Femme Fatale

JIM CARR

FEMME FATALE JIM CARR

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FEMME FATALE

COPYRIGHT: JimCarr2022 ISBN: 97982223269892 Femme Fatale is the sequel to Forget-Me-Nots published earlier.

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CHAPTER ONE

“W

e sent you to the War Crimes Tribunal for a reason,” said Col. Stone, who headed Canadian Intelligence in Western Berlin.

“How did you feel about working with the war correspondents? They’re a rowdy bunch and not easy to please, but we’ve received a few calls and letters from some of them asking to work with you ongoing.”

Canadian Intelligence’s offices were located at the other end of the building in West Berlin and Lieut. Karl Aberbach felt at home as soon as he saw a large picture of Canada’s Parliament buildings behind Stone’s desk.

There were also pictures of the King and Churchill on the right wall.

“As I said, you were sent there for a reason. You have every right to seek discharge and head back home. “But we have an assignment that has your name on it,” said Stone in a smooth voice.

Karl didn’t respond and knew by the way Stone approached him that it would have an element of danger attached to it.

“We would like you to enter East Berlin while it’s still possible. The Russians are getting harder and harder to deal with each day.” He paused to scan Karl’s face before continuing. “We need a very savvy individual who doesn’t lose his head to set up stop there before the Russians make it impossible. Is it something you might be interested in?”

Karl Liked Stone had well-groomed dark brown wavy hair, dark brown eyes and a warm smile, especially if he was asking people for their help. He was tall, had muscular arms, and emphasized key points with his hands. Stone tapped some tobacco in his pipe, lit it, and blew a blue ring in Karl’s direction.

“What exactly would this assignment entail?”

It was the same question his wife in Toronto asked when he was posted to London at the end of the war. He had a daughter he had not seen 4

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since her birth and it made him feel guilty.

“You woud produce a newspaper for East Berliners to read and provide us with timely information on the activities of the East German government, such as miitary build-ups, new laws, rationing, that sort of thing.”

“I’n not sure I have the skills to handle an assigment like this. I’be learned a lot about reporters and hw they think. But I’m not sure I could rise to that standard.”

Stone was sking his head. “Perhaps not at the moment, but that can be remedied . Before you shake your head again, you wouldbe trained to become a journalist, thionk and write they way they do. You’ll be taight how to seyt type.”

A passing cloud darkened the room and made Karl think twice. Stone could sense the change and added: “We fully understand the dangers involved and have conceived what we consider a way to welcome you to their midst. Ehat Germany needs now ate ricklayers. You will also be trained as a bricklayer in Canada and Berlin and apply that trade wherever you go in East Germany.”

“That’s a hell of a lot of training,” he said, adding, “how much time do I have to learn how to become a bricklayer, a reporter and someone who knows how to set type?”

“Six months.”

“I’ll think about it,” said Karl, pushing himself from his chair.

“While you do, you should be aware that we are creating a new wing to work on this, which carries the rank of Captain. If the Russians get wind of what we’re doing, they won’t associate an operation of this size with Canadians. Canada will handle the wing.”

Stone’s pipe had gone out with all the talking. He lit another match and puffed on his pipe again before continuing, “You won’t be alone there.

Tell you what. We’re having a special party tomorrow night with some of the members who would be part of your team there.”

***

Karl wasn’t sure and had a nagging feeling about it. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. He remembered his twin brother, Rhinehart, who was recovering from a bullet meant for him, saying, “There will always be war and rumours of war as long as we live. There will always be people like me who love war and people with greed and anxious to prove themselves in battle. War is a place for losers.”

He and his brother, Rhinehart, were identical twins. Both with the same curl at the part his dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. His voice 5

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was softer than Rhinehart’s but he shared Rhinehart’s way of looking at you. He knew his mother worried about him the the way she fussed over Rhinehart when he joined the German Army.

Karl needed to talk to Rhinehart now. His adventures in saving people from the Nazis in occupied France took more energy out of him that he didn’t realize until some time later, and he wasn’t sure if he could go through the anxiety-filled nights ever again.

He picked up his phone and called Canada to talk to his mother, father, and, above all, Rhinehart.

“When will you be coming back home, Karl? Rhinehart is sickly, and should he die, we have only you to provide us with grandchildren.”

“They want me to go undercover into Soviet-held East Berlin and cause problems. I’m not sure I’m up for it.”

“You are, except you don’t know it yet. I would jump at the chance, but I am not you. I will say only one thing. It will be the making of you.”

He spent the rest of the night emptying a bottle of Whiskey. When he finally drifted off to sleep, he was still unsure.

In the morning, he decided to tell Stone he wasn’t the man for the job. When he entered Stone’s office, he was stopped by Stone’s secretary.

“He’s meeting with Sullivan and two other colonels. Stone spotted him and waved him to enter.

“The Russians have charged our man in East Berlin with espionage, and we have no one else there.”

***

The party was on the second floor of the hotel next to Stone’s office.

Several people were already there, including some army brass from Britain and the U.S. Karl edged his way to Stone, who was talking to a British colonel. Stone acknowledged Karl with a smile and introduced him as Captain Aberbach.

There were six tables in the centre of the room, each with white linen covers and silver eating utensils. A large candle in the middle of each table gave it a special glow. A Canadian Army band was playing A nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, and the sound of raised voices grew louder as more people arrived.

Stone found him at one of the tables. “Let me introduce you to some of your colleagues.” They stopped at the next table, and he introduced him to two young men and a woman. “You’ll be operating under the command of this officer. Get to know his face. In the field, you will each be given a code name. He will know all your code names. No one else will, except for the wireless operator in London. In fact, she should appear at any minute.” He 6

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looked around and shook his head.

They went to the other tables, where Karl was introduced as their leader and the person they should contact in case of problems. He thought Stone was taking a lot for granted, but he had to admit it intrigued him.

Irene arrived on the arm of a U.S. Army Captain and sat at their table.

She barely looked at Karl as she introduced herself to other team members.

She paused at Karl’s chair. “I hear you’re now a Captain. Congratulations.

I understand we will be working together again soon.” Karl nodded and watched the U.S. Army Captain slide his arm in hers. Irene noticed his reaction and smiled at him.

Col. Stone was about to step in, but the band started playing a waltz, and the U.S. Army Captain had Irene on the dance floor in seconds. Stone looked at Karl and immediately understood the connection between Irene and Aberbach.

When Irene returned to their table, Stone leaned forward, “I need to talk to you before you leave.”

“I have an escort, Colonel Stone. Can’t it wait?”

“No.” They stood when they played O Canada at the end of the evening. The U.S. Army Captain lingered as Irene huddled with Stone to talk in whispers. Karl was also at the table and consulted from time to time. At one point, she rose and shouted to her friend to go and that she would find her own way home. When they broke up an hour later, Karl knew he would be going to East Berlin. So did Stone, who left them standing in the street.

They decided to walk to her hotel and passed couple after couple kissing in doorways. She grabbed his arm and suddenly kissed him. “Let’s have lunch together. There’s a neat little place near my hotel where we can catch up,” Irene said, kissing Karl again as she turned and disappeared behind the door.

***

Karl was waiting for her the next day around noon. He came early, and when she did not appear, he went to the newsstand on the corner and picked up a copy of an English newspaper, returning to find her standing on the steps.

“I thought you got cold feet,” she said, laughing.

“Fat chance of that happening.”

They walked slowly down the street, holding hands and smiling at each other, stopping at a small restaurant halfway down the street, where Irene led the way inside.

“I had a call from my Captain friend before I left,” she said, looking at 7

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his face to see how he was taking it. “He was angry, and I told him never to call me again.”

She reached out and held his hand. A young woman approached them with menus, and Irene ordered for them both, along with two large mugs of beer. The restaurant did not attract many patrons. Its furnishings were bare and needed a good coat of paint. The seats were threatbare, and there was a draft from the front door every time someone entered.

“I am leaving for Canada in the morning,” said Karl.

“I know. I made all the arrangements,” she said, looking him in the eyes.

Karl summoned up the courage as he held her hand. “I would like to spend the rest of the time until I do with you.”

She rubbed his hands and smiled. “So would I.” “I’ll be gone for six months.”

“I know.”

The U.S. Army Captain was waiting for them outside. He went after Karl, smashing him in the face with his fists. Karl reeled and fell on the cobblestone road. He then began to kick Karl, who tried to stand but got knocked down every time. He grabbed Irene and marched her down the street. She struggled to get free, but he just held her tighter.

Karl rose and ran after them. He saw Karl coming after him and raised his fists. Karl ran directly into him, knocking him to the street. He rose on one knee, and Karl kicked him down again.

A crowd had gathered, and two MPs arrived and parted them. Karl struggled to his feet.

“Who started this?”

“He did,” said the U.S. Army Captain. “He stole my girl from me.”

Irene stood in front of the MP. “I am not his girl and never was. This is my boyfriend.” She said, standing beside Karl. “He tried to stop him from dragging me away but was knocked down and kicked by this man.”

“I will need both your names and rank and where to reach you.”

Stone was watching from the corner and walked slowly to them. “My name is Col. Stone of the Canadian Army. I will handle the Canadian Captain.” He turned to the U. S. Army Captain. “What is the name of your commanding officer?”

He shook himself free. “Col. Harry Pond. But I wish you wouldn’t call.

I’m already in his bad books.”

“We can’t have you assaulting people either,” said Stone.

He put his around Irene and Karl and walked them away from the crowd. “You should know better than to fight with another Allied officer,” 8

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he told Karl.

“I just couldn’t just let him drag her away.”

“There are enough MPs around that you could have done that for you.

I don’t want either of you to be the centre of attention, not when we have an important mission to undertake.”

He saw them at her hotel and left them. Back at his office, Stone tracked down Pond. “Col. Pond, my name is Col. Stone, Canadian Intelligence. I had to break up a fight over a woman between one of your men and one of my men, also a Captain.”

“Let me stop you right there. This is not the first call I’ve had about him. It’s usually over a woman. He received a Dear John letter from his wife two weeks ago, and ever since then, he’s been picking fights with other soldiers over women.”

“I would appreciate it if he would never meet my Captain again. He’s being trained for a very important mission for your people and ours. We can’t afford any hiccups now.”

“Leave it with me. He’s been an incredible soldier, and I hate to see him lose his commission. I appreciate what he’s going through.”

Karl and Irene walked into the lobby and up the stairs to her room, overlooking a garden behind the hotel. “I think we had better order supper than go out again,” she said.

They spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the radio, dancing to the music and holding hands on the couch. Irene looked at the bed. “It’s narrow, but just will have to do.”

He liked the way she talked, the way she tossed her black hair and her dark brown eyes that spoke volumes. She was slim and was always on one diet or another. But she had a way of smiling that intrigued him. He didn’t know then she was also a cook who could get a job as chief chef at any London hotel. But most of all was her sincerity. There were no games, just honest feelings in everything she said.

Later, a dining room staff entered their room with a cart with two large plates on lace placemats. He dished out mashed potatoes, chicken and carrots covered in gravy and uncorked a bottle of Champagne.

The waiter looked at him and stared. He started talking to him in German, calling Karl “Major Amberbach.”

Karl shook his head, but the waiter persisted. “I was in your company in our march from Russia.”

“I am Rhinehart’s twin brother,” he said in German. “Please do not tell anyone that we met. Tell me your name, and I will tell Rhinehart I met you.”

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“Who is Rhinehart?” said Irene.

“My twin brother. He left home when he was 16, against my parents’ wishes, and found his way to Germany. He admired Hitler in everything he did, joined the SS, and eventually rose to Major. I don’t think he ever knew about the bad side of Hitler’s Germany. He could be very naive about some things once he made up his mind.” When Col. Stone suggested I call on him the day before the Germans surrendered, one of his soldiers tried to shoot me, and he took the bullet meant for me. Last I heard, Rhinehart made it back to Canada and married his high school sweetheart.”

“No wonder Stone has become your patron,” said Irene with a laugh.

“You’re exactly the person he needs for the mission he has in mind for you.”

The next morning, Irene checked out of the hotel, and they boarded a Canadian Army car and were driven to the Berlin airport. Irene helped him out of the car and followed him inside the RCAF hangar, where they met the Lancaster pilot who would take him to London and board another plane to St. John’s in Newfoundland and, from there, to Toronto.

The pilot smiled at Irene. “Everything’s ready.” She followed them aboard and sat down opposite him. “Didn’t the colonel tell you? I‘m flying as far as London with you. I’ve also made a deal with the pilot to delay your flight to Newfoundland for a few hours.”

They landed in London two hours later. “If Col. Stone finds out about this, there will be hell to pay. He likes things to work like clockwork.”

A Canadian Army car took them to an address on the back of an envelope she gave him. They walked up seven stairs into the lobby of an apartment building and used her key to open the door. Her flat was on the fifth floor, and they took the elevator up. She left the elevator with her hand in her purse to find the key to her door.

“I wasn’t sure how you would react when we met at the party. I was ready to give up when I saw you with that U.S. Army captain.”

“I knew you would be there, and I wanted to see how you’d react. I was ready to give up on you if you weren’t jealous. But you fought for me, and I knew you loved me.” Irene went to her kitchen. “I have no idea what you like to eat.”

“Just make me your favourite dish.”

“How does a big bowl of porridge sound to you with brown sugar and toast.”

“You take after my mother, who made us porridge almost every day we went to school. How about toast with it.”

The clock rang at five o’clock, and Irene woke him. “We need to be at 10

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the airport in an hour. Your plane leaves at six, with you or without.” Irene washed and made herself ready before making toast and tea for them.

Irene called a taxi, and they were on their way 20 minutes later, arriving at the RCAF hangar ten minutes before take-off. An RCAF airman was pacing the floor when they arrived. “You took your damn good time getting here. Your pilot is already revving up the engine. So you’d best be in your way.

Karl grabbed and kissed her, turned and ran out to the plane. A crew member helped him up the ladder and closed the hatch door.

CHAPTER TWO

K

arl could see St. John’s cathedral as they wove around the city to land at the airport. The salt air rushed into his face when they opened the hatch. “We’ll be here for an hour while we prepare for our flight to Toronto.

So if you want to stretch your legs, now’s our chance. There’s also a telephone in the airport manager where you can call your folks.”

He entered the hangar again and walked up a flight of stairs to the second level to the airport manager’s office. He needed to stretch his legs more than he realized when he almost fell and managed to grab the railing of the staircase to keep his balance. Inside, he stopped at a small store behind the hangar and bought a couple of bottles of orange pop. The young woman behind the counter opened one of the bottles.

Karl approached her. “I was told I could call my family here.” She smiled at him. “Here, take my seat.”

Karl thanked her and took a big swallow of pop before sitting down.

“Just dial 0 for a long distance, and she’ll connect you, Captain.”

Kay answered the phone. “It’s me, Karl, auntie Kay. I’m in Newfoundland, but they’ll be flying me to Toronto. We will likely land at the Toronto airport around two this afternoon.”

“We’ll be there, Karl. Here’s your mother.”

“You don’t need to come. The Army will be driving me home.” He heard his mother shuffling to the phone and waiting for her voice.

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“Is it really you, Karl? I have been waiting to hear your voice since the war ended.”

“Mutter,” he said in a loud voice. “I have also looked forward to hearing your voice for a long time and Fader. I’m landing in Toronto this afternoon. I am on leave for six months to undergo training for an assignment when I return to Europe. How are May and Rhinehart?”

“May and her daughter are fine, but your brother died a few months ago.”

There was a long silence before she began again, “he talked about you when he was here, and he told me many times how much he wanted to see you again. We will visit his grave when you come. One other thing. Good news. May is pregnant with Rhinehart’s child. I hope it is a boy who looks like you and your brother.”

***

Three days later, his driver dropped him off in front of the newspaper office. He opened the door and climbed the stairs to the second floor to the newsroom. A woman rose from her desk and came to the counter. “I have an appointment with Mr. Nightingale. My name is Karl Aberbach.”

She led him to the publisher’s office at the end of the corridor and through a door at her left and left him with the publisher’s secretary, a young woman with brown hair and a dimpled smile. “We’ve been expecting you, Mr. Aberbach. Follow me into his office. Mr. Nightingale is in the newsroom and will be back presently.” She left and returned with Nightingale a few minutes later with another man.

Nightingale had a grey mustache, a slim figure and carried the aura of old money. His light blond hair was cut short, and his blue eyes never left Karl. The man who came with him wore a tweed jacket, no tie and grey trousers.

“We’ve been expecting you, Mr. Aberbach,” said Nightingale. “Let me introduce you to Archie Wilson, our managing editor.”

Wilson extended his hand. “Welcome to our newsroom.”

“You will be working under Mr. Wilson, who will introduce you around. You will be with us for five months. I hope you enjoy your time with us.”

Wilson rose, and Karl followed him out and into the newsroom. “If you’re free for lunch, join me and our city editor, Ed Picketts, at the press club. It’s just across the street on the second floor of the hotel. But first, let me introduce you to Ed.” Picketts introduced him to the slot man on the universal desk, where five other men were editing stories and writing heads for them. He then 12

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took him to Jason Wright. “Boozer, this is Karl Aberbach. He’s new to journalism. I’d like him to work under you for a few weeks.”

Jason pointed to the empty desk beside him and the typewriter on it.

He passed him a news release to turn into a story. Karl felt lost. He didn’t have the faintest idea how to start.

“When you write newspaper copy, you look for something that sums up what the story is about or something catchy. After you write the first two sentences, show them to me. My nickname, by the way, is Boozer.

Definitely not Jason or Mr. Wright. ” Karl studied the single sheet for almost 15 minutes. It was about a new building planned for Hamilton. He looked at the keys of his typewriter and studied them for a bit before inserting a piece of paper into the roller.

“A new building is being planned for Hamilton along King Street. It will be eight stories high and become Hamilton’s first office building.

“Work on the building is scheduled to start in late June and be completed in a year.”

It took Karl another 15 minutes to find the keys and type them. He passed his sheet to Jason, who scanned it for a few minutes. He then inserted the sheet in his typewriter and typed it in 30 seconds before passing it to Karl. “Learn from my changes.”

Karl read what Boozer had typed: “Work on Hamilton’s first office building will start in June and be ready for occupancy in a year.”

Jason shuffled around the papers on his desk and passed him another release to write. It was an obit about a 98-year-old woman. “Before you write it, grab a copy of yesterday’s paper and see how they write obits.”

He would never learn, thought Karl. But he knew Stone was counting on him as he read the obituary page. All he had to do was change the names. A half-hour later, he passed his sheet to Jason. “Great, except for one thing. You left out the names of pallbearers that were included in the sheet I gave you. Include them and give me back your sheet.”

Jason smiled at him as he scanned his sheet. “You’ll get the hang of it before long. It just takes a while. We all had to learn this way. So don’t get discouraged.”

It was suddenly noon, and Picketts was standing at his desk. “We’re on for lunch, or have you forgotten?”

Karl followed him across the street to the street to the hotel, where Archie Wilson was talking to one of the city’s councillors. They took the elevator to the second floor and into the press club.

Wilson and Picketts ordered steak and a beer for them. Archie complained that the composing room was four minutes late and his feud with 13

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the foreman. He turned to Karl, “All this must be difficult to understand, but a month from now, you’ll know much more about newspapers and what makes them tick. So that you know, both Ed and I know you are here at the request of the Canadian Army for a crash course in writing a newspaper. We are the only ones. We don’t know why the Army wants it, but we’re not going to ask.”

Karl nodded and finished his beer.

“If you run into trouble with anyone, just let Ed or me know.”

In the afternoon, Jason got him to practise typing and knowing where all the keys were. At five o’clock, he followed Jason out of the newsroom.

Jason headed for the parking lot behind their building and down the stairs to the street, where his driver was waiting for him.

Forty minutes later, his driver let him off at his home. Grete met him at the door. “I have your favourite meal waiting for you,” she said, leading him into the dining room. His father, May, Auntie Kay, and uncle Hugh were already seated when they heard the door open and saw Peggy enter with a young man on her arm.

Peggy had grown into a surprisingly pretty young lady, still in her teens, but with eyes that shone with confidence and someone who knew her attraction. Three young men crowded around her as she tossed her dark blond hair back with a smile that turned heads.

“This is my friend, Warren. I’ve invited him to meet you all, especially Karl, who has just returned from Europe.”

Kay rose and set another place for Warren beside Peggy. “Are you one of our neighbours, Warren?”

“If you call St. Catharines a neighbour, I am. I met Peggy at a dance at the Legion a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve seen each other three or four times since then at lunch.”

“Warren is a member of the Lawson family,” said Peggy.

“How is your father, Warren?” said Hugh.

“I think he misses the farm. He talks about it a lot and how they worked from morning to sunset on it.”

***

Back at the newspaper, Jason had him typing sheets of his stories to help him build up his speed and get used to writing leads and what came next in each story. He did this for much of the next two days and found himself typing faster with two fingers now and learning how to write short, snappy leads for stories.

The newspaper cafeteria was on the next floor, where Jason introduced them to some of the other reporters, who heard he was in the Army and 14

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hounded him to tell them what it was like.

He began to read their stories and asked them why they chose that particular lead and how they could tell when it was the right lead.

“When you write enough of them, you will spot it immediately after a while,” said Garry Jones, who sat beside him and Jason.

“It’s time for you to go out with Jones and listen to him ask questions.

It’s an old newspaper method – who, what, and where. Just listen to him.

He’s good at getting people to say things they wouldn’t say normally.”

Garry Jones took him over to the police station and listened to him ask questions regarding accidents, unusual activities and even murders. After two weeks, he let Karl do the asking about a murder investigation. They returned to the newspaper, and Karl sat next to Boozer, looked at his notes, and started typing. It took him an hour to produce the story. Jason glanced at it and gave it to the city editor. It appeared in the afternoon edition of the paper, and Karl grabbed a couple of copies and took them back home with him.

***

Karl told Boozer he would leave the paper at the end of the fifth month.

“My parents want me to work on the farm. I told them I love newspapering and the great people I work with, but they need me on the farm. Uncle Hugh and my father are getting close to 60 now and can’t work the hours they used to.”

“Does Archie know yet?”

“I called him on Saturday and let him know. He offered me a job any time I changed my mind, but he understands about my folks.”

Boozer took him to the press club for a beer and said goodbye to him there. They went across the street to the hotel and up the elevator to the press club. Karl walked in to find 14 others, including Archie and Ed Picketts.

Boozer presented him with a special mug from the gang at the paper and shook his hand. Everyone drank freely, and he felt tipsy by the time he left. Boozer escorted him to the lobby and helped him get inside his car, waiting for him at the door.

The driver had to help him walk inside his home before leaving. Hugh met him at the door and saw exactly Karl’s state. He helped him to a chair in the kitchen and poured him a large mug of coffee. “Drink it all. You need to sober up in a real hurry. If your mother sees you like this, she will have a fit.”

Hugh took him for a walk around the farmyard until Karl could walk alone. They returned to the kitchen, where Hugh poured him another large 15

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mug of coffee.

His mother heard them talking and came into the kitchen. She glanced at Karl and knew he had been drinking.

“It was my last day, and Boozer and some of the other guys had a party for me at the press club.”

Grete went to the cake stand and cut him a large slice of his favourite cake and a coffee to go with it.

Konrad joined them and laughed once he saw Karl. “You’ll have quite a hangover in the morning and need your wits about you. Brick laying is hard work and can be very dangerous at times. Douse your head in a large pail of cold water and sober up before you go to bed.”

About an hour later, Karl put his head in a pail of water and held it there for as long as he could breathe. He felt better almost immediately and repeated it several more times.

“You know,” he said to them, “if I had not given my word to take on Col. Stoner’s assignment, I think I would become a journalist. I love the work, and the guys are great to work with.”

He woke before his father called him. He felt a bit queasy and headed for the coffee pot.

“It needs to percolate a bit before drinking it. You look a lot better than when you went to bed. A few minutes later, Konrad went to the coffee pot and lifted it, pouring Karl a large mug and a piece of toast to help him settle his stomach.”

“Don’t feel much like eating.”

“I know, but get this into your stomach before Enos Clarke arrives to drive you to work.”

Karl bit on the toast and washed it with the coffee before taking another bite and more coffee and the rest of the toast before taking his final sip.

Clarke was the local bricklayer and plasterer and happy to show Karl the tricks of the trade and knocked on their door as he opened it.

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CHAPTER THREE

A

mos Clarke hadn’t shaved in a week and the grey stubble in his cheeks. He had bright blue eye eyes that twinkled. His knuckles were chapped from being wet in cold weather, and he kept rubbing his hands to warm them. He had a gruff voice and walked with a spry step as he entered and took a mug of coffee from Konrad.

Amos sat down and took a good look at Karl. “So this is the young man who wants to learn how to become a bricklayer.” He turned to Konrad with a twinkle in his eye and a smile. “He doesn’t look like much.”

“You’re the best bricklayer from here to Hamilton,” said Konrad. “If anyone can teach him, it would be you.”

Amos downed his coffee and stood. “What’s keeping you?” he said to Karl. “When I stand, you stand, too.” He kept shaking his head as Karl followed him to his truck, an old Ford that had seen better days. Amos tried to start it but failed, and he sent Karl to crank the engine.

“I’m working on Mrs. Peterson’s chimney today. When we get to her home, you unload the truck and get everything ready to mix mortar. Karl found himself puffing hard by the time he finished unloading the truck. His arms ached, and it took almost all his strength to unload the mortar-mixing board, sand, and concrete.

“You missed my hod.” He saw the blank look in Karl’s eyes. “It’s V-shaped and attached to a pole. We use it to carry around the mixed mortar when we start laying the bricks.”

The brown bricks were another matter. Karl tried to lift a stack of them but couldn’t budge them off the truck. Amos shook his head.

“I don’t think you’re cut out to be a bricklayer, Karl, but we’ll do our best regardless.”

Amos carried the bricks to where he had started the chimney the 17

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day before, returning to show Karl how to mix mortar. “Three parts sand and one part concrete.” He added three shovelfuls of building sand to the board and one shovelful of concrete and looked up at Karl. “That’s the easy part. Adding the water is the hard part. Just a little to start and mix and add more water and mix and add just enough water to give it the right consistency.”

Karl added the formula to his notebook and smiled at him.

Amos then kept moving the mixture in and out with his trowel until it became what he wanted. ”Here, you take the trowel and get a feel of it.” He passed it to Karl, who messed it up before he caught on.

“That’s it,” said Amos straightening up. “You may make a bricklayer after all.” He turned to the chimney he had already started.

“Now, watch closely what I do.” He took a brick and inserted it edgeways and then another brick on the front next to it. He pointed to the hod.

“Put some of our mix in the hod and pass it to me. “ Watch what I do next,“ he said, putting a thick slice of the mortar on his trowel; between the first brick’s edge and the other one’s edge. He then used the trowel to add more mortar to the top of the other brinks before adding some mortar to the edge of each of the brinks.

“Most important of all, we must make absolutely sure that all the bricks are even. Put that in your notebook and underline it.” Amos liked to chew tobacco and spit a mouthful into the mix. He stood back and added another mouthful before placing a long stick on the new layer and his level on top of it. Two bricks were higher than the others, and he pressed down again until perfectly level.

Amos then placed another brick edgeway. “You will notice that if I add another brick in a different direction, it will be exactly the same as the one below it. We can avoid it this way.”

He took the edge of his trowel and used it to draw down an edge on the centre of the brick before turning it over and drawing down an edge on the centre. He then used his fist to break it evenly in two.”

Karl kept notes at every step. This went in the rest of the morning, in which Amos would ask him what he should do next and mix two more batches of mortar. He messed up the first batch, but Amos showed him what to do again. The second one came out perfectly.

“There’s hope for you yet, lad,” he said as they sat down after washing their hands in a fresh pail of water. Karl lay back on the tarpaulin sheet where they had stacked the bricks. Amos handed him a ham sandwich, a mug of coffee, a second sandwich and two more 18

JIM CARR

mugs of coffee. Karl spent the rest of the time lying on the tarp and watching the clouds move by. He looked at his hands. They were red and chapped.

Amos was up first. “I’ve already started the row with the edgeways brick. You take it from there.”

Karl took the hod, put a slice of mortar on his trowel, and put it on the bottom of the row and the edge of the brick. He did this until he finished the row. He then placed the edge brick on the new row and saw that the main-level brick needed two cuts. He dropped the brick and had to pick it up twice before placing it on the row, cut it in two with his towel, and finished the next row in short order.

Amos raised his hand. “You forgot something, something really important.”

“I know,” said Karl. “I forgot to see if it was level. Do I need to do the first level over?”

Maybe not.” Amos moved him out of the way and pressed down really hard on the row. He used his stick and level to check. “Three of your first layer bricks need pressing down. He took his hand and pressed down on the upper level until he saw some mortar ooze from the bricks. He then checked his stick and level again and smiled.

“You also forgot to clean off the excess mortar between the bricks,” Amos added, showing Karl how to use his trowel to do it in a couple of swipes.

They finished the chimney close to supper time. Amos helped Karl in a wheelbarrow to take him to the truck and headed back to the farm. Karl could hardly bend his back when he reached the kitchen and collapsed on a chair.

“How did he make out, Angus?”

“Better than expected. But he must take a few days off to get back in shape.”

“I think I have something that will cheer him up and help him get in shape again,” said Konrad. “But now it’s supper time. I smell beef stew steaming on the stove if I’m not mistaken. Stay and eat with us, Amos. He looked at Grete, who was taking out six loaves of bread from the oven.

Konrad had to help Karl upstairs, and he went to sleep without taking off his clothes. Konrad found a spare blanket and threw it over him before returning to the kitchen.

Konrad looked in on him in the morning, smiled and decided to let him sleep.

19

FEMME FATALE

Karl roused himself around noon and came down to the kitchen, still unshaven and unwashed, just as lunch was being prepared.

