Chapter 4
May 7, 1937
Dover, England
The ball was going to be held outside, and the guests were already arriving. But Elizabeth, Michael, and Jack were not going to be joining the festivities just yet. They had all gathered around a table on the balcony, looking out over the front with a map of Europe in front of them. Elizabeth had wanted to plan their route to Italy beforehand, and as required Jack and Mike were sitting down right next to her. They had roughly three routes that they could take. The first route would be from the Pas-de-Calais to Monaco and then along the coast to Genoa. That route would take them through Paris and the wine country. The scenery would be beautiful as it was early summer when everything is in bloom. Then there was a second more interesting route that was also the shortest. It went straight from Calais, down near the German border, running past Metz, and then straight through Switzerland and the spectacular Italian Alps and going through Milan and then finishing in Genoa. Flying was out of the question as Jack would never be put into a plane, and a boat trip was way too long and expensive. So they decided on taking the train. But at this point, the route was still up in the air.
"I say we take the coast route," Jack said, pointing at the route in question.
"What? And miss seeing the Alps? Come on Jack, it'll be fun," Elizabeth responded.
"Mike please talk some sense into her," Jack groaned.
"I'm gonna have to go with her on this one, sorry pal."
"Oh come on, you know I hate heights," Jack replied with a groan.
"We'll be in a train, not flying," Elizabeth laughed, "You don't have to look out a window when we go over a bridge. And I'll give you ample warning so that you arrive with your senses still intact."
"Oh I feel so much better," Jack grumbled sarcastically.
"Man up you big baby," Mike chuckled playfully, "So I guess by majority vote it is decided, we're going by train via the mountain route."
"Two versus one, sorry Jack," Elizabeth laughed as she gathered up the map and brochures for the areas that they'd found, "Come on, let's get down there."
Elizabeth had of course chosen to wear one of her dresses that she'd packed, this one a more proper looking blue dress sparkling with black inlayed jeweled beads that came past to her feet in the back and was cut up to her knees with slits in the fabric in front. She'd had her hair done up and curled slightly by Miss Heart and her maids for the event and had more makeup on than she did from the all events on the entire trip from America combined. She didn't like it, but she knew that this was more for her father and maintaining appearances. Michael was in a tuxedo, and Jack was…well Jack. He'd been lended one of Sir Basil's jackets for the occasion and had opted to wear his boots and black stiletto. Sir Basil had also encouraged Jack, much to Elizabeth's annoyance, to wear his gun for the party as there would be soldiers, sailors, and officers from Britain, France, and Belgium all there to enjoy a night of festivities. And each of them would have their swords and one or two pistols, so it was perfectly alright for the Cowboy to show that he too had a gun. But Michael had no such luck, he hadn't brought a normal gun belt or holster, all he had was the chest mounted one that he could conceal under his jacket, which he was wearing.
So they were all dressed up for it, so they'd might as well join in if only for a little while before going to bed and getting some sleep. Elizabeth had promised to write home and let her friends and family know all was well and Jack had decided to follow suit after hearing that. But as Jack opened the door and Elizabeth walked in Mike took a quick glance over the railing at the circle drive through and saw something odd, there below him was a single black Bentley, the exact same one that he'd noticed on the hill and turning around when they'd first arrived at the estate they were staying at. The lights of the garden illuminated everything in the garden and he could clearly see that the driver and the passenger were looking up at him. But when he locked eyes with them they quickly averted their eyes suspiciously.
"You comin' Mike?" Jack asked as he stood at the door.
"Yeah," he responded looking down at the Bentley once more and moved over to go inside.
The three of them walked down the stairs and saw that the majority of the people were actually making their way outside to where a small orchestra could be heard playing a gentle melody. The trio went out together through the large glass double doors to see a relative rainbow of different dresses, suits, and military uniforms. There was the light blue of the Royal Air Force, bright crimson of the British Army, dark navy blue of the Royal Navy, of which Sir Basil was wearing with great pride. Then there were three dark blue French Army officers where Michael instantly noticed that was where Nicole DuLin was standing next to a French Colonel who was chatting it up with a pair of Belgian officers wearing a similar uniform to his own. She had taken notice of the three Americans walking in and Michael flashed her confident smile as they came down to join the party. She broke away from the gathered French speakers and made her way over to them.
"Bonjour Nicole," Michael said stepping forward.
