Interlude
Gertrude came out of the small wooden shed at the edge of the property with her foraging basket, when she glanced up and saw Odie standing near the north corner of the house. Setting the basket down beside the patio chair, she waved him over while she poured two cups of dandelion tea.
"My you're looking very nice today. You have a date in town?"
Odie affected a tight humorless smile, "Not today, I have more important matters to discuss with you."
"Bad news? Well perhaps it will be more enticing if ingested with some tea. Come and sit," she said, gesturing to a nearby chair. She waited until he had seated himself before she sat in the opposite chair. "I'm sorry there is no sugar. It is just impossible to get lately."
"No need to apologize," Odie replied grimacing at the bitter flavor. "I came because the Gestapo has stepped up their search for Maria."
"Did she reach the safe house in Malmö alright?"
"Yes, our contact there states if all goes well, she should be in England by the end of the month. What worries me at this point is the increased Gestapo presence in the area. I have been informed the cell in Düsseldorf has been broken and there have been many arrests."
Gertrude set down her cup and studied it for a moment before responding. "This is a great setback for us. Can we save anyone?"
"No, the Gestapo had been on to them for a while. They sat back and waited until they had identified all the members and then made the arrests in a single night. There was no way to alert anyone before the deed was done."
"We must be ever vigilant. That could have easily been us."
"You are very careful about security. Your use of code names within the group; varying our meeting spots; never having the entire crew on any single job in order to give alibis to our members for various operations."
"All the security in the world cannot defend against one lucky V-man," replied a distracted Gertrude.
"We all go into this knowing the risks and consequences. What is troubling you, buyer's remorse?"
"No, nothing like that, I just had a troubling dream last night," she replied taking a sip of her now cold tea.
"What was it about?"Odie asked.
"I dreamed I was in a large room and you were there, as was the young driver who brought me back to Stalag XIII after the kidnapping. I cannot recall his name."
"Langenscheidt, I believe."
"Yes, I think you are correct. Klink were also there. I was about to ask them what was going on, when I noticed the presence of my brother and an American POW, a Colonel Hogan. Just then, the door flew open and that odious Major Hochstetter stormed in yelling and demanding to know what everyone was doing there. Pandemonium erupted and everyone began talking all at once."
"What happened then?" he asked as he leaned closer to her, clearly intrigued by the story.
"Well it turns out I was at a spy convention and everyone there was a spy for the Allies, including Hochstetter. We sat around arguing about whom we were supposed to be spying on and if there was anyone who was not working for the Allies. It was a most unsettling dream, to say the least."
Odie threw back his head and laughed heartily. "You need to watch what you eat before bedtime."
"I'm glad you found humor in it. For me, I woke up in a cold sweat," Gertrude replied acerbically.
"If only life were so simple," he replied. "Then we could pretend all this suffering and sacrifice was just the imagination of some demented writer who had nothing better to do than to torment us."
"From your lips to God's ear," Gertrude chuckled. "Speaking of spies, I wanted to ask you about Papa Bear."
"What about him?"
"I was wondering about his identity." She saw the puzzled look on her friend's face and hurriedly continued. "I had a crazy idea after my kidnapping and I wanted you to confirm or debunk it for me. Just tell me if I'm right or wrong." She paused, looked at his raised eyebrow and was thankful of his silence. "I know this is going to sound impossible and insane but for a moment the thought passed through my mind that Papa Bear was Col….."
A loud barking at the front of the house interrupted Gertrude. Both she and Odie jumped to their feet as they heard a pistol discharge and watched as a small yelping dog ran into the backyard. Gertrude bent over and let the frightened three legged brindle and white mutt jump into her arms. Before she could ascertain if the dog was injured, a man in black surge stalked into the backyard with his pistol drawn.
"Major Hochstetter, what is the meaning of this?" Gertrude demanded.
Pointing at the dog in her arms, Hochstetter sputtered, "That beast attacked me."
"That beast, as you so eloquently put it, is my mother's dog, Dreibeinigen." Gertrude turned slightly and addressed Odie standing next to her. "She rescued him when he was a two-week-old puppy from a storm drain. A heavy rainfall had drowned his mother and littermates. The water forced him to be wedged into a narrow pipe with his head barely above the water. She heard his cries and with a neighbor's help, was able to free him. His front leg was severely injured and the vet had to amputate it. She spent weeks nursing him back to health and he has been her loyal companion for the last twelve years. He usually never leaves her lap so I cannot understand how he got outside."
"Bah, the mongrel attacked me when I opened the front door," Hochstetter barked, still waving his pistol for emphasis.
"Opened the front door?" The chill Gertrude's voice would have frozen any other man in his place but Hochstetter seemed immune from her frosty wraith.
"Yes, I came by to discuss your kidnapping in further detail. I knocked several times and when no one answered, I opened the door. That was when that thing launched itself at me and I did what I had to protect myself. I am just sorry I missed the oversized rat."
"A glorious officer of the Third Reich thought himself at peril from a dog that weighs less than five kilos?" Odie remarked with forged innocence.
Hochstetter blinked and regarded Odie for a moment, as if he had just noticed Frau Linkmeyer was not alone. He clicked his boots together and gave Odie a formal bow. Leering like a villain in a silent movie, the Major looked up at the towering Amazon and said, "I do not believe I have had the pleasure of an introduction."