“You look terrible. Go back, and don’t come back until you’re shaved and washed,” said his mother. Konrad smiled but said nothing.

Konrad waited until Karl had finished eating before passing him a letter from England. Karl’s hands shook as he read his address on the envelope and unsealed it. He smiled as he recognized Irene’s handwriting.

Col. Stone is giving me leave to travel to Canada to make sure you come back to him. He received a letter from the paper’s managing editor, saying that if Stone did not need Karl, he had a job waiting for him there.

I will be arriving in Toronto next Tuesday morning by plane. Arrival will be around ten o’clock your time. Please be there to meet me.

I can’t wait to see Niagara Falls and meet your family.

Karl folded the letter with a smile. “It’s from Irene, the lady I met in London. She’s coming to fetch me back to London by my commanding officer. She arrives next Tuesday morning.”

“What is she like, Karl?” said Grete.

“She’s wonderful in every way. You will see for yourselves.” He looked at Hugh. “Will you drive us to the RCAF airport in Toronto?”

“My father has a new car, a Chevrolet. It’s really nifty. A lot better than the old Model T,” said Peggy.

“It served us well throughout the war, and we were sad to see it go when we traded it for this car,” said Konrad.

“I guess I had better get back to Amos. He’s a great teacher. I learned a lot from him in just one day.”

“Does she have a telephone, Karl?” said Grete.

“I’m not sure. But we can try to reach her where she works.

“Then what’s keeping you?” said Crete.

His mother nodded. May appeared after breastfeeding the baby, which she named Rhinehart and put him in Grete’s arms. Her daughter sat next to her and held her head down. She was still bashful around Karl.

“He has the same look as your daughter at that age,” said Grete, cradling Rhinehart in her arms and smiling.

Karl went to the telephone, took out his notebook, and dialled Col. Stone’s number. “It’s Karl, Col. Stone. Is there a number where we can reach Irene at? My mother would like to talk to her.”

20

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Stone smiled and gave him the number where she worked. Karl dialled the number slowly and found a different voice answer. “It’s a long-distance call for Irene.”

“Hang on a second. She’s just getting off another call. “ “It’s Karl, Irene. I just got your letter this morning. We will be in Toronto next Tuesday to welcome you. All of us. Hang on. My mother would like to talk to you.”

Grete passed Rhinehart back to May and held the receiver to her ear. “Good morning, Irene. I am Karl’s mother. I wanted to say hello to you and welcome you to Canada. And to say you have such a lovely voice.”

Without thinking, she put the phone back on the receiver and turned to Karl. “She sounds quite wonderful, Karl.”

“Wait until you see how she looks. I know you will love her.”

During the next few days and the following Monday, Amos taught him other tricks of the trade and what tools he would need.

He had Karl build a brick wall over a farmhouse near them on the last day by himself.

“When we first met two weeks ago, I have to tell you I had great doubts about whether you’d ever be able to brick anything but this wall you just finished is perfect. Couldn’t do better myself.”

Karl had built up some muscle in his chest and arms and looked far healthier than ever. He climbed aboard the old truck and sat beside Amos. “My mother has prepared a special meal for us, Amos.

She would like you to join us.”

When they reached the farmhouse, they took off their work clothes and washed in a basin of hot water in the porch before entering.

The silver was polished, and new placemats were added beneath the china. The chandelier was also polished, with its diamond-shaped hangings sending shards over the table. Red and blue streamers hung in the shape of a British cross from the ceiling in the dining room as Kay, Peggy, May, and Karl’s mother entered and took their places at the table.

“They had Amos’s favourite dish – beef stew – with turnips, potatoes, parsnips, carrots and fresh-baked apple pie with whipped cream and a newly baked loaf of bread which they placed beside him.

“They sang old songs after supper, and Amos stayed for a few shots of Cognac. He left around ten o’clock and hugged Karl as he took his leave. He slipped him a piece of paper. “Should you ever 21

FEMME FATALE

encounter a problem wherever you go, here’s my number. I feel you won’t do much bricklaying where you’re going. “ That night someone set fire to their new seedless grape plants.

They all ran out into the field. Hugh turned on the lights to the car as the others rushed with hoses to the nearest plants. Hugh opened the water to the hoses and sprayed different parts of the field. It lasted only a few minutes but scared them and brought back some bad memories.

When they returned to the house, Hugh called the St. Catharines Police, who arrived the next morning to inspect and take a picture of the damage. “Someone has it in for you,” he said. “We found burnt match stubs near some of the plants. We’ll have someone come around for a few evenings. They will scare them off for a while.”

“We must go to the airport and pick someone up this morning. May and her two children will be here, along with Kay and her daughter, in case you need anything.”

Hugh started the Chev while Karl, his mother and father found their seats. A few minutes later, they were on the highway and making good speed with the new Chev, passing Hamilton sooner than ever and wheeled in front of the RCAF hangar to wait for the arrival of Irene’s plane. It was 25 minutes late because they had to wait for someone from St. John’s.

Karl opened the back seat when her Lancaster landed and walked to the off-ramp, where several men descended. He spotted Irene talking to the pilot, who helped her down the ramp. Her arms were filled with parcels, dropping a couple as she rushed to meet Karl as soon as she saw him. He kissed him and passed him four parcels. Karl picked up the parcels she had dropped and brought them to her.

Grete was the first to emerge from the car, followed by his father and Hugh. Irene knew at a glance it was Karl’s mother and ran to her. They hugged for at least a minute before Karl caught up with them. Grete entered the back seat first and invited her to sit beside her. Karl followed her while his father sat upfront with Hugh.

Karl gave her a running commentary about the scenes they were passing, especially the places they passed next to Lake Ontario, until they turned off onto a dirt road to their farm. May, Peggy, and Kay were outside waiting for them when they drove into the yard.

“This is a huge house,” said Irene. “what kind of farm is this?”

“A grape farm. We grow grapes,” said Konrad, who walked behind her with her packages.

22

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It was just past one o’clock, and Kate led them into the dining room. Kate looked at the streamers, smiled and held Karl’s arm.

They sat next to each other on the left side so that she could look out of the windows.

“I can’t wait until you tell me all about England,” said Peggy, who introduced herself. Karl never talks about it.”

“Tomorrow, after Karl takes us to Niagara Falls, we will have a quiet chat about it.” She unpacked her first parcel and passed it to Grete, who put it beneath her chair. “Please open it. I want to see if you like what I brought for you.”

Grete reached down, held the package in her hand and unwrapped it. It was a small box containing a necklace. “My mother wanted you to have it. It has been in our family for generations.”

Grete was about to cry, but Irene held her and rubbed her head and hair. She turned to Konrad again; the next parcel, please. It’s for you, May.” May unwrapped it. There were three special birthstones. “One for you, one for your beautiful daughter and one for your son.”

“The next one, a larger parcel, had Peggy’s name. Peggy ripped it open. It was a red jumper. “I saw it in a shopkeeper’s window. It was the last one they had. I thought you might like it.”

Peggy ran from the other side of the table and hugged her.

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CHAPTER FOUR

T

he next morning Karl had his driver take them to Niagara Falls and had to park some distance from the falls because of the traffic. They passed a lot of shops, where Irene insisted on stopping and looking in the windows. Fifteen minutes later, they could hear the roar of the falls as they walked down the street, where they could see them in all their glory.

The roar became louder the closer they came in sight of them. When they reached the railing where they had the best view, spray spattered their faces, and below they could see a boat trying to sail close to the falls.

Karl pointed to the opposite shore. “The United States is over there. If you have your passport, perhaps we can cross the border, and you and Peggy can visit the stores there.

Irene dug into her purse and produced her passport. Then let’s go.”

***

They returned to the farm to see an unfamiliar car in the driveway. David Lawson was seated at the kitchen table with two of his sons, Mark and Warren Lawson, now in their early 20s.

David Lawson stood and shook Karl’s hand. “We were visiting your folks to see if they were interested in selling the farm. We heard that someone had set fire to some of your plants. We thought we would come to see if we could help in any way.”

“The police are on it and following up new leads as we speak,” said Hugh, who was starting to show his age. His back was bent slightly, and his sunburned face showed wrinkles, but his hair was still dark brown.

24

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“All the same, we’re here to help. The farm was owned by our family for generations, and my sons were thinking we should buy it back if you’re willing to sell.”

Hugh looked at Konrad. They both shook their heads. “I don’t think so, Mr. Lawson. Perhaps some other time, just not now,” said Hugh.

“We’re prepared to offer double what you paid for it. Even more, if necessary.”

“That’s nice of you, Mr. Lawson,” said Grete. “But it’s home to us now with dear memories, and we don’t want to move. We met your boy earlier when he came to visit us with Peggy.”

Kay rose and made tea for everyone while Konrad and Hugh went into the fields. They didn’t say much and returned to the kitchen a few minutes later. “What do you think, Karl?” said Hugh.

“I think you haven’t heard the last of this. These people have it in their heads to buy it back, and there’s no telling what they’ll do.”

“That’s why he’s been courting me,” said Peggy. “It was to buy the farm all along.”

In the evening, Grete sat beside Irene on the sofa in the front room. The sun was setting, but they could still see each other’s faces in the twilight. “What are your intentions towards my son, Irene?”

“I love him, and he knows it, but he has yet to talk about marriage to me.”

Grete smiled and said, “Leave that to me.” She rose and went to Karl’s bedroom when everyone had gone to bed. She shook him until he woke. “What’s wrong?” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“You. When do you plan to ask Irene to marry you?” ”I’m not sure she would have me.”

“I know women. If you don’t ask her soon, she will find someone else who will.”

In the morning, Karl tiptoed downstairs to listen to what the women were saying in the kitchen. Irene was making tea and laughing at one of Peggy’s jokes. When he appeared, his mother smiled at him. “We were talking about you. Irene was asking how you like your toast and eggs. She also said she would like to take her on a tour of the farm.”

Karl took a mouthful of tea and lowered his cup. He reached out for Irene’s hand and bent down on his knee. “Will you marry me?

Tell me in front of all the others.”

Irene went down on her knees and kissed him. “Just tell me when.”

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Grete and Kay held each other, and Peggy was dancing and shouting.

“We could marry before we head back to London, or if you wish, we could wait until I finish my assignment and come back here.”

“Today, but tomorrow is fine as well.”

‘Stone is not going to like any of this,” said Karl.

“Maybe, but then maybe not. He knows you will be there if I’m there.”

“It will have to be tomorrow,” said Grete. “Kay and I need to get new dresses for it.”

“And you can have my wedding dress if you wish,” said Kay. “Grete was married in it as well. It will bring you good luck. We’ll fit it later, but Grete and I are headed to get new dresses.”

Everyone rose early that day to prepare breakfast and head for the church for the wedding. Hugh volunteered to give away the bride and followed Karl and the others to the church in his car.

A few of Karl’s classmates showed up along with the families from neighbouring farms, who sprinkled them with confetti as they left the church. Grete and Kay went ahead to get the reception dinner ready. Karl and Irene arrived a few minutes later and went straight to their bedrooms to change into their travelling clothes, Irene in a new dress and Karl in his uniform.

Kay and Grete brought in the largest turkey they could find on a platter, followed by Peggy with large dishes of potatoes, carrots, lima beans and gravy. Everyone clapped when they saw the turkey placed on the table. Fifteen minutes later, Hugh was carving the turkey and placing large slices on plates which Peggy and May took to each of them and followed up with the other dishes seconds later.

Hugh stood and thanked them all for coming on behalf of the bride, and Konrad talked about Karl and his exploits as a boy and now as a soldier.

Crete and Kay had disappeared into the kitchen to return, holding a large platter with a five-tier cake, while Peggy and May served coffee and tea to everyone.

It was Karl’s turn to speak. He stood and thanked them for celebrating with them on his day of days. He then raised his glass along with his guests in tribute to his wife.

They left an hour later and headed for the border.

*** 26

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The next day there was a knock on the door. Hugh rose and opened it to find Sandy Dewar from Glace Bay staring him in the face. “It can’t be,” said Hugh.

“It is,” said Sandy as Hugh grabbed his arms and pulled him inside.

“Konrad, look who’s here,” he said.

Konrad reached for the Cognac bottle as Hugh drew Sandy inside. They sat Karl on a kitchen chair.

“Have you had lunch yet?” said Hugh. “My missus and I stopped at a diner and had a hamburger in St. Catharines.

“Where is she?”

“In the car. I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.”

Hugh left, opened Sandy’s car door, and brought her to the table. “There’s a bit of Cognac and tea or coffee if you mind.”

“Tea would be very welcome,” she said, but Sandy pointed to the Cognac bottle. “Where are your misses?”

“They went shopping and should be back soon,” said Konrad.

“You bring back wonderful old memories,” said Hugh.

“And you two as well,” said Sandy. “I also bring greetings to you from the colliery. We often talk about you guys and the times we went through in twenty-two. “ May poked her head in the door. “I thought I heard strange voices.”

“It’s our old friends from Glace Bay. Sat hello to Sandy Dewar and his missus. May is Rhinehart’s wife and mother of his two children.”

“There was talk he joined the German army,” said Sandy.

“He did. We begged him not to go. He was fascinated by Hitler, and he left us. He went to Germany on his own, still very young, and joined the Army. Before long, he became a Major. Karl joined the Canadian Army and visited Rhinehart at the German camp. Seeing a man in an enemy uniform, one of the German soldiers raised his rifle to shoot Karl, but Rhinehart took the bullet for him. That was one day before the war ended. They operated on him and shipped him home to Canada. We drove to Montreal to pick him up and bring him home.” After a short pause, “he died a few months ago.”

Sandy’s wife, Caroline, looked around the kitchen. “You have a wonderful place, Hugh and Konrad. It’s a paradise.”

Kay appeared and hugged her and Sandy. She turned to Hugh, “Why didn’t you tell me Caroline and Sandy were here?”

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“I was remarking about how lovely your kitchen is.”

“Never mind them. Follow me to see the rest of the house.”

They entered the front room and then into the dining room. Caroline couldn’t take her eyes off the chandelier just as Grete was coming downstairs.

“It’s absolutely breathtaking,” she said, running to Grete. “You look ten years younger than the rest of us.” When they made their way upstairs, he asked: “If you don’t mind me asking, how much is your rent for this?”

“We own it,” said Grete. “The house and barn and the farm.”

“Wait until Sandy hears this.”

Peggy, May and her two children followed them into the kitchen. Grete introduced them to Sandy and Grete.

“You must remember me, Peggy. My name is Caroline, and my husband is Sandy. We visited your Glace Bay house and saw you there many times.” She turned to Sandy, who was itching to talk to her. “Have they told you that they own this house and the farm and want me to work alongside them?” said Sandy.

“We’ve got some problems,” said Konrad. “The people we bought the farm from now want to buy it back, and some strange things have happened since then. We’ve called the police, and they’re investigating. Hugh and I can’t be everywhere. We need an extra set of eyes and someone to help with the plants. We’ll show you what needs to be done.”

“What kind of plants?”

“Grapes. Even wine grapes,” said Hugh.

“You don’t say,” said Sandy. “Can you suggest a place where we could rent?”

“Actually, there’s another cottage on the property you can use rent-free. We stayed there before we bought the farm.”

“And you can always come and visit any time,” said Kay. “It’ll be great to have old friends with us again.”

***

The next morning, Hugh had to deal with calls from neighbouring farmers threatening to sue us. “Somehow, all our cows found their way out of the barn and went to their gardens, eating half of their crops before being led back to our farm.”

Karl and Irene had returned the same morning. When Hugh told him what had happened, he showed no surprise. Sandy and his 28

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wife, who had stayed overnight at the farm, introduced themselves.

“It’s my son, Karl,” said Konrad. “He’s Rhinehart’s twin brother.

He’s on leave with the Canadian Army, and the lady is his wife. They were married a couple of days ago and are just back from Buffalo.”

Hugh had just returned from rounding up their cows and saw Karl talking to Sandy. “Your father and I are glad to see you back.

I had four calls this morning from the farmers threatening to sue us. Someone let all our cows loose and led them to our neighbours’ farms.”

“We’re not sure what to do,” said his father.

“He’s a smart one,” said Hugh to Sandy.

“It’s time to call Col. Stone,” said Irene. “I’ll get him on the line and see what he can do.”

A few minutes later, Irene passed him the phone. “That’s what we’re dealing with, and we may need to postpone our return for a few days to get it straightened out.” He returned with a smile. “Col. Stone, my commanding officer, knows a few people in high places that might be able to help us.”

A woman from the Premier’s office called in the afternoon, asking for Karl. “The Premier has heard what has happened and has called the Lawsons and told them to stay away from your farm. He has also called the chief of police and mayor of St. Catharines to warn the Lawsons that if anything else happens at your farm, they will be investigated.”

“Who is this Col. Stone?” said Hugh as they sat down for supper.

“He’s my boss and wants me back for a special assignment. He doesn’t let anything stand in his way when he wants something done. We’re due back at the end of the week.”

“Irene, too?” said Grete. “We’ve barely met her.”

“It’s my way of thanking Rhinehart for saving my life. I owe him and Col. Stone everything.”

Grete was sitting next to him, and Irene reached over and kissed him. “Will we be able to reach you when you’re on this assignment?”

“No, but Irene will be able to keep you updated. We’re part of a team and the only one who knows my way of sending messages over the radio transmitter.”

“Sounds like dangerous work,” said Sandy.

Karl didn’t respond and looked away from his mother’s strained face.

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CHAPTER FIVE

C

ol. Stone stood when he saw Karl and Irene enter his outer office in West Berlin. He waved them in and offered them tea. “How did you like Canada, Irene?”

“Love it. Imagine a farm that grows nothing but grapes. And Karl’s mother is such a dear. And Karl’s auntie let me use her wedding dress which Karl’s mother wore at her wedding.” Irene was wearing a white floral-decorated dress she bought in Buffalo and had it altered to suit her figure. It soon became her favourite.

Stone stuffed his pipe. “Things have become a bit more difficult with the Ruskies since you left. They’re getting very picky about who gets let into East Berlin. But they need bricklayers, and that will be your saving grace. Speaking of bricklayers, you’ll need some tools to take with you. Do you know what you want?”

Karl took a piece of paper from his pad and passed it to Stone.

“Preferably old tools, ones that another bricklayer has used. “ “You’ll also need some old clothes to wear and to take with you.

Old German clothes and spares that will fit in with other East Berliners. We should have everything ready for you in two or three days.

Good thinking,” said Stone.

“In the meantime, we’ve pared you with a Berliner who has relatives in East Berlin, who can tell you all the Berlin expressions and slang. He will go with you as your helper.”

“What about my team?”

“They’re already there.”

Karl rose from his chair, but Stone stopped him. “You will be my guests at dinner this evening at a chic hotel in West Berlin. I assume you’re staying at Irene’s flat. I’ll have my driver pick you up there 30

JIM CARR

around a quarter to six.”

Back at the flat, Irene bathed and changed her dress – one she had worn at her best friend’s wedding – and fitted on her high heels.

They were a bit snug but would get larger after an hour or two.

Her two-room flat consisted of a small kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, where she applied her make-up. Out in the hall, they could hear a dog barking and people trying to quiet it down.

“It’s not as fancy as the farmhouse, but it’s home.”

“When all this is over, and we are back in Canada, you can have a special room where you can do your make-up.”

A few minutes later, the driver dropped them off at the hotel.

They entered the lobby and made their way to the hotel’s lobby, filled with army, navy and air force uniforms and well-to-do Berliners. There were three large clocks behind the reception desk – one telling Berlin time, London time, and the third, New York time.

Karl spotted the entrance to the dining room. At the entrance, he asked the Maître d’ for Col. Stone’s table. Stone saw them coming, rose to greet them, and helped Irene sit.

The dining room was filled with women dressed in fur coats, Paris-style dresses and men in all Allied armed forces uniforms. The band, dressed in white tuxedos with black bowties, played popular U.S. music as couples danced on the floor around from the tables and chairs. The chatter was loud, and they found it hard to hear when the music was playing.

“Their Chateau Briand is incredible, and so is their black pepper steak,” said Stone.

Irene looked at Karl. “I’ve never had black pepper steak before.

I’ll have that.”

“So will I,” said Karl.

“That makes the three of us.”

When the band started again, Karl and Irene went to the dance floor and had their first dance together. “You’re as light as a feather,” said Karl.

Irene smiled and held him close.

“Do you see who’s walking towards us,” said Stone when they returned.

Karl looked around to see a young woman approaching them.

It was Janette Millet, who had been his partner in helping someone escape from a prison in German-occupied France two years before.

Karl was in love with her, but she chose someone else – one of the 31

FEMME FATALE

members of the French underground.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you on the dance floor,” Janette said, stooping to kiss Karl on the lips before sitting down next to Stone. She had not changed much. She still wore the same hairstyle, and her lips still looked inviting.

Karl drew back. “Let me introduce you to my wife, Irene. And how is Claude?”

Janette glanced at Irene and smiled quickly before turning to Karl. “Claude found someone else and dumped me, leaving me high and dry.”

“I should have thought you would have returned to Ottawa.”

“When I was discharged after the war, Claude and I went to live in Marseilles. We were only there a few months before he met a young woman. He left me for her after a few weeks. Since then, I’ve been doing bits of work for various governments. In fact, it’s what brought me to Berlin.”

An uneasy silence followed. Karl looked at Irene, who had tears forming in her eyes. Karl felt for her hand and squeezed it, but she remained silent and studied other couples on the dance floor. Karl reached under the table and squeezed her hand again.

“After Claude dumped me,” Janette continued, “I searched for you, but you suddenly disappeared. I wanted to tell you that it was you I really loved.” She rose and stood behind Stone’s chair. “Should you ever change your mind, just let me know.” She kissed Stone on the cheek and left.

Karl could see that Irene was ready to cry and put his arms around her. Irene froze. She turned her face away. “I want to go home.”

She looked out the window all the way back, saying only “good night” to Stone as they emerged from his car. It was only when they reached her flat that she opened up. “I could see in your face that you’re still interested in her.”

“I thought I was in love with her, but when she told me she had fallen in with someone else and was going to marry him, I put her out of my mind until I saw her tonight. Only when I met you did I come to know what real love truly is.”

Karl reached out and held her close. Irene started to cry, and he wiped away her tears and carried her into the bedroom.

In the morning, when he had dressed, Irene wrapped her arms around him and rocked him until they heard a car honk outside.

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***

Two days later, they were back at Stone’s office. A man Karl had not met before sat next to Stone. “Let me introduce you to your companion on your mission, Horst Webber. Horst, this is Captain Karl Aberbach. You will be his best friend on this mission. He must never be compromised in any way while you are in East Germany. He will enter East Berlin in a few days with you with him. He is posing as a bricklayer and you as his helper. Let me repeat. He is to be protected at all costs. You will be rewarded on completion of your mission.”

Stone buzzed his receptionist, who entered with a dirty white bag. She passed it to Karl, who examined each tool. He smiled as he saw the bent on his trowel. “These will do fine. But I’m missing a level and a levelling stick.”

Horst made a note and carried the tool bag when they left.

That night, Karl joined Horst at his home to meet his wife and children. Horst had brought along a large bologna and some dessert he found at a bakery on his way to Horst’s home.

Horst and his wife, who looked ten years older than her husband, gave him the news of what people were talking about in their quarter. Horst took his harmonica, played a few old German songs, and gave him their names. He later sat down and told him what was happening in East Berlin, what to expect when they reached the Russian checkpoint, and how to respond to their questions.

“Tomorrow, we will go through the same thing – at your office and at my home, where my wife can tell you the latest gossip.”

***

The night before he left, they had a farewell dinner with Stone, who took the occasion to give him last-minute instructions. Stone’s neighbourhood restaurant was known for its Wiener Schnitzel and beer. Its lone waiter knew Stone at sight and rushed to the door as they entered. Stone was dressed in his uniform, while Karl and Irene wore old German clothes.

Karl ordered for them in German, and the waiter returned with three large steins of beer. The restaurant was long and narrow, with 16 tables and a kitchen at the end of the room. A long buffet ran along the opposite wall, where the waiter placed their plates before setting their table with a new tablecloth, napkins, knives, and forks.

There was a small lamp with a picture of an old German couple in the centre of their table that gave off a feeble light.

“A perfect place for lovers who do not want to be recognized,” 33

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said Irene with a laugh.

“Or secret agents,” added Karl.

Stone looked at Karl’s hands. “I see you took my advice. Now with your chapped hands and the finger bruises, you really look like a bricklayer.”

The waiter returned with their meals to music from somewhere in the restaurant from an old radio in the centre of the room. Karl started laughing. “They’re playing German Army marching songs.”

A few of the other patrons began to clap and sing along. There was more clapping at the end.

“I want you to be very careful, Karl. Take no chances. Don’t take any chances if you believe you have been found out and that they’re searching for you. Send a message immediately, and we’ll have you out of there as soon as possible. You’re too important to us to lose you now.”

“I agree,” said Irene. “Promise me that you will.”

***

Stone reached for the telephone. He had just undressed and was ready to put out the light. “My name is Dieter Braun, a detective with the Berlin Police. I was told to call you and tell you that Horst Webber was murdered earlier this evening. Can you shed any light on his death?”

“I didn’t know Horst well. He worked for us. Do you have a lead on who might have murdered him?”

“His wife, Margot Webber, told us someone knocked on the door and entered, pulled out a gun and shot Horst five times in the chest in front of her and her family. She called us as soon as the murderer left.

Stone dressed and went to see Horst’s wife. She was still wearing her apron when she let him in. “I came to offer my condolences on the loss of your husband. We all liked him and will miss his smiling face greatly.”

Stone couldn’t shake the feeling that Horst’s murder was connected with Karl’s mission in some way. He couldn’t figure out how.

Only six people knew about the mission -- Horst, his wife, Karl, Irene, himself, and his secretary.

When he returned to his apartment, he called the detective back.

“Nothing, so far,” said the uneven voice on the phone. “We even checked on his social life. The only thing we could find was the ap34

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pearance of an unknown woman in his life. We’re trying to track her down, but she left no tracks.”

Stone put the receiver back and undressed. He lay on the pillow; his mind was whirling in all directions. If it were not this unknown woman, then who and why? She had to be connected with it. Maybe he mentioned this unknown woman who had a loose tongue. He shook his head. It was all too close to the launch of their mission.

***

Irene woke when she heard the telephone ring. She picked up the receiver.

“It’s Stone,” said the voice. “Wake up your husband immediately. There’s been a development that could put him in jeopardy.”

Irene grabbed his shoulder and pushed Karl back and forth until he woke. “Col. Stone is one the line and says it’s vital to alert you to something.”

Karl rubbed his eyes and grabbed the phone. “It’s Stone, Karl.

There’s been a bad development. Our friend, Horst Webber, has been murdered. Someone entered his home and killed him in front of his family. You can still make it without him. But it means leaving on your own now. Get dressed. I’ll have a car pick you and your wife up in 20 minutes.”

They scrambled to get themselves ready. Karl had a quick shave, and Irene packed his old German clothes and his bag of tools ready to take with him while she put on her dress and got ready.

Stone was seated in front of the car with the driver in an old unmarked vehicle. Karl opened the door for Irene and threw his clothes and bag of tools on the floor before entering.

Stone turned. “We have every reason to believe that the Ruskies know we have something up our sleeve and that Horst was somehow involved. There’s a good chance they may not know about you.

But if this thing is going to work, it means you’ll be on your own from this moment on. Are you up to it?”

Karl nodded. “As ever I’ll ever be.”

“When you get there, find a place to stay, contact one of our agents immediately, and let us know you’ve made it.”

Dawn was breaking when they left him off. Irene got out of the car, hugged him for almost five minutes, and watched him walk down the street and around the corner to the Russian checkpoint.

35

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CHAPTER SIX

K

arl slung his clothes bag and bag of tools over his shoulder and walked with his head down toward the Russian checkpoint. It was manned by two Russian soldiers who watched him walk towards them.

“Halt,” said a harsh voice from behind the barrier. “Who are you, and what is your business?”

“My name is Karl Aberbach. I am a bricklayer. I am seeking work in your area. I have been told you are looking for bricklayers.”

“Advance inside the barrier,” said the voice in German.

Karl walked past the barrier, his heart pounding in his ears so loud he could barely hear the soldier speak.

“Where are your papers?”

Karl reached inside his jacket pocket and passed them to him.

The soldier glanced at his picture and then at him before giving them to his comrade for him to check.

“What is that in your bags?”

“My clothes and my instruments.” It was getting lighter now, and he could see the young face of the soldier clearly now and smiled at him as the soldier went through his clothes and his instruments before passing them to his comrade to check.

The other soldier moved from his position on the barrier. He looked strong and had large hands and a tall, muscular body. His hair was dark brown and was unbrushed when he removed his cap to rub his head. He had beady hazel eyes that seemed to look through you. “Show me your hands.”

Karl showed his palms and then turned them over. The soldier nodded to his friend. “He’s a labourer, all right.”

The other soldier passed him his bags and let him enter. “Do you 36

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have a place to stay?”

Karl shook his head. He hid his hands in his pockets to keep them from shaking.

“There’s a place a few blocks from here where they house labourers. Tell them we sent you, and they’ll look after you.”

Karl checked his watch and saw it was getting close to eight o’clock. The streets had come alive since he presented himself at the checkpoint. He stopped two labourers and asked them where to find the shelter for labourers.

“It’s in the next block, but I think I’d find another place if I were you. That place is infested with bed bugs. There’s another shelter in the next block that’s a lot better, and it’s clean,” said the short one with a small black mustache that reminded Karl of Hitler.

“What kind of work do you do?” said his companion.

“I’m a bricklayer. Do you know where I can find work?”

“We’re currently working on a project that could use an extra bricklayer.”

Karl thought of Stone and Amos and smiled. “Could I join you?”