"Bonjour, Michael correct?" she asked.
"The one and only," Mike replied with a confident tone.
"Indeed," Nicole giggled, "My, I must say Miss Downey, that dress is simply spectacular," she said moving over to speak to Elizabeth.
"Thank you Nicole, I was thinking the same about yours. But please, you can call me Lizzy, I'm not one for formality," she responded.
"In that case Lizzy, call me Nicole, I cannot stand being called Miss DuLin all night," she responded.
"Nicole, perhaps I could ask for a dance or two?" Mike asked politely, gesturing to the circular slab of marble tile with the seal of Britain in the middle of it.
"I assume you can dance?" Nicole asked.
"Proficiently."
"In that case," Nicole said holding out her hand.
As they walked away Mike flashed a grin and winked at his sister and Jack as he and Nicole made their way to the dance floor. By now Jack had been noticed, and a British RAF Captain came strutting over. He seemed roughly in his thirties, and he wore a pair of circular glasses on his face.
"Ah, I see that my good friend Sir Basil was right, and that he was indeed hosting a trio of Americans. Captain Evenwood, Royal Air Force," the man said.
"Hello, Elizabeth Downey," Elizabeth responded after shaking his hand.
"Howdy, Jack Williams," Jack responded shaking the hand of the British officer.
"I see you dress in the manner of the Western United States, the land of cowboys, red Indians and whatnot."
"Yeah I've done my fair share of cowboyin' back home," Jack responded.
"Well I must ask seeing as you prefer to carry your pistol, do you shoot? I have heard from many people, my father included, that during the Great War you Americans became known for being able to shoot the buttons off a Hun at more than five hundred meters."
"I'm an alright shot, although I don't know about shooting that good without a long gun," Jack shrugged.
"I say, would you be up to a bit of sport? I am dying to know how good you cowboys are in a gunfight."
"Are suggesting that he…" Elizabeth stammered, hearing that and thinking that they intended to fight.
"My dear I assure you, we do not intend to spill blood at this fine gathering. We simply wish to have a contest of speed and accuracy, so what do you say my lad. Are you, as you Americans say, game?"
Jack looked over at Elizabeth and shrugged, "I reckon I'm game."
"Excellent, we had planned our little sport to take place at eight o'clock. It would be simply splendid if you could show."
Meanwhile, Mike and Nicole had begun their first dance, and Mike, bored with a simple dance, struck up a conversation.
"So Nicole? Mind if I ask a question?" he started.
"Why not?" she replied, "I will answer anything that is proper, considering that I just met you this morning."
"How about for a start how you know so much about guns. It isn't every day you meet a beautiful young lady such as yourself with an intimate working knowledge of weapons," Mike asked.
"Well, my father is a Colonel in the French Army, he used to be part of Army Procurement and I would go with him as a little girl to the testing and exhibition of new weapons. From there I began to broaden my scope of knowledge, asking the other military attaches in London about the weaponry of their respective armies. And as for your particular weapon, I know much about it because I own one," she replied.
"Really?" Mike asked, showing great interest.
"Among others. I also own a German MP40, a Lee Enfield Mark One, a Berthier Carbine, a Lebel, and one of your Thompson Submachine Guns, and let's see…what else?"
"You own a Tommy Gun?! How did you get your hands on one of those? And how did your dad let you have one of those much less an arsenal?" he continued.
"My father hardly knows what I do on a day to day basis, much less what my weapons collection is made of, I do what I wish, when I wish it."
"Still, that's a lot of firepower, for a lovely mademoiselle such as yourself."
"Is there something wrong with a lovely mademoiselle owning a gun?" she taunted.
"Well I didn't mean it that way," Mike stuttered, "I think it's really cool that you kinda break the status quo with having and knowing so much about guns. You could say I'm a kindred spirit in a way."
"And how exactly would you be a kindred spirit to moi?" she slyly asked.
"Well, I bet you wouldn't be able to find many people outside of the military who knows how a Thompson's friction-delayed blowback action, or the complexities of how a plane flies, or how a car accelerates. You see, we in America like new things, some of us more than others," Mike chuckled, motioning to Jack as he stood next to Elizabeth talking with a few women near a row of hedges.
"I see that you are indeed well learned," she said as the song they had been dancing to ended.
