Unfair Exchange: Kidnapped!

In the dark, Gertrude saw two men standing in the road attempting to wave her down. She slowed the car to a stop. The men, wearing ill-fitting Luftwaffe uniforms, approached her. "Evening Ma'am," said the taller of the two.

"Evening, what's the trouble?" responded Gertrude, hoping to keep her panic out of her voice. Maybe I can bluff my way out of this. She knew the penalty for not having her identity papers with her. Being General Burkhalter's sister, she probably be released with a stern reprimand but in these times, there were no guarantees. She shivered inside her coat but it had nothing to do with the cool evening air.

"No trouble, just a routine check. Your papers please."

"I do not carry papers. I am Frau Linkmeyer, General Burkhalter's sister," she said in a vain hope to intimidate them into letting her pass. At that point, Gertrude saw that things were starting to go downhill fast. The soldiers clearly did not believe her and went as far as to openly mock her. Her arguing with them only led to her being forcibly removed from the car in order for them to search it. As she stood there fussing at the men, she realized something was amiss. Not only were they not following established protocol but also they did not have any back up or a way to call for assistance. She was about to try and make a run for it when a smelly burlap sack was thrown over her head, blinding her, and her arms were roughly tied behind her back. She continued to struggle with the men and began to scream for help. Something hard struck the back of her head. Falling to her knees, she blacked out.

When she awoke, she found herself blindfolded and tied to a chair. Disoriented, she tried her best to get her bearings. She willed herself to remain calm and tried to detect any noises or smells which might give her a clue as to where she was. She first noticed a chilly draft coming from her right. She thought she detected the smell of burning kerosene. There was a cold dampness to the place but she did not catch the scent of mold. She moved her feet discreetly, as not to gain the attention of anyone who might be watching her. She heard the soft sound of shifting sand. She wondered if she might be in a cave or perhaps a root cellar.

"Hello is anyone there?" she called out. Nothing. This did not mean she was alone, it just could mean they wanted to conceal their presence for the moment. She feared that her role in the underground had been discovered and this was the beginning of a long and brutal Gestapo interrogation. Of course, it could be an enemy of her brother or an unknown partisan group. Both opinions were equally dangerous. She felt her throat go dry with all the possibilities. Summoning all of her courage, she decided to play the innocent until she could gather more information.

She tried to shift, unsuccessfully, in the chair. Her nose itched and she was unable to scratch it. It was starting to drive her mad. She wondered if this was the start of the questioning. Leave her blind, helpless and alone with her thoughts in order to soften her up. The imagination could be the torture's greatest tool. By leaving someone to contemplate their predicament, a person could come up with numerous hideous scenarios as to what was going to happen, with each being worse than the one before. She thought about the reports of girls as young as thirteen and women as old as seventy being raped and murdered by the advancing Red army. She had heard that it had nothing to do with sex but was an act of sheer violence. If that were true, she knew her plain looks or age would not save her. She felt vulnerable and frightened.

She could not gauge how long she sat there before hearing the muted crunch of sand as someone came near her.

"Evening Frau Linkmeyer," a voice said to her.

"Who are you? Where am I? What do you want with me?"

"All in good time my lady."

He said, 'my lady'. Does he know my code name within my cell or was that just a turn of phrase that meant nothing? She fought back the rising panic and struggled to remain calm.

"Are you hungry?"

"No," she replied. She could not decide if this was a trick or a genuine offer of food. It could be poisoned or drugged for all she knew. Was the offer a way for her captors to gain her trust? She wondered how long she could hold out without food or water. Her stomach growled, betraying the fact she had not eaten since lunch.

"You are hungry. I will get you something. Do not worry it is not poisoned. If everything goes well, you will be home soon."

"Why am I here? What do you want?"

"A simple trade, you for Maria Hoffman. It is all right, you are safe. We will not hurt you. If we did, then we hurt our chances of a successful exchange. I will come back with some food for you." She listened as the soft footsteps retreated until they disappeared, leaving her only with the sound of her ragged breath.

Is it Papa Bear's people or is it the Gestapo trying to get me to incriminate myself? I am going to have pretend to know nothing and hope what He is telling me is the truth.

By the time He came back, her back and arms had begun to cramp. She hoped He would be generous and untie her hands but He chose to feed her himself instead. To take her mind off her discomfort, she decided to try to feel Him out so she could get as much information about her situation as possible.

She felt a spoon touch her lips and tasted what He offered her. It was oatmeal with a bit of sugar and milk. It was a simple but expensive meal.

"Mmmm, this is good," Gertrude said in an effort to get on the good side of her captor.

"Thank-you."

"I will give you money when I am free." She hoped that her attempt at a bribe would gain her some information.

"Thank-you."

