Halfway through these procedures, she kicked off her stiletto-heeled shoes. Siegfried's eyes were drawn like a magnet to her shoes and then her nylons. He noticed a large run in them and wondered why he had allowed his prisoner to dress sophisticatedly.
He gazed at her long legs, realising for the first time how muscular they were. "Did you find the legs-I mean-eggs?" he stuttered.
Miss King turned from the icebox and gazed him bemusedly, but she nodded her head. "I think I found enough of the ingredients to make the omelette palatable. Now watch what I do, so you can make this meal on your own after I've gone." Agent King advanced toward the counter with the last several items, but she was staring so intently at the counter that she did not see her shoes in the middle of the floor. She stumbled, flailing her arms to balance and keep the food in her hands.
Siegfried muttered German words that most likely could be translated as, "clumsy oaf." He nimbly grabbed her by the waist, saving her from collapsing ungracefully. It was bizarre, but he had been told Miss King was a "chubby;" however, he found her waist toned but still extremely curvy.
Tara murmured her thanks before mixing several of the dry ingredients in a metal bowl. "One of the most important steps to becoming a great culinary chef is to not waste any food."
Ludwig was extremely perplexed as he repeated, "Vhat does a vaist have to do vith cooking?"
Miss King stifled a laugh before she asked, "Were you referring to a human's waist?" She wrapped her hands around his waist to indicate what she meant.
Siegfried peevishly yanked her hands off. "Your hands should stick to caressing-nein, nein-I meant to say cooking!" Siegfried swirled around so she wouldn't see him flush, but his neck was red, which defeated the purpose.
"You're getting a little confused!"
"I'm more zan a little confused, shweetie!" Abruptly, Siegfried did something he had never done on his own free will before: he raised his hands in defeat. "Why must I do such menial tasks? You cook ze omelette on you own!" Agitated beyond his normal capacity, he fled from the room.
Tara King, agent 69, wondered what had brought on the more than usually weird mannerisms. Face aflame-from the heat, she told herself-she prepared the meal in comparative tranquility.
Conrad stormed past his goon, but Starker called to him, "Un, Siegfried, what is Shteed's phone number?"
"Vhy; do you vant to ask Poppa Shteed for permission to marry his baby Tara?"
"Do you zink he'd give it to me?"
"Shtarker, I'm going to count to ten, unt if you are not on ze ozer side of ze building by zen, I vill zrow you zere, do you UNDERSHTAND?"
Pitiful Starker, rant to the shelter of Tara King, where he at once spouted his trials and tribulations. Tara paid absolutely zero attention until he revealed that he had wanted to call Steed but hadn't the number. She jerked forward and demanded, "Why do you want to call him?"
"To warn him zat Siegfried is planning to play unfairly after Shteed's little joke. Vhen Siegfried is zis infuriated, he vill kill anybody who gets in his vay!"
"You've got to call Steed right now!" Tara cried, entirely forgetting that they might not be home yet. She sobered as she said, "If they decide not to bargain for my freedom, I will have to escape. If this happens, will you help me with my plans, Starker?" The thug glanced at her, love-starved, but he reluctantly nodded his head.
Tara continued, "First, you phone them, while I distract Siegfried so he doesn't figure out that we're warning my friends."
"How vill you do zat, my darling Tara lieb?"
An exultant smile played upon her rose lips. "He'll be too distracted enjoying his delicious dinner."
To Be Continued!
English Translation for Mein Lieb, Mein Rose
Every time I'm awake, I think of you
My love, my beautiful rose
I think of your smile
I think of your eyes
I think of those happy hours.
Every time we kiss, I'm helpless
My love, my beautiful rose
Helpless in your arms
Helpless of your charms
Helpless when you're near.
I'm so in love, I love you
I'm the slave of your desires
You appear in my dreams
Young and tender rose.
With thanks to Holger Schmitz and David K. Smith.
From a safe distance Siegfried and Starker watched their hideaway crumble to the ground. Then, the two stared at each other's soot-filled faces and started to laugh jubilantly. "Shtarker," Siegfried shouted as he dropped Tara to the grass, "Ve're alive, ve made it!" He clasped his minion's brawny arms, and they circled Miss King in a victory dance.
"I hate to throw a wet blanket over your happiness," Tara said sarcastically, "but you're plan will be in vain if any of my friends were killed by that fire. The remaining spies will most definitely refuse to give you the papers after the heartache you caused them."