Applause sounded as the next song was announced and began but Nicole seemed tired of dancing, "I think I shall sit the next song out. At least for now."
"Sounds alright, care for some refreshments?" Mike offered.
"That would be nice," Nicole responded, "Do you even know where the refreshments are?"
"No, not really," Mike responded with a good natured grin on his face.
"Follow me," Nicole said walking towards the back door just as a rather large man walked through wearing a white tuxedo and most auspicious of all, a highly embroidered eye patch over his left eye.
"Count Jaegar!" Sir Basil greeted with a cheer.
"Guten tag Sir Basil," the large man called out jovially.
"He's a German?!" Mike whispered to Nicole as they passed the man who spared them a side glance with his good eye.
"No, he's Austrian, he used to be a General commanding Austrian colonial forces in Africa before he defected to the British," Nicole responded, "Don't ask me how I found that out, I'm not supposed to know."
"I see," Michael said as he watched the truly massive man speak like old friends with many of the other men and women present, quickly becoming the center of attention.
"I heard my father say that he had become quite the treasure hunter, going around and finding all manner of ancient artifacts for his rather large collection in Hochosterwitz Castle, which he bought using the spoils of his tomb robbing or as he calls it, archaeology," Nicole said distastefully.
"I see you don't like him very much," Mike said as they walked into the building.
"No, he's a scoundrel. I would not trust that man with a single franc!" she hissed, "Much less my implicit trust like those fools."
The two of them made it to the serving area where several different types of small platters to pick small morsels to snack on as well a waiter who sat behind a bar cleaning and managing the semi-busy bar. Nicole walked up first and asked for a glass of wine and Mike decided to do likewise. As the wine was poured Mike noticed almost out of the corner of his eye a pair of men wearing simple suits, nothing too fancy, walking away from the party, looking behind themselves as they made their way to the staircase. He nudged Nicole a bit and carefully spoke low enough that the men going up the stairs wouldn't hear him.
"Hey Nicole, is there anything upstairs? Like a smoking room or something?" he asked.
"No, why? Don't tell me you smoke," she groaned.
"Of course not, I was just wondering because those two guys just went upstairs," he nodded his head over.
"What?!" she hissed, catching a glimpse of the trailing man's leg as he disappeared upstairs, "There's nothing up there but the room I'm staying in."
"And ours," Mike said putting the now empty glass down and walked over to the stairs.
"Where are you going?" she asked as he made his way over.
"Seeing what they're up to."
Nicole was slightly confused, but then she too downed her wine and made to follow him upstairs. To any uninformed observers it would have looked like something completely different than them going upstairs to spy on a couple of people who had suspiciously detached themselves from the party and stealthily made their way upstairs. After all, they were a boy and girl of the same young age going upstairs where there was plenty of privacy, but that wasn't on their minds. Nicole kicked off her high heels and grasped them in hand and followed Mike up the stairs and was able to stay quiet and light on her feet because of it.
"Well? You see them?" she asked as they got to the top of the stairs.
"No, but I think I hear 'em down there by our rooms," he responded, then unbuttoned his jacket and unclipped the holster for his pistol.
"Well don't just there come on you sissy," she hissed and made her way down the hall and took off ahead of him.
"Nicole!" he hissed, trying to catch up with her.
As they walked down the hall, Nicole refusing to yield the lead they could start to hear hushed voices coming from around the corner.
"They're down there," she said, and Mike moved over to try and see them for himself. As he did so he noticed something about the voices, "They're speaking German," he whispered.
"Germans? What would those Huns be doing up here?" Nicole whispered.
"Search me," Mike responded with a shrug and peaked out the corner again to see that they were walking out and moving down the hall, looking at every room, and jiggling the door handles, opening the ones that weren't locked. Mike remembered that neither he nor Jack and certainly not Elizabeth had locked their doors and they were near to reaching the rooms they were staying in.
When they got to Nicole's door one of them opened the door and walked in as his buddy went to stand in front of it to keep watch. Whoever they were, they had clearly done this before, or been taught to do it.
"What are they doing?" Nicole demanded.
"Well one of them just went into your room," he responded, and then things about went wild.
"What?! My room?! Ces belettes intolérables quand je mets la main sur eux!" she growled in rapid French.