"Where am I? Where is this place?"

"You're in a hotel in Dusseldorf," He said.

"But it is so damp in here, I feel like I'm in a cellar."

"Well it is one of the cheaper rooms. It's good. Yes?"

The sound of crunching sand alerted her that someone else had arrived and stood near her. She thought she could hear two sets of footsteps but could not be sure. "Who is that? Someone just came into the room."

"That is just the chambermaid. Good day Gretchen, don't bother to clean the room now. Good bye."

"She didn't answer you."

In a hushed voice He replied, "Her husband doesn't let her talking to strangers. There," He said as he fed her another mouth full.

She continued to eat but pondered He had said. If they worked together then they couldn't be strangers and wouldn't a maid who come upon a scene of a woman tied up in a chair blindfolded, raise an alarm?

The ringing of a phone right next to her startled her.

"Excuse me please, the telephone."

She heard Him get up and take a few steps.

"Hello, yes this is Heinrich. What? Well I can't help that room service is getting busy. No I'm still feeding the woman in four one two. Yeah, yeah, as soon as possible. Good bye."

"That room service. They're crazy, they think I'm twins," he said as he continued to feed her.

What kind of nonsense is this? Does he really expect me to believe the whole hotel is in on the kidnapping? I best play along and act as if I am a twit who does not know what is going on around her. "So I am in room four one two, aye?"

"Ah, it slipped out. Don't tell the boss, he'll kill me."

"But what hotel is this?"

"Sweetheart, sweetheart, I can't tell you everything."

Gertrude thought about what she had learned. She was certain Papa Bear had kidnapped her and he was feeding her information he wanted her brother to know. A red herring, so the Gestapo will look in one place, while Maria escapes from another. Now that she knew the role she was to play in this theater production, she was finally able to relax.

Soon, she became very sleepy. So the food had been drugged, she thought as she tried to fight its effects. She woke up in a car, blindfolded and gaged. Was she wrong? Was it really the Gestapo all this time? Had she inadvertently given something away? Forced from the car, she was dragged into what smelled like a barn and shoved roughly down into a chair. She listened as the footsteps retreated and a nearby door locked. She strained her ears trying to listen for any sound or movement but she heard nothing.

After a while, she thought she heard wood scraping on wood. She sat up straighter and gave the mystery sound her full attention.

"Anybody home? Anybody here? It's me, Feldwebel Schultzie."

Schultz! Gertrude began trying to scream for help through the gag. She heard the door unlock and it open.

"Oh excuse me, I got a letter from…..Frau Linkmeyer, I thought you were kidnapped. Frau Linkmeyer, you are kidnapped! Oh Frau Linkmeyer you are kidnapped! Frau Linkmeyer!"

She felt Schultz begin to untie her. She had never been so grateful to see anyone in her life as she did right now. Finally free and able to see, she threw her arms around the large guard, as he helped her to her feet.

"They kept me in some terrible hotel in Dusseldorf. How did you know I was here, Schultz?"

"I came to see a lady, Wilma Braun?" She noted the flowers and wine Schultz was carrying and realized he had been manipulated into being a part of Papa Bear's plan. She felt her anger rising.

"They could have killed me!"

Schultz must have come to the same conclusion regarding his fool's errand. "Terrible and I spent so much on flowers and on wine," he said sadly.

A voice she hated suddenly sounded from outside the barn. "Attention, this is the Gestapo. The building is surrounded. Give yourselves up. You have no chance to get away."

That idiot will get us all killed. There has never been a man as trigger happy as Hochstetter. Schultz must have realized it also. She could see the terror in the big man's eyes. She could hear voices outside arguing. She thought it must be her brother and Klink.

"I order you to send out Frau Linkmeyer alone," demanded Hochstetter.

Sensing the extreme danger they both were in, Gertrude said, "Oh, oh, I will do as he says. I will go out first and then you follow Schultz."

"No, no, no, no, no! They will think I kidnapped you," cried a frightened Schultz.

"Ah, don't be silly. I will explain."

"Oh boy that's real trouble."

Before she could reply, a spray of bullets filled the barn. Schultz grabbed her and threw them both to the ground. Knowing that the Major was certifiable and would happily kill everyone in the barn, friend and foe alike, Gertrude jumped up and ran outside and into the waiting arms of her brother. Just as she feared, Hochstetter began firing randomly into the barn.

"Stop, Schultz is in there!"

When the shooting stopped, Gertrude was relieved to see Schultz was bruised but unharmed. Stupid thoughtless stunts like this made her despise Hochstetter. He never cared about the body count as long as he got the man or woman he was after.