They walked for almost 20 minutes before coming to the site, where they were erecting a tall office building. The short one with the mustache introduced him to the foreman, also named Karl, a tall man with a barrel chest, bushy brown eyebrows, a broad face and a loud voice.

“He tells me you’re a bricklayer. We need bricklayers. Where are you from, lad?”

“The Ruhr. I heard East Berlin needed bricklayers and came to see for myself. You’ve got quite a project.”

“When can you start?”

“As soon as you show me where you want me to start working.”

“Let me see you work, lad.” he showed Karl a wall with only three tiers of bricks. The foreman sat on a wood box and watched Karl mix some mortar and then move some bricks to the wall. The first brick needed to be cut, and he heard Amos’s voice in his ears about using his trowel to cut the brick and turning it over and making another cut before putting it on his knee to break it in two.

The foreman stood and smiled at him. “You know your business, all right. How do you want to be paid, lad? At the end of the day or by the week?

“Tonight, if possible,” said Karl. “I’ve spent most of my money just getting here,” The foreman slapped him on the back and left to check on the 37

FEMME FATALE

work in another area. Karl carried on working. He was tired by the time they broke at noon. The short man with the black mustache found him and offered him one of his sandwiches. “Werner and I thought you might not have lunch.”

Werner joined them and also offered him one of his sandwiches.

“We know what it’s like to find work and not have lunch on your first day.”

Karl’s back was killing him by the time they quit work. The foreman inspected his work and gave him his wages for the day. “The first day is always the toughest,” he said, slapping Karl on the back.

Werner and his friend introduced him to the lady who operated the government shelter. She barely spoke as she showed him his room, where he would sleep with five others. Karl knew then he would need to find a place to carry on his work unnoticed by others.

He thanked her and went down to eat with the others, finding an empty seat next to Werner and his friend Otto.

The bedroom was large, and he hung up his clothes on a hanger that fitted inside a closet he shared with one another. He puffed up his pillow and pulled the covers over his head. He had some hard thinking to do. He needed to contact the others before he did anything.

He would ask Otto or Werner if they had a telephone. They shook their heads but suggested he use one of the public phones.

“There are at least two we pass on the way to work every day,” said Otto.

“I want to call my mother and tell her I have arrived safe and I’ve already got a job, thanks to two good friends.”

Werner beamed. “We’ll show you where to find one when we go to work tomorrow.”

The shelter manager passed him his lunch in the morning as they left with Otto and Werner. The morning air was brisk as they raised their collars and talked about the foreman before finding the first telephone. He needed a coin, and Otto passed one to him. Karl nodded and watched them walk slowly ahead before dialling the number of one of his crew. He had memorized the number repeatedly, and his mind suddenly went blank. He remembered the face and the number 5 connected with his name.

Werner and Otto looked back and waved to him. He put his finger to the dial and started dialling as a slew of numbers came to his mind. A woman answered. He was calling a man and was about to hang up when she said in German, do you want Fritz?”

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Fritz came on the phone a few seconds later. “Mother Goose has landed and needs a nest to come to. I will call in two days for directions. You should be there. Also, let Irene know that I am safe.”

He hung up and ran to reach them. “My mother,” Karl said, “it was hard to get her to stop talking.”

“All mothers are like that,” said Werner.

***

“My mother called a friend of hers from the Ruhr who lives here. She wants me to live with her friend and husband. And made me promise I would say there. It’s on the other end of town,” said Karl.

“We’ll miss you,” said Werner.

“Tell you what, let’s promise the three of us to meet at a place where we can have a few beers together every couple of weeks. I want to stay in touch with you guys. I’ll never forget how good you were to me when I landed here. I owe you a lot.”

Even the foreman understood and asked him to finish the day before saying goodbye. “You’re lucky to have a mother who worries about you. Tell them to call me if you need a reference at another project.”

He packed his bag and his tool bag and left to meet his crew member. It was at the other end of the city. He was directed to an old apartment building that had escaped the bombing. He opened the door, walked up four flights of stairs, and knocked on the door of 413. The door opened for him almost immediately.

A young man smiled at him, grabbed his hand and drew him inside. “Any problem getting here? Did you see anyone following you at any time?”

Karl shook his head. “I plan to stay here for one week only. After that, I want to move to another location. But before then, I need a radio transmitter to send a message to Stone and Irene.”

The young man identified himself by his code name, Geoff, and opened the door to the clothes closet. Karl picked it up, plugged it in, and sent Irene a message. “Stone will be relieved to hear you’re there in one piece,” she said.

There was a pause when the transmitter rattled again. He listened to the morse code: “A member of your team has gone rogue and cannot be trusted.”

Karl put the transmitter away. “I will be dealing through you only,” he told Geoff. Under no circumstances are you to reveal where 39

FEMME FATALE

I can be located to any other member of our team.”

“Is there a reason for that?”

Karl ignored him. “All messages and all activities must be reported to me through you. All our safety is at stake. There are no exceptions.”

When Geoff left, he removed the transmitter and sent another message to Irene. “Would the rogue be Geoff?”

“We are concerned about him and one other.”

“I need another crew member to interact with, someone you and Stone trust.”

“Stone suggests you try out Geoff before deciding on someone else,” Irene signed off.

Karl sat back and started to brood. Stone’s people did not do enough digging about each crew member. All they did was handcuff him for the present. One thing he could do was find an escape hatch he could use to find another place should the secret police come hammering at his door. The next three or four days would tell the tale.

He was hungry and made a sandwich before investigating the room for a possible hiding place. He looked in the pantry. He spotted soup, vegetables, two loaves of bread, and sliced bologna.

Karl was about to take out the bread when he heard a knock at the door. He waited ten seconds to listen for another knock, followed by five seconds before a third knock. It was the knock described to him before he left.

Karl opened the door to see Geoff and two others – Simon and Meg. “I know you wanted to communicate through me,” said Geoff, “but this is important. Meg picked up some chatter that the secret police plan to raid you tonight. Pack everything, and let’s leave here as soon as possible.”

Simon and Meg helped him pack everything, including the food and led him to the back entrance, where another crew member was waiting with an old truck. They climbed aboard the back and pounded on the roof to signal the driver to leave. It was getting dark, and they threw an old tarp over them as they entered the street and to another hiding place some distance away.

They joined him in an old house on the outskirts with a hole in the roof that looked like a place ready for demolition. Simon led them downstairs and into the basement, which he had turned into a small room complete with a sink and a small icebox for food.

“It gets cold in here at night, but we’ve been able to steal a few blankets from shelters that will keep you warm,” said Geoff.

40

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“Food is hard to come by in East Berlin. We steal a lot of it from wherever we can. Everyone in East Berlin has a job. If you don’t have one, they will find one for you, so keep your bricklaying tools handy.”

“I work in a factory,” said Simon.

“And I in a bakery, That’s how I’m able to come away with the occasional loaf of bread.”

Geoff brought him some porridge to cook in the morning and promised to find something more hearty the following day. “We also moved 10,000 paper sheets, ink for your printing and the type you’ll need.”

“How did you ever sneak this across town?”

“We buried it at the bottom of a truck filled with coal. They just let us pass without bothering to check,” said Geoff.

Karl smiled for the first time. Do you have anything worth printing?”

Meg nodded. “There are rumours that the government will start rationing. It will make a great story for breastfeeding mothers and families already stretched to the limit.”

Karl typed out a full page of the forthcoming announcement when they left. It took him two hours, but he was pleased when he reread it, especially the final lines: You can be sure the people who rule us will not do without.

He went to bed and rose at the first sunlight coming through his window. He made some porridge, ate it with two slices of bread, turned on the water at the sink, and drank two glass fulls.

Karl opened the case gingerly. He set up all the letters in rows and set up the frame to hold the type. He chose the heading letters first: They feast while we starve in German.

He then placed his typewritten sheet on the other side of the frame, put his finger on the first word, and started to pick individual letters to form word after word until he finished. He checked his watch. It was 11.45, and he was getting hungry. He boiled two eggs and sliced two pieces of bread. He poured a cup of water, heated it, and added a pinch of tea, sipping it as he scanned the form for any mistakes. He took the roller that came with the ink, ran it across the type, placed one of the sheets on the form and used the second roller to run over it.

He turned the page over. It was perfect in every way. No smudges, just pure letters against a pure white background. I took him until 41

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late afternoon to finish the 500 sheets and lay them out on the floor to dry.

Karl suddenly felt hungry and made himself a sandwich, slicing the apple Geoff had brought him as filling. An hour later, he gathered the 500 sheets into a pile and waited for Geoff and the others to come and pick them up.

They showed up the following morning with more food and news that one of their crew had been picked up by the Stasi, the East German police, and was now being interrogated.

“Will he talk?” said Karl.

“Probably. We always felt his heart wasn’t in it, and he always complained about the food and the cold,” said Meg. “I’ve been busy, as you can see,” said Karl, pointing to five stacks of paper.

Meg grabbed one first and read it with a wide smile. The others followed, also smiling as they read it.

“I used to be a journalist,” said Karl.

“They’ll probably blame one of the foreign journalists in town when they see it,” said Geoff.

“Five of you should enter five of the tallest buildings in different parts of East Berlin and open one of the windows at the top and let them fly in the wind at precisely noon when everyone has stopped working and maybe on the streets. Then, run like hell out of that building and into the crowd. Above all else, protect yourselves.”

“The Stazi are going to go crazy when they see this,” said Simon, tucking his 100 sheets beneath his jacket.

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M

eg opened the window, took the 100 sheets from the paper bag, and emptied them into the wind. She grabbed her bag, put it under her blouse, and ran down the stairs to the bottom floor to see some sheets fluttering in the air. The street was full of people grabbing them and laughing when they saw them.

Meg grabbed one of them to show she was part of the crowd. A Stazi officer appeared, snatched them from their hands, and passed them to someone else.

A group of Stasi officers dressed in black uniforms suddenly appeared and began questioning everyone carrying one of the sheets.

Three were taken away for questioning. Meg dropped hers and joined the crowd leaving the street. One of the Stazi officers saw her drop the sheet as she advanced to the crowd and stopped her.

“Your papers, fraulein,” he said. He glanced at them and passed them back to her. “What were you doing here?” he was young, no more than 24 or 25, with dark, flirting eyes that focused on her figure and smiled.

“I always come to eat my lunch here every noon. I work at a factory not far from here,” said Meg in a soft voice and with a smile as she looked at his face.

“Which factory.”

Meg was ready for him. She had taken a job at a nearby food-processing plant for this purpose. She opened her bag and took out three slices of bread and some jam from the factory.

“You speak German like a foreigner.”

“Well, I am German. My accent could account for being forced to speak English at a finishing school in England before the war. We were forced to get rid of our German accents there. It was a difficult time for me, and I wanted to leave, but my parents had paid my four years’ tuition in advance, and I was stuck there. And when the war 43

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broke out, I was recruited as a spy by German Intelligence.” Then, after a calculated pause, “Do I really speak German with an accent?

I should hate to think so.”

He smiled at her. “Maybe you will get it back.” He wrote down her name. “I also need your address.”

Meg gave him his current address, knowing she would need a new ID and another place to live. He tipped his hat to her and left.

She walked away, looking back to see him looking at her. He waved at her and turned away.

Later, she returned to her room, packed her clothes and headed out to see Captain Aberbach. She was the first to arrive. It was a good 40-minute walk away, and she looked around before she knocked on his door. The first thing he noticed was her bag.

“I had to give my address to a Stazi officer who stopped me as I was leaving the plaza. He was suspicious of me and checked my papers. He also noticed my foreign accent. But I was ready for him and gave a story about studying Engish in England before the war started. He bought it mainly because I could sense he was interested in me as a woman. I told him I was recruited to act as a spy for Germany during the war and learned to speak with an English accent in a hurry. I packed and came straight here when I returned to my room.”

Geoff and Simon arrived as she was telling her story. “She can stay with us until she finds a new place,” said Geoff. “Simon and I had spectacular results at the places where we dumped our sheets.

We were able to escape before the Stazi arrived there as well. Our fourth member was also stopped for questioning by the Stasi, and the fifth was caught leaving the building. We understand he still had a couple of sheets in his bag when they examined him. He has been taken off to Hihenschanhausen, their notorious prison where the people taken there are tortured until they provide them with all the information they wanted.”

Their faces shone in the light of the candles in front of them.

“Then we should all be looking for new places. Did either person know where I am located?” said Karl.

“No. Just us three,” said Geoff.

“I’ve come to like this place. And there’s no light anyone can see from the road in the basement, thank heavens. There’s no one around to snoop or suspect anyone is even here.”

“Don’t get too conformable here.”

“I haven’t and am looking for ways to escape from the basement 44

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should I get an unwelcome visitor,” said Karl.

Geoff came with more porridge and some weiners and bread.

Simon produced two apples and some more tea leaves.

“But now to business. Talk to me more about this prison and the tortures they do there. And how many die there.”

They told him that most prisoners die and are buried in a mass grave behind the prison. Karl clapped his hands. ”That will be our next episode. I’ll have another one ready for you in three weeks. Give the Stasi time to think they’ve crushed it. Only this time, we will go to different buildings in areas they would not suspect. They are sure to send officers to those buildings we’ve already used.”

Geoff, Simon and Meg rose to go. “I’ll bring more food in a week.”

“One thing more, Meg should be excused from the next adventure. If that Stasi officer should be there and spot her, she won’t be able to talk her way out of it.”

***

Sergei Ivanovich Tiulpanov, president of the Deutsche Demnkratische Republick, read the sheet, grit his teeth, and issued an order that everyone in the government, including the Stasi and all members of the government, would follow the new rationing rules.

He raised his normally soft voice and told his secretary to get Stasi Major Kruger on the line. He rubbed his balding head with his right hand and waited.

Ulrich Kruger came on the line seconds later. He knew what it would be about as soon as he heard Tiulponanov’s voice. “Yes, President Tiulpanov, how many I help you?”

He felt the white buttons that went up to his chin in his black tunic and held his breath.

“I assume you’ve seen that piece of trash that floated to do citizens of the republic this morning. What had you done to stop this, and have you caught the people behind this, not the weakling you caught?”

“We are questioning the individual at Hohenschansanan as we speak. It may take a while, but we will get to the bottom of this, President Tiulpanov. Kruger could feel the sweat form at the back of his neck and shook his head.

“In the meantime, I want a similar sheet prepared, stating that all public officials, including the Stasi, yourself, all senior officers, members of the government, and me, their president, will be obey45

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ing the same rationing. I want that done tomorrow at noon and floated from the same buildings, only print a lot more.”

Kruger was still breathing hard as he heard the phone click off.

He pressed a buzzer for his secretary and his assistant. The President wants us to create a similar sheet, telling everyone that the previous sheet was propaganda and should be ignored. He also wants to make a clear statement that all public officials, members of Stasi and President Tiulpanov, would be required to follow the food-rationing rules.”

Kruger returned to his usual coldness and nodded, signifying the end of their meeting. “I want to see a copy of the sheet before it is printed, and I want it on my desk in 15 minutes.”

Kruger read it carefully and nodded. He never signed anything in case he missed something. His assistant, a young officer with dreams of a Soviet-style country, had hazel eyes and a smile, knocked and entered ten minutes later.

His assistant returned with a stack of the sheets two hours later and smiled as he read the first sheet. “We need 20,000 of these for distribution by ten o’clock tomorrow morning. I want our best officers to handle it. They should choose 20 officers to select 20 large buildings around the area and flutter them down the noon goers.

Any question?”

His assistant shook his head. “I will see to it immediately, Herr Major.”

He sat back and called the prison. “Has the prisoner you brought in this morning told us anything?”

“No, Major. We’re trying to get him to tell us, and he even promised he would be set free and sent back to West Berlin if he tells us who his associates are and where we can find them. Tomorrow, if he refuses, the torture begins. At that stage, they tell us everything we want to know before sending him before a firing squad.”

***

President Tiulpanov smiled when he saw a stack of paper placed on his desk. He read it carefully and smiled again. He glanced at the clock on his desk, a radio, and three different stacks of Western Berlin newspapers. Sometimes he had to call his secretary to translate their major news stories. It was his way of keeping what the West was up to and the remedial measures he needed. He had noticed that the sheet of paper had somehow made its way to the West.

It could be that some of the West Berlin newspaper writers and 46

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Western papers were involved somehow. He knew Kruger had at least 17 people following each of them around. He would get Kruger to tighten his surveillance.

In two hours, East Berliners would read their sheets and call Kruger to ensure everything went as planned.

When it neared noon, he sent ten of his assistants to locations where their sheets would be floating down from buildings throughout the city.

“Everything went off exactly as you wished, President Tiulpanov. Some people shook hands with our officers and slapped them on the back.” He didn’t offer other comments like, “Welcome to the new Germany.”

Some people glanced at the paper and threw it away after glancing at the headline, his spies told him. A few others got into an argument with his officers and were brought in for questioning. “The officers thought they might be involved with the first sheets that floated down to them,” said Kruger.

In the afternoon, his officers brought eight suspects to Kruger.

One of them looked defiant, an 18-year-old whose father had died in the war.

“You should understand that striking a Stasi officer can land you in prison for a few months,” said Kruger in his harshest voice.

The others shivered and bowed their heads. “I’m sorry for striking the officer, but he was twisting my arm behind my back. I thought it was going to break.”

“Too bad it didn’t. It would have taught you a few manners,” said Kruger. “What about your mother? She needs to be told you are in custody.”

“Leave my mother out of it. She wouldn’t slap a flea.”

“Where does she work?”

“She doesn’t. She lost a leg in the bombing and can’t work. I do the work in the family.”

“Where?”

“At a shoe factory.”

Kruger knew none of them were able to tell him much and had an epiphany. If he let them go, none were likely to cause problems again. “Tell you what. We’ll let you go if you all promise not to cause any more problems. But only this time. If I ever see any of you before me, you’ll spend a few years in Hohenschonansen. Now go, and let me never see you again.”

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***

Geoff, Meg and Simon visited Karl unexpectedly, bringing a copy of the Stasi sheet. Karl read it and smiled. “I suspect their abstinence will be short-lived. That will be the subject a month or two from now. At the moment, I’ve written another item on the infamous prison. It’s bylined by a name I made up. Willi Neumann. Willi escaped from the prison and lived to tell about it.”

He read it to them, describing how he was whipped until the skin came off his back and whipped over and over again, how he was chained near a blazing fire and had the skin on his arms and legs blistered. He escaped by having one of his friends bribe one of the guards and was now hiding in West Berlin, where he is currently being treated for his wounds.”

“You made him all up?”

“Yes. I got the idea from John Addison and Sir Richard Steele when they published their newspaper in the early 1700s. They created a character to expose the follies of the day. It was a big hit then.

My item is not set in type yet, and for now, we’ll use our German ‘friend’ to do the same thing for us. I will do that in the coming week and print another 5,000 copies.”

The only one who wasn’t puzzled was Meg, who blurted the name, “Sir Roger DeCoverly.”

Karl smiled at her. “But this time, we won’t flutter them from a building but have them inserted into people’s mailboxes. Meg can also go on one. Their focus will be on the tall buildings and checking everyone who goes in and out and won’t expect a door-to-door campaign.”

Geoff looked concerned. “I think we should look for new lodgings for all of us, including you, Captain, after our second launch.

They’ll be out for blood, and who knows who might reveal where they can find us.”

“I’m still looking,” said Meg. “It’s made finding a suitable place when we’re all looking together. We can let each other know when we’ve found a suitable place for each of us. It’ll save a lot of time.”

“The hardest spot to find will be yours, Captain,” said Geoff. “It needs to be away from prying eyes.”

“Why not in the same block as Stasi headquarters?” said Karl.

They all laughed. “Actually,” said Geoff, “they won’t think about finding any of us there. I’ll keep my eye open for a vacancy.”

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CHAPTER EIGHT

S

andy Dewar entered the kitchen with a basket of grapes from the new plants and placed it on the counter next to the sink. Hugh was the first to grab a stem thick with green grapes and popped two into his mouth as he sat at the kitchen table.

Konrad also reached into the basket and passed it to Sandy, who shook his head. “No thanks. I’ll wait until they turn into wine.”

Everyone laughed, including Sandy, and did not notice that May’s daughter, Charlotte, reached up from below the table for a large stem and sat there eating them.

Konrad was smiling as he reached for another stem. “I think we’ve got a prize winner.”

Grete, who saw Charlotte reach for another stem, was also smiling. “Rhinehart also loved grapes.”

After lunch, Konrad and Sandy went into the barn to fill an order for a new winery, placing the grapes on a conveyer belt, where they received a second spray. Konrad breathed it in and smiled. “These grapes are special. In the Spring, we’ll place a big order for these plants. They’ll put us on the map for wineries.”

Hugh felt tired and slept through the afternoon. Kay woke him up in time for supper. Hugh sat on the edge of their bed, “I don’t feel well at all.”

“You don’t look good,” said Kay. “Your face is grey.”

Hugh suddenly put his hand over his mouth and vomited before falling to the floor. Kay went to the head of the stairs for Grete.

“It’s Hugh. He’s vomiting, lying on the floor, and can’t get up.”

Grete and Konrad raced up the stairs. Hugh lay face down on the floor, and Konrad turned him over. Hugh’s face and hair were 49

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covered in vomit. Grete wiped his face while Kay pulled off his trousers and shirt. They laid him on the bed as Kay went downstairs to call Dr. Thomas.

Dr. Thomas arrived an hour later and examined him for almost 30 minutes. “I don’t like what I hear when I listen to his heart. “He needs to be in the hospital. I’ll call for an ambulance.” Then, after a pause, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s been poisoned.”

Kay went in the ambulance to Hotel Dieu in St. Catharines and talked to Dr. Thomas when she reached the hospital. The doctor treating him emerged an hour later in the waiting room to tell her that they had pumped Hugh’s stomach and that he was being taken to a room to recover.

Hugh opened his eyes and saw Kay sitting at his bedside with her hand in his. “What happened?”

“You’ve been poisoned. We’ve pumped out everything in your stomach, so you should start to feel better soon, but you will have to stay in the hospital for at least one or two days more.”

Kay returned to find Konrad white-faced and gasping for air.

Kay didn’t wait and raced to the phone. “It’s Mrs. McGill, Dr. Thomas. Konrad needs you now. He’s white-faced and vomiting.”

“He’s probably been poisoned as well. I’ll call for an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Encourage him to vomit to get the poison out of his stomach.”

Kay went with Grete to the hospital, where Dr. Thomas was at the door to wheel him into an operating room. He met Kay and Grete in the waiting room a few minutes later.

“We’ve pumped out his stomach, and we are sending him to the room where your husband is recovering, Grete fanned Konrad’s face to wake him, but he slept for almost 15 minutes before opening his eyes, “Where am I?” “In the hospital, keeping Hugh company,” said Grete.

“You both were poisoned and had to have your stomachs pumped out.”

Hugh rubbed his stomach, “So that explains my sore stomach.”

***

May entered Charlotte‘s bedroom to find her lying face down on her pillow. She also vomited and choked on it. May stood beside Charlotte’s bed, crying and feeling helpless as she held May. When she saw that Charlotte was no longer breathing, she screeched and 50

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started to cry. Kay and Grete came running.

Grete turned Charlotte’s body and felt her pulse. There was none, and she looked at Kay and shook her head.

May started to cry and held onto Kay, trembling with her tears, “I should have checked on her earlier. I should have…” she said as her voice trailed away.

They went downstairs to the kitchen, where Kay made them coffee and brought them a piece of cake. May pushed it away and started crying again. Kay went to the phone and called Dr. Thomas, “We need you to come. May’s daughter appears dead.”

Dr. Thomas knocked and entered 15 minutes later, and Grete met and led him upstairs. He checked all of Charlotte’s vital signs and nodded. “I am sorry to say that is the case.” Then, after a pause, “The coroner and the police need to be called. I will do that and suggest the cause of death.

The police arrived an hour later with the coroner, Leslie Brown.

“Your daughter has been poisoned,” said Brown. “I understand from Dr. Thomas that two other members of your household were also poisoned and had to be taken to the hospital.”

The police officer was a young man with curly black hair and dark eyes that made most people feel uncomfortable. He was looking out the window to see Sandy walking from the barn. “There’s an older man outside. Is he connected with your household?”

“That’s Sandy, a New Glasgow friend who works with us.”

“Was he also affected?” said Brown. His name suited him.

He wore a light brown suit and brown shoes, and his brown eyes searched their faces.

Grete shook her head. “He didn’t sample the grapes.”

Brown’s eyes danced. “Do you still have those grapes?”

Kay went to the cabinet, opened the door, and brought out three stems. She placed them on a newspaper sheet and passed them to Brown.

The constable studied them and looked up. “Who brought the grapes to your house?”

“Sandy.”

“He washes all grapes that come into our home and also all the grapes we sell to stores and wineries,” said Kay. “And you say he did not sample them?” said the constable.

Kay shook her head. “He was offered some but refused, saying he would wait until they turned into wine. We all laughed at the time.”

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They could hear Sandy stamping his feet on the porch floor before he came in. He was dressed in his old mine jacket. The coroner introduced himself. “we’ve narrowed the cause of the poison that sent your two friends to the hospital and caused the death of a child.

You were the one who brought the grapes to the kitchen.”

Sandy leaned back and raised his two hands. “I hope you’re not trying to accuse me of poisoning people.”

“They say you wash all grapes that come into the house and the grapes you sell,” said the constable. “If so, how do you account for the poisoning of your friends.”

“I could have sworn I washed them along with the others.” Sandy was red-faced.”Have you tested the grapes yet?”

“Not yet. “If there is poison on the grapes, you will have a lot of explaining to do. But it will be the first thing we will do when we return to our lab.”

Sandy bent and held his head in his hands and rocked to and fro. “I’m sure I washed the grapes,” he kept repeating over and over.

Brown stood and asked Kay to show him where the grapes were washed in the barn. In the barn, Brown and the constable took samples of stems at various conveyor belt parts. When they returned to the house, they wrapped them in newspaper sheets.

The constable stood and looked at Kay. “We visited here a month or two ago. At that time, someone had let your cows into neighbouring fields and burned some grape plants. Do you think the same people are involved?”

“I should not think that,” said Kay. “Or anyone else, for that matter. If those grapes had made it to the stores, a lot of people would have died.”

May, who had been listening to all this from the front room, appeared. She looked at Sandy, who was still rocking back and forth.

There was fire and hate in her eyes. “You killed my daughter.”

“We all could have been killed,” said Peggy, who had been present but silent.

Kay helped Sandy to his feet and led him to the door. “This is not a time for recriminations. And you’re blaming Sandy for something he might not be guilty of. Hugh and Konrad will be home tomorrow, and in the meantime, let’s keep our heads.”

*** 52

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Konrad and Hugh returned from the hospital in a taxi. Kay looked out the window to see their taxi and was at the door to open it for them. They went directly to the table. “Right now, I could do with a big piece of cake and a coffee,” said Hugh.

“So could I but make mine a double,” said Konrad.

“We heard terrible things when we were in the hospital, that Charlotte had died,” said Konrad on the brink of tears.

“The police seem to think the people who set fire to our plants and set our cows loose may be behind this as well,” added Hugh. “I would not want to think that about the Lawsons.”

“We think there may be a connection. Your friend, Sandy, believes he washed the grapes before bringing them to our home,” said Kay. ”But I think he doesn’t remember. He’s getting on like the rest of us,” said Kay. “Even if that is the case, someone put poison on the grapes, and I don’t believe Sandy did that.”

“The police have an idea that the people who lit our grape plant fires were the Lawsons. So do I,” said Kay.

***

Police Chief Charlie Dunham and Constable Rackley knocked on David Lawson’s door. There was no answer, and they left to get into their car when Lawson drove into his driveway.

“I thought I’d be getting a visit from you,” said Lawson, whose hair had turned grey recently. It’s about the poisoning at our old farm. It’s all about the time when we were accused of letting out their cows and setting their plants on diest. Too bad about the girl.”

“It’s murder. Intended or not. It’s still murder, and we aim to bring the murderer to justice.”

Lawson’s mansion was the talk of the town. The family was rich and was an important force in the area. David regretted selling their old homestead and understood why his father never wanted to sell the farm as he grew older. He did not doubt that his sons were guilty of setting the cows loose and setting fire to the plants. But he shuddered at the thought of them poisoning the grapes. He would talk to them in the evening when they were alone and picked up the phone to call his lawyer. Davis returned to his car and headed for St. Catharines.

***

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Coroner Brown opened the envelope from the lab. They confirmed his suspicions. The grapes had been sprinkled with finely ground Wolfsbane and unnoticed on green grapes. It appeared on some of the other stems and was removed from others. He bit his lips. The people using it had to know what it would do to anyone who ingested it.

He called the police chief to discuss the matter and decided to announce their findings at the inquest the following week. In the meantime, the police would bring in Lawson’s two sons for questioning.

The inquest was held at the police station in St. Catharines and attended by just about everyone in St. Catharines. Two reporters from The Standard roamed around the crowd asking questions.

The coroner waited until everyone was stead before beginning.

“We have examined the body of young Charlotte Aberbach and find that she was murdered by eating grapes that had been sprayed with poison.

Bruce and MaryBeth Seeley were in the crowd. MaryBeth started to cry and shouted “murderer” at her daughter. “I knew you were an unfit mother. None would have happened if you left Charlotte with a good family.”

Brown nodded to one of the police officers and told her to sit or be removed. She sat, and her husband put his arms around her.

“Any questions?” said Brown.

“Do you know who did poison the girl?” said a voice in the crowd.

“We are talking to two individuals,” said the police chief.

Brown stood and waited for more questions. None came, and he closed the proceedings. Bruce and MaryBeth Seeley approached them. “Your mother did not mean what she said, May. You were a good mother and did your best,” said her father.” They turned and started to walk away.