"Easy there," Mike snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders and yanking her back. But as he did so her arm hit an umbrella holder filled with old hardly ever used, umbrellas that could have dated to King Arthur. The noise and sight of the toppling container easily alerted the two men, who whispered to each other and the one in Nicole's room quickly made his escape and joined his partner and carefully walked towards the hidden duo.
"Nice going you imbécile maladroit!" she hissed at him.
"I'm the clumsy fool here, you're the hothead that caused that!" Mike responded with equal anger.
"Shh…they're coming!"
"We need to get out of here," Nicole said and turned to go, but Mike held her back.
"They're too close," Mike said, hearing the footfalls drawing ever closer.
"Then what should we do genius?" she hissed.
"I have an idea, but you're not gonna like it," Mike said back his mind whirling with possible solutions.
"At this I don't care," Nicole responded testily, "Just do it!"
"Alright," Mike sighed and then took a deep breath as he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into him. Nicole instinctively put her hands on his chest to keep some personal space between them out of instinct as Mike wrapped his hands around her lower back. But what surprised her most was that he quickly leaned into her and brought their lips crashing together in a rather one-sided kiss. She squeaked slightly in surprise at the sudden and rather out of the blue maneuver. But she figured it out after a second and going along with it wrapped her hands around Mike's neck and returned the kiss passionately.
Then Mike went a bit further by backing out into the hall that the two men were coming from and walked nearly into one of them.
"Oh, sorry didn't see ya there fellas," Mike said, acting it up, smiling goofily as the two of them separated, breathing fairly hard from their 'exertions.'
"No, it's our fault we were looking for Sir Basil's office. We uh-got lost," the leader of the two said, his voice barely registering a German accent.
"His office is downstairs to the left," Nicole said.
"Oh, thank you," the other one of them replied and both awkwardly made their around the two supposed 'lovers.'
The two of them quickly disappeared behind the corner and their steps were easily heard going down the steps and then a quick burst of conversation was heard going on that neither Mike nor Nicole could really hear all that well.
"Quickly, my room," Nicole said, grabbing Mike's hand and rushing into her room that hadn't been shut.
"Well after one kiss we're already in your room. I like where this is going," Mike smoothly said as he closed the door behind them.
"No you insufferable little…listen, they came into my room and I need to know what they were looking for. That will help me figure out who they are and what they want."
"Oh, right," Mike said giving her a wink she just groaned at as she searched her room and drawers as Mike searched her closet.
"I don't think they took anything," Nicole said, real relief flooding into her voice.
"Well that's good," Mike said, walking over and sitting in a chair by the window and chanced a look outside.
"Well yes and no," Nicole said, "On the one hand they didn't take anything valuable and that is always good. But, because they didn't take anything that still leaves us without any clues as to their motivation. Why were they sneaking around looking at my room?"
"How are you so sure it was your room they were looking for?" he responded, "My sister, Jack, and myself are just down the hall from you. They could have been looking for our rooms but they mistook your room for my sister's and didn't find what they were looking for."
"If that were the case then your sister must be in the ownership of something quite special," Nicole grumbled as she sat down in a chair across from Mike.
"I can't think of anything. I'm the one holding onto the spending money my father gave us, that rules out thievery."
"Or not, they hadn't gotten to your room yet."
"Because you spooked them!" Mike pointed an accusing finger.
"I would not have spooked them if you hadn't pulled me back like a fool!" she snapped back.
"Oh I'm the fool?! How am I the fool when none of that wouldn't have happened if you would have kept your cool, although if you hadn't have done that then we wouldn't have had our little…"
"That reminds me," Nicole said warmly, then whirled around and delivered a pretty brutal blow, not with a slap, but with a closed fisted right hook.
Mike's head snapped back, and he toppled over backwards, falling to the ground still in the position of sitting in the chair. He shook his head trying to clear the stars from his vision and looked up at a now very satisfied Nicole.
"That was unladylike," he grumbled as he tried getting to his feet.
"Well, I'm not exactly a lady am I?" Nicole responded.
"I suppose not," Mike said, feeling his lip to see if he was bleeding. Fortunately he wasn't.
"Shh…" she said, now looking over at the window that overlooked the area where the partiers seemed to have congregated. There, a group of mostly military men were standing behind a line made of chalk on the grass. In front of them were several targets, all of them a large circle with the normal bulls-eye in the center. Mike could see Jack plainly enough, standing next to Elizabeth in the back of the crowd. She seemed to be laughing it up with a bunch of other ladies and girls as Jack stood watching the preparations for what seemed to be a shooting contest.
