The fourth day had Max waking up feeling stronger.
His shoulder was healing nicely and his head no longer ached. He wasn't
about to lie in that bed any longer. Careful not to alert Katrina to his
getting out of bed, quietly he tip-toed to the closet to find some clothes.
Over near the far end he noticed some clothes that belonged to Katrina's
husband. He grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt and proceeded to get
dressed. The clothes were a close fit except the pants, which were a tad
longer in length. Max slowly opened the bedroom door to find Katrina
standing by the stove in the kitchen making breakfast. Carefully stepping
one foot out, the floor creaked alerting Katrina to turn around.
"What are you doing out of bed?" she scolded him
Max held up his hand and walked over to her.
"I've been laying in that bed for the last three days, I need to get up and start moving around"
Katrina looked at Max with a suspicious eye.
"I really feel better.", Max said stating his case, ".and my shoulder is not too bad"
Katrina knew he was right, "I can't keep you in that bed forever, you should start moving around, get your blood circulating.
Max hitched up his pants, "I hope you don't mind."he said referring to her husband's clothes.
Katrina gave him the once over, "They look fine on you." Katrina's thoughts somehow shifted. Seeing Max in the clothes brought back thoughts of her husband. "Breakfast is almost ready," she said shaking it off.
Max sat down at the table, "Thought I'd help you today."
Katrina looked at him awkwardly, "Help me do what?"
"You know, farm stuff. chores."
Katrina shook her head, "You're not well enough to be doing anything strenuous, you're lucky I let you get out of bed"
"There must be something I can do that doesn't require too much strain." Max pleaded.
Katrina put her finger to her chin and started to tap it, "Do you know how to milk a cow?" she inquired.
Max thought for a moment "Well. I don't know if I do or don't"
Katrina looked Max over and shook her head, "probably not, but It's not too hard, and you can do it sitting down"
Max got excited with the prospect of giving back some of the kindness she had been pouring over him for the last few days.
Katrina brought eggs and bacon to the table, "You sit and eat and after you're finished come out to the barn"
Max hurried through breakfast, did the dishes and proceeded to head to the barn. Katrina was over by the cows when Max walked in.
"So. which one of these lucky cows gets to be milked." Max announced as he rocked back on his heels.
"Over here" Katrina said as she led Max over to her favorite bovine. "This is Hilda and she is the one you'll be milking. Let me show you."
Max took the stool from Katrina, "No need, I think I can handle this." he said confidently.
Katrina stood for a moment wondering if this was such a good idea figuring he couldn't get into too much trouble unless Helga kicked him. but she conceded, "Ok, I'll be back soon to see how you're doing"
Max waved to Katrina as she walked out then approached the heifer and prodded at the udders. "What the hell do I do?" He asked, not loud enough for Katrina to hear. He grabbed one of the teats and pulled towards him. A stream of milk shot out and landed on his face.
"Ah, that's what you do." He said, wiping his face. Max sat down on the stool in front of him and began to milk the cow, only no milk came out. "Hmmmm, now what did I do the last time that got the milk out." Max's hands grabbed on again began to yank and pull. Hilda let out a huge moo. "Sorry about that, but if you'll just put up with me for a few more minutes, I think I can get this down."
Katrina came back in after a half-hour to see Max struggling. She tapped him on the back, "How are we doing?"
"Ahhh.. " Max looked in the pail then looked sadly up "I think she ran dry"
Katrina checked the pail to find less than a 1/4 cup of milk inside. Max got off the stool and Katrina sat down. She began to milk the cow. "See? That's how you do it Eric. Now you try."
She placed her hands on top of his as she guided Max to a smooth pulling and squeezing rhythm of the teat. Suddenly, Max's felt his heart start to beat faster and his pulse started to race with her so close to him. He started to panic and raised up, catching his foot in the stool. Max was thrown off balance taking him and Katrina back onto the pile of hay behind them. They lay there a moment, tangled and laughing.
Max suddenly stopped laughing as he looked into her face. Katrina looked back up into his eyes and didn't say anything. He rolled over on top of her and kissed her deeply.
The kiss caught her by surprise; not because she never thought he'd kiss her, but because he did it a lot sooner than she anticipated. Her hands went up around his shoulders and pulled him closer to her, crushing herself against him, body to body. The two clung to each other tightly and moved against each other in heated movements.
