“Ten? Why?”
“Because if you were to tell me about something recently, then you would probably think of something with him, am I right?”
“Yes, you are.” Bettina admitted, then continued with a story of how she went to Hamburg with her aunt and ended up on the Reeperbahn.
“The Reeperbahn?” Elka was surprised that a grown woman would take a ten-year-old to the famous red light district of Germany’s main port city.
“Did you see any prostitutes?”
“Of course!”
“What was it like?”
“It was fun.”
“No, I mean what were the prostitutes like? Were they pretty?”
“Some. Some looked like movie stars, some were ugly.”
Bettina did not realize how serious this information was for Elka. Ever thinking of ways to obtain her first sexual experience, which was a constant urge everyday, she recently began scheming of visiting the Jagermeister Hall to see if they would accept her. At least while having some sexual experiences she could make a few extra hundred Reichmarks in doing so.
“Did they have big breasts.”
“Well no, not all of them.”
Hearing this fact, Elka for some unexplained reason, felt superior to some of the prostitutes on the famous Reeperbahn. If her breasts were larger than some of the professional ladies of Hamburg, then she might even have a chance to work there instead of in her Landstat.
The conversation evolved over a multitude of girl topics until it came to the probable ‘danger time’ of Goebbels and his group returning. Elka left and then when down in the employee break room and saw her friend Patricia.
“Can you do me a favor?”
“What kind of favor?” Patricia asked, not wanting to say ‘yes’ until she knew full well what the favor was. Patricia was the one most often asked to lend money, since she always seem to have some.
“I need to make a call to Berlin.”
Patricia was relieve money was not the issue, but still interested in this seemingly odd request coming from Elka.
“Who do you know in Berlin?”
“It’s not for me, just for my cousin who is in trouble nearby.” Elka handed Patricia the message Bettina wanted to leave for Otto. It briefly and in very general terms let Otto know where she was and that she didn’t know exactly when she would be back.
“Can you get this out without us getting in trouble?”
The note has several special purposes. Fesel, as all other department heads under Goebbels’ Ministry, were well aware the written word had a more profound effect than the spoken word. This fact was then used to their advantage whenever possible.
He found a woman Karl Ernst Krafft would be attracted to, and now Fesel could dangle her in front of the famous astrologer, limit their speaking and the desired nearness, and then let the impact of the written word create the suspense, intrigue, and mystery that one in such a field would be eaten up by.
Fesel finished his coffee.
“Come to me this evening at 18:00 and we will go over what I want you to do with him when he returns tomorrow.”
“Yes, Herr Doctor.”
Karl Ernst and Elaine did not know how to react. They both were amazed, yet afraid of this magnetic personality now standing before them. Standing out just beyond the backdoor with the forest and stars as a background, she did not appear as frightful as when she was in the center of the room surround by her entourage.
“Baroness!” Was all Elaine could utter, as if meeting her by coincidence while walking in a city park. Karl Ernst remained silent.
“They are nothing but vampires,” began Baroness Fredricke, as if explaining why she was no longer with her crowd of admirers, “…they sit, they suck, they drink, they suck, they eat, they suck, they come to me… and suck. I can only give so much, and now when I need my peace the most, they want even more.”
Karl Ernst remained silent. Elaine, however, relaxed her posture, as if an outpouring of sympathy had just been released.
“You poor dear.” Elaine breathed, as if she had just heard Fredricke’s entire life story.
“Poor only in my choices for husbands, my dear!”
The humor finally made Karl Ernst relax… a little. The memory of her fierce temper was still embedded in his mind.
“I appreciate you caring for me,” Elaine began, “ I…”
“I know you do, my dear, I can see you are one of the few people in this world who has a heart – AND who knows what a heart is for.”
“Well, my parents are…”
“Yes, they are to be thanked for teaching you well, but remember my dear, a wine is only as good as its grapes, there is only so much the winery can do.”
“You are most kind.”
“And you, are special, my dear.”
Karl Ernst began to feel as if they were discussing a book he had not read. He understood each word they were saying, but lost the meaning by the way these two women were arranging the words. It was also obvious there was a strong, unseen connection between Elaine and the Baroness, a bond that was growing in strength with each passing word.
“…funny, me too…”
“…that time will come, again…”
“…that’s your soul trying to…”
Karl Ernst was happy to stay out of the conversation, for now. It was seldom that Elaine ever communicated with someone outside of him or her own family, and he could see this conversation was giving her the same type of pleasure. Finally Fredricke turned to Karl Ernst.
“And you sir, why is it that you must associate with these people?” Contempt for her adoring fans could be easily picked up.
“I have been requested to do important work for the war effort.” Was all that Karl Ernst could come up with. He too, did not want to be associated with anyone inside the house socially, except of course for the Delphic Ewa Mann, who had disappeared into thin air.
“Important work.” The Baroness said mockingly. “These people do not know the meaning of work, let alone important work.”
Elaine sensed the bitterness ran deep, and that it was directed to several of who were in the house. Karl Ernst felt it was directed at the Nazi Party in general. Both were correct.
The Baroness then looked into both Karl Ernst and Elaine’s eyes, then closed her own eyes. When she opened them a few seconds later, she began walking past both Kraffts and into the darkness.
“Come.” She ordered. “Let’s go to Stettin.”
Chapter 11 – The Show
After all the men had left, von Hoogerwoerd walked over to the window and looked out over the canal. Three of the houses on the other side still had their reddish lights on, and he could clearly see the owners sitting in their windows revealing their wares to potential clients. Business will be very good when this place is full of lonely German soldiers. The Count thought with memories of past wars he provided young girls to – some as young as ten years old.
After staring at one of the women for a while, a woman with who he had more than several entertaining evenings with, von Hoogerwoerd turned to look at the huge map of Europe that had been hand painted on the wall.
The map had no boundaries or borders drawn, nor were any of the countries listed. Only a few major cities, main roads, the mountains and major rivers were shown. On the upper left corner was the von Hoogerwoerd name and family crest. This was Count von Hoogerwoerd’s Europe – and Europe will soon change drastically – but it will still be the Count’s… or so he thought.