“Don’t leave. I reacted the same way, blaming others when I saw her dead body face down on her bed. Come back with us. I have a new baby. It is a boy named after Rhinehart, who was born a few months after Rhinehart died.”

Seeley looked at Hugh, who nodded: “It’s up to you as long as you don’t try to cause more trouble.”

Back at the farm, Bruce lifted his grandchild and rocked him in his arms before passing him to his wife. She bent down and kissed 54

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Rhinehart’s forehead repeatedly before handing him back to her daughter for feeding.

“Do you know the two individuals the police are questioning?” said Bruce.

“All too well,” said Konrad. They tried to burn our grape points and let loose our cows on our neighbouring farms. They were warned to stay away from our farm by the police or face being charged.”

“But why in the name of heaven?”

“They want to buy our farm, and when we refused, the problems started,” said Hugh. “I can believe they had murder in mind for the life of me.”

Konrad suggested they stay and sample their new grapes.

“They’re fine. They’re sweet and have no pits. I washed them myself,” he said, picking up a stem and picking off a couple of grapes.

He chewed them and smiled.

Bruce reached out and grabbed a couple of stems to take back to their farm. “May we come again?”

“You’re welcome any time as long as you don’t cause any trouble,” said Hugh.

“There won’t be any from us.”

Mary Seeley bent and kissed Rhinehart on the forehead and started to cry as they left.

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CHAPTER NINE

K

arl passed the 5,000 sheets to Geoff, Meg and Simon. “Read them first.

Make sure they hit home and give everyone the shivers when they read them. We need to let them know what they’re facing, no matter what this so-called president says.”

Geoff read it carefully and smiled. Meg looked up with wonder in her eyes, and Simon was itching to get started.

“We have two others to help us, starting just after midnight in areas where we were not before,” said Geoff.

Karl watched them leave from an upstairs window, laughing and elbowing each other until they were out of sight. He returned to the cellar, lit two candles, and thought about what he would write next. He decided on a topic that would irritate the government even more – what they would earn in Western Germany and all the things they could buy with the money.

Being crammed in the cellar was getting to him. But there was always Irene. He took out his radio transmitter and told her he missed her and had just printed 5,000 new sheets that would be distributed that night.

“I have news for you,” Irene sent. “Your niece, Charlotte, died from poisonous grapes, and your father and uncle had to go to hospital and have their stomachs pumped out. Stone knows about it and has already asked Ottawa to look into it.”

Karl paced the floor and made a list of the questions he would transmit to Irene for his next offering. He had been warned not to stay on the transmitter for more than a few seconds, or he would be traced and find himself in prison or dead. He would do that tomorrow and sat down to eat the new bread Geoff had brought and the 56

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egg Meg had slipped into his pocket.

After that, he paced the floor for his only exercise for an hour and turned on the radio to listen to the latest newscast from Western Berlin. The floor needed another mopping, he noted and decided to do that tomorrow as well.

***

If he ran, Geoff discovered, he could cover 250 houses in an hour.

He kept pushing himself and finished while it was still dark. He was tired and ready for bed. Hopefully, he would get to his bed and sleep for a few hours before leaving for work. It took him an hour. Geoff had to constantly look for the police, who roamed the city at night and brought in people after midnight for questioning.

He had prepared his lunch the night before, slid into bed, and closed his eyes. It was still dark, and even three or four hours could make all the difference. The alarm went off before he knew it. He rose, still groggy, to the sirens of police cars looking for people putting sheets into mailboxes. He washed and skipped shaving, donned his clothes and headed out the door. This was one day he could not afford to be late.

***

It took Meg all night to deliver her sheets, and she felt tired enough to sleep in a doorway. She made her way home slowly.

Morning was in the sky when she reached her room, dead tired and flopped on the bed without taking off her clothes. When her alarm rang, she rolled over and sat on the edge of her bed. She removed her clothes and went into the bathroom to wash, put on makeup, and brush her hair. She searched among her clothes, put on her slacks and headed out the door.

She arrived five minutes late. Her foreman, an attractive young woman who was a favourite of her boss, stopped her. “You’re late.

For that, you will work another 30 minutes.”

“I was on a date last night and had a hard time getting him to leave.”

“Understood.” She smiled at her. “But you still have to put in an extra 30 minutes.”

The talk on the floor was about the sheets that had been put in their mailboxes.

“I got one, too, but was too tired to read it. Anything special?”

“An exposé of the prison. It’s not what they make it out to be,” said one of her workmates.

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***

Simon was caught opening a mailbox by a police officer.

“What are you up to?” said the policeman, who grabbed the sheet offering a new car they could buy in nine years. The policeman looked at it, grunted and passed it back to him.

He made a note to tell the others how that ruse saved him from ending up in that prison as he stuffed his sheet and went to the next mailbox. He finished just before dawn and made it to his room. He washed, shaved, undressed and went to sleep minutes later.

When he awoke, he made a quick breakfast, dressed and headed out. The summer jacket he wore needed to be replaced. A cold breeze made him shiver, and he jogged the rest of the way to keep warm.

Simon worked at the car plant, where he picked up the sheets offering new cars. He liked working there, and his fellow workers were a great bunch who often traded sandwiches with each other.

They talked about the sheet they found in their mailboxes. Their foreman spotted the sheet stuffed in the back pocket of one of the workers and pulled it out. No one seemed surprised.

“Where did you get this?” said the foreman, an older man in his mid-40s who liked the Soviet way of doing things.

“It was in my mailbox this morning.”

“It’s absolute garbage,” said the foreman, ripping it up and throwing the contents in the first waste barrel he saw.

***

Sergei Ivanovich Tiulpanov slapped his fist on his desk and picked up the phone to call Kruger. His secretary could hear his voice from her desk and buried herself in her work.

“I thought I made it clear that I did not want to see trash like this again. You’re making us a laughingstock to everyone in East Berlin.”

“They changed tactics, President Tiulanov. We had men placed at the top of every high building in East Berlin, but they changed how they delivered them to thousands of mailboxes in the city. We didn’t see it coming.”

“Let me say again, should there be another episode like this, you will be replaced by someone more competent.” He smoothed the side of his balding head. “Copies of these sheets have made their way to Moscow. I’ve had calls from senior party members who are upset about it. I can’t lose face again.”

“I’ll create a special team to work on it immediately, President Tiulpanov. We were able to track down one of them, and he is under 58

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interrogation as we speak.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. He’s not alone. What about foreign press members in East Berlin? Someone who knows what they’re doing is masterminding this. Look for people who are doing the delivery.”

Kruger replaced his phone slowly. He needed a better team of advisers around him and decided to walk to the people in his office and some of their field officers and chat with them about the sheets.

Kruger asked his secretary to check on the prisoner and if he had given them any information. She returned five minutes later. “Nothing so far. He keeps saying he does not know the names of the others or the person behind it all.”

He left his office and walked among the men who cleared the sheets from homes and asked eight of them to join him in his office.

They crowded around his desk. “I need your advice, gentlemen. This thing is getting out of hand. They deliver their sheets in surprising ways. What are people saying when you ask them about it, and what are your suggestions on what steps we might take to stop further distributions? You’re on the streets. You have better insights than us sitting in this building, including myself.”

The door opened to his secretary, who carried two pots of tea, followed by her assistant with trays of cookies, which she placed on his desk.

“We need a few more chairs,” said Kruger. “Ask some of the others to help you bring them in.”

Six of his assistants wheeled in the chairs a few seconds later.

Kruger nodded and invited them to pour a cup of tea and take some cookies. He watched them sip their tea and crunch on the cookies with a smile.

“Now, gentlemen, does anyone have an idea who might be behind this?”

There was silence for a few seconds, and one of the men on his right started talking: “I think it’s someone who has been sent here for this very purpose. They want to rile up the people and incite an uprising against us.”

Another officer on the left raised his hand.”I agree with Rolf.

This paper was imported and would be quite expensive for an East Berliner.”

Kruger smiled. This was going better than he expected. “Anyone else?”

Another hand went up. “Whoever it is keeps a low profile. He’s 59

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not someone we may know, someone who has managed to get inside East Berlin. It may be worthwhile to check records of all newcomers who entered East Berlin in the past four months or even longer.”

“It’s also interesting that whoever it is changes how they deliver their sheets.”

“He or she can almost read our minds,” said another officer.

“I’m willing to bet they will change it again the next time.”

“You think there will be a next time?” said Kruger.

“Absolutely.”

Another hand went up. “I suspect this person also provides the West with all information about us.”

The others agreed and looked to Kruger to see him writing down their suggestions. Kruger paused. “What do you feel as a group our next step should be?”

“Check the records of recent arrivals,” said one.

“Search out all likely places, no matter how unimaginable, where they may be hiding and carrying out their work. It has to be someplace where people cannot see what they are doing,” said another.

“If they are getting instructions from the West, they must use a radio transmitter. Send a few of our trucks with detection equipment around every street in East Berlin,” added the officer in front of him.

Kruger stood and thanked them. “I have called another meeting, gentlemen. Stay, and if you need more tea or sweets, ask my secretary.” He moved among their chairs, patting them on the back until he opened his door and went to tell his secretary to ask the officers if they would like more tea and cookies.

He called his senior officers to another room and told them he had just met with some of the officers who picked up the sheets.

“I have a few suggestions to stop further distributions of the sheets that are causing the government so much concern. We need a new approach, and I have jotted down a few suggestions.

“First, the person behind this will probably use another method to distribute their sheets the next time. And there will be a next time unless we track them down first. Second, they operate in a place that we may have ignored in the past. Third, and perhaps, most important, the person behind this is probably from the West. Check the recent arrivals of all people who have entered East Berlin in the past four or five months. And use our radio transmission detection trucks on every street in East Berlin.”

Kruger paused to see them taking down notes, “And lastly, gentlemen, start work on all these suggestions as soon as you return to 60

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your offices.”

He returned to his office to see the group chatting with themselves. They stood, but he waved them down. “Thank you again, gentlemen. Should other ideas pop into your heads, my office door will always be open to you.”

It had been a hair-raising day, but he could see a path to a promotion if he succeeded. He was pleased with himself and felt confident he had turned failure into an amazing success.

***

Earl Smith, who had been captured by the Stasi, sweated from the red-hot irons they used to burn his arms and face. They saw him breathing heavily, grabbed his harms, and held his face over a large pail of water. He coughed violently and wished they would kill him and get it over with. He had told them everything he knew. But he was gagging from swallowing too much water before he knew it.

They grabbed him by the hair, held his face over the pail and dumped him again, this time for a minute longer. When they raised him, he was no longer gagging. They had left him in too long.

***

Like his brother, Karl was prone to epiphanies. One came into his head as he listened to the radio. What would he do if he had been charged tracking down someone like him? He would realize that this person would likely find another way to distribute them and have his people think about other ways to distribute them.

Karl decided then to distribute his next offering from the same buildings as he did the first time.

If he were in his opponent’s chair, he would get a list of all persons who entered East Berlin in the previous few months. Then, he’d send out a radio transmitter detection truck around East Berlin.

He would need to go to different locations for future broadcasts and even bricklaying again. The foreman at the last place liked him.

He could always go back there.

Karl then decided to move to another location, as Geoff had recommended. But he would first write and prepare another offering and print it. He would have his team come early and get their sheets for distribution later when he was elsewhere and working as a bricklayer.

He sat down and started writing. First, the average West Berliner’s wages every month and then a description of all the things they could buy with that money, with special emphasis on new cars that 61

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could be purchased by simply going into a dealership.

He finished it later that night and went to bed long after midnight, listening to the radio before he went to sleep.

He awoke in the morning to hear someone jiggling the outside door handle. He held his breath and could sense someone walking around the house and looking in the windows. If they somehow got inside and discovered his printing equipment and the stacks of paper, he would be done for, especially if there were two or more of them. He held his breath.

Karl picked up an old axe he discovered one day in the basement and counted the minutes until he sensed they had left. He crept upstairs to make sure and looked out the window. There was no sign of anyone.

He knew then he had to hide all his printing materials and paper and looked around for a place where they would go unnoticed. He found it when he looked inside the coal bin. There was some coal left, and he wrapped the metal fonts, roller, ink and paper in a small wooden box and placed it inside the bin before covering it with coal.

Next, he had to find a way to hide there or find a way to escape from the cellar. The more he looked, the more he realized it was imperative now.

He went upstairs and looked at each room. All he needed was a large enough space to crawl through and reach outdoors. The kitchen was his best alternative, and it had a back door. It was covered by old linoleum. He felt for his knife and drew a line down the linoleum.

He then drew a line down the other side, at the top and bottom, and used his knife blade to peel off the linoleum square. Karl returned to the cellar to look for a chisel. He found it where the hammer and saw were stored and returned to the kitchen to chisel each side of the flooring before knocking it onto the cellar floor.

All he needed next was to create a ladder he could climb should unwanted visitors decide to check the basement. That could wait until morning. His back felt sore, and he straightened. He was too awake now to go back to sleep, and he decided to create their next bulletin. He returned to the coal bin, uncovered his printing equipment, and began placing rows of each letter before starting. He completed the heading and then started the painstaking process of placing individual letters for each word. It took him most of the day before he finished.

He washed his hands, slid under his cot’s covers, and slept until late morning. He boiled the last two eggs and made toast from the 62

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loaf of bread. When the tea was ready, he sat and ate it slowly, checking his food bag for an apple. He then listened to the radio until he was tired and woke in the afternoon.

Karl thought about the loss of Charlotte and felt a bit of Rhinehart go away with her. He wanted to cry for her but couldn’t find the tears. He had never felt so alone in his life.

CHAPTER TEN

M

eg came to see him quite often after that. She seemed to sense his loneliness and tried to cheer him up with two oranges she found in an outdoor market. They talked long into the night on occasion, and he came to understand her in a way he had not known before. Meg’s mother died giving birth, and she was raised by her father and grandmother. He did not tell her or the others about the ladder.

“There is a small restaurant not far from here. I go there often. I have never seen a policeman there ever,” said Meg with one of her smiles. “You haven’t been out of here in weeks. You need a change in scenery. Let’s go there tonight. They don’t have much to eat, but they have a few things and a variety of soups.”

Karl rose and headed for the bathroom. “I had better shave if we’re going out.”

They walked arm in arm to the restaurant. Karl breathed in the clean air from the countryside. It made him feel happier almost immediately. He had been down in the cellar since he told them to find another place for him.

They reached the restaurant 15 minutes later. Only three other couples were sitting at tables, and the two young women servers were leaning on the counter and laughing while another couple entered and sat nearby. The man kept looking at him, and it made Karl feel uncomfortable.

The man whispered in his friend’s ear. She kept elbowing him.

This went on for a minute until he stood and walked to Karl’s table 63

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and stood at attention. Karl looked up.

“You may not recognize me, Major Aberbach, but I was with you during our March from Russia.”

Karl nodded, unsure how Rhinehart’s voice was then.

“I was with you when you ordered us to pull up stakes and head away from our camp. We grumbled at the time, but I understood after we had walked ten kilometres and heard the Soviet planes bomb our camp until nothing was left of it. You could see the red sky over our camp from where we were. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it as long as I live.”

Karl smiled knowingly and nodded. “I will always remember that night and the brave men who were with me that night and the nights that followed.” He remembered Rhinehart telling him about the Russian skiers who attacked them. “What I remember most was the day hundreds of Russian skiers firing at us as they skied down the hill, one wave after another and how we blunted their attack and left hundreds of them dead on the slopes.”

Karl saw him look at Meg. “This is my friend. “I would appreciate it if you would not mention that you saw us. We’ve been cooped up for a while.” He paused, not quite sure what to say next.

“I understand, Major. It was wonderful seeing you. I see some of the gang from my platoon once in a while, and we often talk about you. You made us the soldiers we became. With Berlin sliced up the way it is now, we don’t get together the way we used to.”

He walked away and started talking to his friend, who kept looking at them. Meg smiled. They think we’re lovers,” she said with a sly smile.

“I hope they do, and he does not talk to anyone about me.”

They parted when they left the restaurant. Meg looked to see him looking back at her as she walked quickly towards her room, a few streets away. When she reached her block, she saw a police car parked in front of her building. Meg turned immediately and walked quickly in Karl’s direction. After seven or eight minutes, her heart pumping in her ears, she could see a policeman walking slowly back to his car. She knew Karl hated being cooped up there, but it was safer than where she was. Meg wanted to call out to him but didn’t dare and picked up her pace. She was breathing hard by the time she reached up with him.

“Wait for me.”

He stopped and looked around. “What’s wrong?”

“There was a police car outside my building. I didn’t dare go 64

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inside; the only place I could think of was with you.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence. They went down into the cellar, lit a candle while Karl blocked the windows from showing any light, and looked at her face, still strained and white. He had her sit down while he boiled some water for tea.

“They may not have been looking for you. Perhaps someone else.”

“I hope so,” she said with the light shining in her eyes. “I need to change my clothes.”

He poured some boiling water into her cup and sat back. “The worst thing you can do at this point is panic. You panicked when you saw the car, and if anyone saw you rushing down the street, they might think you had done something wrong. Never do anything that would make someone suspect you of anything.”

She slept on his cot in her clothes with a smile. Karl covered her with the blanket while he slept in his single kitchen chair.

Morning came earlier than expected, and Meg smoothed down her skirt and blouse and brushed her hair. Karl offered her tea again.

She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled.

When she reached the block where her room was located, she paused and walked on the other side of the street to see if the police car had returned. She could see that it was gone and that no one was waiting for her on the steps. She crossed the street and opened the front door. Frau Lehmann’s face appeared in the doorway. Her grey eyes looked Meg up and down. There was no mistaking her thought by the look on her face.

Meg remembered not to panic. “My girlfriend and I went to a dance, and I was tired when it was finished. She thought it would be dangerous coming home alone at 11 o’clock.”

“The police were here last night. There was a young officer with them, who asked me to give you this,” she said, reaching into her apron with passing her a sealed envelope.

Meg knew who it was the moment she opened the envelope. It was from the young officer who stopped her in the plaza. She unfolded the letter and read it twice.

“I have been searching for you since I stopped you a month ago. You have bewitched me, and I have trouble sleeping, and my hope sinks every time I see someone who walks the way you do. If you are this person, please call me at the number below and let me know when we can meet again.”

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She let her breath out slowly. She thought you never know things, she picked up her phone and called him. He might be useful down the line. She couldn’t wait to tell Karl.

There was no answer. She hung up and decided to talk about it to Karl first. He would know how to handle it. At work, it occupied her mind and deep down knew she liked him more than she wanted to admit, but the letter somehow changed things.

Her foreman, a woman in her 40s with black hair in a net and a harsh voice, stood over her. “This is the third mistake you’ve made this morning. Your mind is not on your work. If you continue to make mistakes, you will be reported.”

Meg nodded and tried to focus all her attention on her work.

When the whistle blew at five, she tidied her workbench and left, trying to smile at her foreman as she passed her by.

Meg decided to go to see Karl first thing. She found him printing the sheets of his latest offering and stopped when he saw her come down the steps to the cellar.

“What’s wrong? Your face is flushed.”

“I’m not sure how to begin. When we published our first sheet, you may remember that a member of the secret police stopped me.

He was a young officer who let me go my way. He wanted my name and where I lived, and when he discovered I was not there last night, he left me this envelope.”

She passed it to him, and he read it with a smile.

“I’m not sure how I should respond.”

“It’s unfortunate, but at the same time, it could be our way into what the secret police have in mind. I would respond to him but still play hard to get. If you don’t, he may decide to follow you everywhere you go and uncover our secret nest and your secret teammates. Call him and find out what he knows when you return to your room.“ He paused and poured her a cup of tea. “At the same time, he may already suspect that you threw the sheets out of the window and maybe writing this to loosen your tongue and tell him what he wants to know.”

Meg stood. “I’m more confused than ever now.”

Men are often fooled by women who pretend to be interested in them. “There’s an easy way to find out. Call him and tell him you’ve been trying to track him down. If he’s flattered, he’ll talk romance right off. You’ll know as soon as you hang up.” Then, after a pause, “he may eat into your time to do our work. He’ll happily accommo66

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date all your wishes if he’s interested in you.”

When she returned to her room, her phone was ringing. He picked up the receiver. “Please do not hang upon me. My name is Jonni Engel. You have occupied my mind since I saw you walking away in the plaza the day someone threw those sheets down from the tall building. I cannot sleep and have not been able to eat since then. Would you have supper with me tonight?”

“I’m not sure,” said Meg in a soft voice. “I do not know you. A girl cannot be too careful these days.”

“I am not that kind of man, Katharina,” he said, using the name she used in East Berlin. “I just want to sit in the restaurant and look at you. Give me a chance so that you can get to know me better.”

Meg paused deliberately. “What restaurant do you have in mind?”

“I will pick you up and take you to a restaurant near your home.

You can name the restaurant. What time would you like me to pick you up.”

“At six-thirty. Please be prompt. If you aren’t, I will not be there.”

Meg hung up with a smile, washed and combed her hair twice, and put on makeup, even a touch of eye shadow. She put on her best dress and couldn’t explain the excitement inside her. At six-thirty, she descended the stairs and opened the front door to see his car in front of the curb.

Jonni had changed to slacks and a red sweater with a white shirt beneath it. He rose from the car and ran to open the door for her. He helped her inside and closed the door. He looked at her for a minute before starting the car. “Where to?”

“There is a wonderful restaurant on this side of the street about a kilometre from here.”

The car started to move as he entered the lane and towards the restaurant. “Just shout out when we’re nearing the restaurant,” he said, glancing at her for the tenth time.

A few minutes later, Meg said, “We’re getting near. You’ll know it. It’s the only one from here.”

Jonni stopped the car just outside the restaurant. “Is this it?“ Meg nodded as he left the car and raced to open her door. “You’re going to spoil me.”

He took her arm, opened the door and entered. “A table for two,” he said in an authoritative voice to a middle-aged woman, who nodded and escorted them to a table near the back wall. She left to bring them menus. Meg opened her eyes as she glanced down the menu.

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There were things she had not seen in months, and she smiled at him.

“I’m going to have Wiener Schnitzel,” he said and how about you?” he said.

“I’ll have what you’re having. I haven’t had it in months.”

“Beer of wine?”

“Neither,” said Meg. “Good. So that you know, I do not drink alcohol. But don’t let me stop you.”

“I would like a coffee. I haven’t had one in weeks,” said Meg. She had to admit he had a youthful, handsome face with manners she had never experienced before.

Jonni ordered for them, laid his chin on his raised hand and just looked at her. Meg shook her head. “Please do not do that. It makes me feel uncomfortable.”

The waiter returned with their coffees. He raised his coffee in salute. “Tell me about yourself.”

“I’m just a plain working girl at a food-processing plant. My parents died in the bombing, and I’ve had to look after myself ever since.”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

Meg shook her head. “I’ve had offers, but they all seemed so immature. All they wanted was more from me than a date.”

Jonni looked shocked. “I have never dated a girl before.”

When supper ended, he drove her back to her room. “When can we dine again?”

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Call me in a week,” she said. She kissed him on the cheek and watched him drive away before walking to her room. She dressed for bed, humming the tune she had heard in the restaurant, and closed her eyes. She would see Karl after work and tell him how her date went.

***

Karl was on the lookout for her from the upper storey, anxious about how her date went. He opened the door for her when he saw her leave the road. She entered with a smile.

“I gather everything went well,” said Karl.

“Better than I expected. He’s smitten, or at least appears to be, and has asked me for another date. How do we proceed from here?”

Karl was smiling as he led her downstairs and showed her the sheets that had been printed. “By all means, see him again. He could 68

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be a treasure of information for us.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m prepared to sleep with him.”

“I suspect, from what you tell me, he will ask you to marry him instead. Just hope it is not too soon.”

***

They came back when he least expected it. The heavy hobnail boots of Soviet soldiers on the floor above made him feel sick. He sensed they had returned to inspect the upstairs and the cellar this time, and for a few fleeting seconds, he froze in his tracks. Karl went to the other end of the cellar and began to climb the ladder to the kitchen floor. When he heard their voices as they came down the cellar steps, he pushed open the entry he had created. Karl stuck his head out and looked around before lifting himself onto the kitchen floor.

He replaced the cover and opened the kitchen door to find it edged on a huge, deep bomb crater with only seven or eight inches between the hole and the door. He stepped out, clinging to the door.

It was getting dark, and Karl knew if he did not get to the edge of the house soon, he would feel his way in the dark. He took one step and held the door frame as he moved. The next step was easier, and Karl looked at the wall for any place he could hold onto. He couldn’t see a spot and froze. He looked down without thinking and felt sick to his stomach. He remembered Rhinehart telling him when they were helping their father shingle the roof not to look down when he confessed it made him queasy. He returned to face the wall and found a shingle with a rotten knot. He reached and dug out the knotted shingle and took another step. Karl looked for another shingle he could cling to, and when he couldn’t find one, he knew his only hope was to lean against the wall when he took a step. He moved his foot and leaned against the wall. It worked, but it made him feel sick again.

Darkness had fallen, and he still had a way to go. Karl took another step after that. It was working, and for the first time, he felt he was going to make it. The ground below his next step was soft, and it suddenly gave way, sending him down the crater. Roots from trees that no longer existed brushed against his face as he fell. He grabbed one of them with both hands, but it gave way, and he slid further down. He grabbed another root, and it held.

Then he had an epiphany. Instead of climbing up the crater, he would grab other roots, make his way to where the house ended, and climb up from there. His arms ached as he made his way, knowing 69

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he would not be able to climb out of the hole if he ever let go. After what seemed an eternity, Karl reached the place where he could get out of the crater and onto level ground.

He held on to the root above him for almost a minute to rest his arms and pulled on the roots one after another. He couldn’t go on and was tempted to release his hand from the roots when he remembered one of Rhinehart’s other favourite sayings, ” Never give up, no matter what.”

He put all his strength into one last big pull and suddenly found his head above the ground. He looked to see what he could latch onto and spotted a fallen branch of a tree tangled in bushes. He grabbed it and pulled himself out when it gave way, slipping back into the hole.

He lay on the grass and breathed the night air. When his arms felt rested, he rose on one knee to feel it suddenly start to rain. His hands instinctively grabbed the tall grass around the tree and uprooted bunches of them before he could wiggle out of the hole.

He stood out in the open and let the rain drench him and wash away the dirt in his hair, face, and clothes.

Someone had told the Stasi about his hiding place, and he knew then he had to be more careful going on. He decided to walk to Meg’s place, get washed, and develop a new strategy.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

H

ugh heard it first. “The Lawson brothers have been charged with murder and are out on bail,” he said when he returned from a meeting with the St. Catharines Police. Everyone clapped. Kay noticed that Peggy’s face was twisted when she joined in. When Peggy left them, she went to her room. Kay followed her and heard her crying but decided not to enter.

She did not appear at supper and told Kay she wasn’t feeling well when Kay knocked on her door. When she returned to the table and sat down, Hugh looked at her. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I think she is in love with Warren Lawson, no matter what she says to us. She’s torn in two directions and does not know how to handle it.”

They didn’t talk much throughout supper. Grete could sense what was wrong and hugged Kay. “Our families are plagued with one tragedy after another.”

Kay couldn’t stand it any longer and went to Peggy’s room. She didn’t knock and entered to see Peggy in bed with the covers over her head. She grabbed the blankets and hauled them back. “You’re not the only one suffering in this house.” Kay wiped the tears from her face. “Dress and come down and have supper. You will feel better after you eat.”

Peggy hugged her, dressed slowly and went downstairs with her arm around her mother. Grete rose and went to the stove. “I know how much you love apple pie,” she said, closing the oven door and holding out an apple pie to her. But first, you must eat supper.”

Grete placed the pie before her. Peggy reached for the pie, but Kay pulled it back and handed her a plate of potatoes, gravy, and fried steak.

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front room and turned on the radio. John Fisher was on the CBC talking about Port Arthur.

“He has such a wonderful voice,” said May. “Did you know he comes from New Brunswick? And that his family makes the Enterprise stoves?”

“If he comes from down home, he has to be great,” added Hugh.

An hour later, Hugh looked out to see the lights of a car enter their yard. He went to the door. It was David Lawson.

“I know I’m the last person you folks want to see, but I’ve come to ask you and your family to request leniency when his trial comes up. We all know they sprayed your grapes and caused that poor child’s death. That was not their intent, and they feel sick inside with what their actions caused.”

He lowered his head. Tears were in the corners of his eyes, and he wiped them with his handkerchief.

“They deserve to be locked up forever,” said May. “I know exactly how you feel. Just think about it. They’re both out on bail awaiting trial. Would it help if they came and begged for themselves?”

“I don’t think that will be necessary, Mr. Lawson,” said Hugh.”It would only make matters worse.”

Lawson nodded and left, leaving behind a vacuum. “I do not trust that man,” said Grete.

“I think we all feel the same way,” said Hugh. “In the meantime, let us see what the trial brings our way.”

Kay looked at Peggy, who showed no signs of emotion. Kay took it as a hopeful sign.

They all went to bed feeling uneasy, as though Lawson’s visit brought with him an evil spirit. Kay tossed and turned and kept seeing Peggy’s face flash before her and rose and opened Peggy’s door a crack. She appeared to be sleeping with the covers over her head.

Two hours later, Kay woke to sounds from outside the house.

She put on her robe and went to the window to see someone in the yard. She woke Hugh and put her finger to his lips. “There’s someone outside. Their voices woke me up. I think young Lawson and Peggy are planning to elope.”

Hugh dressed in a hurry, grabbed his car keys when he heard a car start and headed out of the yard. He ran down the stairs while Kay looked into Peggy’s room. She was gone. There was a short note on her bed.

“Dear Mom and Dad. Warren and I are in love and are eloping.

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Please do not try to stop us. It is best for everyone. I will write to you later.”

Kay read the note over and over and cried all the way down the stairs.

