Chapter 5: Andor Dalen

Andor came back with them to the motel, where they met up with Marcus. Elsa wandered out to "have a bath". Once they explained everything to him, he sat down in one of the chairs. Andor rubbed his sideburns and said, 'You're right. Elsa and Donovan are both working for the Nazis. Elsa more than Donovan. That posh prick just wants eternal life.'

'What about Henry?' Marion asked. 'Did you guys find our son?'

'Ja, we did.' Andor nodded once. 'Both of the other Henry Joneses are being held at Castle Brunwald. We've infiltrated the place and we've got a very close eye on the boy. I don't think they'll be bothering the old man much. He's just bait.'

'So it is a trap,' Indy mused.

'Ja,' Andor said. 'When you sent Jordan that photograph of your boy, we realised why we had that buzzing in our heads. It was letting us know a juvenile Holy Child is in danger. The seven of us are telepathically linked. The six of us older ones started looking and we found him there, held prisoner two floors above his grandpa. Marie managed to get herself in as his nanny.'

Indy nodded. 'Yeah, from what I saw, she can trick anybody.'

'She really can.' Andor smiled.

'So why him?' Marion demanded. 'Why did they want a three year old boy? I mean, why go to all the trouble to sneak into the states, bust into a residential home and take off with a toddler? And why ours specially?'

'Quite simple,' Andor said. 'And it's one of the oldest tricks in the book. Also, it never works properly. Because they wanted a Nazi weapon of mass destruction.' He looked at Indy. 'I've heard a lot about your stunts. You would be seen as that by them, but you would never follow their ideals. So, what do they do? They take your kid, mould him into their own version of you and then send him at America.'

Indy's hands clenched into fists and he fought to control his temper. 'Anybody else told me that, I wouldn't believe them.'

'And they thought we'd just bypass him in Brunwald?' Marion demanded through clenched teeth.

'Castle Brunwald is a very big place,' Andor pointed out. 'You could move through it and never know your son was in there. That is, if I hadn't just told you.'

Marion breathed in and out heavily, forcing herself to calm down. 'So this is all an elaborate trap?'

Indy moved next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist.

'Ja.'

Marion looked him right in the eye. 'Then why don't we set our own?'

Elsa marched through the rooms. She was tired of waiting for Indiana Jones to come and find the ransacked rooms. This was a last ditch effort to draw him away from his wife. But it appeared even this wasn't working. She was actually going to have to put more effort in.

Elsa centred herself and then rushed out, to where she'd heard them muttering between themselves, as if in a panic. She stopped short. The Joneses, the Norwegian and Dr. Brody were gone. They'd left the room.

Elsa turned toward the door. They'd been discovered. She had to raise the alarm. But she was stopped. There was a redheaded woman standing in the doorway, a rope hung over her shoulder. She calmly walked in, face completely passive.

'Who are you?' Elsa demanded.

The woman smiled in a friendly way and strolled towards her. 'Ingfrid Dalen.' She was Norwegian too. 'Let me tell you a bit of information, Dr. Schneider. I know that my son is completely capable of taking care of himself.'

'Your son?' Elsa asked, stepping back. This woman was not here for a friendly chat.

'I'll simply say that I look good for my age.' Ingfrid laughed lightly. 'My son was the redheaded fellow that you encountered on the sidewalk.'

Oh. Elsa stepped back again. She needed to keep this woman talking until she could get help. 'You were saying that you know that your son is perfectly capable of looking after himself?'

'Ja.' Ingfrid kept moving forward.

Elsa hit a wall.

Ingfrid went on, unbidden. 'I am still his móðir and I will still protect him, whether he wants me to or not.'

Móðir was the Old Norse word for mother. Though why she would use that language, Elsa had no idea. She knew what the rope was for now. But Elsa was long used to the powers of a woman, even against other women.

'If you touch me, I'll scream.'

Ingfrid smiled. 'Like a baby. But, no you won't.' She was right in front of her now.

'Oh?' Elsa raised her chin. 'And why not?'

Ingfrid's smile turned into a grin, flashing her teeth. 'Hard to scream when you're unconscious.'

The last thing Elsa saw, before she would wake up tied up and gagged, was Ingfrid's fist coming for her face.

AN: I used google translate for the Norse. If anyone speaks the language, please feel free to correct me if I got it wrong.