Max kissed her with all the fire and passion of a man in love. These thoughts were soon pushed away by an overwhelming sense of déjà vu that came over him. Max quickly broke the kiss. Sitting up, he tried desperately to remember what it was that caused him to stop.
"Eric?" she was looking at him questioningly, beseechingly.
Max looked over at her, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have." Max held his head in his hands, "I'm so confused Katrina, I keep getting images of things, of people, but it's like they're out of focus, I can't see them properly and when they're just about to come into focus they disappear."
Katrina accepted the fact that there must be someone in his life for him to suddenly back away and for the time being it was just out of his reach. As much as she was falling in love with Max, she couldn't allow herself to become emotionally attached to him. His memory would at sometime return and the let down would be devastating to her, should she allow it to continue. She got up and brushed the hay off her skirt, "Its alright Eric, I understand. I need to get ready to go into the village. It's going to take about an hour to get there. Would you mind hitching up the horses?"
Max nodded, his mind still thinking of the situation that just occurred.
Katrina quickly walked out of the barn leaving Max alone with his thoughts.
******************************************
The drive taking the Chief and 99 to the site was a long and quiet one. 99 didn't say much, just looking out the window, while the Chief sat idly by not wanting to engage in small talk just for the sake of doing it. After a two-hour drive they finally arrived at the site. There were many unmarked cars in the area parked off the road with armed guards just at the edge of the forest. As the Chief exited the car, a rather portly gentleman walked up to him. "I am Helmut Knoff, Chief of the CONTROL sector in Hamburg." he said as he extended his hand in greeting. The Chief gave him a bold shake, "Have you reached the plane?
"Yes, my men have been going through the area for the last hour. Found one body, nasty shape, starting to decompose. Been dead for four days. There is not much left to ID."
99 turned her head in disgust as she heard the gruesome details.
The Chief cut him off, "Mr. Knoff, this is Mrs. Smart"
Knoff gritted his teeth not realizing who she was, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry frauline, forgive my poor manners"
99 nodded as she held on to the Chief's arm to steady herself.
"How far in is the plane?" the Chief asked.
"A good half hour walk in, we should get started." Knoff replied.
The Chief turned to 99, "I don't think you should go in, stay in the car 99, why do this to yourself."
99 wouldn't hear of it as she shook her head, "No Chief, I have to know and if need be, see for myself."
No matter what the Chief could have said or done, 99 made up her mind to go with him.
The walk in proved to be a bit tricky but the workers had helped clear a path to the site so it wasn't too difficult. Through a clearing, the Chief and 99 could see the crumpled remains of the plane. As they approached, 99 could see a body with a sheet draped over it. She stopped in her tracks as her feet refused to go any further. "I'll take a look 99, sit here and rest" the Chief said as he walked her over and sat her down on a log.
Knoff and the Chief approached the sheet draped figure, "One body found, inside the cockpit. Lots of blood. My men are combing the area looking for other bodies. But this is the only one so far."
The Chief walked up to the body. Pulling the sheet back, the Chief studied the man and gave a sigh of relief. He looked over to 99 and nodded giving her the sign that it was not Max. This gave 99 a renewed strength to come closer to the plane. As she walked up to the cabin she looked in and noticed the blood along the wall of the cabin. She cringed at the thought of it being Max's blood.
Suddenly from up-slope one of the workers yelled something in German. He raced down with a black wallet and handed it to Knoff. Opening the wallet, Knoff inspected it and walked down to hand it to the Chief.
"Your man?" Knoff asked.
The Chief nodded at its contents. The wallet contained Max's Control ID card.
Another worker waved for the three to join him by a tree. "Blood stains" the worker yelled in German.
They all ran over and saw an ample amount of blood smeared down the trunk of the tree.
"One of two things," Knoff said as he looked around the area, "Either he's alive and somehow made it down to the road to be rescued or he's dead and the wolves carried his body off.
99 gave a bitter look once again to Knoff.
Knoff winced at his fauxpas, "Again, my apologies Mrs. Smart'
The Chief patted 99's arm with reassurance, "Lets say he did make it to the road and someone rescued him, how many farms in this area?"
The portly man thought for a moment, "About 8 or 9"
"Ok, If he did make it out of here, we need to check those farms, he could be at one of them."