Hugh caught up with them as they tried to cross into the U.S. They talked to one of the guards when he stopped his car behind them. He reached them before the guard let them pass. “Stop them.

The man is under trial for murder, and my daughter is trying to run away with him.”

The guard pushed them away. “No entry.” Warren raced to the car and planned to crash down the barrier. Hugh stood in front.

He showed no signs of stopping. Peggy tried to take over the wheel. Warren pushed her away, her head hitting the window and cracking the glass. He suddenly stopped. “what have I done?” he kept repeating to Peggy.

She was unconscious and bleeding badly. Hugh reached inside, held her in his arms, and took her to his car. Hugh got into his seat.

Warren pounded on the window as Hugh drove away, leaving Warren standing there.

Hugh decided to stop at the house on his way and carried Peggy inside. Kay was in the kitchen and had to hold the table to avoid falling on the floor when she saw Peggy’s bleeding head. She turned and turned on the hot water and found a clean cloth. Hugh held Peggy in his arms until Kay brushed the blood from her hair. Peggy’s head was still bleeding. Kay placed the cloth over the wound and followed Hugh to the car with Peggy.

“She needs hospital care,” he said.

Hugh opened the back door for him as he slid Peggy inside. Kay sat beside her and kept the cloth on the wound as Hugh headed onto the main road and to the St. Catharines hospital.

They went to emergency, laying Peggy on a gurney, where an emergency doctor cleaned her wound and removed a small glass shard. He cleaned the wound again and had her sit up.

“We will need an x-ray to make sure that her injuries did not go deeper,” he said as he wheeled her away.

He returned 30 minutes later with Peggy in a wheelchair. “Lucky for her, all her wounds are superficial. Hugh wheeled her to the car, slid her inside the back seat, and her mother sat beside her.

“Do not let me ever hear you mention that man’s name in my presence,” said Kay. “He tried to kill me,” added Hugh.

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“I saw that, and I grabbed the wheel so that he would avoid hitting you.” Then, after a pause, “What will happen to him?”

“I don’t know and do not want to know,” said Hugh. “And for your own good, you need to forget him. Who knows what would have happened to you? He was able to escape. It’s not something I even want to think about it. It would be a life of continually being on the run.”

Peggy didn’t say much and went to bed without greeting Grete and May, who rose after they heard the car leave the yard.

“We had to take Peggy to the hospital. She had injured her head when Warren Lawson tried to elope with her. I was able to stop them as they tried to enter the U.S.” “I hope she’ll begin to see who Warren Lawson really is,” said Kay. “I don’t think I could take another night like this.”

Grete hugged her. “She’s back, and we know where she is. We can thank our stars for that.”

David Lawson appeared a short time later. “I just heard what Warren tried to do and that your daughter had hurt her head.”

Yes, your son slammed her head against the window in his car when she tried to stop him from running me down in a wild dash into the U.S.” Konrad had never seen Hugh this angry before and helped him sit down.

“It was not of my doing,” said Lawson. “He was also willing to see me in bankruptcy. I had pledged all my assets for his surety.”

Then, after a long pause, “What can a father do?”

Kay noticed the lines on his cheeks and around his mouth and eyes for the first time and couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. He had to be helped up when he rose from his chair and headed for the door.

The trial was held two weeks later. They all not to agreed to mention Warren Lawson’s attempt to avoid the trial.

He and his brother looked haggard as they were brought into the court. Peggy looked at him, his face unshaven, his dark brown eyes staring at the floor and his wrinkled clothes. She felt sorry for him. But she couldn’t forget how he slammed her head against the window and the headaches she suffered afterwards. She would have been scarred for life if it had been her face.

The trial went on for the rest of the week. May was the Crown’s star witness. She began to cry when she described how her daughter had reached for the grape stems and how she died in her own vomit.

She was not cross-examined.

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hospital and how it took weeks before either felt like their old selves.

Lawson’s defence attorney decided to put Warren on the stand.

He looked pitiful and did not look at the jury.

“Did you attempt to kill anyone?”

“No, my brother and I sprayed the grapes on the conveyer belt in their barn just enough to ruin their grapes sales forever.”

“Did you not think that a child or someone else might have died from what you did?”

“It was the last thing we wanted. When I heard that the grapes poisoned this child, I felt like I was dying. If we had known it would have killed anyone, we would never be done this.”

The Crown asked only one question. “What was your motive to do this?”

“To get the people who now own my grandfather’s farm to sell the farm back to us. We started it, and they bought it from us at a fraction of its value.”

The jury looked stone-faced. There was a murmur in the court, and the judge raised his hand for silence. “The jury will now decide on the verdict.”

They watched the jury leave. “How long do they usually take?” said Konrad to the Crown. “You can never tell with juries. But I think with the testimony we just heard, it will not likely take long.”

The jury returned two hours later. And when asked by the judge, the jury foreman announced in a loud voice: “Guilty of manslaughter.”

The judge looked down at the two defendants. “You have both been found guilty of manslaughter. We sentence you both to six years in prison. “ “It should have been more,” said May to the Crown.

“I agree, but in this case, the death of your daughter was not premeditated. And the jury believed that.”

***

Sandy was having a hard time dealing with Charlotte’s death.

He kept saying. “I’m sure I washed those grapes.”

“Maybe,” said Grete, “a few stems fell into the basket, and you did not notice.”

It didn’t help. Caroline, Sandy’s wife, was worried about him.

“He barely eats anything anymore. He sits in our bedroom and looks out the window day after day, mumbling to himself. I fear for his sanity.”

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Konrad and Hugh handled the washing themselves after that.

Their crop was the biggest since they took over the farm, and they found it hard to find reliable people to help with the harvest. They ended every day when it got dark, tried with aching backs.

“You both need to take a day off,” said Grete.

“We can’t afford to. Every day counts. If we don’t, all our work is for nothing,” said Hugh.

Peggy went with them on some days and found she enjoyed it.

The sunlight made her feel better almost every day. On one Friday night, her three best friends knocked on the door. “We haven’t seen you forever. You’re going out with us tonight whether you like it or not,” said Bess Ingersol.

“Put on your best dress, one that will attract every guy at the dance,” said Susie Wilson, another of her best friends.

They drove to a party of a friend who was getting married and invited the others to introduce her boyfriend. The party was in Niagara Falls. Ruth Leggat stood outside her door to bring them into the party.

The Leggats were well off, and their home showed it. Ruth spotted Peggy almost immediately. “How wonderful to see you. We all thought you had decided to become a hermit.”

They all laughed and pushed Peggy into the room. At least 20 young men were without escorts talking to their other friends. They all looked up when they saw them arrive and headed to them immediately.

“I’m Bill Wagoner from the Falls,” said a tall, dark-haired, handsome young man who pushed his way to the front. Susie placed her arm in his and walked away.

The room was decorated with streamers, and the rug had been rolled up for dancing. A photograph was playing in the front with a young man with a stack of records, and other couples were already dancing. There was a delicious scent floating in the air, and no parents to be seen anywhere.

One of the young men walked slowly to Peggy. “My name is Jake. Would you dance with me? I don’t jitterbug, but I can waltz.”

He looked helpless, and Peggy put his arm in his. “They’re playing our waltz,” she said as they walked to the centre of the floor. He was surprisingly light on his feet and looked into her face as they moved around the base.

“You’re very smooth,” he said as they walked to a table where her friends were sitting with other young men.

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Ruth walked to the centre of the floor with her boyfriend. She held out her ring, and everyone clapped. The young man playing records played another record of trumpets blaring to even more clapping.

Jake sat beside her and invited her to the floor for every waltz.

He smiled at everything Peggy said as they whirled around the floor.

When the party ended, he asked to drive her home.

“I don’t live in the Falls,” she said. “I’m a farm girl and live 20 minutes or so from here.”

“I don’t mind. I sort of freeze when I talk to girls. You’re the only person I really feel comfortable with,” he said as they turned onto the dirt road toward the farm.

“Take the right turn when you see a fork in the road. Our farm is five minutes from there.” She looked at him and smiled. He really was handsome, she thought and smiled as he stopped the car in their yard.

He got out of the car and kissed her on the cheek. “May I see you again?”

“Call me, and if I’m free, it would be nice to see you again.”

She watched him drive out of the yard and onto the road and hoped he would take the right turn in the road. She waved to her father as he opened the door and headed to the barn.

Hugh opened the door and lit the lantern. There was a shadow on the wall ahead, and he walked towards it to see Sandy hanging from one of the beams.

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CHAPTER TWELVE

“T

his place is cursed,” said Grete as she broke out crying. ”I have lost a son and a granddaughter in this place. I just can’t go on.”

“It’s not the place, but the people who did this were prepared to do evil things to get what they wanted,” said Kay. “But that is over now, and we can look to a happier future.”

“I fear Karl has also been taken from us.”

“We do not know that, Grete. Have you heard from Irene recently?” said Kay. Grete wiped her eyes and shook her head.

“Then let’s call her. We have her home number,” she said, taking Grete’s arm and leading her to the telephone. They went into the front room. Kay stood as she dialled. The phone rang over and over, and she was just about to hang up when Irene answered.

“Irene, it’s Kay and Grete. She would like to talk to you.”

Grete picked up the receiver, her hand shaking as she placed it next to her ear.

“How are you, mother Grete?”

“Bad things have happened here, and I am worried about Karl. I need to know that he is all right.”

There was a slight pause before Irene answered. “We haven’t heard from Karl recently. It does not mean anything. We have other agents we have not heard from for two or three months. It means they do not have anything to report or are too busy to report. If anything has happened to him, we would be the first to know from others who work with him.”

“I pray for him every night,” said Grete.

“So do I, mother Grete. I will call you as soon as I hear from him.

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Don’t worry. We aren’t. I miss him terribly.”

Konrad and Hugh were busy painting the kitchen cabinets a chestnut colour. “Hugh, we’ve had some bad times in this house.”

“And some good ones, too, Konrad.”

“Sandy’s death took a lot out of me. Seeing him hanging in the barn has given me shivers every time I go inside now.”

“I feel the same way. I think Brown, the coroner, sensed that.

His inquest was mercifully short. David Lawson must be having a nightmare now with both sons in prison.”

They finished the cabinets as Kay cleared the table. “You’re not done yet. You’ve also got enough paint left to do the kitchen table.”

There was a knock on the door. The coroner entered with a sad look on his face. He looked at the smeared Hugh’s and Konrad’s paint-smeared hands and breathed in the smell of fresh paint. “I’ve news about David Lawson. He committed suicide this afternoon.”

May, who had been feeding Rhinehart, smiled. Kay went to the counter to take three cups from the shelf and pour them tea. She passed one to Brown, Hugh and Konrad.

Konrad glanced out the window to see Rex, their old dog, wagging his tail as a line of chickens walked in front of him. He had been with them since they had come to the farm and now was a family member. Rex walked around the corner and scratched the door. Key let him in and rubbed his ears. He came to rest in front of Grete’s chair and looked up at her with his large brown eyes and tongue out.

“He’s telling us everything is going to be all right from now on,” said Kay. After Brown left, there was a knock at the door. It was Marylou Jones and her husband, Wilbur. They were carrying a large cake with candles still burning as they entered the kitchen.

“I see we’ve come at an awkward time,” said Marylou.

Grete led them into the dining room with its long table. Konrad and Hugh poured turpentine on their hands to remove paint and the good soaping to remove the smell.

“You’ve had a difficult time, more than most folks. Everyone has been worried about you and what you’ve suffered at the hands of the Lawsons. But it’s over now, and you can get it behind you.”

Marylou was about to lift her cup when Hugh said, “We had a visit from the coroner before you folks came with the news that David Lawson had committed suicide.”

There was a moment’s silence. “You don’t say,” said Wilbur.

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actors. They won’t be welcome here when they finally get out of prison.”

With Sandy gone, Hugh and Konrad found it hard to do everything that needed to be done before winter. Hugh suggested they place an ad in the St. Catharine’s paper and the Hamilton newspaper.

They had three calls within two days, two from young men willing to work on weekends and one from an Italian who was hard to understand and interested in a full-time job. Konrad looked at Hugh, who nodded.

Konrad and Hugh met him the following morning, just before noon. Angelo Caterini appeared with his bag at the St. Catharines railway station. They spotted him immediately and waved. Angelo was in his mid-30s and told him slowly that he had worked on a farm in Italy. “I do not work at the steel factory and all that black smoke.”

They could see his smile widen as they passed farm after farm until they drove into their yard. He jumped out first and walked to the edge of the grape plants. “I do not believe,” he said. There were tears in his eyes. “I come from the country in Italia. I grow up on a farm. Mio padre also has grape plants.”

“Let me carry your bag,” said Hugh.

Konrad led him inside and introduced him. “My wife, Grete,” said Konrad. Kay came from the front room. “That is my wife, Kay,” said Hugh.

Kay sat him at the head of the table with Hugh and Konrad. Kay had cooked a beef stew, poured a large helping into Angelo’s dish, and placed a stack of bread in front of him.

Angelo waited for the others to be served before digging in himself. They finished with a new bottle of wine made from grapes from their vineyard. “Our wine,” said Konrad, pointing to the wine bottle.

Angelo took a big mouthful and moved it around in his mouth before swallowing. “a mi piaci,” he said with a broad smile and held out his glass for another sampling. Konrad filled it and raised his glass to him.

“Your vino is very good, but we can make it better.” He looked at May and her baby and smiled.

“My grandson,” said Grete with pride.

In the morning, Kay came into the kitchen to find Angelo with flour on his face and hands and rolling out a large piece of dough with a number of eggshells off to the side.

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“I am making spaghetti,” he said without looking up as he cut the dough into long thin strips. “But before we cook, we make the sauce for the spaghetti. You have tomatoes? some beef?”

She reached into the cabinet, produced four tomatoes, and into the icebox for a few strings of raw beef. “Will this do?”

Angelo smiled at her. “Grazie” She watched him cut up the tomatoes into small pieces and put them into a pot along with the beef. The stove was already hot when he placed it on top. “It must be there a long, long time. Maybe ready when we eat at night.” He then found some cheese and used a grater to add it over the pot.

“What about the dough?”

“We cook when we make supper.”

Grete never forgot that supper. She had never tasted spaghetti before and was curious about how the sauce was made. Angelo also invited May to join in. Every lunch hour, he would spend an extra hour showing Kay, Grete, and May how to make the sauce and spaghetti.

He showed them new ways of preparing them for winter in the field. After a month, Hugh and Konrad sat down with them. “We’re raising your salary. You’re everything you said you were and more,” said Hugh.

“And the ladies have never been happier since you have shown them how to cook Italian dishes,” added Konrad.

“All your ladies are very beautiful. Are the young ones married?”

“Konrad became guarded. “May is our daughter-in-law. She was married to my son, Rhinehart. Who died some time ago. Rhinehart’s twin brother, Karl, is on assignment for the Canadian Army in Europe. May’s baby is also called Rhinehart, after my son.”

“Peggy is my daughter. She is not married but believed she was in love with an evil man. That man is now in prison, but that’s a story for another time. She now sees a young man from Niagara Falls.”

Fall had come, and Angelo started shaving and washing up for supper. Kay had a surprise. “We want to introduce a dish Angelo may not have had before, pancakes with maple syrup.”

He ate seven large pancakes and kept licking his lips every time he poured the syrup on them. After that, pancakes were served at least twice every month.

With the advent of Winter, May went with him to the store to get winter clothes. “It’s cold here,” she told him as she picked out a flannel shirt.

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“Italia also has winter.”

“Not like here. Do what I tell you.”

“You talk like a wife,” said Angelo with a devilish grin.

May’s face reddened, and she looked away.

They didn’t talk much after that. Angelo sensed he had touched a nerve with his comment and made a note to be careful how he phrased things afterward.

Angelo made a small stable with straw at Christmas, carved out a small baby and three wise men and placed it next to the Christmas tree. “It is how we celebrate Christmas in Italia.”

Peggy played carols, and they listened to Dickens’ Christmas Carol on the radio.

“Where is Rex? It is snowing, and he is not in his usual place,” said Grete. Rex had been Rhinehart’s dog since Rex was a puppy. He followed him to school and walked home with Rhinehart every day.

“He likes to play in the snow,” said Konrad. “He won’t stray far from the house in this weather.”

Grete rose and put on her coat. She looked for a flashlight in the kitchen cabinet.

“It’s dangerous to be outside on a night like this,” said Konrad.

“Let me go with you.”

Grete ignored him and headed out into the yard, calling out Rex’s name over and over and using her flashlight to see if she could see him. The wind at her back braved her to go farther afield as she kept calling his name. The snow bit her face when Grete turned at the whirling sounds behind her. She placed her scarf around her mouth and journeyed on.

Konrad glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes had passed before she struck out. Grete was like that. When she was on a mission, she had no time to waste.

Angelo quietly moved to the porch and put on the parka May had recommended when they went shopping. He zipped it up and placed the hood over his head. He felt into his pocket to see if his flashlight was there and if it still worked. Angelo waved to them and headed out into the storm. He flashed his light around the yard.

There were no signs of Grete, just signs of someone’s footprints in the snow. They led him around the yard and towards the fields and the grape plants.

The snow was quickly filling her footprints, and after a few steps more, they suddenly disappeared. Angelo moved in the direction of her last footprints and kept spraying the light of his flashlight 82

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around him. He lit his flashlight, but all he could see was the snow blowing into his face and the blackness beyond.

Angelo had a hard time seeing as the snow bit into his face and eyes. He kept spraying his flashlight around him. He thought he saw something black in the snow in the darkness beyond the light.

A few minutes he discovered Grete’s body lying on the snow.

He held her up to discover Rex. She had found him and was protecting him from the snow. Angelo tried to lift her, but she couldn’t stand alone. He reached down and held her in his arms.

Grete opened her eyes and looked at his face. “Rex,” she whispered. “We can’t leave him here to die.”

Angelo placed her on the ground, put her dog in her arms and lifted them. He started walking, sloshing through the snow. The way back was harder than he expected. His flashlight was in his pocket, and he could no longer use it to show him the way.

His back was against the snow now. If the wind hadn’t changed, all he knew now was he was going back toward the house. Ten minutes later, his arms aching from the weight, he saw the lights from the house. He tried to pick up his pace, but the snowdrifts made that impossible.

Angelo was only a few steps from the house now and picked up his speed where the snow was lighter. Konrad and Hugh were in the doorway and took her from his arms. Rex landed on the porch floor and tried to stand. Hugh grabbed him and brought him inside.

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

T

here was a faint knock at the door, and Kruger said “enter” without looking up from the memo from his colonel.

“Major Kruger,” said the soft voice. “My name is Katia Petrova.

I believe you have a memo about my visit.”

He looked to see a very attractive young woman, in her early 20s, with blond hair, blue eyes, a beautiful face and a suggestive voice.

“I’m here to help you track down a spy causing Comrade Liulpanov some consternation.”

Kruger was spellbound and found it a problem to reply. “Yes,” he said finally, searching for the memo from the president about her coming. “I understand you have an amazingly successful record of tracking down spies. We could certainly use your expertise,” he said, feeling the need to praise her.

She crossed her legs, and her skirt edged up past her knee. She wore a low-cut white blouse and a gold chain between her breasts.

“What would you like to know?”

“Why not start at the beginning and the discovery you had a secret agent in your midst.”

Katia listened carefully as Kruger told her about the papers floating from five tall buildings and the second paper stuffed in mailboxes around the city.

“Whoever is behind this has irritated our President, and he wants to put the person behind this in prison. But he’s not easy to find. He leaves no trace, gets his sheets printed somewhere we can’t find and has a few people who do his dirty work. To date, he has managed to stay out of the limelight, and so have his helpers.”

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Katia studied his face. It was white and strained, and his eyes looked tired. She noted his tendency to tap his desk with his forefinger when he related his instructions to his team to check newcomers to East Berlin before his nightmare began and to look for every possible place the person behind it all might be hiding.

She kept nodding and licking her lips. She took his hand. “I’m here to help,” she said in a soft, comforting voice.

Kruger found himself nodding under her spell and tried his best to smile.

“But I will need your help. I need you to put all your best people at my disposal.”

Kruger pressed the buzzer on the side of his desk, and his secretary appeared a few seconds later. “Ask my officers to join me for a meeting in my office now.”

A few minutes later, his key officers knocked, entered and stood in front of his desk behind Katia’s chair.

“Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Comrade Katia Petrova.

She is the Kremlin’s top spy finder.”

Katia rose from her chair and played with the chain around her neck. “For starters, call me Katia. I want to get to know each of you in every way possible.” She saw three of them lick their lips and offered each of them a warming smile. “Each of you will be working close to me, and I truly believe we will smoke out these people and bring them to swift justice. Can I count on your support?”

There was a loud “yes”.

She looked at their faces and knew what they were thinking.

“I would like to start with you,” she said, grabbing the lapel of the nearest officer. She put her arm under his. “Lead me to your office.”

She spent the rest of the day talking to them, stopping only to have lunch with all of them. “You are the eyes of my team. I want each of you to tell me of any unusual activity you hear.”

Katia also made it a point to chat with all the junior officers and asked one of them to have supper with her. It was Meg’s boyfriend, Jonni Engel. They went to a restaurant he and Meg liked, and he felt uneasy should she happen to appear.

“Do you have a girlfriend, Jonni?” “You seem very shy around women, Jonni.” She gave him a big smile, leaned forward, and kissed him. He blushed and leaned forward to return the kiss, but she backed away. He felt uneasy and returned to his shell. She knew she was losing him and smiled at him.

He nodded. “I have never known anyone like her in all my life.

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Her name is Katharina. She works in a food-processing factory. She will be wondering where I am tonight.” His voice trailed off to almost a whisper.

“Where did you meet her?”

“I stopped her when I saw her pick up one of the sheets at the plaza where the first sheets were distributed. I asked for her papers.

I never forgot her and tracked her down only a short time ago.”

The waitress came to the table and took their order. It was quite busy, and the noise level higher than usual. The candles at each table showed the faces of young women and men, some holding hands and whispering to each other. Someone was playing old records on a portable wind-up player in the far corner, and a few people sang along with them.

Katia looked at them and smiled. ”Did you suspect she might have been the person who threw the papers out of the window?”

“No. If you ever meet her, you will understand. She’s not the type. She’s just an ordinary young woman who works in a factory.”

“I would love to meet your lady. I’m sure she’s all that you say she is.”

“I will ask her. She’s quite bashful.”

***

Jonni called Katharina when he got back home. “We have a woman specializing in tracking down spies in Russia and is in East Berlin to track down who is distributing those papers to people in East Berlin.”

“What is she like?”

“She is very smart and also an extremely beautiful woman.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Jonni knew then he had said the wrong thing and felt like kicking himself. “I told her I was in love with you, and she said she would like to meet you.”

Katharina’s mind was whirring. She knew that if she didn’t meet this woman, she would investigate her. She reached out and held his hand, looking into his eyes and nodding. “I will do anything that helps you in our job.”

Jonni sat back and raised his hand for the waiter.

Meg went to see Geoff and Simon in the morning. She knew she needed to see Karl as soon as possible and ask Karl for his advice.

They decided to go together, with Simon following behind them to see if anyone was shadowing them. Geoff believed in being super careful.

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Karl wasn’t there when they arrived, and they went downstairs to wait for him. It was dark by the time they heard his footsteps. He was being very careful as well. “I had to work overtime at my job,” he said, sitting down and putting a candle beneath the pot to boil water for their tea. He showed them his hands, rough and red, with a few cuts on his fingers.

“I feel we have stayed too long in one place and been lucky. It was probably the only house in East Berlin they hadn’t checked,” said Karl.

“We don’t have a place for you to go to yet,” said Geoff.

“That’s not a problem at the moment. The project I’m working on has its own place for us to eat and sleep. I’ve bunked in there already.” He looked at Meg. “You look disturbed and worried. Is there something we all should know?”

“My Stasi friend, Jonni, told me that the Kremlin had sent a master spa tracker to help them track down the people distributing our sheets. He said she is very beautiful and very sucessful.”

Geoff sucked in his breath. “ I don’t like the sounds of this.”

“There’s worse. Jonni told me that she wanted to meet me. I’ve put him off for the moment, but I can’t keep staling him forever without arousing suspicions. I need advice from the three of you.”

Geoff and Simon turned to Karl. “You must see her and soon. If you play your cards right, this woman may prove a blessing more than a menace. Remind me again how you created your name.”

“I went to the cemetery as you suggested and chose the names of a man and his wife from one of the tombstones – Willi Berger and his wife, Eva Berger. They were killed in the bombing. I am their only daughter, Katharina.”

They all turned to Karl again, “Meet this beautiful lady. Flatter her, tell her how beautiful she is, and you hope she will not steal Jonni from you. Snuggle up to Jonni when you do. Just remember she is very smart when she asks you for information. Assume that she will check out your credentials, even who your parents are. Tell her they died in the bombing and try to bring tears to your eyes if that question comes up. If so, provide them with the names of your parents.

Let her find the cemetery on her own because she will check.”

Karl stroked his chin and raised his hand. “One more thing. Tell her you never dreamed of meeting someone like her.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere with beautiful ladies,” said Geoff. “I can tell you that from experience.”

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pest. Tell her you would love to see her again.”

Geoff was making another pot of tea and looked at Karl. “Where does that leave us with distributing our latest pamphlets?”

“I think we should postpone further distributions until further notice. We’re bound to leave clues one way or another, and if I read my tea leaves correctly,” said Karl, lifting his mug, “she’ll give up sooner or later if we all go underground. Hide everything and focus on each of our jobs during the day. That’s what I plan to do. I have already found a place to hide all my printing materials and other things.

***

“I’d like to meet with your Katharina,” said Katia.

“She is very bashful. It’s what I love about her. You’ll understand when you meet her. When would you like to meet her?”

“What about now?”

“She works during the day. When I see her tonight, I will ask her then.”

He met Katharina as she appeared from the factory and drove her to her room. “The lady from the Kremlin would like you and me to be her guests at supper. What evening is best for you?”

Meg smiled and slid her arm into his. “What about tonight? But I’ll need time to bathe and get properly dressed to meet this wonderful lady.”

Jonni walked down the street to use a pay phone to see if Katia were still at his office. She came on online a minute later. “I’m waiting for Katharina while she dolls herself up. She’s free tonight if you are.”

“Shall we say right o’clock at the hotel where I’m staying for the moment? I want to freshen up as well.”

The weather was turning cold, and there was a hint of rain in the air. Jonni returned to his car and started the motor to warm himself.

An hour later, Meg appeared, walking down the steps to her building like a grand lady. She had taken extra care with her makeup and looked stunning.

She shivered as she made her way to the car. Jonni got out, opened the door, and helped her inside with the motor still tunning.

She shivered and buttoned her jacket around her throat.

“We’re off to a hotel for supper with the Kremlin lady,” said Jonni as he looked at his wristwatch and pressed his foot on the gas pedal. Twenty minutes later, Jonni parked a few steps from the hotel 88

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entrance. Meg slid her arm in his as they glided up the steps and into the lobby.

Katia rose to greet them as soon as she saw them enter. She was dressed in a full-length yellow dress and a light blue scarf and wore a perfume Meg loved. Katia shook her hand. “I’ve heard so much about you. Jonni is crazy about you. I can see why.”

Meg looked at Jonni. “He also tells me you’re the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He has not done you justice.” Katia was beautiful and knew it in how she held herself and walked. She took Katia’s arm and smiled at her as Jonni went ahead to get a table for them.

He seated them both and sat down next to Meg. Katia nodded and smiled at them. “Your Katharina is very beautiful, Jonni. Be careful you do not lose her to someone else.” She turned to Meg. “Tell me about yourself. I want to know all about you, what kind of music you like and your favourite foods.”

“I like classical music.”

“What about Russian composers?”

“That, too,” said Meg. “I was listening on the radio a few nights ago and heard a new composer – Shostakovich. It took my breath away. In my mind, he rivals the other great Russian composers.”

Katia reached out and rubbed her hand before looking at Jonni.

“Mine, too, Katharina. I think we will get along famously.” Then after a pause, “Are your parents still living?”

Meg remembered what Karl had said and bowed her head. She wiped a tear from her eye. “They are both dead, killed in the bombing. Their graves are here in East Berlin.”

Katia rose and put her arm around her. “I’m sorry about bringing it up.”

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m slowly getting over it.”

When supper was over, Katia left them at the elevator. Jonni and Meg watched her disappear. “What do you think?” said Jonni.

“A grand lady in every way. And very bewitching, No wonder men love her.”

“I’m interested in you, not her. When I get a promotion, I will ask you to marry me.”

Meg kissed him. “And I will say yes.”

He left feeling on top of the world. Meg hoped that she would never see her again. But Meg began to shake and felt that this woman had seen through her and sensed the ruthlessness in her voice.

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She knew she needed to be very careful from now on. She was not a woman who wasted any time and had asked to have dinner with her for a reason.

She rolled over on her side and cried herself to sleep.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“O

ur East Berlin team has gone underground,” said Irene, passing Col. Stone a copy of Karl’s last communication. “It seems a very beautiful Russian woman, who had made a name for herself in tracking down Western operatives in Moscow, has been sent to find Karl and his team. One of the members of Karl’s team has met her with the Stasi officer whom she’s seeing. She believes this woman suspects her and is concerned about her safety.”

Stone stood and went to look out his window and didn’t speak for almost five minutes. Irene knew this was his way of thinking and stood there waiting for him to turn from the window. When he did, there was a smile on his face. “I have a good friend in Toronto married to a very beautiful German lady. They have a son who is favoured with her looks. He has been getting away with murder ever since he was a child. Everyone takes a shine to him. His looks got him a job at the CBC.” Irene smiled. She knew his way of thinking and knew what he would say next.

“The best way to deal with fire is with fire. Get me a line to the CBC in Toronto pronto,” he said with a hum to his voice.