"A shooting contest? Come on, let's go," Mike said, moving to leave to go see what was going on and perhaps take part.
"No, like you said, we're under the guise of lovers. It would be suspicious of us to reappear before the shooting starts. Especially with them standing right there," Nicole pointed, showing the two German speaking men they'd followed and spied on, "And look who they're standing behind, Count Jaegar. I should have known."
The big guy wasn't speaking to them, but they did seem to really look at him like one would view a boss or superior. They were clearly in with him, with him being the mastermind.
"That treasure hunter?" Mike asked, then stopped before speaking as he heard his own words. Treasure hunter! He's after the same thing we're after! "Nicole, we need to get down there and speak with my sister and Jack now."
"What?! Why?"
"I think I just figured out why those guys were creeping into your room."
"That's not a very good explanation!" she growled as she followed him back into the hall.
"I'll explain later, come on."
Mike quickly straightened his tux out and fixed his bowtie and rushed down the stairs as Nicole struggled to catch up with him. As he got to the bottom of the stairs he slowed down, and let Nicole catch up and put her heels back on. Together, still in the guise of being "together" they walked out and gradually maneuvered through the crowd to where Elizabeth was standing talking with Miss Heart and several other people. So Mike went up to her and tapped her on the shoulder to gain her attention.
"Lizzy, I need to talk to you, now," he said, his tone low and serious. This got her attention instantly, and the two of them went back over to where Nicole was standing watching the first contenders, including Jack and her father, line up to take his turn at firing at the targets. There were six of them, all arranged in a line directly opposite of the six shooters.
"What is it?" Elizabeth asked.
"We need to go, now," Mike said affirmatively, "Nicole and I saw the two guys that are standing next to Count Jaegar over there snooping around upstairs. I think they were looking to steal that notebook of yours Lizzy."
"My-my notebook?" she stammered, "There's nothing in my notebook except my-my research on the Treasure of the First Emperor and the Shield of Gallia," she whispered, more to herself in realization.
"The what?!" Nicole asked, dreadfully confused as to what the two siblings were talking about.
"The Treasure of the First Emperor. It's supposed to be a great hidden treasure that Julius Caesar hid in the mountains of Italy to keep it from the Senate when he made his bid to take power in 49 B.C. Among that treasure was supposedly a powerful green ruby that made whoever held it invincible, but no one really believes that of course. We've come to Europe on an expedition to find it for ourselves. But-but why would those guys be looking to steal it from me?" Elizabeth asked.
"Count Jaegar fancies himself an archaeologist, but is nothing more than a tomb robber. I've heard some troubling things about the lengths he'll go to in order to find his treasures and artifacts. Stealing is just his speed," Nicole said definitively.
"Well," Elizabeth said, "Did they steal it? Because if he did we can call him out on it right here right now. These guys all have guns, you and Jack have your guns," Elizabeth suggested.
"It's alright Lizzy," Mike said, calming her down, "They didn't even find your room. We sort of spooked them off when we were watching them."
"Wow Mike, busy I see," she laughed noticing that everything that happened had been with Mike and Nicole within very close proximity.
"It's not like that, sure we kissed to trick those two into thinking that we were…you know," Nicole said.
"But I think she likes me," Mike whispered to his sister.
"Oui, that is why I punched you for kissing me once we were out of sight," Nicole snapped, having heard what Mike had said.
By now, the shooting competition began, with Jack being on the far right. Elizabeth noticed this and dragged Mike over so that once the competition was over they could alert him to the situation. But there was no stopping the competition now, and Jack seemed to be in the zone. And when the signal for the first person to start shooting went out it started.
The objective was to see who could empty six rounds into the target the most accurately in the shortest time possible. There were three Brits, Two French, and a single American, Jack. The first to go was a British Army Major, who pulled out a Webley Mk. III and took aim, firing quickly and hitting the target across the board in eight seconds. He'd gone for speed instead of accuracy, and that had cost him. The elder British man seemed a bit cross at the lack of high scoring hits at the first go and the turn went to a French Captain who had a Modele 1935 Semi-Automatic and fired six more well aimed rounds, but the kick of the gun had kept his time at about ten seconds. His accuracy hadn't suffered, but he'd taken longer. The other British and Frenchman competitors went with very similar results, with the leader of it all being Colonel DuLin with a fairly accurate grouping that the group of aristocrats and officers gave him a fairly decent applause over. That left it to Jack, and his trusty Colt Peacemaker.
