PART TWO
Someone-Israeli Song:
"Someone, someone worries
Worries for me up there
Came and lit a few stars
And they fall one by one.
We are turning in two different ways
Day and night to their length
Tired and hungry
In the paths of dust and time.
We'll meet at the end of paths and questions
We will meet at the end of many days,
at the end of many nights
The spring passed, the summer went, and the rain returned.
Someone, someone worries
Worries for me up there
Came and lit a few stars
And they fall one by one." -Ehud Manor
...
Five Years Later, Italy
November 9th, 1938.
...
"…the Führer has decided that … demonstrations should not be prepared or organized by the Party, but insofar as they erupt spontaneously, they are not to be hampered."
The static voice of Joseph Goebbels spoke in German over the living room radio. In the kitchen Kat's hands froze in the hot, soapy water, the plate she was washing grasped between whitening fingers.
Kat looked over into the living room, eyes wide.
"Ernst vom Rath will be forever remembered a martyr by the Party and as we conclude tonight's broadcast we ask all loyal to the cause to sing with us the German National Anthem…"
Kat ran to the living room and hit the radio's power, cutting off the rolling symphony's starting notes to the anthem, leaving soapy bubble residue sliding off the power button. Kat stared at the radio as silence filled the room.
Now she was not sure if she was glad of having learned German and honing in on the German Party's main radio frequency or not. Kat bit her bottom lip. This was the equivalent of the Old Testament where Esther had to intercede for the Jews, but now there was no Esther. Kat turned and looked out the darkening window where the sun was setting across the Italian countryside.
If ever there was a moment for war between the escalating crisis of the Jews and the Germans, this was it.
Kat dried the soapy water from her red fingers and ran out to her porch. She shared a phone with her neighbor, but being this late at night she doubted they would be using it. She quickly contacted the operator and in very basic Italian asked for the number she needed. Taking a calming breath she waited as the phone rang. Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring... "Hello?"
"It's Katri-It's Katherine, are you alright?"
"Katherine? We're fine. What are you doing calling at this hour?" The voice of her father asked, confusion tangible through the dusty phone piece.
"I just heard on the radio, you know the Jews who weren't let back into Poland? One of them shot the German Embassy Official. He just died, the Germans are allowing retaliation against all the Jews without consequences." Kat rushed through hurriedly, breathless.
"Honey, honey, slow down." Her father said, "Don't worry about that. Things are getting a little tougher out here but our neighbors are our neighbors, they wouldn't do anything truly dangerous. Maybe graffiti a little more than they have been, but that's all. Don't worry about us."
Kat's teeth clenched, her father's tone was passive, calm and easy, "Dad…come and visit me. You and mom. Come to Ciregna."
"Honey, we're not going right back to-"
"-Then come to London, the O'Connell's are a great family and they've invited me over for Christmas. You'll love it there I promise. Come and meet them, they can autograph your book." Kat countered, recalling the book Evie had published about the O'Connell's adventures. Her mother had bought a copy right away and Kat had promptly received a phone call afterwards….
"We can't leave Germany now, too many of us have left, we need to stand our ground here. We'll come see you when this has blown over, my treasure." He said.
"But-"
"No, we've been over this. We're going to stay, your uncle asked us to help him with his bookstore and we aren't going to abandon him now. Things aren't really as bad as you think here, so do not worry about us."
"Dad…be careful." Kat deflated, not knowing what else she could say.
"We are. Now we'll talk later, all right?"
"Alright. Tell mom…tell mom that I send my love." Kat said.
"I will. Ciao, my treasure."
"Ciao."
Kat looked out over the quiet Italian town that her parents had moved to only a few years ago. Her parents did that: settled down in some town and then packed up and did it all over again every couple of years. Staying with the O'Connells had been the most stable part of her formative years.
After Kat left the O'Connells after the events in Egypt her parents had just moved to this town. Their trip to Rome had been so memorable that it was inevitable her parents' next home would be in Italy. She had been here by herself now for two years after she refused to move with them to help her uncle in Berlin. Work for the Jews had been getting increasingly difficult and she had quite a few cousins who could benefit from her parents helping her uncle earn extra income. Despite Kat's solution that they should all move out of Germany for good, more of her family moved in to the very heart of that country. And now….
She could feel a calamity of biblical proportions was about to happen, regardless of her father's reassurance that things weren't 'really as bad' as she thought.
Kat rubbed her temples, leaning against the shaded brick façade of the house. He was right, things were probably worse. She hadn't learnt German and been listening to their broadcasts the last five years because she thought she didn't have to worry.