"So vhat you're saying, is zey vould just let you die along vith whoever was consumed by ze flames?" Siegfried asked. "I don't zink zey're zat selfish and inconsiderate."
Tara crossed her arms defiantly before replying, "We'll just see, Herr Siegfried; we'll just have to wait and see."
Starker had been spacing until the sight of a very alive Maxwell Smart alerted him. "Boss, Mazvell Shmart isn't dead!"
Siegfried glared at Starker, as if he were insane, but when he spotted his archenemy, he cursed perceptibly. "Vell, I'm certainly glad I kept you, cutie, because I'm going to have to exchange you for Shmart, again."
Just then, a completely black animal limped over to them. "Oh, Luddy was injured in the fire!" Tara nearly sobbed. She tightly hugged the abused puppy, glad that at least Mr. Smart and the dog were safe.
Tara King needn't have worried for her allies, for the Steeds were in the company of Maxwell Smart, the luckiest man alive. Max had blown up his own honeymoon boat while still on it and had lived to tell the tale, so a building fire was insignificant in comparison. And even though Smart had tripped on his own feet as he had tried to escape the fire, he had managed to make it to safety before the first explosion.
Unfortunately, several of Siegfried's own men died in the fire-a fire he had created. Once the foursome spotted the first dead body, they meekly and reverently bowed their heads. "How sad to think that man could have been one of us," Agent 99 murmured.
"Yes," Max agreed, "if only Ziegfried had used his amazing ability to create special affects for goodness and niceness instead of evil."
"You called that 'special effects'!" cried Steed disbelievingly.
"It's no reason to get irate," Emma chided him. "I suggest we go back to our hotels, change, and get some supper. I can tell that Steed is in urgent need of champers."
"I could use some vittles of my own," Max declared, "but I refuse to call my food, champers."
Steed decided against being patient as he retorted, "Champers is short for champagne, you ignoramus!"
"99, did Mr. Steed just insult me, or compliment me?" Max gazed vapidly at his wife, who declined to answer.
****************
It was late when Tara and her captors' arrived in England, but none of them was tired. They returned to the first abandoned warehouse, where Miss King let Luddy roam around. Since there was no furniture in the building except in a room that must have been the manager's office, the three people quickly situated themselves in there.
Conrad took charge of the leather swivel chair and propped his feet, still in their large army boots, up on the desk. He removed the file he had received from Mr. Smart, childishly kissed it, and poured over its contents. It took only a second for Starker and Miss King to realise something was terribly amiss.
"I have been duped!" Siegfried hopped out of his seat, the chair bobbing back and forth from the abrupt movement. He cast the manila folder onto the dusty desk before bellowing maledictions that made Herr Shtarker blush in shame.
Curious, Tara browsed the forgotten documents and burst out giggling. "Steed gave you his recipes, how clever!" Soon she was sniggering uncontrollably, large tears streaming down her face. Conrad Siegfried had stopped his tirade to stare bewilderedly at the hysterical girl. Starker, who was easily influenced, joined Tara's merriment. The two sunk onto a decaying sofa in order to keep from rolling on the floor.
Ludwig von Siegfried had many faults, but none so appalling as his short temper. His fiery outbursts were what caused him to commit many grave felonies. Upon witnessing his two companions laughing at him, he ordered shrilly, "Shut up zis instant, or I vill shtrangle you boz vith my bare hands!"
Tara dutifully obeyed, but Shtarker continued his chuckling. Siegfried's eyes bore down on his thug, and Miss King hastily smacked the slow man to silence him. This time, Starker clamped his mouth shut, but his whole body still writhed with subdued laughter. In no time, he was snickering again; it was contagious, and soon Tara King was howling with delight.
Abashed, Ludwig von Siegfried stormed out of the room, muttering something about "revenge." When Tara noticed how upset her captor was, she immediately stopped her laughing. However, she feared the damage was already done. Conrad Siegfried was determined to avenge his embarrassment if it killed him in the process.
Starker was full with glee at the prospect of being alone with Miss King. He casually wrapped an arm around the voluptuous Britt. "I have been vaiting for zis moment since I first laid eyes on you."
Tara shrugged the strong man's arm off, but the arm quickly found it's way around her again. "Starker, this may come as a relative shock, but I have no interest in you at all!"