"And go!" the announcer said and he was off.
Jack quickly drew his pistol, and stopped at the hip and pulled the trigger and held it as he aimed and brought his other hand down to swipe the action in what was a tried and true speed trick he'd learned from his dad. From the hip he was easily able to control the recoil of the powerful Colt and rapidly sent six rounds right into the middle three sections within a foot of the first shot. He'd even clipped the bull-eye of the target, much to the shock of the gathered Europeans. And it happened in less than four seconds, a full three seconds faster than the previous leader. His accuracy was roughly the same as Colonel DuLin, but it was the time that had won him the day.
"Haha! Well done my American friend!" the big white-suited Austrian man called out, clapping Jack on the shoulder as a respectable applause went out from the rather stunned Euros.
"Thanks, I've had practice. Me and my pa would go out shooting with his buddies at Fort Hood all the time," Jack said as the tally came in and Elizabeth went over and carefully navigated her way to Jack to try and get him off to the side.
"Jack, we need to talk," she said, nodding over to the other two of their group.
"Alright, lead on Lizzy," he said as he wormed his way out of the crowd.
"Let's go somewhere, quieter," Mike said, "I don't want to be heard."
"What's this about partner? We do somethin' wrong?" Jack asked.
"No," Elizabeth said as they walked inside and went over to a secluded little study.
"Jack, someone tried to break into our rooms. More specifically I believe it was Lizzy's they were trying to break into," Mike said quietly.
"What?!" Jack spat out.
"Shh…keep your voice down," Mike hissed.
"Well did you see who it was? What did they take?" Jack asked as he began reloading his pistol one bullet at a time.
"Calm down Jack, we spooked them before they found Lizzy's room," Nicole said.
"We? What were you two doing together up by our rooms?" Jack asked slyly, making Nicole blush angrily and Mike grin slightly at seeing the French girl frustrated again.
"We followed them you lordaud!" she hissed.
"Come again? I don't speak frog," Jack said as he raised his eyebrow, not understanding the French girl's insult.
"She called you an oaf," Mike replied candidly.
"That ain't too kind of ya."
"Well that's not on my list of priorities," Elizabeth interjected, "What do we do? If those guys were supposedly working for that big Austrian then what chance do we have of them believing us?"
"None, he's well known among the people here. He's got credibility on his side," Nicole said affirmatively.
"So what do we do? We can't just pull a gun on him and say you're under arrest," Mike replied to that.
"We leave," Nicole smartly responded, "There's a ferry that leaves to Calais shortly before ten o'clock. If we hurry we can make it and get a train and be long gone."
"Hold on little lady, when did we become buddies?"
"When you needed somewhere to go and besides, I sense adventure, and I would love a chance to get out and do something different other than go to parties and balls every night."
"Well she does travel, and she is from France. It's her country, I say we let her," Mike stated, standing on her side as well.
"I don't know, this seems fairly dangerous to me," Jack said, "Lizzy, maybe we should try heading back to the US. Just to be safe."
"Go back?! No! We can't just give up after a little hiccup!" Elizabeth snapped, "If we go back, what good will coming all this way have done us? Nothing!"
"Alright, alright," Jack responded, "I get it, and I'm with ya. Just concerned is all."
"Well than two out of three, I guess you're in Nicole."
"Good, now, let's get going while the party is still under way. We might be able to slip away unnoticed."
So while Elizabeth and Nicole went to inform Sir Basil and Nicole's father, respectively, of their plans and a vague reason for them leaving, Jack and Mike began quickly grabbing the things that they had planned to take on the trip. They quickly grabbed two bags of the bare necessities for the final leg and then packed up the rest to reclaim on their way home. Elizabeth had already packed her own stuff in two bags for the final part and was ready. Nicole had to quickly pack her own pair of bags of her own stuff that would work for the trials that were sure to come. For the girls there were no dresses, no make-up, and nothing of a feminine nature that would just slow them down and take up space. They had pants, shirts, tough leather jackets, and boots for the outdoors. So after getting ready they were met outside by a single chauffeur who was to drive them to Dover, and see them off on what was to become an adventure of a lifetime.