Irene looked at her watch. They would just be starting work in Toronto then and waited an hour to find the number for the CBC before calling. She asked for the person in charge of programming.

“Richmond here,” said the voice.

“Mr. Richmond, Col. Stone of Canadian Intelligence in Western Berlin would like to speak to you. I’ll connect you now.”Irene raced 90

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to Stone’s office to tell him Richmond was on the line.

“Mr. Richmond, my name is Stone. I need to talk to you about one of your people, Jake Bradley.”

Richmond passed his hand over his mouth, wondering what Bradley had done now. “May I ask what about?”

“I can’t say other than we need him here for a month or two.

People’s lives are at stake. May I also ask you to keep this call secret and ask Jake to keep it secret? If he agrees, tell him an RCAF plane will be waiting for him at noon on Saturday.”

Richmond hung up and buzzed his secretary to get Jake Bradley for him. Bradley appeared 30 minutes later. “Sorry to be late, Mr. Richmond, who managed a smile. He had received a ton of letters from star-crazed women who had seen Jake’s picture in one of the newspapers. Jake was a handsome and knew it. He sat down in front of him.

“It seems a Col. Stone of Canadian Intelligence in East Berlin needs you for a special assignment in which some of his people’s lives may be in danger. He seems to think you could solve his problem.”

“I know Col. Stone. He is a close friend of my parents. Wait until they hear about this,” said Jake in a voice as smooth as his looks.

“He asked me to tell you not to tell anyone where you’re going or whom you will be seeing.”

“What about my program?”

“One of our announcers will fill in for you and tell your listeners you are on a special assignment for the CBC and promises to tell you all about it on your return.”

Jake walked out of Richmond’s office with a tilt to his cap. He would continue to do his broadcast until Saturday.

***

Jake arrived at the RCAF hangar around 11.30, paid for the taxi, picked up his suitcase, and walked to the hangar just as his plane was towed out. He stood and watched it take to the ramp waiting to join the runway. He walked towards it and waited until it came to a stop. A young airman opened the door as another crew rolled out a stairway from the open door. He carried his suitcase and recording equipment in his right hand and used his left to steady himself as he climbed the stairway.

“We’ll be leaving in a few minutes, stopping for 30 or 40 minutes in Newfoundland to take on fuel before we take off for West Berlin.”

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The young airman nodded to him, closed the hatch door and escorted him to his seat. He helped buckle Jake to his seat.

It took almost four hours before his plane landed at St. John’s.

Jake left to head for the toilet and grab a coffee before returning. The flight had its own excitement when their plane suddenly hit an air pocket that left him feeling they were about to crash over the ocean.

When he felt the worst, the plane suddenly levelled, and they were on their way again.

The young airman came by with a cup of coffee and a sandwich and told them they would be landing in Berlin within the hour. He wanted to unbuckle and walk up and down the length of the aircraft but thought better of it when the plane started losing altitude.

When they released the hatch door, the first person he saw was Stone standing on the pavement, waiting for the ground crew to roll the stairway to the doorway. When it was linked to the aircraft, he headed down the stairway with the young airman following him with his suitcase and recording equipment.

Stone gave him a long hug and led him inside to meet Irene.

Stone him look at her. “She’s married to one of our operatives,” Stone said as he introduced him. “You’ll be working closely with her. When you arrive in East Berlin, she will be your lifeline, so don’t get on her wrong side.”

Irene expected him to be handsome but not this stunning. He could charm a hummingbird to his arm, she thought as she carried his suitcase to the car waiting for them. She sat in front and Stone and Bradley in the back seat and kept turning with bits of information for him. “You’ll be staying at this hotel until you leave for East Berlin. So try not to attract too much attention to yourself. You’ll be going to East Berlin as a CBC correspondent. The East German government has already approved your papers.”

Stone saw him to his room. The telephone is special to this room.

We had it set up so that no one could hear our conversations. Your liaison, while you are here, will essentially be with Irene. If anyone else calls, hang up. Do not answer until you hear her voice.”

***

Irene could feel he was flirting with her in the way he looked at her and the slow way he removed his hand from hers during his morse code training and the use of the transmitter. Jake was a quick learner and, two weeks later, could send and receive messages as fast as anyone in the network.

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Stone was still waiting to hear from East Berlin. The request had been made by the CBC, and it was not until three weeks later that CBC received word that their correspondent would be permitted to enter East Belin as a radio correspondent for a month. After that, his permit would be reviewed every month.

“That means you must keep your romantic activities focused on the spy finder lady of Moscow and her alone. You’ve created quite a stir here. I hope your charms also extend to her. We must distract her at all costs to keep her from trying to run down our team there. She already suspects one member.”

Stone and Irene met him at his hotel to go over his list of things to do once he landed in East Berlin. “I’ve taken the liberty of typing a list for you in the order of importance.” He handed him the sheet.

Jake looked it over. “I see your old man is first on this list. “ “Yes. And let him know we are all anxious about his safety. He will have a crew member meet with you to meet the lady from Moscow.”

Jake felt like rolling his eyes. He had tougher assignments than this in his life, and he couldn’t wait to romance her from all reports about her.

“Your father and I are counting on you, Jake. Don’t let us down or get into a jam because you ignored our warnings. Be sure to send three or four regular reports to the CBC before meeting the lady from Moscow. They will want to approve them before you send them to the CBC. Please don’t argue with them. If they want you to remove something, do it. “ “Got it,” said Jake wearily.

“Have you any other questions?”

“I don’t think so.”

“If you suddenly think of something while you’re there, send a message to Irene, and you’ll get an answer back within minutes.”

Later, on their way back to her apartment, “What do you think?” said Stone.

“I think he is too full of himself and may toss our recommendations out of the window,” said Irene.

“I’m not not without some misgivings myself, but we’ll see what Karl thinks. And if he messes things up, we won’t have to bring him back. They’ll toss him out at the border.” Stone made a face and looked out the window.

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I do and how I do it, they have another thought coming, he mused.

Jake was tipsy when he went to sleep and didn’t hear the telephone ring. He glanced at the clock. He had 50 minutes to climb into a taxi and head for the border. Jake skidded on one of his socks, fell on the floor, and saw that he had skinned his knee. He hobbled to the bathroom, showered and shaved in 15 minutes. His hair was in all directions, but that would have to wait until the end when he threw his clothes into his suitcase and headed out the door.

The elevator took almost five minutes before the door opened.

Jake pressed the down button. Stone’s assistant slammed the door shut and followed him in another cab. Stone had advised one of his team members to go to the hotel and ensure he boarded the taxi. Jake glanced at his watch. He was 11 minutes late.

Jake combed his hair in the taxi’s mirror and sat back. He had to admit his heart was pounding when the cab stopped in front of the Russian checkpoint. He emerged from the taxi, with the driver carrying his suitcase and recording equipment to the checkpoint.

The guard was young with curly brown hair and brown eyes that searched Jake all over. Another older guard noted the suitcase and recording equipment and told him to open them. He used a stick to search among his clothes and stopped when he saw Jake’s recording equipment and blank records.

The older guard looked up. “What is this?”

“I am a radio correspondent, and this is my recording equipment. Jake took out his papers from his jacket pocket and passed them to him. The guard read each line carefully, showed it to the younger guard, and handed them back.

Stone’s assistant saw him pass through the checkpoint, smiled and climbed aboard his taxi.

Jake walked away from the checkpoint and down a street. The houses had not been rebuilt and bore all the signs of war. He kept his eye out for a taxi, but there weren’t any. A young man appeared suddenly from the shadows and called out his name. “My name is Simon. Karl couldn’t make it. I’m here to guide you to where I live.

A couple of others are waiting for you there.”

Simon took his suitcase when he saw it was slowing Jake down.

They entered a bombed-out building where Simon had made himself a small place to sleep. They circled back to the little hut he made from the bricks from the building. The bathroom was still intact. He opened the door and saw two others.

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to see you here.” Only by looking at his handsome face she understood the wonderful gift Stone had sent them. Geoff was nodding, too, and took his suitcase. “What have you got inside here?”

“My recording machine and blank discs. I need them for my work. Did Stone tell you that I work for the CBC?” “Later, I’ll take you around to find a place befitting a radio personality from the CBC. It’s a place in town where all the other foreign correspondents live,” said Geoff. “We all have day jobs and find it unwise to miss a day of work. I assume they’ve given you some money to tide your over.”

Jake nodded and opened his suitcase, and took out his CBC jacket. He put his suit jacket inside and closed the suitcase.

“I have a boyfriend who is in the Stasi. They follow correspondents around wherever you go. So be very careful. If you need to meet us, be sure you let us know by phone. Just say CBC. I will give you my number before we leave.”

“When we leave here, we will enter the area where you will find somewhere where you can set up shop,” said Meg. “Also, make friends with other correspondents. They may be useful in getting messages to Stone.”

Meg took his arm when they left. “This is the area where I live.

We will stop there. Karl will be waiting for us there.”

When they reached her corner, she could spot Junni waiting for her in his car and instead took Jake to a nearby restaurant where they still served coffee. “My boyfriend was waiting for me in his car. He will leave presently when he sees I do not plan to come down. He is a very nice young man.”

When they left, Meg kept looking back to see if anyone was following them. They hurried to her building and let them inside before climbing the stairs to her room. She rapped her signal, and the door opened slowly and then all the way. Jake closed the door behind them while Meg went to a candle on her counter and tried to light it.

“So you’re Irene’s old man. She’s worried sick about you. I met her with Stone.”

Meg added another candle, which Karl used to inspect Jake. He was handsome, all right. He thought Stone certainly knew what he was doing when he sent him. He might just be the trick to get that Russian woman off their tails. He smiled and shook his hand again.

“I understand I’ve been sent to charm this lady away from your group. I have a way with women,” he said, noticing Meg looking at 95

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him. He smiled back at her. “Ask Meg,” Meg was nodding. “He’ll do,” as she put a cup of tea in each of their hands.

“Meg can tell you all about her. As a radio correspondent, my hunch is that she will be very happy to accommodate you for an interview, especially if you flatter her when interviewing her.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

M

eg took him to the hotel where most correspondents lived and left him. The middle-aged woman behind the check-in desk immediately saw him as a foreigner.

Two older men were sitting on a Chesterfield in a heated argument. Jake caught the names of two major U.S. networks and knew he was at home. He wanted to go over and introduce himself, but that was taken out o his hands when the woman behind the desk tried to read his signature.

“What is CBC,” she said in a loud voice.

“The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. I’m their new correspondent.”

His voice was loud enough that the two men on the sofa rose and came to the desk. They extended their hands and introduced themselves. “Joe’s from CBS, and I’m from NBC. My name is Greg.”

“We’re pretty informal here among ourselves. Is this your first visit to East Berlin?”

Jake nodded. “In fact, it’s my first assignment outside Canada.”

“Have they told you that they want to see everything you write for broadcast before you’re allowed to send it out?” said his friend, Joe. “If you’re not sure what to do, stick with us. The Stasi are holding a lunch for correspondents. They’re introducing some dame from Moscow who’s here on a special assignment. They say she’s stunning.”

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Jake brightened. “Lead the way.”

Greg laughed. “I thought you Canadians were a reserved bunch.”

“Let me unpack and change. I’ll be down in a jiff.” He walked to the elevator with the bellboy and down the corridor on the third floor, where the bellboy let him into the room. It was small by Western Berlin standards. He unpacked and shaved again and put on a new shirt and suit. He looked at himself in the mirror, combed his dark hair that showed his wave and straightened his tie.

Greg was waiting for him at the elevator. “Did you remember to bring along a pad and a pen?”

“I’ve got an extra pad,” said Joe. Let’s get moving before she shuts the door. They’re pretty exact with things like that here.”

Several other journalists were in the room, talking among themselves. Greg took him by the arm and introduced him to a reporter from an English newspaper, a radio correspondent from France, and two reporters from West German publications.

At that point, Major Krauser entered with the beautiful woman from Moscow. “Gentlemen, may I introduce you to Katia Petrova.

In Moscow, she is famous for ridding the Soviet Union of spies and other troublemakers. I know you will give her a warm welcome.”

The other reporters crowded around her as she posed for pictures. The flashbulbs went off continually for almost two minutes before Krauser raised his arms. “Enough, gentlemen. I know Katia would enjoy talking to each of you. Please give her time to sit down.

She’s had an exhausting day.”

Jake watched her and how she handled the crowd around her.

Once or twice he caught her looking and smiling at him. He waited until the end of the session. She rose to leave on Krauser’s arm and whispered in his ear. Krauser nodded to one of his officers, who ran after Jake. Miss Petrova would like to talk to you.”

Jake followed her out and into an adjoining room.

“Crowds like the one you witnessed give me headaches,” said Katia. I was wondering why you did not wish to interview me.”

“I do, but I don’t like to be in a crowd when I do, either.” Jake knew she was interested in him. He had seen the same look in other women who wanted to know him better. “May I suggest we conduct our interview in more pleasant surroundings if you have the time?

I’m a radio journalist from Canada and would like to record you so that people in Canada can hear your voice. I think they would fall in love with you.”

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ing?”

Jake nodded. He passed her his card and wrote down his telephone number. They smiled knowingly at each other before she rose and left him.

That night, he sent a message to Stone: “Met the lady in question.

Will be entertaining her in my room soon.”

When he returned to his hotel, he found Karl waiting for him.

“Meg hears from her boyfriend that the lady in question is here to track down the people behind their attempt to provide East Berliners with exposés of their government.

“I have halted all further distributions of our little newsletter until she gets bored and leaves East Berlin. I cannot afford to lose another of my crew. He was captured and tortured until he died,” said Karl.

“I went to a gathering with other journalists to meet the lady in question. I spoke privately with her at her request and arranged to interview her in my room.”

Karl smiled as he took his leave.

***

Irene went to Stone’s office to give him Jake’s message. “You won’t believe this, but he is there only one day and has arranged to meet with the lady in question at his room.”

“In your next interchange with him, tell him not to take chances.

It could be a trap for all he knows. If she’s the hotshot spy killer as billed, she’ll be no one’s fool.”

Later, when she went to her apartment, she called Grete. Peggy answered and told her that Grete was sleeping. “Tell her for me that we have heard from Karl, and all is well.”

***

Peggy heard the telephone coming downstairs and ran to pick up the receiver. It was Irene asking for Crete. ”Wait a few seconds, and you’ll be able to tell her yourself.”

“It’s Irene.” Peggy passed Grete the phone.

“Heard from Karl. All is well. We’ve sent in reinforcements to make sure everything stays that way.”

Later, when Kay entered the kitchen, Grete told her the news.

Angelo was playing with Rhinehart and helping him to stand by himself.

“In the spring, we’ll be planting new grape plants,” said Hugh, “and we’ll be working from daybreak until it gets dark. The season 98

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is not long in Canada, so we must work extra hard to get the same results as you would in Italy.

“You have not lost that many plants, but some can be coaxed to come alive again with a little love. Wait, you will see,” said Angelo.

Spring was around the corner, and there were signs of life again.

“See,” he said, “Angelo was not wrong.”

Grete looked out the window to see a car drive up. “It’s your parents, May. I think your mother has a package for Rhinehart.”

May answered the knock and admitted her parents. Her mother entered first with a package wrapped in white tissue paper and tied with a red ribbon and passed it to May and looked around. “Where is my good boy?”

“Sleeping, I hope. He’s getting to be quite a handful.”

Her mother started to cough and held her chest. May rose and poured her tea. “Try this. It works wonders for me.”

She sipped on it and drained the cup in a few minutes. She held her breast and smiled. “It feels better already.”

May left her to bring Rhinehart down to her mother. She entered the kitchen, passing Rhinehart’s back as she placed him in her mother’s waiting arms. He was already awake and playing with the string of miniature-coloured toys over his crib.

Her mother rocked her knees and held him out to see how he had grown when she began coughing again. She passed the baby back to May, who poured another tea for her mother.

“You’ve got a nasty cough. Have you seen a doctor?”

“I think I may be getting a cold,” said her mother, sipping her tea.

May unwrapped the package. It was a new outfit that would come in handy when he grew a bit more and thanked her mother.

Her father was chatting with Hugh and tasting wine from their vineyard.

May’s mother reached out for Rhinehart and kissed his cheeks.

She held him close before handing him back. Her father drained his wine glass and helped her mother to her feet.

“What was that all about?” said Grete. “You have the baby, and a year later, they come with presents.”

“I have no idea. When she started to cough, I was worried that she would pass along the germs to Rhinehart.”

Grete could hear Rhinehart coughing in the middle of the night and aroused Konrad. She tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. In the morning, she waited for May to come downstairs and occupied 99

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herself cooking breakfast when Kay appeared.

“It’s six o’clock, Grete. I didn’t expect to see you here. You usually sleep until seven. Is everything all right?”

“It’s Rhinehart. I could hear him coughing, and it kept me awake all night.”

Kay brought her a cup of tea. “Babies are stronger than we give them credit for.”

May appeared in the doorway with Rhinehart in her arms.”I was up most of the night, rocking Rhinehart. He was coughing, and I had to rock him until he fell asleep. This went on all night.”

Kay held out her arms to take Rhinehart. She and Grete examined him carefully. His forehead felt cool to touch, and he appeared to be fine.

Grete looked at her and smiled. I had visions of something else,” she said.

May was still apprehensive and held Rhinehart close. After breakfast, his cries became louder, and his face turned red. She looked at Kay and Crete. They stripped him and checked his body all over. Kay rose and went to the telephone and called Dr. Thomas.

“It’s Rhinehart, Dr. Thomas. He shows signs of a fever.”

“I’ll be there within the hour.”

May watched the window until she saw his car enter the driveway. She went to the door and opened it just before he knocked. He looked at her and smoothed her head with his hand. “Now, show me your beautiful son.”

Grete was holding Rhinehart in her arms and rocking him. Dr. Thomas laid him on the kitchen table and checked his body and temperature before going over his chest with his stethoscope. He looked at them. “Your son has all the appearance of pneumonia, but we won’t know for sure until we take him to the hospital and check him there. Do you have any idea how he may have been exposed to someone with pneumonia?”

Dr. Thomas was in his 60s. His hair had only grown grey in recent years. He was short, and his round face always looked confident. He picked up Rhinehart and passed him to May. “Get him ready, and we’ll go in my car.” He looked at Kay and Grete and added, “and, of course, you two as well.”

They climbed inside Dr. Thomas’s car, with May and Rhinehart in the front. Angelo, an early riser, appeared from the barn and watched them leave.

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At the hospital, they followed Dr. Thomas inside. He disappeared with Rhinehart crying in his arms. May wanted to go with them, but Grete held her back. “Let them do their work. He’ll let us know if it is something serious.”

The waiting room had uncomfortable wood chairs, and Kay’s back began to ache. There were three windows behind them. Most of the light came from large lights hanging from the ceiling.

Kay left them, found a place to buy coffee, and returned with three steaming mugs. May couldn’t drink hers and only sat on her chair for a few minutes. She rose and paced the floor until she saw Dr. Thomas walking towards them.

He sat down opposite them and clasped his hands. “It’s what I feared. It’s pneumonia. We give him meds that could kill the germs in his lungs and give him a shot of a new miracle drug called Penicillin.”

“Can I take him home?” said May. “I would prefer that he remained with us for another day at least to see how he is recovering. I don’t think there will be any problems.

He has a lot of Rhinehart in him. Remember that when you leave here.”

Hugh and Konrad appeared a few minutes later. “Angelo told us you three were getting in the doctor’s car with Rhinehart. We knew where to find you.”

“What is wrong with Rhinehart?” said Konrad.

“Dr. Thomas says he has pneumonia, and they are treating him for that now. They want him to stay overnight.”

Dr. Thomas, who had been listening, broke in. “Do you have any idea where he may have got it? I ask because the rest of you may come down with it.”

“My mother and father visited us yesterday with a gift for Rhinehart. She coughed a lot during the time she was with us. She even held Rhinehart close to her.”

“When you return home, call her and tell her to go to the hospital, that she probably has pneumonia.”

They left in their car. May started to cry. “I’m cursed.” She kept saying it over and over. Grete put her arms around her and wiped the large tears zigzagging down May’s cheeks. “First, it was Charlotte. Now it is Rhinehart.”

When they reached the farm, Grete helped her out and led her inside. She took down the bottle of Brandy from the upstairs shelf and poured May a glass. May held it in her hands, trembling as she 101

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raised it to her mouth and took a mouthful. May made a face, began coughing after the first mouthful, and passed the glass back to Grete, who returned it to her. “It will help you.”

No one felt like eating, but Kay made them their favourite supper and forced them to at least try.

Just as they were getting ready to go to bed, the telephone. It was Dr. Thomas. “Rhinehart has taken a turn for the worse. It’s best that you come now.”

Hugh went to the car and waited until the others sat inside before heading out the driveway to the hospital.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

J

ake checked his wristwatch and unpacked his recording machine. He had to admit excitement was rising inside as he waited for her to buzz his room. He also understood how she planned to dominate their relationship at that moment and knew how to deal with it. His telephone rang, and Jake reached out for it. No one answered his “hello.”

He replaced the receiver and did not answer it when it rang a second time almost 30 minutes later. It waited until the fourth call came and answered it.

“Jake. It’s Katia. I tried to reach you earlier, but no one answered.”

“Sorry. I was getting ready for our meeting in the washroom and didn’t hear the phone.”

There was a faint knock on the door, and he opened it to find her smiling at him. He took her hand and kissed it. He let his lips linger on her hand before looking up with a smile.

Katia was wearing a light coat, which he took and hung it next to his in the closet. It smelled of old Asia and another scent that hinted of mystery. He returned with a wide smile. She was standing in the middle of the room, dressed in a low-cut lacey blouse and a dark blue skirt that matched the colour of her eyes. She smiled at him as he led her to a small table near the window, where he seated her and 102

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himself.

He reached down and put his recording equipment between them.

“You don’t talk much,” said Katia. “Most broadcasters love to talk. Even in Moscow. It doesn’t get them anywhere.”

“I take my work seriously. You must listen to and answer my questions when I start the recorder. Jake passed her a typewritten sheet of paper. Those are the questions. If you do not want to discuss them, let me know before starting.”

Jake realized his hand was shaking when he plugged the microphone into the recorder. He moved closer to share the mike, feeling her leg beside his. She smiled a knowing look in his eyes, but Jake ignored it.

“I am talking to Katia Petrova, Moscow’s famous spy finder.

What led you into this profession, Katia?”

“I have a way with men who often divulge things to me that they would not ordinarily reveal to others, getting one piece of information and bits from others. From there, it’s putting two and two together.”

What brings you to East Berlin?”

“I am on a tour of several other countries that are part of Soviet Russia. I was invited here by the president of the German Democratic Republic to join East Berliners in celebrating the founding of the republic.”

Jake felt her move her leg closer to his and ignored it. “I should tell you that Katia is one of the world’s most beautiful women,” said Jake. “For our women listeners, can you tell us what scent you are wearing?”

“I had it made especially for me by a perfumer in Czechoslovakia. We intend to manufacture it and make it available to all women around the world. It will change the lives of women forever.”

“What plans does Moscow have for Berlin?”

“I do not talk about politics. By nature, all Russians are peace-loving and historically do not start wars.”

“Describe what you’re wearing to our listeners. “ “I am wearing a blue skirt, a white blouse, and red shoes. I look best in those colours.”

“Do other women in Russia follow your style? “ “Russian women are very beautiful. Some copy how I dress, but most pick the colours that make them look beautiful. I would advise 103

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you, listeners, to do that as well.”

Jake smiled. “I have one last question for you. What would it be if you had a message for the West?”

“To treat us as equals and work with us to create a better world for all of us.”

Jake stood and was about to turn off the recorder when she reached out to stop his arm.”Would you play it back for me? I want to hear how I sound.”

Jake obliged her and went to his counter to pour each of them a vodka. He placed a glass in her hand so she could sip on it while hearing herself speak. She had a childish look, and her eyes lit as she heard her voice.

“You have an amazing voice,” said Katia Jake raised his glass to her. “So do you.”

“I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten since lunch,” said Katia “Would you like to dine downstairs?”

Katia shook her head. “Call the dining room and have them bring it to us. I don’t want to be mobbed by your newspaper and radio friends.”

“I have a better idea,” said Jake. “I’ll call and your order for both of us.”

He dialled zero and asked for the dining room. He passed the phone to her. “They’re on the line now.”

She ordered their supper in German and added a bottle of wine.

The waiter arrived about 20 minutes later, knocking on the door and wheeling in their table, covered in a white tablecloth. They sat at both ends as the waiter dished out their dinner. He waited until their supper was over and wheeled out their table, leaving them with the bottle of wine. Jake poured each of them a glass and raised his glass to her. “To the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“I am married to a very jealous man. He is a high member of the government, and my mother chose him. She did it to secure my future, but I decided to leave him when he caught me kissing a young man I knew when we were children. She smiled at him over the rim of her glass and talked about her life before becoming a spy hunter.

“Are you still married to him?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I agreed to as long as he left me alone. Stalin likes married couples.” Her eyes brightened. “How about you?”

“Never got married. Never found a woman I could be true to,” said Jake with a dimpled smile.”

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“I bet you had your share of women.”

“Not as much as you may think.” Jake liked being seen by others as bashful.

They looked at the clock. It was just past eleven. “I had best be going. Thank you for a wonderful evening,” Katia rose, stood facing him, and kissed him. “You are a very handsome man,” she whispered in his ear.

Jake held her close and kissed her back. She went to get her coast and stopped. “It’s past eleven-thirty. Could you put me up for the night? I’m a little uneasy about leaving at this hour.”

“My bed is not wide.”

“I don’t take up much room.”

***

They decided to have breakfast sent to them before they went to work. Katia entered the washroom first to take a one-hour bath, apply makeup and comb her blond hair. When she emerged, she looked ten years younger.

“I’ll order breakfast for us while you’re getting ready.” She watched him enter the bathroom and smiled in a way she hadn’t smiled in a long time.

Twenty minutes later, Jake opened the bathroom door and saw her looking at him. He smiled back.

“I could get used to you,” she whispered in his ear.

“So could I,” he whispered back.

They took their time over breakfast, knowing they might not see each other again. Katia reached out and rubbed his face. “What about having supper at my place?” she blurted before she realized what she was saying.

“I will need your address.”

Katia wrote it out on the back of the card of her hotel.

When breakfast was over, he escorted her to the door, passing to kiss her again.

He felt suddenly alone after she left and went downstairs to see if any other correspondents were there. There were four of them at a table near the entrance to the dining room. He hauled up a chair, and they made room for him.

“You look like a cat that swallowed the canary,” said the print journalist next to him.

Jake’s face reddened for the first time in his life, and he turned to the others, “what are we covering today?”

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“They’re taking us on a food factory tour to counter talk about people starving to death in East Berlin.”

“They’ll have a bus for us around ten o’clock or so, so eat up, lads.”

Jake looked around the dining room. There was certainly no one starving there. Nor was there any shortage of Western food. The dining room had at least 100 tables with wide windows that let in the outer world against the opposite wall. Three waiters, dressed in black with white shirts and black bowties, stood at the far end.

Jake left them to take the elevator to his room, where he packed two pads, pencils and pens into his bag and headed out. He could still smell her perfume and blond hair in his brush in the bathroom.

The other correspondents were milling in the lobby, waiting for the bus to come. The Manchester Guardian journalist offered him an English cigarette. “You must be the only Canadian reporter here, other than the Canadian Press reporter who comes and goes.”

They left the lobby in single file and climbed an old bus. Jake found a seat near the front, shuddering whenever the driver shifted gears. About 30 minutes later, they stopped in front of the factory and left the bus in single file, massing into a group outside.

The factory director stood on a box and counted them with his finger. “A warm welcome to you all, gentlemen of the press.”

Jake heard a voice behind him say, “What about radio?’

The director wore a brown suit with a yellow tie and a white shirt. “If you will follow me, gentlemen,” he said as he entered the building. Two other members of the factory walked behind them.

They walked into the pickle area, where at least 20 women cut pickles and another group cut and packed the pickles. Vinegar was added to each jar and capped by the following group. At the end of the line, another group packed the jars into boxes and put them on a large cart.

“We are now entering the meat section, where we grind pork and other meats into meal and pack them into cans further down the line made ready for packing.” The smell of the meal was horrific.

The director stopped until they all surrounded him. “In the next area, we boil fruit and berries and pack them into glass jars. They’re very popular.”

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with your lady friend last night, and she invited me to join her at her suite tonight. Pass the word along.”

Meg gave him a slight smile, nodded and continued with her work. She felt as though an enormous weight had been lifted off her back.

The director invited them to have lunch in the employee lunchroom to sample all their offerings. It tasted great, especially dessert and they left, shaking the hands of the director and praising his factory.

When they returned, they found an invitation to attend a dinner by the president of the German Democratic Republic in their mail slot. Jake knew that Katia would be invited as well. He wrote his story about the food factory and prepared it for transcribing.

Tonight he would see her again, and he could feel his heart pumping in his ears. He dressed and packed his shaving gear, a clean shirt, and his pads and pencils in his bag.

He went into his washroom and shaved again. He looked himself over in the long mirror in his bedroom. He was one of those men with a perpetual five o’clock shadow, carefully packing his aftershave and razer.

Jake was one of the last to meet in the lobby as they waited for limos to take them to the dinner at the president’s dining room. It was located in the government’s offices, where he lived, slept, ate and did state business.

Jake could hear the buzz in the dining room as soon as he neared it. He saw several government officials sitting at a long table in front of the room, with Katia sitting beside an empty chair. President Tiuipanov shook hands with each of them and had one of his whitegloved servers take each of them to their table. As he sat down, Katia gave him a slight nod and smiled.