"You are just playing hard to get, mein lieb, but zat can be expected from a beauteous and intelligent voman like you!" Starker leaned forward for a kiss but found nothing but air, since Tara had jumped up from the couch.
She headed for the door, but the incorrigible goon grabbed onto her multi-coloured scarf. She nearly gagged as she was pulled backwards into his arms. Tara King had known many suitors in her young life, but she had never predicted that an enemy agent would be smitten with her. As she struggled against Starker's hold, the impetuous thug began to sing a melody that she was quite familiar with. It was an old tune that Emma Peel had told her had been a favourite of a demented traitor, Max Prendergast.
Jedesmal, wenn ich wach bin, denk ich an dich
Meine Liebe, meine schöne Rose
Ich denk an dein Lächeln
Ich denk an deine Augen
Ich denk an die schönen Stunden.
Jedesmal, wenn wir küssen, bin ich hilflos
Meine Liebe, meine schöne Rose
Hilflos in deinen Armen
Hilflos bei deinem Charme (?)
Hilflos in deiner Nähe.
Ich bin ganz verliebt, ich liebe dich
Ich bin Sklave deiner Wünsche
Im Traum erscheinst du mir
Junge, zarte Rose.
Tara groaned as Starker finished the song, completely out of tune. He then twirled her around in order to plant an amorous kiss on her lips, but she evaded his mouth. With all her strength, she broke free from his grasp and fled to the other side of the room. Starker began to follow, but she circled the desk to the other side. Now they were opposite each other once more. They repeated this process four times, Starker shouting declarations of love, Miss King yelling words of desperation.
From inadequate nourishment, Tara was growing exhausted. She rounded the corner of the desk for the fifth time when she heard heavy footsteps advancing toward the room. In a moment, Siegfried was in the doorway glaring at his right-hand man.
In desperation, Tara flew to his side, shrieking, "Siegfried, save me from this madman!" She nestled herself into his outstretched arm and wrapped her own arms around his neck, as if holding on to him would anchor her down.
"Vhat is ze meaning of zis, Shtarker?" Conrad's voice commanded attention.
"I vas merely telling Fraulein King how much I love her-"
"Zis is KAOS," screeched Siegfried, "ve don't love here!"
"Actually, you can only love yourselves," Tara caustically interjected. Conrad stiffened at this cheeky retort, but he made no attempt to remove her arms from his neck.
After Ludwig spoke loudly in German, Starker reluctantly exited the room. Miss King slowly unwrapped herself from Siegfried and said, "I'm sorry for flying at you like that, but I wasn't thinking clearly." She added softly, "I'm sure your wife would be enraged if she knew a young woman like me was-"
Conrad interrupted her in a strange tone, "I have no wife; I made her up so I vould never have any silly KAOS girls trying to date me."
Tara felt as peculiar as Ludwig sounded, but she only answered, "You certainly have an eccentric way of doing things, Herr Siegfried." Suddenly, her stomach growled noisily, causing her to blush and Siegfried to raise an eyebrow. She pointed to the folder as she began, "Listen, it's a shame to let those recipes go to waste. Is it at all possible to make that special omelette I promised you?"
"Vell, zere is a shmall kitchen that I inshtalled in case I had to live here for a while, but I don't know vhat kind of food is in ze fridge."
Clutching the file in one hand and Siegfried in the other, Tara declared, "We'll improvise, OK?"
As Tara and Siegfried exited the office, Starker spotted his "love" holding hands with his boss, and jealousy gripped him. Why didn't she ever hold his hands affectionately? Starker disregarded the fact that Tara was dragging Siegfried to the kitchen, he protesting wildly while she tried to hush him. He entirely dismissed the idea that perhaps she was merely leading Conrad somewhere; all he saw was Tara clutching his boss.
Love had that effect on the dim-witted German. While some, like Emma Steed, were able to tolerate their significant other's flirting with member's of the opposite sex, Starker wanted Tara to pay attention only to him.
In a vindictive frame of mind, he called up the German motel he had recommended to the Steeds and Smarts. He had made up his mind to tell them that Siegfried was plotting a gruesome revenge, and if they had any common sense, they would not make any more negotiations with him. If the spies believed Starker, they would most assuredly not give Siegfried the papers, thus there would be nothing to trade for Tara. Then Starker would love and nurture her, making her fall madly in love with him.