She looked off at the fading sun, hugging her arms as a chill swept across the dark green Italian countryside. If her parents weren't going to come back here of their own will…maybe she'd just have to go and get them herself. She'd drag them over the border if they weren't going to get talked into it.
Kat went back inside the house and quickly finished washing the dishes. Once done, she went into her room, closed the door, and began to pack her scanty assortment of clothes into a single suitcase.
…
The Next Day, Germany's Border:
"Judin?" The uniformed officer looked up from Kat's travel papers, his blue-eyes turning hard and cold.
Kat returned the gaze, speaking in clear German, "Yes. I'm here to help my family emigrate out of Germany. They're waiting for me in Berlin."
Kat had listened to the radio all the way from Italy in her car, driving to the border as she listened to the account of the riots that had happened starting the night of Goebbel's speech. In the time the drive had taken, the riots had only just stopped being reported, and now the night was being called 'Kristallnacht', meaning 'Crystal night' on account of all the broken glass lining streets from Jewish shop windows. Kat's foot hadn't left the accelerator the entire time she listened to the reports headed by clear propagandists, despite the tightly winding roads in Austria whipping by too fast for safety.
She only hoped it wasn't as bad as they were making it out to be.
Kat now looked at the border guard, on the sleeve of his tan uniform was a red band with the black Nazi spider crouching in a white circle, "Emigrating is agreeable to the Nazi Party, isn't it?"
She had been listening to the broadcasts and since October emigration had been pushed heavily. Had that really only been a month ago?
"Why are they not waiting at the border for you, Jewess?" He asked, tone clipped.
"They need the car to move out of the house, their German landlords don't want their belongings getting in the way of the new German tenants, naturally." Kat responded easily. Lying wasn't hard when it concerned the safety of her family, who still didn't know she was coming.
"Where are you headed, once you pick up your family?" The man asked, looking down his nose at her.
"Palestine, that is where the rest of my family will be meeting." Kat responded easily.
"…Three days, Jewess, to get your family and leave." The German guard said, stamping her papers and handing them back to her through the car window.
Kat nodded and slowly accelerated as she was waved through the road block. Her tires rolled over the gravelly grey road, into Germany.
…
After several roadblocks and skeptical perusals of her papers by German officials she was relieved to see that only in some of the more populated towns she passed were some shopkeepers boarding up broken shop windows. Some blonde Germans were even helping an elderly Jewish man board up his window as he swept up shards from the cobblestone. In the long hours it took her to reach Berlin, she could count the shops clearly affected by Kristallnacht between both hands. She hoped those statistics stayed true in the bigger cities, and propaganda had made the night sound worse than it had been.
Driving into Berlin she had to show her papers again and noticed through the car windows that a few clearly Jewish families dressed in coats with suitcases were in the traffic flowing opposite her. Though it still wasn't as many as she had been expecting.
Kat waited until the officers, satisfied with her papers, let her into the city. Kat's car rolled smoothly over the even streets of Berlin. There were many people lining the streets, most looked very German, but Kat caught sight of the thin men in long coats lingering by several shops- without windows. She passed a charred building, still smoldering as orange flames spurted through the black cracks, as firefighters lounged beside their truck. Traffic stopped her and she watched as after a minute one of the firefighters grabbed a hose and sprayed down the surface of the neighboring building, but not the still burning one. A small crowd, contributing to the traffic, lingered outside the building that the firefighters refused to douse. Kat noticed that many of the onlookers were thin men with long noses.
Kat continued to drive until she reached the downtown stretch of the city, pulling over in front of the boarded up shop front for her uncle's bookstore. She killed the rumbling engine and looked at the bookstore. The main front window had been blown out and the Star of David was messily painted over the door of the shop.
Kat strummed her fingers across the steering wheel, tongue pressed against her cheek. Was this still 'not that bad' to her father?
She opened the door and stepped out, walking briskly across the sidewalk and pulling the door of the shop open.
Dingle-ding.
A bell tinkled above her head.
"Uncle Yehosef? Father? Mother?" Kat called out, looking around the shop that seemed untouched from the inside beyond the boarded window.
"…Katherine?" The thin, glasses-framed face of uncle Yehosef turned the corner.
Kat approached him, "Are you all alright?"
"Yes. Yes. We're fine. What are you doing here?" He asked, looking her over, puzzled.
"I'm taking you all back with me. Where are mom and dad?" Kat asked looking around.
"They went to their jobs, Katherine, we're all really fine. We got a little shaken but our neighbors helped us drive out the rioters. We've never seen the young men who did this since before last night, but they were very clearly radicals." He said easily, smiling.
Kat stared at him. She blinked once. Twice.