The dinner seemed as though it would never end. There were introductory speeches followed by a rambling speech by the president, who said very little that was newsworthy. Jake had taken down a raft of notes and would go over them when he reached his room. Just about everyone else felt the same way. The reporter from The London Times was disgusted and made it clear the event didn’t warrant anything other than “a dinner was held to celebrate the founding the of the German Republic. Two paras at most”.

They left with everyone mumbling about wasting their time.

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the sheets.”

As she listened to the president’s speech, Katia came to different conclusions. She had put herself in jeopardy when she stayed the night with Jake. What was she thinking? He had a way about him that was hard to resist. She will lose the prestige she had taken years to cultivate if he ever tells anyone. She made a promise to herself never to see Jake again. She gave him one last glance and turned to Krauser, “could you kindly escort me to my cab? I don’t want those journalists to try to stop me.”

Jake waited on the steps outside until she came out, only to see her appear on the arm of another man. He felt his heart beating rapidly and looked away.

He sat back in his room, feeling dejected for the first time in his life. It bothered him that he was more interested in her than she was in him, but he also knew he was in no position to romance her. He had to keep his perspective and the goal of his mission.

Jake decided to leave her alone for a few days and then look for an opportunity to meet her again. He needed her to focus on him and not on Stone’s team.

He poured himself a tall whiskey and grimaced after the second mouthful. That’s when he knew he needed advice and thought about Irene. He took out his radio transmitter and started sending a coded message: “Have met the lady in question, spent the night with her, but now she avoids me. What to do to change her focus?”

A minute later, his transmitter began to rattle. He knew it was Irene by the way she typed, and he started taking down her message: “Go to every meeting where you know she will be present. Avoid looking at her. After a few times, she will find a way to speak to you.”

Jake poured himself another whiskey and went to bed smiling and feeling he was on top of his game again.

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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

H

e woke still smiling. He needed to talk to Karl and went downstairs to see if there was a story he should cover. Nothing, as he learned when he joined the others as they entered the dining room. When he asked his friend from CBS, he was told, “If we don’t get something newsworthy to send back, we’ll be recalled.”

“He forgot to mention that the Russian spy chaser is coming at 11 to talk to us as a group,” said his friend from NBC. “I assume you’ll be there?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jake laughed. “Other than propaganda, will she likely have anything interesting to say?”

The others laughed at his question. “He’s learning quickly,” said a voice at the rear.

“After last night’s supper, I just assumed it,” said Jake.

“The trouble is you can’t afford to miss these sessions in case they say something really important,” said a reporter from Canadian Press.

Katia arrived flanked by two Stasi officers a few minutes later.

The hotel’s meeting room on the second floor had been roped off for them, with a guard checking each journalist before being admitted.

She wore her short blue skirt and a light blue sweater over a white blouse. She never looked more beautiful.

Jake managed to get a front-row seat and looked away when she sat down and pretended to write on his pad. When she rose to speak, there was a noise at the rear of the room that turned all heads.

The journalist from AP had forgotten his papers and demanded entrance. Katia nodded to the officer at the door and began over again.

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for an interview, and I thought I would accommodate your requests by seeing you all together. Just raise your arm and identify yourself.”

Jake pretended to write in his notepad and did not look at her.

“You,” she said, pointing to Jake’s friend from NBS. “You raised your arm first. What is your question?” Katia smiled at him and brushed back her blond hair.

“A few weeks ago, persons unknown circulated sheets of paper criticizing the East Berlin government. Are you here to apprehend these individuals or to track down a spy in our midst?”

“I can’t comment on the sheets of paper you refer to, but I can tell you we are looking to uncover two Western spies.”

“Have you been able to identify them yet?” said a voice behind Jake.

“We know their Western names but not the names they’ve assumed since coming to East Berlin. You can be certain that I will track down these individuals and that they will spend the rest of their lives in a Soviet prison. Next question.”

Another hand went up. “The government has not commented on the accusations made in the last accusations made about your Berlin prison.”

Katia smiled back at him. “I have not read any of these missives, gentlemen. I can only say that people love to talk about something someone else has made up and offer it as gospel truth. We all have experienced that, gentlemen.”

The questions continued for another 30 minutes, and Jake made it a point not to make eye contact with her at any time.

There was a reception afterwards, which Katia attended with Krauser. Jake left without joining the crowd around her.

After that, Katia did not appear in many news conferences, and Jake studiously avoided eye contact with her at the ones she attended.

***

Karl laughed when Jake told him how to handle Katia. “That’s Irene. She’s sharp in just about everything. I’ve never won an argument with her yet.”

“It’s not that I’m inexperienced with the ways of women, but I sense that she’s somehow frightened in some way. I mention this because we spent the night with me and arranged to see me again, which never materialized.”

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think you are both scared of each other, that both of you have met your match and are not sure what to do next.”

“When do you think we should distribute our latest sheet?

They’re just sitting there, and I don’t mind telling you I’m on pins and needles whenever I return to my room and find someone has discovered them.”

“I’m getting edgy, too,” said Simon.

“I was against distributing them when we learned about this hot-shot spy finder, but I’m changing my mind as well,” said Geoff.

“And she’s stopped bothering my boyfriend and me. Her mind is on other things, it would appear,” said Meg with a smile in her eyes.

All eyes turned to Karl. “There’s going to be a big celebration about founding the German Democratic Republic with fireworks, I understand. There will be big crowds, and the police will be super busy just keeping the crowds in check. Can you think of a better time?”

Karl could read the excitement in their eyes. “Then, it’s settled.

Celebration Day. It’s only a week away.” He turned to Simon, “Do you think people will dress up in costumes for it?”

Simon shrugged. His eyes danced with possibilities, and he could hardly sit still. “I don’t know, but I’ll make sure I find out.”

Karl passed a copy of their latest sheet to Jake. “What do you think?”

“It will certainly set the crowds laughing. But how do you plan to distribute them? If they spot you passing them out, they’ll be on you like a dog on a bone.”

“What about a kite that we could fly over the crowds and release them over the crowd when they set off the fireworks?” said Simon.

“Sounds a little nutty to me,” said Jake. “but I have to say, with all the fireworks being set off, even the police will think it’s part of the celebration.”

“I think we’ll need at least ten large kites that can be flown from different areas of the crowd. Do we have enough people?” said Jake.

“I loved flying kites when I was a kid. I can fly at least two at a time.

I assume we will let them go afterwards among the crowds.”

“And I will make the kites,” said Geoff. “And test them so that they can lift 200 hundred sheets.”

There’s plenty of wood around the site where I’m working,” said Karl. “Meet me tomorrow, and I’ll have an armful for you.”

“And I’ve been saving my newspaper that would do for cover111

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ing. I use them for my kitten,” said Meg. They all laughed and patted her on the back. Jake made tea for them and passed them out with the cookies.

It was getting close to nine o’clock, and they left, each at a different time. Karl watched them go. There was a bounce to their step he had not seen before. “Thank you for loaning us your room, and thank you for giving us hope again.”

***

The kites were made and tested for 200 copies and brought to Jake’s room around seven in the morning two days later. Jake stacked them into his closet and shared a tea with Simon. He saw him downstairs to wait for the other journalists. They appeared in twos and threes from the elevators and grouped around each other.

“The big celebration is just a few days away, and the Stasi will visit us to give us a rundown on what to expect. If anyone wants to attend, their presser will be in the hotel’s meeting room. I also understand they will be our hosts for lunch today.”

They took the elevator to the meeting room shortly before eleven and entered. They sat down and waited for the Stasi people to appear. They were late, and there was grumbling among the other journalists.

There were three of them: Major Krauser, Katia and another Stasi officer. Krauser stood and welcomed them. “I think you know Katia and Captain Bauer. Four days from now, we will be marking the founding of our great German Democratic Republic, and we hope you will join us in our great celebration. We have copies of the festivities that will take place on our great day. One of our assistants will pass them out to you when you leave.”

Jake glanced at Katia, saw her looking at him, and looked down to make notes on his pad. His heart raced, but he focused on Krauser, who was going over the planned events for the day, starting in the morning with a 21-gun salute.

Jake asked for four or five copies of the events and followed the others to the hotel’s dining room when it was over. He sat with his friends from Canadian Press and The Manchester Guardian, who asked him if he planned to attend. “We understand our pinup girl will also be there. I’ll be going,” said both of them.

Katia walked by them with Krauser, but Jake avoided eye contact and noted she looked at his table when she was seated by Krauser.

***

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“They’re forecasting rain tomorrow,” said Meg when they gathered the night before the big event to get their kites.

“Forecasters aren’t always right,” said Karl. “Let’s wait until noon before we shelve this. I, for one, plan to be optimistic. One more thing, leave additional copies on the spot when you let go of your kite and try to leave unnoticed. We’ll meet back here.”

***

When Jake woke in the morning, he could hear the rain pounding against the window. He turned on the radio in time to listen to the announcer tell them to expect even heavier rain throughout the day.

The CBS correspondent had already decided not to attend any of the festivities at breakfast with his friends. “If the rain keeps up this way, they’ll have to postpone everything.”

“It’s a work holiday, so they’ll make sure something happens.

That’s my guess,” said Karl.

When they finished breakfast and heard what other journalists planned to do, Karl went to his room and turned on the radio. The forecasts showed no change, and he felt tired and decided to sleep.

He kept opening his eyes and looking at the clock. It was five past two, and he closed his eyes again, waking two hours later, feeling hungry.

Jake looked out the window. It showed no signs or sounds of rain, and he walked over to check. He decided to take an early supper and went to the dining room to see that his friends had the same idea.

***

Karl walked to the edge of the crowd to find the right spot where the wind was favourable for his kites. He dressed in his raincoat to make sure and found it a perfect place to hide his two kites and the paper sheets for them. He waited until dusk and went downstairs to take a cab to the park where the fireworks were planned.

When night fell, Karl waited until the first fireworks lit the sky before unbuttoning his raincoat and taking out his kites. He attached the copies to the first kite and had it rising in the air as another large firework display echoed in the sky. When the kite was over the crowd, Karl let loose his copies into the air and his kite. He scanned the sky to see other kites releasing their copies and their kites swirling among the crowd.

He moved another 100 yards away and had the second kite in 113

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the air as a gust of wind sent it aloft. He released his copies and the kite and moved among the crowd who were grabbing copies of his sheets. It filled him with an exhilaration he had never felt before, and he searched among the crowd for other journalists. After a few minutes, he found the CBS correspondent as the sky lit up again.

The crowd was laughing and chanting. Stasi officers finally appeared and grabbed as many copies as possible while other officers stopped people and started questioning them.

Katia, who was supposed to speak, was booed when she stood before the microphone on the stage built especially for this night.

She retreated after her first two sentences. Jake felt sorry for her and hoped it wouldn’t bother her.

Everyone was in high spirits when they arrived back from the celebration. They had pulled it off without a problem and succeeded in ridiculing the East German government.

“They didn’t know what was happening until one of them picked up one of their sheets and read it,” said Geoff.

“I felt sorry for your friend, Katia, who was humiliated in front of a large audience,” said Meg. “What do you think, Jake?” said Karl.

Jake didn’t respond immediately. “The humiliation was one thing, but how that will play out with her superiors who sent her here to bring us down is another matter. I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes right now.”

“One way or another,” said Simon, “she probably won’t be trying to track us down. Your assignment is over.”

“We’d like to see you stay,” said Karl. “You can get to places we can’t.”

They all turned to him. “I think they will redouble their efforts to track you down. If I were Stone, I’d close shop and tell you to head back to safety while you can. I am prepared to tell him my assessment and let him decide for himself.”

Karl was nodding as he was talking. “I never thought I’d say this, especially after pulling off what we did tonight, but I have to agree with you. One thing is certain each of us must go underground, even stop meeting until the smoke clears.”

Geoff and Simon didn’t like the idea. “I think we’re over-reacting before we know what they plan to do.”

Jake sat for an hour staring at the walls and listening to the radio.

There was no mention of their kites, just about the fireworks and the president’s remarks to all East Germans. He took three shots of 114

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whiskey one after another and suddenly felt lost. He emptied the bottle and threw it into the waste paper can.

He knew he had to do an item about the celebration, the fireworks, and how one of the officials was boosed off the stage. Jake knew the other would be doing a story, so he sat down at his typewriter and started typing something. He would do the recording in the morning when he was sober and after he talked to the others.

The telephone rang. It was Katia. She was crying, and through her sobs, he managed her say. “I need to be with someone I trust tonight.”

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

K

rauser dreaded lifting the receiver. He knew who it was as soon as the telephone rang. It was the President. “How did you let this happen?

Our celebration was a complete humiliation for me and all of us who have tried to do right by the people. I haven’t heard from Moscow yet, but I’m sure I will. The only saving grace is that the results would have been different if their famous spa hunter had done what she came here to do.”

Krauser decided not to respond and waited for the President to continue. “We are trying to track her down without success so far.

She knows she failed and is responsible for turning the celebration into a fiasco. I need you to put all your men to find and bring her to your office. Let me know when you find her.”

Krauser smiled for the first time since those sheets of paper appeared. If their famous spy hunter failed, they could hardly blame him. He buzzed his secretary. “I want all department heads in my office in five minutes.”

They all knew what it was as soon as they entered. “Katia, the famous spy hunter, has disappeared. She has disappeared from her hotel, and we need to track her down. Katia probably knows she’ll be blamed for what happened last night and does not want to be found.

Check everyone she met since she came first and every hotel room in East Berlin. We need her here before she finds a way to escape from 115

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East Berlin.”

They met together after they left his office. Captain Bohm, who served with Krauser during the war, still wore his Hitler-style mustache. He had a way of shaking his jowls when angry, making people uncomfortable. “We need her timetable for all her events and where she went while she was here as starters.”

Lieutenant Reeder nodded and returned a few minutes later with a sheet containing all Katia’s activities while in East Berlin.

Bohm went down the list and stopped when he saw Jonni’s name on the list.“ Bohm turned to another lieutenant, “What was she doing with one of your men?”

“It appears that Katia felt that Jonni Muller’s girlfriend was somehow connected to the people involved with these sheets. Then she seemed to ignore her. Katia was working on another lead when the celebration came along. Worst still, she allowed some Western journalists to interview her as the celebrated spy hunter from Moscow. In retrospect, it was a bad move, and many people began to see her as someone they should fear. That’s what sparked all the booing.”

Bohm was nodding. For the first time, he smiled. “Ask Janni Muller to see me when you leave.”

Janni was nervous and kept feeling the inner leather in his cap.

“You wanted to see me, Captain.”

“Just a brief chat about your lady friend.”

“Katharina?”

Bohm nodded. “Were you aware that Katia was investigating her?

Jonni shook his head. “All she asked me was how long Katarina and I were friends. Katia even had supper with us and seemed to lose interest in her and me. I hope she has not said anything bad about us. We treated her with great respect.”

Bohm smiled at him and shook his head. “I can tell you now that your Katarina is suspected of having ties to the people who flooded our streets with their ugly sheets. Does she ever ask what you do here?”

“I told her we were tracking down those people once, but it seemed to go into one ear and out another.” Then, after a long pause, “I love her greatly.”

“Does she ever tell you she loves you?”

Jonni nodded. “I would trust her with anything.”

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Bohm thanked him for coming in and went to see the others, who were still talking to all the people she had met in East Berlin.

***

Katia’s face was red, and she hid it behind a blue gossamer scarf she took off after he hugged her and sat her down next to him on the sofa. He unbuttoned her coat, hung it up, poured vodka for her and himself and brought it to her. Her hands shook as she took the glass and swallowed half of it in one gulp. He put his arm around her and held her tight as soon as she started crying again.

“You have no idea what’s in store for me after tonight. People like Stalin can be very generous when everything goes their way but brutal at any signs of weakness, especially if you fail at something you were expected to solve.”

They spent the rest of the night talking and had breakfast in his room, away from his fellow journalists and the Stasi, who would be looking for her now.

“What am I to do, Jake?”

“For the moment, I want you to listen to music. There’s a West Berlin station that plays classical music. It will help you feel better.”

Jake switched the dial until he found the station and increased the volume. He sat down beside her again until he felt her body relax.

There was a loud knock on the door. Jake pointed Katia to his bathroom. “Turn on the shower, and cover your body and hair with another towel. Your hair is a dead giveaway. And don’t come out until I tell you to.”

There was another knock, this time louder, and a voice shouting, “Open up.”

Jake threw her clothes under the bed, undressed and covered himself with a towel. He then stuck his head under the tap and was in the process of drying it when he opened the door. Two Stasi officers entered. One of them opened his closet and looked under the bed. The other heard the water running and entered the bathroom to hear a woman singing an English song in the shower. He pulled back the curtain to see a woman with her head covered in a towel and water dripping down her face while holding another towel over her body. She pulled back the curtains and shouted, “Peeping Tom” in English.

Jake felt emboldened. “My name is Jake Bradley. I am an accredited correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

How dare you upset my wife while she is taking a shower. Leave 117

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here immediately. If you bother me again, I will call the President and complain about your behaviour. Now leave.”

Jake watched them walk down the corridor and disappear before returning to his room. He opened the door to the bathroom and shouted.”They’re gone now.”

“What if they come back?”

“They won’t. I told them I was an accredited news correspondent, and if they bothered me again, I would call the President to complain about them. But now, I must record an item about the celebration for the CBC radio network.”

He left, telling her not to open the door for anyone. He took his key and headed downstairs. The gang was milling in the lobby for the latest gossip and official word that Katia Petrova was missing.

“Maybe she’s been hustled off to Moscow in the middle of the night,” said the NBC correspondent.

“She was booed, and then to add insult to everything, the flying kites with the sheets showed what they could get if they lived in Western Germany. It was a masterpiece in timing. I want to sit down with the brains who thought that one out,” added a BBC correspondent.

He looked at Jake. “Are you holding something back from the rest of us, Jake?”

“I’ve been listening to East German radio and wasn’t aware that the Moscow snoop was missing. When did you find that out?”

“I don’t know, Jake,” said his friend from the Manchester Guardian. “You look smug about something.”

Around noon, they adjourned to the dining room. For the first time, they saw three Stasi officers there, who were checking everyone’s papers. They were peppered with questions from just about every journalist. “We hear that the blond bombshell has skipped town. Did the Russians come in the middle of the night and take her back to Moscow?”

“A lot of the reporters think you’ve been kidnapped and taken back to Moscow in the middle of the night,” said the NBC reporter.

Jake returned to his room, sat on the floral couch against the entrance wall and ordered lunch for her. When she had finished eating, he sat down beside her.

“I failed my mission. I have no idea what they will do to me when they find me,” she said, breaking into tears again.

“There are alternatives,” said Jake softly.

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don’t. I would feel that I was betraying my country. I love Russia too much for that.”

“That is entirely up to you. But you’d better find out what’s in store for you should they find you. I will not be here indefinitely and will likely be recalled by the CBC at some point.”

He woke in the middle of the night to hear her sobbing. He put his arms around her and felt her tremble. In the morning, she looked tired. “I have a brother in Moscow. I will call him and find out what they plan for me.”

“Can he be trusted?”

“If I can’t, who can I trust then?”

He ordered breakfast for them, but Katia was in no mood to eat.

After a while, she ate the toast and left to put on her makeup. She returned looking a different person. She tried to smile at him and consulted her wristwatch.

“I will call my brother when you go down to see the others.”

Jake walked the long corridor to the elevator and entered the lobby. “We’ve been barred from all East German briefings for the moment,” said his NBC friend. “You listen to East German radio.

What are they saying?”

“Had a hard night sleeping and missed the morning news.”

“Keep us posted if you hear anything.”

When he returned, he heard Katia speaking in Russian to someone on the phone. She talked for a few minutes more and then hung up.

“The hotel will probably tell them someone in my room called Moscow. We need to leave here in a hurry. Pack your bag.” Jake descended to tell the front desk he was checking out, leaving Katia to pack and walk down the stairway rather than taking the elevator. He paid his bill and left the hotel by its side entrance to arrange a cab.

Katia followed him and gave directions to the driver to take them to a cheap hotel near the border to West Berlin.

“My failure has not been announced by the Soviet government yet and may never be disclosed. This got me thinking. What if I found a way to Moscow and hid with my relatives? They cannot refuse me.” Katia’s large eyes widened, and her eyes filled with tears.

“What do you think?”

“A recipe for disaster, For you and your relatives. Do you not think they have already thought of that if you are not found in Berlin?”

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The cab stopped at the hotel. Jake got out first, paid the driver then helped her out before making their way into the hotel. It was quite a comedown from what he was used to. He signed in for both of them under an assumed name. The lobby had cracks in the linoleum, and the lobby desk had not seen paint before the war. The middle-aged woman’s hands were dirty as she handed him the pen to sign in.

The inner walls had a fresh coat of whitewash that helped to give the lobby a better odour. Jake picked up their bags, walked up to the third floor, and opened the door to 311. He led her inside and saw her face drop as she looked at the bed and a bed bug crawling up the wall. “I will not sleep in this room,” she announced.

“Would you prefer a prison cot?

“There was a large seat next to the radio. Try that out. In the meantime, I am leaving to get us something to eat.”

“Also, some Cognac while you’re at it.”

He walked into a market and bought fresh bread, sausages, and a large bottle of Cognac. He stepped back, turning corners onto other streets before slipping into the hotel. No one was at the lobby desk, and he moved quickly up the stairs before anyone saw him enter. He knocked on the door and said his name. Katia unlocked the door and helped him unload his parcels. She looked at the loaf of bread.

“How do we slice it?”

Jake looked around and spotted a drawer near the sink. It had knives and forks as well as spoons. He found a sharp-edge knife and sliced the bread while Katia unpacked his transmitter and recording device.

She ate the cooked sausages with the bread. “I have never eaten like this in years,” she said.

Jake smiled at her. She looked like a young girl in so many ways, and he wondered how she could be so successful as a spy finder. He also wondered how long she could keep this up. He knew then he had to take one of his fellow journalists into his confidence. Steve Worthington, the correspondent for The Manchester Guardian, was his first choice. The others were more concerned with filing a breaking story.

He picked up the phone, called his old hotel and asked for Mr. Worthington. There was no answer. He turned to Katia, sitting on the edge of the chair as she chewed on the bread and sipped the tea, looking up at him with wide eyes.

He pulled out his transmitter and typed: 120

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Had to flee with Moscow’s spy finder to a downbeat hotel. The Stasi are turning the city upside down to find her. Am trying to talk her into fleeing East Berlin and finding sanctuary in the West. She is not keen on it. What can you offer? Reply soonest.

His transmitter suddenly started 30 minutes later.

Full sanctuary. Anywhere she would like to live in the West. We can also offer her a senior position in our anti-spy operations in the West. Let us know soonest if she is agreeable, and we will send a team to bring you both out.

P.S. Wonderful job our people pulled off at the celebration. Everyone here is talking about it.

There was an additional message later from Irene.

Tell my old man he is needed here with his wife. So are the others. Stone is thinking about removing them and replacing them with a new team when things quiet.

Jake needed to meet with the team but would wait until Worthington found a safe place for them. He dialled his old hotel again and asked to talk to Worthington.

“Worthington speaking.”

“It’s me. Steve. I need you to find another place to escape from the West. The place where we’re now is not set for a flea. I’m on the run with someone the Stasi is looking for. Please do not tell the others. We will meet when you find a place for us.”

Around noon the following day, there was a knock at the door.

“It’s me,” said the voice. Jake opened it to see Steve standing with muffins and a large can of coffee with his eyes dancing when he sat down next to Katia.

“You know everyone has been asking for you. I told them you were recalled and were on your way to Canada.”

“That’s in the cards once I convince her it’s her best option. You talk to her.”

Steve took her hand and looked straight into her eyes. “I don’t know what you’ve fed about the West, but we don’t punish our spies if they get caught in the West. We try our damndest to free and bring them home as heroes. They are usually offered other assignments should they not wish to go out into the field again.”

“But my country is Russia.”

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“Then it should go right by you instead of bringing you back to face time in a Gulag somewhere in Siberia.”

“It’s time that I come clean to both of you. I am a personality on CBC Radio in Toronto. Canadian Intelligence talked to the president of the CBC to lend me to them on a mission they had for me in East Germany. My mission is accomplished, but I don’t want to leave here without Katia. We both love each other.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

C

aptain Bohn entered Kauser’s office. “Nothing to report so far. We checked every hotel and came up empty.”

Kauser, who was up most of the night thinking about it, had other ideas. “I guess we’re not going to find her the traditional way.

I put my head on her shoulders and asked myself what I’d do. She hasn’t met many people since she came here, except for the foreign correspondents. She knows she’s attractive and, what’s more, how to charm any one of them into befriending her.”

“We checked all hotels, Major. Even the hotels where these individuals are staying while here, and we’ve turned up nothing,” said Bohm.

“Find out from your sources if any of them has checked out. If so, find out who and where they might have gone.”

Krauser smiled. He liked people who thought for themselves and added, “If you get a sudden idea, follow it as well.”

Krauser wasn’t going to let some smart-ass journalist get the better of them.

***

Worthington found a place for them in another part of East Berlin, where he often interviewed East Germans for The Guardian. It had a quaint old elevator and a dining room that offered room service. The room was signed in under Worthington’s name. The man 122

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behind the desk accepted the folded bill beneath the page where he signed in. The clerk nodded and asked if he needed room service.

“It would be appreciated,” said Worthington. “A setting for three. I am entertaining lovers who are hiding out from their parents. I hope you will oblige their requests,” Worthington added and shook the clerk’s hand with another bill.

They entered the elevator that looked like a cage and got off on the fourth floor. Worthington passed the key to Jake, who opened the door to let Katia and Worthington enter.

Her eyes smiled at him as she bounced on the large sofa beside the radio on the other side of the bed. The curtains on the large window were a bright yellow with images of windmills. Worthington was about to leave when Jake stopped him. “It’s lunchtime. The three of us will have a jolly time talking about better times. Jake held out the phone to him. “We’re having what you are, and send it to our room.”

“The only thing I’ll miss is the carnival the President has arranged to come with free rides for everyone In the next two days,” said Katia. “I understand there will include elephants.”

Jake smiled and lit a cigarette. He turned to Worthington, “Why don’t you interview Katia while you’re with us.”

Worthington was tall and took long strikes, making it difficult to keep up when walking with him. He had a long narrow face, hazel eyes, and dark brown hair that glistened with hair cream. He took a pipe from his tweed jacket, tamped down the tobacco, and lit it before sitting next to Katia on the sofa. Like most journalists, Worthington always carried a pad and a pencil.

The waiter knocked on their door and wheeled in a table with plates and silverware. He poured each of them a glass of wine and placed a coffee urn nearby before lighting a candle in the middle of the table.

Jake let Worthington finish interviewing Katia before clanging two silver covers together and announcing lunch. Worthington helped her to sit and sat next to her. Jake raised his glass. “To my best friends.”

Jake and Worthington shared stories about the people they interviewed over the years. Worthington, who was almost 15 years older than Jake, talked about being one of the soldiers rescued from Dunkirk, where he met the son of the editor of the Guardian, who offered him a job when the war ended.

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correspondent in East Germany, I’ve met a lot of U.S. journalists and learned a lot from them. But this story will put me at the head of the pack.”

Jake was smiling and itching to tell them about his unusual interviews. “I love radio. I have an interview show on CBC five nights a week. When I get back, I want you to visit Katia and me to celebrate in style. I’m going to ask Stone, who talked CBC into sending me here, to post me to Ottawa to cover Parliament.”

“I gather you’ll be going to West Berlin with Katia.”

“I’m not letting her out of sight until she agrees to marry me.”

When Worthington left, Jake took out his transmitter and sent Irene another message: A Western carnival will arrive here as part of the republic’s founding in two days. We need to escape from here before the Stasi track us down.

Katia has agreed to come to West Berlin. Do you have a role for her to play?

Let us know soonest.

Irene answered an hour later.

Stone is talking to the carnival owner to see if you and Katia can hitch a ride out of East Berkin for you both. Will let you know as soon as we know.

“How well do you know this, Irene? You seem quite friendly with her,” said Katia.

“I met her once with Col. Stone, who can’t wait to meet you.

She’s married to someone you will meet before we leave here.”

***

Worthington stopped Jake’s friends from NBC and CBS in the lobby. “Just came back from seeing Jake. He’s been recalled by the CBC and is waiting to cover the carnival due here in a few days. He’s also working on another story about the people behind those sheets whose wanted by the Stasi.”

“Did he tell you where we might find him? We’d like to give him a farewell he’ll remember.”

“He was on the fly to see someone when I saw him. I should have asked, but I was more interested in the people behind those sheets that are driving the Stasi nuts.”

Two Stasi officers entered the lobby and approached them as he finished talking. “We understand one of your group is missing.

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Can you tell us his name and where we might find him?”

“We heard he was missing in action,” said Worthington, “and we were worried about him. I was just telling my friends here I came across him on the street in another area of town. He told me the CBC recalled him, had a lead about the people behind those sheets, and was off to see them.”

There was excitement in the officer’s eyes. “Did he give you any idea when he would be leaving East Berlin?”

“All I could get out of him was that he would leave for good once he had his interview.”

They returned to headquarters and told Captain Bohn what they had learned. “So he’s still here. And I do not believe their story that he met someone connected with those sheets. If we can’t track them down, it’s doubtful he will. No. He’s still here and waiting for something. But what?”

Krauser agreed when he told him what his officers had found out. “You’re right about one thing. He’s waiting for something.”

“I’ll let our guards at the checkpoint to review the papers of every person who tries to leave East Berlin.”

***

They met in Meg’s room as usual. Tension crackled in the air as soon as Jake entered. Something was in the works, but what?

Jake turned to Karl. “Has Stone been in touch with you?”

Karl shook his head. “Just from Irene.”

“Then let me come to the point. I will be leaving East Berlin in the next couple of days. I will take Katia Petrova, the Soviet spy hunter, with me.”

Meg sat up and felt that more was to come.