Knoff nodded, "Yes, that's possible. The farms are spread out but I think we can cover them by today."
99 gave an optimistic look toward the Chief, "Oh, Chief I know in my heart he's alive, I just know it." "99, its worth a shot but I don't want you to get your hopes up too much. just in case we're wrong."
To be continued..
"What are you doing out of bed?" she scolded him
Max held up his hand and walked over to her.
"I've been laying in that bed for the last three days, I need to get up and start moving around"
Katrina looked at Max with a suspicious eye.
"I really feel better.", Max said stating his case, ".and my shoulder is not too bad"
Katrina knew he was right, "I can't keep you in that bed forever, you should start moving around, get your blood circulating.
Max hitched up his pants, "I hope you don't mind."he said referring to her husband's clothes.
Katrina gave him the once over, "They look fine on you." Katrina's thoughts somehow shifted. Seeing Max in the clothes brought back thoughts of her husband. "Breakfast is almost ready," she said shaking it off.
Max sat down at the table, "Thought I'd help you today."
Katrina looked at him awkwardly, "Help me do what?"
"You know, farm stuff. chores."
Katrina shook her head, "You're not well enough to be doing anything strenuous, you're lucky I let you get out of bed"
"There must be something I can do that doesn't require too much strain." Max pleaded.
Katrina put her finger to her chin and started to tap it, "Do you know how to milk a cow?" she inquired.
Max thought for a moment "Well. I don't know if I do or don't"
Katrina looked Max over and shook her head, "probably not, but It's not too hard, and you can do it sitting down"
Max got excited with the prospect of giving back some of the kindness she had been pouring over him for the last few days.
Katrina brought eggs and bacon to the table, "You sit and eat and after you're finished come out to the barn"
Max hurried through breakfast, did the dishes and proceeded to head to the barn. Katrina was over by the cows when Max walked in.
"So. which one of these lucky cows gets to be milked." Max announced as he rocked back on his heels.
"Over here" Katrina said as she led Max over to her favorite bovine. "This is Hilda and she is the one you'll be milking. Let me show you."
Max took the stool from Katrina, "No need, I think I can handle this." he said confidently.
Katrina stood for a moment wondering if this was such a good idea figuring he couldn't get into too much trouble unless Helga kicked him. but she conceded, "Ok, I'll be back soon to see how you're doing"
Max waved to Katrina as she walked out then approached the heifer and prodded at the udders. "What the hell do I do?" He asked, not loud enough for Katrina to hear. He grabbed one of the teats and pulled towards him. A stream of milk shot out and landed on his face.
"Ah, that's what you do." He said, wiping his face. Max sat down on the stool in front of him and began to milk the cow, only no milk came out. "Hmmmm, now what did I do the last time that got the milk out." Max's hands grabbed on again began to yank and pull. Hilda let out a huge moo. "Sorry about that, but if you'll just put up with me for a few more minutes, I think I can get this down."
Katrina came back in after a half-hour to see Max struggling. She tapped him on the back, "How are we doing?"
"Ahhh.. " Max looked in the pail then looked sadly up "I think she ran dry"
Katrina checked the pail to find less than a 1/4 cup of milk inside. Max got off the stool and Katrina sat down. She began to milk the cow. "See? That's how you do it Eric. Now you try."
She placed her hands on top of his as she guided Max to a smooth pulling and squeezing rhythm of the teat. Suddenly, Max's felt his heart start to beat faster and his pulse started to race with her so close to him. He started to panic and raised up, catching his foot in the stool. Max was thrown off balance taking him and Katrina back onto the pile of hay behind them. They lay there a moment, tangled and laughing.
Max suddenly stopped laughing as he looked into her face. Katrina looked back up into his eyes and didn't say anything. He rolled over on top of her and kissed her deeply.
The kiss caught her by surprise; not because she never thought he'd kiss her, but because he did it a lot sooner than she anticipated. Her hands went up around his shoulders and pulled him closer to her, crushing herself against him, body to body. The two clung to each other tightly and moved against each other in heated movements.
Max kissed her with all the fire and passion of a man in love. These thoughts were soon pushed away by an overwhelming sense of déjà vu that came over him. Max quickly broke the kiss. Sitting up, he tried desperately to remember what it was that caused him to stop.
"Eric?" she was looking at him questioningly, beseechingly.