Gertrude glanced at her coconspirator and smiled, "This is a good friend of mine from my days in Berlin, Frau Christa Frobel. Christa, this is Major Hochstetter of the local Gestapo. She, like me, has lost her husband in the Eastern Campaign."
"Tragic about your husband Frau Frobel," replied Hochstetter with a calculating glint in his eye. "How long are we to be graced by your beauty?"
"Not long Major, I have to return to my family shortly. Gertrude was kind enough to give me some respite from the city."
"Yes, you will check in with the local office today? With all the sabotage in the area, we need to keep our honest and most beautiful citizens safe."
"Of course Major," Odie demurred.
Gertrude rolled her eyes and suppressed the bile that was rising in her throat. Hochstetter had the sex appeal of a bloated whale carcass. In an effort to divert his attention from her companion, Gertrude took the major to task for intruding where he was not welcome. "Returning to topic Major, you thought since no one answered your knock, you had the right to break into my home and attempt to murder my mother's dog?"
"That dog is a menace and should be put down," Hochstetter growled.
"That dog is the only protection two widows have in these troubled times Major. I know my brother will be very distressed to hear about this incident."
Hochstetter paled, "Please Gnädig Frau, I don't think troubling your brother will be necessary. Let's just chalk this up to a little misunderstanding between friends."
The man made her skin crawl and the sooner he was gone, the happier she would be. "What about the kidnapping did you want to know?"
"Any small piece of information you have, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. The smallest detail often provides the key to the puzzle."
"I have told you all I know. If it will ease your mind, I will go over the events again with you but not here. My mother does not know what happened and I prefer to keep it that way. Her health is not good and I do not want to upset her," replied Gertrude. "I will call your office and set up a time for me to come in and talk to you."
"Very good, I will wait to hear from you." Hochstetter glanced down and saw his pistol was still in his hand. A crimson shade appeared in the man's cheeks as he hastily holstered the weapon. Saluting the women, Hochstetter turned and walked to where he had left his vehicle.
Gertrude turned and looked at Odie. "It is snowing in the south."
"Pardon?" a perplexed Odie responded.
"Your slip, it's showing," replied Gertrude as she motioned to the helm of Odie's skirt.
"Was that showing the entire time Major Hochstetter was here?" Odie replied with a touch of alarm in his voice.
"I am afraid so. Word is out now, Odie. You are just a cheap floozy."
Both Odie and Gertrude began to laugh, grateful for the relief in tension that the Major had brought with him. When they had finished laughing a sobering thought occurred to Gertrude. "I wonder why Mama didn't answer the door."
"Maybe she has good taste or maybe she simply had dozed off and did not hear him."
Gertrude considered the small whimpering dog in her arms. "Maybe, but it is not like Drei to leave her. She hand feeds this dog. He never leaves her side. I have a bad feeling. I do not want to go inside."
"I think you may be inviting trouble. I'm sure everything is fine."
With hesitant steps, Gertrude walked toward the back door, followed closely by Odie. Her hand shook as she turned the doorknob. As she opened the door, the dog began to fidget and his whimpers turned to a mournful whine. Stepping into the kitchen, she could see her mother sitting in the living room. The radio played softly next to her.
"See," whispered Odie, "she is sleeping."
Gertrude took a step and stopped. "M-Mama?" When there was no answer, she set the dog down on the floor, never taking her eyes off her mother. Straightening up, she said in a slightly louder voice, "Mama, a-are you a-awake?" There was no movement or response. She could hear the clicking of Drei's nails on the linoleum as he hurried to his mistress's side. Sitting at her feet, he began to howl desolately. Gertrude tried to move but she felt as if her feet were encased in cement. Odie brushed past her and checked Frau Burkhalter's pulse. He looked up at her, his eyes reflecting the truth of the moment. Gertrude crumbled onto the kitchen floor and began to cry. Odie sat down next to his friend and held her as she cried her heart out into his faux bosom. When there seemed to be no more tears left in Gertrude, Odie got up and made the phone call to General Burkhalter.
Sitting there on the kitchen floor, Gertrude felt lost and alone. She thought she was ready for her mother's passing. Her mother was eighty and her health had not been good for several years now. She had thought herself prepared for this moment. However, the reality of it was, no matter how hard you tried to prepare yourself, it is always a shock when death finally comes.
Somewhere in the mental fog she had fallen into, she realized her hand was wet and glanced down at it to see the sad eyes of Drei as he licked her hand. Gently she picked him up and sat him in her lap. He placed his head on her arm and stared up at her forlornly. Burying her face into the small dog's neck, she began to cry again.
Next: Watch the Trains Go By
a/n:
Malmö is a city on the southern tip of Sweden, which was a neutral country during the war.
V-man was slang for an undercover Gestapo agent.
Yes, Gertrude's dream was a shout out to all the FFN writers whose stories I enjoy so much.
Dreibeinigen means three-legged, drei =three and bein = bone/leg. (Thank you my friend Ken Malloy, who lives in Schönau, Bayern, Germany, for your assistance.)
1 kilogram is equal to 2.2 pounds so the dog weighed approximately ten pounds.