General Burkhalter ordered Klink to drive her back to camp while he and the Major searched for the kidnappers. As she walked towards the car, she thought she saw movement in the bushes near the tree line but it was too dark to make out whom it was. Klink sat in the back seat with her and ordered the driver to return to camp.

Now that she was no longer in danger, the emotions that she had suppressed came to the surface and she began to cry. Klink sat next to her, stiff and silent. As her cries became louder, he began to pat her shoulder and tell her everything was all right. When that did not work, he ordered Langenscheidt to stop the car. Afraid she was about to be ordered from the car, Gertrude tried to stop the tears, only to end up crying harder and having a bad case of the hic ups.

Klink got out, walked around the car and opened her door. He leaned down and extended his hand.

"I will behave Kommandant; please don't make me walk back to camp."

"Give me your hand, Gertrude."

Surprised by his use of her first name, Frau Linkmeyer did as he asked. After helping her to her feet, he spoke to the driver, "Langenscheidt, keep the motor running. We are going for a walk but will not go far." Placing his arm around her waist, Klink began to walk slowly up the road.

"I do not understand Kommandant," Gertrude said looking up at Klink with her red-splotched face.

"When I am bothered or plagued by memories best forgotten, I like to take a walk at night when the air is crisp and clean. Much like it is tonight. It helps to clear my mind and settle my emotions. Besides, you should not let the enlisted see you in that condition. They like to talk about those of higher rank or status."

"So the young man driving will tell everyone I broke down and cried?"

"No, unlike most of the others of similar rank, Langenscheidt is the soul of discretion," Klink replied.

She suddenly felt drained and exhausted. She laid her head on his shoulder as they continued to walk. He was right, the night air did help clear her head and settle her nerves.

"So it was the underground that had me, not the Gestapo."

She heard Klink laugh nervously. "Now why would you believe the Gestapo had you? You're General Burkhalter's sister."

"Albert has his enemies, besides you know the Gestapo loves to execute Generals. It keeps them on Hitler's good side." Gertrude's hand flew to her mouth. She knew her words had been ill-advised. She looked up to see Klink looking at her with a puzzled expression. "I'm sorry, I am so overwrought, I don't know what I am saying."

Klink looked out into the darkness, paused a moment and then turned around and started walking back towards the car. "It is alright, I have no love for the Gestapo either. Just hearing their name starts my bones to rattling."

"Why? What happened, Wilhelm?"

He shook his head and refused to meet her eyes. "Let's just say, I had an up close and personal meeting with the Gestapo once."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault Frau Linkmeyer." Klink paused as if to consider his next words. "I owe you an apology."

"For what?" she asked.

"When I am nervous, or scared, or even awake, I tend to babble. I lose the ability to choose my words before I say them. While you were missing, I said some unkind things. Made jokes at your expense and I am sorry."

"Why are you telling me this? I probably never would have found out about it."

"Because it was unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen and more importantly, it was unkind and insensitive of me and I am sorry."

Gertrude smiled into his great coat. Klink had shown her a side of him tonight that she suspected few ever witnessed. This man might be foolish at times but he did possess a heart. For some reason, that made her happy.

Pausing before the car lights, he looked down at her. "Your brother will be worried. Would you like to get into the car now or take another lap?"

"Another lap, if you don't mind, Kommandant."

Later back at camp, she sat next to Klink while Hochstetter threw his wild accusations around. When he began to accuse Klink, she rose to his defense. Hogan was there with his pity remarks. Something tickled the back of her brain. A voice she heard when she was first waking up. It had been distant and only a few words but it seemed familiar. What made her think of it now, she wondered.

Albert walked her to the car, as she settled into the back seat; a young man approached the vehicle.

"Good morning Frau Linkmeyer. I am glad to see you are well and free of those brigands."

"Thank you Leutnant…."

"Bergman," the young officer supplied. "I brought you some sandwiches from the mess hall for your trip home. I am told the cheese on black bread is especially good today."

She smiled understanding the message. "Thank you for your kindness. I will remember to mention it to Klink the next time I see him."

"Thank you," he said as he moved away from the car to resume his duties.

Gertrude felt the car rock as her brother climbed in beside her and watched as the front gates opened to let them exit the compound. She reached over and took her brother's hand. Wordlessly he squeezed it and she smiled. She was free and she was going home. Could the day get any better?

Next: Interlude

A/n:

Before someone writes and says Hogan would never strike a woman, let me place this before you. Gertrude knew the Heroes or at least Hogan. They had to get her blindfolded and to do so; they would have to take the bag off her head. When they did this, she would be able to see them and therefore be able to identify them. Secondly, they had to get her into the tunnels and convince her that she was in a hotel in Dusseldorf. Having her climb down a ladder would seriously compromise the illusion they were trying to create. While Hogan may have regretted hitting a woman, it was unavoidable.