It was a juvenile idea, but it was running through the simpleton's brain as he hurriedly phoned the sleazy motel. To his disheartenment, the Avengers and Smarts had checked out. His discouragement was assuaged in the next second when the desk clerk informed him they had left a message saying that if Siegfried called, he should phone them in England the next day.
Giddily, Starker hung up the phone. Soon he would be able to carry out his ingenious-to him-plan. He would avenger himself for Siegfried's mistreatment; Ludwig von Siegfried had taught his crony well.
In the fairly new kitchen, Tara was humming softly as she scoured the room for the right ingredients for Steed's omelette. Halfway through these procedures, she kicked off her stiletto-heeled shoes. Siegfried's eyes were drawn like a magnet to her shoes and then her nylons. He noticed a large run in them and wondered why he had allowed his prisoner to dress sophisticatedly.
He gazed at her long legs, realising for the first time how muscular they were. "Did you find the legs-I mean-eggs?" he stuttered.
Miss King turned from the icebox and gazed him bemusedly, but she nodded her head. "I think I found enough of the ingredients to make the omelette palatable. Now watch what I do, so you can make this meal on your own after I've gone." Agent King advanced toward the counter with the last several items, but she was staring so intently at the counter that she did not see her shoes in the middle of the floor. She stumbled, flailing her arms to balance and keep the food in her hands.
Siegfried muttered German words that most likely could be translated as, "clumsy oaf." He nimbly grabbed her by the waist, saving her from collapsing ungracefully. It was bizarre, but he had been told Miss King was a "chubby;" however, he found her waist toned but still extremely curvy.
Tara murmured her thanks before mixing several of the dry ingredients in a metal bowl. "One of the most important steps to becoming a great culinary chef is to not waste any food."
Ludwig was extremely perplexed as he repeated, "Vhat does a vaist have to do vith cooking?"
Miss King stifled a laugh before she asked, "Were you referring to a human's waist?" She wrapped her hands around his waist to indicate what she meant.
Siegfried peevishly yanked her hands off. "Your hands should stick to caressing-nein, nein-I meant to say cooking!" Siegfried swirled around so she wouldn't see him flush, but his neck was red, which defeated the purpose.
"You're getting a little confused!"
"I'm more zan a little confused, shweetie!" Abruptly, Siegfried did something he had never done on his own free will before: he raised his hands in defeat. "Why must I do such menial tasks? You cook ze omelette on you own!" Agitated beyond his normal capacity, he fled from the room.
Tara King, agent 69, wondered what had brought on the more than usually weird mannerisms. Face aflame-from the heat, she told herself-she prepared the meal in comparative tranquility.
Conrad stormed past his goon, but Starker called to him, "Un, Siegfried, what is Shteed's phone number?"
"Vhy; do you vant to ask Poppa Shteed for permission to marry his baby Tara?"
"Do you zink he'd give it to me?"
"Shtarker, I'm going to count to ten, unt if you are not on ze ozer side of ze building by zen, I vill zrow you zere, do you UNDERSHTAND?"
Pitiful Starker, rant to the shelter of Tara King, where he at once spouted his trials and tribulations. Tara paid absolutely zero attention until he revealed that he had wanted to call Steed but hadn't the number. She jerked forward and demanded, "Why do you want to call him?"
"To warn him zat Siegfried is planning to play unfairly after Shteed's little joke. Vhen Siegfried is zis infuriated, he vill kill anybody who gets in his vay!"
"You've got to call Steed right now!" Tara cried, entirely forgetting that they might not be home yet. She sobered as she said, "If they decide not to bargain for my freedom, I will have to escape. If this happens, will you help me with my plans, Starker?" The thug glanced at her, love-starved, but he reluctantly nodded his head.
Tara continued, "First, you phone them, while I distract Siegfried so he doesn't figure out that we're warning my friends."
"How vill you do zat, my darling Tara lieb?"
An exultant smile played upon her rose lips. "He'll be too distracted enjoying his delicious dinner."
To Be Continued!
English Translation for Mein Lieb, Mein Rose
Every time I'm awake, I think of you
My love, my beautiful rose
I think of your smile
I think of your eyes
I think of those happy hours.
Every time we kiss, I'm helpless
My love, my beautiful rose
Helpless in your arms
Helpless of your charms
Helpless when you're near.
I'm so in love, I love you
I'm the slave of your desires
You appear in my dreams
Young and tender rose.
With thanks to Holger Schmitz and David K. Smith.