Max looked over at her, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have." Max held his head in his hands, "I'm so confused Katrina, I keep getting images of things, of people, but it's like they're out of focus, I can't see them properly and when they're just about to come into focus they disappear."
Katrina accepted the fact that there must be someone in his life for him to suddenly back away and for the time being it was just out of his reach. As much as she was falling in love with Max, she couldn't allow herself to become emotionally attached to him. His memory would at sometime return and the let down would be devastating to her, should she allow it to continue. She got up and brushed the hay off her skirt, "Its alright Eric, I understand. I need to get ready to go into the village. It's going to take about an hour to get there. Would you mind hitching up the horses?"
Max nodded, his mind still thinking of the situation that just occurred.
Katrina quickly walked out of the barn leaving Max alone with his thoughts.
******************************************
The drive taking the Chief and 99 to the site was a long and quiet one. 99 didn't say much, just looking out the window, while the Chief sat idly by not wanting to engage in small talk just for the sake of doing it. After a two-hour drive they finally arrived at the site. There were many unmarked cars in the area parked off the road with armed guards just at the edge of the forest. As the Chief exited the car, a rather portly gentleman walked up to him. "I am Helmut Knoff, Chief of the CONTROL sector in Hamburg." he said as he extended his hand in greeting. The Chief gave him a bold shake, "Have you reached the plane?
"Yes, my men have been going through the area for the last hour. Found one body, nasty shape, starting to decompose. Been dead for four days. There is not much left to ID."
99 turned her head in disgust as she heard the gruesome details.
The Chief cut him off, "Mr. Knoff, this is Mrs. Smart"
Knoff gritted his teeth not realizing who she was, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry frauline, forgive my poor manners"
99 nodded as she held on to the Chief's arm to steady herself.
"How far in is the plane?" the Chief asked.
"A good half hour walk in, we should get started." Knoff replied.
The Chief turned to 99, "I don't think you should go in, stay in the car 99, why do this to yourself."
99 wouldn't hear of it as she shook her head, "No Chief, I have to know and if need be, see for myself."
No matter what the Chief could have said or done, 99 made up her mind to go with him.
The walk in proved to be a bit tricky but the workers had helped clear a path to the site so it wasn't too difficult. Through a clearing, the Chief and 99 could see the crumpled remains of the plane. As they approached, 99 could see a body with a sheet draped over it. She stopped in her tracks as her feet refused to go any further. "I'll take a look 99, sit here and rest" the Chief said as he walked her over and sat her down on a log.
Knoff and the Chief approached the sheet draped figure, "One body found, inside the cockpit. Lots of blood. My men are combing the area looking for other bodies. But this is the only one so far."
The Chief walked up to the body. Pulling the sheet back, the Chief studied the man and gave a sigh of relief. He looked over to 99 and nodded giving her the sign that it was not Max. This gave 99 a renewed strength to come closer to the plane. As she walked up to the cabin she looked in and noticed the blood along the wall of the cabin. She cringed at the thought of it being Max's blood.
Suddenly from up-slope one of the workers yelled something in German. He raced down with a black wallet and handed it to Knoff. Opening the wallet, Knoff inspected it and walked down to hand it to the Chief.
"Your man?" Knoff asked.
The Chief nodded at its contents. The wallet contained Max's Control ID card.
Another worker waved for the three to join him by a tree. "Blood stains" the worker yelled in German.
They all ran over and saw an ample amount of blood smeared down the trunk of the tree.
"One of two things," Knoff said as he looked around the area, "Either he's alive and somehow made it down to the road to be rescued or he's dead and the wolves carried his body off.
99 gave a bitter look once again to Knoff.
Knoff winced at his fauxpas, "Again, my apologies Mrs. Smart'
The Chief patted 99's arm with reassurance, "Lets say he did make it to the road and someone rescued him, how many farms in this area?"
The portly man thought for a moment, "About 8 or 9"
"Ok, If he did make it out of here, we need to check those farms, he could be at one of them."
Knoff nodded, "Yes, that's possible. The farms are spread out but I think we can cover them by today."
99 gave an optimistic look toward the Chief, "Oh, Chief I know in my heart he's alive, I just know it." "99, its worth a shot but I don't want you to get your hopes up too much. just in case we're wrong."
To be continued..