However, as they left, the one good eye of Count Wolfman Jaegar caught a glimpse of them with bags in hand, leaving out the front door.
Calais, France
Eight Hours Later
The ferry ride wasn't at all that exciting, just a small paddleboat that made the crossing in little more than an hour. They were one of the few people on board and quickly made it into the port of Calais where they had to walk to the nearby train station. Once there, they had to wait for an hour to get a train to Lyon, which was the soonest possible way towards their objective of reaching the city of Genoa so that they'd be able to get to the job of finding the location of Caesar's Treasure.
The train was a nice one, with plenty of space for them to get two cabins, one for the guys and one for the girls. Their trip would last through the night and they had yet to eat anything so once the guys were settled into their cabin they went right next door to the girls' cabin.
"Hey ladies," Mike called, knocking on the door, "You all settled?"
The door opened to reveal Nicole in a pair of khaki pants and black knee high boots and a leather jacket over a blue shirt. It was not the spectacular dress that she'd worn earlier, but to Mike's eyes, anything she wore looked good. Elizabeth was wearing a similar set of clothes. She wore khaki pants and a white long sleeve shirt that she'd rolled the sleeves up on. Her hair was down, not in a ponytail like she would normally have it. On her feet she wore a pair of black boots that didn't come up as high on her calves as Nicole's did but came about as high as Jack's own cowboy boots.
"Yes, we're all settled. You both going to get some food?" she asked.
"Yeah, you wanna come?" Mike asked again.
"Of course, Lizzy, come, let's get something to eat."
"I'll be there in a minute, I just need to finish up writing this entry into my expedition journal," Elizabeth called out from a seat she had next to the window.
"Okay, why are making a journal entry?" Jack asked.
"For Professor Jones, I need to make an entry showing my progress and observations for my credits. Remember this is also partially for a grade," she replied, "Don't wait on me, go ahead. I'm almost done."
"Alright fine, the food coach is two cars to the back so don't get lost," Mike said to his sister.
"I know, go on," she responded, waving them away.
"Alright, don't be late," Jack said, being the last to leave as he shut the door.
Elizabeth smiled to herself as she settled in to finish the final paragraph of her entry into her journal. She'd had a little while to get to know Nicole DuLin since departing the Heart Estate, and she'd really hit it off with her. Nicole and Elizabeth seemed very similar in many ways, both saw themselves as independent young women who could take care of themselves and do things that a woman in most people's eyes shouldn't be able to do. She had already written into her journal entry that she had met Nicole and had set about describing her and as she finished with that and moved on to their destination and the route they were taking she heard the floor creak slightly outside her door.
Then the door rattled a bit as whoever was outside knocked firmly. Elizabeth sighed and closed the journal around her pencil as the person outside knocked again. Must be one of the boys wanting to know what I want to eat, she thought. She stood up, and brushed down her gray pants and went to the door. She calmly opened it, expecting to see Mike or Jack standing with a menu that she could take her pick from. But when she opened it she did not see Mike or Jack, or even Nicole. What she was confronted with was a large man wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. On his collar was a small gold, red and black pennant, the Swastika. There were two other men behind him as well, with all being roughly the same size and having the same brown hair.
"Hey who-," she said before being attacked.
But before she made another noise a strong leather gloved hand grabbed her and shoved her back. Surprised at this Elizabeth fell backwards as another hand slammed down around her mouth. She was shoved backwards into the cabin, making room for two men to walk in. One was one she had seen in the hall. The other was a totally different one who simply went and sat down as the two others struggled to subdue the blonde American girl. But it would not be easy. Elizabeth curled her fist and struck the first man in the nose, but with little effect. As he held her in place she threw another attempted punch that hit him again in the face, but again with little effect. As this continued she felt her arms painfully pulled behind her back as she was forced back towards the table and shoved into a chair opposite of the man that had already sat down.
One man continued his vice grip around her mouth, causing all of her cried to come out as muffled whispers and squeals. She was in no way capable of fending off these men who in between them had at least a hundred pounds advantage over her. But she still resisted, even as one of them tied her hands behind her back with a small length of rope. She tried pulling against the rope, but nothing seemed to work. Her binds were too tight, and the more she resisted the more the rough material dug into her skin. Her feet too were tied together, only her boots protecting her ankles from being rubbed raw by her furious and defiant resistance. But then the fighting stopped.