Did she have to spell it out for these people? Kat cleared her throat, standing up straighter, "Get you and your children's things together. We're leaving. I have a three day visa to get you all out of here. Where did you put my parent's rooms? I'll pack for them."
"Katherine-"
Kat didn't stay to listen, she hurried up the stairs to the flat above the store, looking around. Her cousins would be in school, so there was no one up there. She quickly opened the drawers in the rooms until she came across her mother's green dress. She hoisted a suitcase from the closet, dumped it on the bed and began to stuff it with her parent's items.
"They aren't going to leave." Uncle Yehosef said in the doorway of the room.
Kat shot him a look, "…the kids' rooms are the next room over, right? If you won't pack them then I will."
"You're exaggerating the situation." Yehosef said calmly, but did not protest as Kat shoved past him and searched for a moment before pulling another suitcase out from under a bed and started to stuff children's clothes inside of it.
Yehosef sighed and left Kat alone. Kat made sure she had all of the essential things jammed into the suitcase before closing it up. She then brought the suitcases to the stairs. She sat down on the top step and waited for her parents to come back.
…
Following her parent's return there began a long three-day argument. Despite Kat's best efforts she could not convince the family to move back with her to Italy, or to Palestine or to London. During this time the Reich was instituting measures against the Jews, barring them from public places, enforcing the public not to enter Jewish stores and beginning a fine for Jews due to damages done during Kristallnacht. To try and get help moving her stubborn family, Kat decides to journey back to London and get the support of the O'Connells.
...
Meanwhile, in another section of Germany at approximately the same time…
…
Two men dressed in military clothing sat in a dark wood parlor, a large window pane did little to light the surroundings as dark grey clouds covered the sky. A soft patter of rain hitting the glass, freezing in icy streaks down the windows, filled the quiet.
The German Captain glanced over the papers on his desk, "Everything seems to be in order."
He looked up, some skepticism on his face, as he surveyed the man before him, "Though of course you understand the unusual circumstances. The Fuhrer is not one to appreciate failure. He is beginning the stages of setting things in motion for Poland. He does not have time nor patience for mere…tricks."
"I can assure you, there are no 'tricks' involved. The offer of my service stands, provided I am given the position I desire." The man said in German, straightening the cuff link on his grey sleeve. He wore a new officer's uniform, the grey contrasting smartly with his tan skin. Though he preferred black.
"I should warn you," The Captain set the papers aside, intertwining his fingers as he leaned forward onto the desk, "you are not the first of your kind the Fuhrer has hired. If you succeed the riches will be great, if not, the penalties will be greater."
The man smirked, getting up from his chair, he looked down at the Captain with dark, shiny eyes, "Are we done here?"
The Captain slid a piece of paper across the desk, "Your first assignment, report to Hermann Goring directly when finished."
The man took the paper and glanced over it, eyebrow raising, "The 'Four-Year Plan'? I am to be part of 'Reichswerke'… but this is just building factories?"
The Captain nodded, smirking quietly, "Do you know why the Fuhrer hired Hermann Goring, a military hero with no knowledge of economics and no brains, due to a morphine addiction, to effectively carry out the rebuilding of Germany as a self-sufficient leader in Industry and maintain his position as second in Command of the Reich...? Neither do I. But it would seem a good opportunity for one to begin a position to work their way up in while communing directly with the Fuhrer about private influential matters of the metaphysical. Don't you think?"
The other man kept a steady, dark-eyed gaze on the Captain, a smile slowly forming over his lips. A high position as leader of the Economic Infrastructure of Germany while maintaining close contact with the Fuhrer in the position of Metaphysical Advisor…provided he first prove himself under Hermann Goring before taking the position away from Goring?
This was the position he desired: Second in Command of the Reich, not just a Metaphysical Advisor. All he'd have to do was rise in position while maintaining sound advice to the Fuhrer about the supernatural realm. And as the Fuhrer took control of the world, so would he. It was not so very different than his last position under the Egyptian Pharaoh Seti.
"Mr. Imhotep." The captain smiled with taught lips, "Good luck in your new assignment."
Imhotep smiled, eyes glistening as he shook the now extended hand, "Captain."
Then both men extended their arms, "Heil Hitler!"
...
Writer's Note: Where the first part of this story incorporated many sunny, sandy Egyptian elements true to the events taking place in the movies, the second part of this story is going to take a darker, wetter, WWII theme. I would encourage my readers to stop reading at this point if they simply want to have Imhotep die in Egypt, remaining more true to his character from the movies. If, however, you want Imhotep to live and continue life in the 1930's of Europe on the Cusp of WWII with new rising powers in the world, we will have to walk down this dark path together and explore just what lies in store for Kat and Imhotep. For death was always, only the beginning.