"I would suggest you cooperate fraulein, this will all be over soon enough, as long as you are quiet," the man ordered, his voice thick with a German accent. To add to this threat he calmly pulled a menacing Luger pistol from his jacket and set it next to her journal to make his point, "It would be a pity for me to have to use this on your friends and brother and then you."
Elizabeth's eyes widened at that declaration and stopped resisting instantly. The man motioned calmly with his finger and the hand around her mouth hesitantly let go and he backed up against the wall. The man in front of her seemed to be what a person thinks when they think German. He was strongly built, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and had a scar going along his cheek bone on the left side of his face. He was large, and fairly intimidating, and seemed every bit the soldier. He held his hands clasped together on the table as he looked at his now helpless prisoner.
"Who-who are you? What do you want?" she asked, her hands trembling slightly even as they were bound behind the chair.
"Who I am is of no importance Miss Downey, what I want on the other hand," the man trailed off, signaling one of his men to start searching through her bags, "Do you know much about the Shield of Gallia?"
"The Shield of Gallia? It-it was a large ruby, said to protect anyone who possesses it from harm," Elizabeth responded shakily, searching her mind quickly, "But it's just a rumor, a myth."
"Ah, that is where you are wrong. It seems that there are some things in this world that are said to be myths," the man replied, "And yet, are not."
"What do you mean?" she responded, her voice barely a whisper.
"The Shield of Gallia is of special interest to the Third Reich, it is our job to see to this interest. Your pursuit of the Treasure of Caesar gets in the way of our quest. At first we were going to kill you and make sure you disappeared. However, I am merciful, and think that you are smart enough to simply walk away from this expedition of yours and forget that this ever happened," he responded, getting to his feet as he walked around the table and out of her line of sight. She tried following him, but couldn't turn her head far enough. She saw just then the man who had been digging through her bag hold up her notebook, the one she'd placed every note and scrap of information she had on the Treasure, "And I see my subordinate has found what we were looking for."
"My notebook?" Elizabeth asked, seeing the book in question being handed to the man who'd gone behind her.
"Yes, on behalf of the Third Reich I would like to thank you for your contribution to our efforts, mein fraulein. It is greatly appreciated," he said as he pocketed the book, "Our business here is concluded," he said at that moment as he took a white scarf that the guy behind her held out to him. Elizabeth then saw the scarf drop down past her face and then knew what was coming. She tried squirming away and before she got a sound out the thick cloth was pulled tightly in between her teeth, effectively gagging her. She couldn't push it loose as the man then tied it tightly enough to pull it far enough that it rested on top of her tongue, quickly drying her mouth it. Once he was finished he stepped to the side and brushed a bit of hair away from her face and pulled it to his nose and took a deep whiff. She whimpered at the gesture and tried desperately not to show fear at how wrong and it had felt, and what he might do next. But this only served to make the man chuckle as he stood up straight and turned to leave, "Now Miss Downey, we part ways, auf wiedersehen."
And just like that he walked out, and his men followed, throwing victorious smirks at the bound and gagged girl as they passed out of sight. Elizabeth gave them death glares as they departed and closed the door behind them. She then let loose with an effort to try and get loose and call out for help. But every noise that came out of her mouth came in the form muffled grunts and quiet squeals. She started rocking back and forth trying to yank herself out of the chair and make some kind of noise. But that only succeeded in hurting her side as she hit the floor. As she lay there, trying to squirm her way to a place where she could kick something to make noise she began thinking about what that man had shared with her about the Shield of Gallia.
The Shield is supposed to make the person who possesses it invincible. But it's a myth! Or what if it's not a myth? What it is true? If that is true then if the Nazis get their hands on it then Europe could fall before them without even a chance at being able to win. And if Europe falls then the USA might soon follow. That thought process continued as she tried kicking against the floor with her feet and hands still bound and her speech cut off by the gag in her mouth. But she had made her decision, even before she was capable of acting on it.
We have to stop them!
And done with another chapter. And now the plot is thrown into gear, no more boring stuff, time for some action. Stick around, hit the follow button to see what happens next time. And leave a review letting me know what you think of this chapter and the story as a whole.
Next Chapter Preview: Stopping the Nazis, and not having a clue how to do it.