“In the next day or two, you will hear from Stone that he is closing down your operation for the moment. He feels that you all will be discovered as they double down their search for her. They want her back in Moscow to answer for her failure to track you down.”

There was relief on Karl’s face, but Geoff and Simon wanted to carry on. “The chances of being caught are high if you stay, but if you leave now, you can always come back and take up where you left off,” said Karl.

Meg was in a panic. She had to tell Jonni she was leaving but knew instinctively he would hound her to tell him why. She would talk to him as soon as she knew when she was about to leave. Maybe he would come with her.

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“I will keep you posted as soon as I hear from Stone on his plans for our escape,” said Jake.

***

Jonni could sense that something was bothering her when he dropped her off at her building. “I need to tell you something, but before I do, I want you to promise me you will not reveal what I tell you to another living soul. Promise me.”

She turned the key and unlocked the door, and led him inside.

He usually sat in the chair opposite her sofa, but he sat beside her this time. He took her hand and looked into her eyes. “I am here for you. Only you. And I will never leave you, no matter what you say.”

Meg started off by telling him her name was not Katarina but Meg. She took a deep swallow, “I am a member of the group that has been circulating those sheets here. We have a leader and two other members. We print them ourselves –“ Jonni put his hand over her mouth. “I suspected that the first day we met. But I also fell in love with you that day. Even when the Soviet spy finder hinted as much, I led her down a different path.”

“That’s the best part of it,” said Meg. “I will be ordered to leave here before the end of the week.” She paused to see how he was talking about it. “I want you to come with me. We can get married in West Berlin.”

“I will come, but I have a better idea. What if we get married tomorrow so my mother and father can meet you and remember us?

I will have one of my friends take pictures of us so that my parents will have that day to remember.”

“Agreed. “I will tell my boss that I am getting married to a Stasi officer at two o’clock and need the time off and invite her to the wedding. Meg smiled and stuck out her hand.

“And I will tell my lieutenant I need the afternoon off.”

“I will need a bridesmaid. And I don’t really know anyone.”

“I will ask my sister when I go home tonight.”

She left with him downstairs and kissed him goodnight. When she returned to her room, she called Geoff. “I need to see Karl. Please have him call me tonight. Tell him it’s urgent.”

The call came about an hour later. “What’s the urgency?”

“I am getting married tomorrow to a Stasi officer. I have told him about us, and he is willing to leave and come to Canada with me.”

“Is that it?”

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“No. I want you to come to the wedding and give the bride away. I have no one else can ask.”

Karl didn’t respond for the longest time and finally answered, “I will meet you there. Where and when?”

***

He went to see Jake at his hotel room and told him what was happening. Jake entered the clothes closet, withdrew his wireless transmitter, and immediately typed a message to Irene. They received an answer 20 minutes later.

“Good for Meg. Tell my old man to give her my love and tell her to introduce her husband to me when they arrive here. Stone thinks her husband might be a great help to us.”

He gave Karl the message and smiled as he told Katia later. She smiled and held his hand. “We will meet your mother and father before we marry, and I will have your father act as my father, bless his soul.”

That night, he slept the sleep of a child. It all seemed so normal again somehow. And suddenly, he wanted to see his mother and father.

***

Karl saw his foreman first thing in the morning. “I need to take the afternoon off. I’ve been asked to give the bride away at a wedding this afternoon.”

The foreman nodded. “I’ll check you out at five. Go back to your room and get dressed for it. Do you get to kiss the bride?”

“Not likely. My wife would shoot me if I did.”

He felt lighter somehow. The constant worry about every strange footstep in his room and the continuous waking at night was getting to him. No wonder Stone wanted him back.

He shaved and brushed his hair, noticing for the first time a streak of grey. Karl took his only white shirt off the hanger, put it on and then his navy blue tie with white polka dots.

He walked down the street, sniffing the air and felt light-headed. It was getting close to two o’clock when he spotted the church ahead and saw Meg scanning the street for him. Jonni was already inside with his best man when he reached her.

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Krista.” Karl shook her hand and stiffened when he heard the organ start.

Karl took Meg’s arm and led her inside, with Krista following with a bouquet. The church had more people than she expected. Jonni had a lot of relatives, she was to learn at the reception later. Meg looked ahead, stopping when she reached Jonni. All the faces in the pews were glued on her. Karl sat in the first pew as the minister stood before them.

CHAPTER TWENTY

I

t was two o’clock when Kay heard a car drive up their driveway. She raced upstairs and could hear Peggy whispering to someone. She was not sure what was said, but she could hear Peggy slap him. Kay moved closer to hear them arguing. Peggy stood with fire in her eyes and shouted, “Never call or try to contact me ever again.” The kitchen door slammed, and Kay wanted to go downstairs to comfort her when she heard her daughter crying.

Kay decided to go downstairs anyway, making sure Peggy heard her footsteps. When Peggy saw her mother, she ran to her.

“What makes men such pigs?”

“Not all men are like that. Your father was exactly as you see him today. But that was a different time and a different set of courting values.”

“I told him never to contact me ever again. Now, I’m not sure I was right. I care for him but hate men when they act like animals.”

Kay made tea and sat down beside her. “You’ve had enough for one night.”

Peggy hugged her. “What should I do?”

“If he calls again, tell him how you expect him to act. If he refuses, walk away. But if he agrees, let him know at the outset that you have different values and that he has not asked you to marry him.”

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Kay saw her to her bedroom and tucked the blankets around her. “You’ve had enough for one night.”

She decided not to tell Hugh about it when she closed her eyes and put her arm around him.

The next morning, Peggy slept in and did not appear until lunch. Kay poured her tea and sat beside her. With her blue dancing eyes and blond hair brushed to make her even more beautiful, Peggy looked like one of the princesses in her old fairy tale books.

Peggy did not hear from him that night or the night after. When he did call, it was during the afternoon a week later. “I want to apologize for my behaviour. I wanted to call sooner but felt you would not want to talk to me.”

Peggy didn’t say anything for two minutes and let him ramble on. “Are you still there?”

“I am here, Palmer. To be honest, I’m not sure about you anymore. You scared me to death, and I have not been able to sleep since then.”

Peggy had her 26th birthday a few weeks earlier and started to feel like an old maid. Palmer Dykeman, now in his early 40s, was the only one who called her now. He was divorced a year earlier and worked at the bank in St. Catharines. He drove an English sportscar and dated several young women until he met Peggy.

“I’m sorry about how I acted, even more when you tell me that my actions made it difficult for you to sleep. I want to see you again.

You pick the place, and I can either pick you up or meet you there.”

“Call me tomorrow, Palmer. I’ll think about it in the meantime.”

Kay saw her talking on the phone and knew who it was. “So, what did you decide?”

“I wish I had your wisdom,” said Peggy. “I’m not getting calls from many others these days, and I do like him. But I’m not sure.”

“I suspect you’ve already made up your mind. Just be careful.

Some men can become very physical if they don’t get their way. If you decide to see him again, and keeping in mind you’ve got years ahead of you before deciding on anyone, I’d meet him in a restaurant not far from here, and if you feel comfortable, let him drive you home.”

Grete, who was listening to the conversation, brought her a tea.

“If he truly loves you the way he says he does, test him out. Just call us, and we will pick you up if you have the slightest hint that he cannot be trusted.”

“It was much easier in your days,” said Peggy.

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“I also had a few young men as suitors, but the only one I trusted was Konrad, and he has never failed to be the best choice I ever made.”

“What if I’m still not sure?”

“You will sense it and know if he’s the one for you,” said Kay. “If you like him but feel it’s not the one, even if he proposes, walk away. You will be glad when you meet the one who’s the one you want to be with.”

May and Angelo came in time to hear them talking. “Listen to your mother. Rhinehart was the one for me. I have to feel if I hadn’t been so stupid, I would have him with me still.” Then, after a pause, “I will answer all calls for the next two or three days and let him know you cannot be disturbed.”

Palmer called every day after that until Peggy answered the phone. “It’s Palmer, Peggy. I’m calling to see if you have a free evening for supper. There is a restaurant in St. Catharines that I like. You can name the restaurant you might like better. Perhaps we can meet there. What about today?”

“If you’re free, we can meet at six o’clock if you wish.”

“Shall I pick you up?” said Palmer.

“That would be appreciated.”

When Hugh came in for lunch, Kay mentioned that her friend, Palmer, would pick her up for supper in St. Catharines.

“I don’t like it. I don’t have a good feeling about any of it,” said Hugh.

“He’ll pick her up at six o’clock, so be careful and don’t insult him. Grete and I have warned her to walk away if he even suggests something she doesn’t like.”

Angelo looked at May and volunteered to follow them to the restaurant and back home. May volunteered to go with him should she need to be comforted.

“We’re all assuming something bad may happen. Let’s see what happens,” said Kay. Peggy spent the afternoon curling her blond hair and ironing her best blouse a second time. When it was six o’clock, Peggy walked down the stairs looking beautiful.

A few minutes later, Kay answered the door. Palmer Dykeman was dressed in a tuxedo with a white shirt and black bowtie, and his face lit up when he saw her face. Palmer went to her, extended his arm, and waltzed her out of the kitchen and into his sports car.

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the road to St. Catharines.

The wind blew her hair about her face, and he smiled when he glanced at her. She was smiling, and he smiled inside, feeling it would be a night he would remember.

Fieldings Restaurant was already filled by the time they entered. Palmer had made reservations and escorted her to their table.

He helped her sit and sat opposite her, looking at her blue eyes filled with expectancy. He passed her a menu and tried to study his. There was a picture of a lobster on the cover, and she pointed to it.

When the waiter returned with a bottle of wine and filled their glasses.

“We’re both having lobsters tonight. What do they come with?”

“There is a fish chowder and freshly baked rolls. Palmer looked at her to see her nod.

“I grew up with the Atlantic close to our door. We feasted on lobster many times during the year. I must tell my father about this place.”

Palmer nodded as their chowders arrived. A jukebox at the front played popular songs, and they hummed along with the music.

Palmer filled both their glasses with wine. Peggy nodded and smiled back at him.

“Would you like me to show you how to crack open the lobster and get at the meat?” said Peggy.

“If you would. They always baffle me.”

She opened the main part of the lobster and claws in a few minutes with practised hands and then her own.

They finished around eight-thirty, and Peggy looked at her watch. “It’s time for me to get my beauty sleep,” she said.

He helped her up. Peggy felt a bit tipsy, and he helped her to the car. He got in and started the engine, rolling along the road back with the wind blowing their hair in every direction.

Palmer suddenly swerved off the main road and onto a mud road. “It’s a shortcut to your farm,” he said when he saw the anxiety on her face. They drove along for another 15 minutes when he turned onto a road Peggy was not familiar with, coming to a stop under a tree.

He reached over and kissed her, feeling her body with his free hand. Peggy pushed him away. “Stop. I don’t feel comfortable with any of this.” She pulled back and put her hand on the door handle in case she had to leave.

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gy screamed, but there was no one around to hear it. She screamed again, pushing the door handle to free her from his grasp.

He followed her and grabbed her legs as she ran away from him. She screamed again. He slapped her face hard until he loosened his grip and got to his feet. “If this is what you what, find your own way home.”

Palmer got into his car and left her in the darkness. She could hear something coming close by. She screamed at the top of her voice, and when she stopped, she could hear whatever it was running away from her.

Peggy headed down the road again with the wind at her back.

Fifteen minutes later, she stumbled on a large stone and fell off the road, this time into a raspberry growth. The thorns bit Peggy’s legs until she found her way out of the growth. Even then, she wasn’t sure what direction to go and kept walking until she reached the road a few minutes later. She felt better immediately. The dirt on the road comforted her. Luck was finally on her side, and she felt sure the main highway was only a short distance away.

Up ahead, she could see the red eyes of some animals and stood in her tracks until they moved away. She held her breath. She didn’t know what to do and stooped to feel for a piece of wood and found a long branch that had fallen off one of the trees overhanging the road.

She grabbed it and immediately started using it as a cane.

Ahead, there was a small hole that flung her off the road again flung her off the road. Her face was covered in mud, and she began to cry. Flying bugs spattered against her face, and she kept wiping them off. She climbed to the road again in time to see just in time to see a car run by.

She searched for her cane but could see or feel it. She was tired and thought she could not go on. She found a stump in the darkness where she could sit a few steps ahead. Maybe Palmer had realized what he had done and was coming back to pick her up. Once he found her gone, she thought, he would double back and see her sitting there.

A few minutes she caught the sight of the headlights of his car and stood so that he would see her clearly in his headlights. The car stopped a few feet from her, and she panicked when she saw it wasn’t him. If it weren’t Thoroton, it might be someone who might kill her.

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again, I will shoot you,” said her father.

She started to cry. Hugh carried her to the car and laid her on the back seat.”We’ll have you home before you know it.”

“How did you know where to find me?”

“I didn’t. I followed you to the restaurant, sat in front, had a sandwich, and followed you both. I followed you when you left until I lost him when a car blinded me in its headlights. I decided to go down the road a bit and wait for him there.

“When I saw him come out of a sideroad without you in the car, I chased him into town and drew up next to him when he stopped.

He tried to start his car when he saw me, but I opened the car door and dragged him out. I asked him where you were, and he didn’t answer until I roughed him up.

“I took a large rock and made a big dent in his fender before I left him. He didn’t follow me. Finding the right side road took a while, but when I saw you in the headlights and how you looked, I knew it was worth it.”

He helped her out of the car and carried her inside. When Kay saw her, she started to cry. “Is she all right?” she kept saying until he laid her on the sofa.

Kay washed her face, removed her clothes, and wrapped her in her nightgown. Peggy was still crying as her mother bathed her and helped her get ready for bed.

“If he calls me again, tell him you will tell the police what he did.”

Angelo and May carried in Rhinehart for her to hug. “We thought we had lost Rhinehart, but the hospital was able to work miracles on him, and he with us still better than ever. It will be the same for you. “ That night Kay slept with her, holding her in her arms until she went to sleep. She woke in the morning to see that Peggy was no longer with her and crept downstairs to see Peggy talking on the phone.

“He was like an aminal and left me alone in total darkness. I might be dead by now if my father had not found me.”

“Who was that?” said Kay. “One of my friends, telling her never to go out with him and what he did to me.”

“I thought I heard voices,” said May as she appeared from the front room with Rhinehart in her arms. “He’s getting heavy now.”

Peggy took him from her. “You know he really looks like Rhinehart. I know he would still be proud of him if he were with us.”

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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

M

eg invited Karl to visit her and Jonni at his family’s home. “I’d like you to meet them. They are wonderful people, and happy to see Jonni married to me. They are not friends of the new republic and begged Jonni not to join the Stasi. The only good about it was that their home is not watched. I’ve given notice at the factory and told my foreman that I was pregnant and wanted to stay home until my child is born.”

“Are you?”

“No, it’s just a story I tell my friends.”

“Jonni wants to leave with us and has a plan to help all of us escape.”

Stone is working on it now. He thinks our best bet is to masquerade as the carnival performers and leave with them. He’s working on a deal with the head of the carnival now and will let us know.”

“My commanding officer is already ahead of you. If I know him, he has already figured out that is the only way we can escape.”

Karl lowered his teacup. “Go on.”

“Our best bet is to go through the checkpoint. It will be the last place they’ll think you’d try.”

“But the guards will be warned about us.”

“Not if we play it right, said Jonni.

Meg intertwined her arm with his. “He’s very smart, Karl. Hear him out.”

“If your Col. Stone can arrange for the head of the carnival to pass out free passes to a special performance for certain individuals to the guards, I know one of the guards and can volunteer to take his place. The other guard is older than the rest of us and will not be a 134

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problem. Once you all are past the checkpoint, I will join you.”

Karl stroked his chin and thought it out. “What could go wrong?”

“Nothing I can think of.” Then, after a pause, “My family would like to join us in our escape. My father is an old school friend of the older guard.”

Jonni’s mother entered the parlour and invited them into the kitchen. “With all that talking, you must be hungry and thirsty,” she said, leading the way. “Katarina and Karl can sit with Jonni at the head of the table. I know your name is Karl. Mine is Annelise, and Jonni’s father’s name is Alfred.

Annelise, like her husband, was in her late 50s. She was plump, despite the rationing and was missing one of her side teeth. Her hair was almost grey, and her blue eyes seemed to dance when she talked, which was non-stop.

She placed tea mugs in front of them and brought a tray of tea biscuits. “I’ve been saving my flour for special occasions. Jonni’s wedding cake was one, and now this wonderful meeting.”

Karl made a point of taking a tea biscuit last. “Will you not miss living in this house and your neighbours?”

There was a dreamy look on her face. “There are some I will miss, but people are no longer the way they were during the war. We looked after each other in those days. Not like today.”

When he left, he felt better than he did since coming to East Berlin. He walked along the street and headed for Jake’s hotel, entering by the side door and taking the elevator without drawing attention to himself. Katia opened the door and let him enter. She was dressed in her bedclothes and looked alluring even in the way she walked.

“I thought I’d better tell you that there’s been a change in our escape plans.”

“In what way,” said Jake, pouring them each a vodka.

“Meg has married that Stasi officer and he and his family want to escape with us. He thinks that the Stasi will figure out that we’ll try to run when the carnival leaves and will ensure they check each carnival member carefully before leaving.”

“I think he’s right,” said Katia.

“On reflection, so do I.” He suggests that as a Stasi officer, he would offer to trade places with one of the guards and pass us through the checkpoint into West Berlin.”

“But there are two guards.”

“He tells me he is an old school chum of his father’s and will not be a problem.”

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Jake looked at Katia. “What do you think?”

Geoff shook his head. “A bit leery about your Stasi friend.”

“So am I,” said Simon.

“I’m not. He knows his new wife will be leaving with us, and I don’t think he’ll ever want to see his new wife locked away.”

“I’m willing to take the chance,” Jake said, looking at Katia.

“I’d like to send a message to my wife. I can’t do it where I am living now,” said Karl.

Jake went to the closet, withdrew his radio transmitter, and passed it to Karl.

Karl didn’t wait to code and typed: “Where do we stand with carnival people? Let me know now, if possible. Have found another way to escape but needs the carnival people to present free passes to checkpoint guards for a special show for officials.”

Jake offered him another vodka and checked his watch. A few minutes later, the wireless started to send a code. Both Jake and Karl could translate each word as it came across.

“Stone OKs plan. Will get carnival to offer the passes. Can’t wait to see you.”

Karl rose. “I hate to leave, but I must work in the morning. I will talk to Geoff and Simon tomorrow and have a meeting with everyone two days from now to go over each step and what each of us is to say if we are confronted. You can send a message to Irene and let her know when she and Stone should meet us at the British checkpoint.”

***

Geoff and Simon arrived late at Meg’s old room. Meg missed the painting she did of the Chateau Frontenac as a student. It made her feel close to home every time she felt down. In some ways, she wished she could wake up and see everything as she had.

She would miss everyone – Geoff, with his giraffe neck and messy hair and Simon, with the way his eyes lit when something great was said or happened. In some ways, Simon was still a boy at heart and loved how they had outwitted the authorities. He was short for a young man, and one paid much attention to him. Simon saw it as an advantage in this kind of work. Deep down, he wanted 136

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to stay, but Karl made it clear that they all had to return.

Karl introduced Jonni, who was wearing his Stasi uniform, which gave Jake the shakes when he first saw him sitting there.

“Now that we’re all here let me introduce Jonni, Meg’s husband.

I had the privilege of giving her away at her wedding last week. Jonni will tell us exactly what will happen and what our roles are. Jonni, the floor is yours.”

Jonni seemed to be at a loss for words until Meg stood beside him. “One of my friends is on checkpoint duty this week. Once the carnival crosses the checkpoint, he will be presented with a pass to a special performance by the carnival people with a few extras for his friends. I will visit him and volunteer to stand his watch. I will arrive there at four o’clock. That’s when his shift starts.” Jonni looked around. “Any questions?”

“There are two guards, as I recall,” said Geoff.

“The older guard is a friend of my father, who will be coming with us. They’ve been friends since they were boys. He will look the other way.”

Jonni looked at all their faces. “The best time to visit the checkpoint is around eight o’clock, just after dark. My parents will be coming with us.”

Jake looked at Katia, who was smiling. “That’s a smart boy,” she whispered.

Meg rose and made tea for everyone. She looked at Karl, saw the relief on his face, and hugged him when she passed him.

Karl counted the hours before they would reach West Berlin.

He had enough experience to know that things do not always go the way you expect them to, and on the morning of their departure, Geoff visited Jake to tell him that Simon had come down with something and had been taken to the hospital.

“We need to let Karl know as soon as possible.”

“I’ll visit him at noon. He has already told his foreman he will be taking the afternoon off to get one of his teeth out and that it made sleep almost impossible for him.”

“Let me know his reaction,” said Jake.

Geoff wasn’t his only visitor. Steve Worthington from The Guardian knocked on his door an hour later.

“Came to see how you two are coming along,” said Worthington. “Will you be coming to the carnival tonight?”

Jake shook his head. “We’re planning to make a break for it tonight. Is there anything you would like me to send to your editors?

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Let me know before I leave. I’ll write you when we’re on the other side.”

They shared a tea and lunch before he left. “Be sure to look me up when all this is over. You can always reach me at The Guardian.”

***

Geoff made his way to the place where Karl now lived. Karl spotted him enter the door on the first floor and went downstairs to bring him where he slept. They made their way to the room Karl occupied with three others who were now at work.

“It’s Simon. He’s come down with something, and they’ve taken him to the hospital.”

Geoff could see Karl grind his teeth. “We can’t leave him here. If the authorities come and inspect him, there’s every chance they’ll get him to tell them how we plan to escape.

Karl paced the floor for five minutes. “I have an idea, but it’s risky. We will pose as his friends and come to the hospital to take him home. I will tell the nurse I had the same problem and cured myself. I can make him feel better in a few hours. Wear your best clothes and meet me at the hospital in one hour.” Karl took out his watch. “That will be at one o’clock.”

Geoff was pacing the visiting area when Karl appeared in the doorway. “I thought you’d never come. You’re late by almost 30 minutes.”

“I wanted to think things through to make our case more believable before I came.” Karl left him to go to the nurse behind the counter. “My name is Karl Aberbach. You have my son here. He was brought in earlier this morning with a bad stomach. I’ve come to take him home. My wife will not rest until he is under her care. It’s just a stomach upset that runs in our family, something he’s had before.”

The nurse left and went to talk to the head nurse, who came to the counter. “This is highly irregular, Herr Aberbach. The nurse tells me it is something that runs in your family, and you know how to deal with it. We are prepared to release him into your custody on the basis that you do not hold the hospital responsible should he become worse. If you agree, sign this.”

Karl glanced at the sheet and signed his name. A few minutes later, he saw Simon being wheeled out to the visiting area.

“We’ve given him some medications to help with his vomiting,” she said as Karl helped Simon to stand and walk to the entrance, where they took a cab to take him to Geoff’s room, where they un138

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dressed him and did their best to reduce his temperature with cloths soaked in cold water. The vomiting had stopped, and they carried him to Geoff’s bed.

“I’ll stay with him and get him ready before we head for the checkpoint.”

“Go by taxi and tell the driver he’s your brother and drunk. The rest of us plan to walk there as soon as it’s dark. Nighttime can disguise a lot of things.”

Karl went back to his room and laid down to sleep. He dreamed of Irene telling him she was pregnant. He woke in time to go down for supper with his friends. It was getting dark when Karl left with his bag and walked towards Meg’s room, the headquarters for their departure.

Karl was the last to come and told the others that Geoff and Simon would meet them at the checkpoint before they crossed.

“My husband’s friend has taken Jonni’s offer to stand for his shift. He’ll be waiting for us.”

They decided to walk in couples, following each other and not in a crowd. Jonni’s mother, father, and sister led the way, followed by Meg, Katia, Karl, and Jake. They arrived near the checkpoint just as it was growing dark. Geoff and Simon arrived by taxi. There was excitement in the air. Each could hear their hearts pounding as Jonni’s mother, father, and sister reached the checkpoint.

Jonni was about to let them pass when another guard, who had taken the older guard’s place, withdrew his pistol and told them to stand aside for questioning. Katia and Meg were suddenly placed into his custody and put aside while waiting for Karl and Jake to enter the checkpoint. Karl noticed Jonni’s left hand moving back and forth as they entered, and when the guard suddenly appeared, Karl was ready for him and knocked the gun from his hand.

He put the gun against the guard’s head. “One word from you, and you will die on the spot. I have nothing to lose.”

Karl could feel himself relax as Jonni helped the others through the checkpoint. When everyone stepped onto West Berlin, Karl came last. Irene and Stone were waiting for him. Irene hugged him and held his hand as he talked to Stone.

“For a minute or two, we thought you were not going to make it. But you’re here now in one piece, and that’s all that matters. We have a van ready to take you to your hotel, where we all can chat.”

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you did.” He turned to Katia, “So this is the famous spy breaker we’ve heard about. You’re even more beautiful than your pictures.

We can use you in a big way if you’ve a mind. But we’ll talk about that later.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“K

atia is very beautiful,” said Irene as they entered their room. Karl ignored her and ordered Champagne for their room. When he put the phone down, he hugged her again, “but not nearly as beautiful as you.”

When the Champagne came, they toasted each other. “You need to call your mother.”

Karl smiled at her as he picked up the phone and called his mother. When he heard his mother’s phone ring, he passed the receiver to Irene. “You tell her.”

Irene grabbed the phone, noticed how rough his hands had become from bricklaying, and kissed them.

“Mother, Grete, I have good news for you.”

“Mutter,” said Karl. “I am back in West Berlin and out of harm’s way.”

There was a long silence. Karl knew his mother was crying.

“Irene and I will be coming for a long visit.”

“I have prayed for our safety for months. Sometimes, even your wife did not know where you were.”

“Well, it’s over now, and we will soon be testing your Winer Schnitzel before you know it. I hope all is well with my father.”

“Your father is fine. But we almost lost young Rhinehart. We got him to the hospital, where he recovered. We all miss you. We have a new person working with us. His name is Angelo, and he comes to us from his father’s grape farm in Italy. He and May are getting along very well, and I suspect they will marry soon. That is all our news for the moment, except for Peggy, who was left in the wilderness one night when the man she was seeing left her to find her way 140

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home in the darkness. She looked terrible when Uncle Hugh found her and brought her home.”

Irene, who was listening to Grete with Karl, grabbed the phone and talked to her for the next 15 minutes. “Women like to gossip. I wanted to hear more about Peggy. When we go to your home, I want you to visit my parents for a week or two and get to know my father.

He was in the Home Guard during the war. You two have a lot in common.”

***

Karl entered Stone’s office in full army dress the next morning.

“I was about to track you down, Karl. You’ve given us Katia, who is a mine of information. She has just informed us that the Soviets have spies working in the British civil service. She knows only their code names but has seen their pictures. Could you take her on a tour of government workers in London?”

“Absolutely. But not before Irene and I visit her parents for a week.”

“Fine. We didn’t expect you to be up and ready for more assignments after what you’ve been through.”

“Next month, I promised my mother Irene and I would return to Canada. My mother needs me, and I want to acquaint Irene with Glace Bay, where I was born, and the rest of the Maritimes. She loves lobsters, and I want her to have her fill of them while we’re there.”

***

Bert Holmes was in his early 60s and loved showing off his first World War medals. “It wasn’t the way wars are fought today. You spent day after day in a trench, hoping your number wouldn’t come up, when our lieutenant blew his whistle, and we left our trenches and followed him into battle with smoke and artillery shells bursting all around us. But we survived it.”

He studied Karl’s face. “You look like a German to be.”

“I am the son of two German parents who came to Canada to work in the coal mines of Cape Breton. I was born there.”

“Irene can be a pretty headstrong woman, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I have, Mr. Holmes.”

“Call me Bert.” He passed Karl the whiskey bottle and lit his pipe. It smelled of old tobacco, like his old chair that dated back to the 1920s. His face was lined with grey patches he missed in his shaving, but there was a look of mischief in his blue eyes. He dug out 141

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an old photograph album and showed pictures of him in 1916 in his World War uniform with three stripes on his arm. Then there was a picture of Irene as an infant and several images of her from her early days in school and her graduation. There were also pictures of Bert and his wife, Beth, when they were married.

Beth, three years younger than Bert, took pride in her house and cooking. She poked her head around the corner, “What are you telling him, Bert? Please don’t pay attention to anything he says. He likes to lie a lot.”

“I don’t know about that,” Mrs. Holmes said.

“He told me you were the prettiest girl in the town. I’m included to believe him when he showed me your picture.”

Beth’s face reddened. “You’re as bad as he is. But that’s not why I came. It was to tell you soup’s on and getting cold.”

Karl helped Bert from his chair and followed him into their dining room. Dressed in one of her mother’s aprons, Irene entered with a beef roast. Her mother placed the gravy and horseradish next to them.

They ate in silence until Bert put his fork down. “Say what you like, but my wife and daughter are the best cooks in town. Beth’s imagination spoiled us during the ration days of the late war when she created incredible meals.”

“Don’t pay attention to his foolishness,” she said, swiping Bert’s balding head with her napkin.

When they went to bed, Irene turned to him. “You must think my parents are senile by the way they talk. It’s just their way of welcoming you to our family. My mother loves you and thinks I’m lucky to have you.”

“My mother says the same thing about you. And so do I.”

***

When they returned to West Berlin, they met Katia and Jake coming out of Stone’s office. “I hope we’d see you. Katia and I are bound for Toronto later today. I’ve been called back to do a series of interviews with Katia for the CBC. But Stone wants Katia back and says he has another assignment for her. We plan to get married in Canada. If you two make it there next month, we’d like to have you as guests.”

He passed Karl his card with his home and CBC telephone numbers. Karl placed it inside his wallet, shook both hands, felt Irene’s hand on his arm and turned to enter Stone’s office.

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“I’d like you to undertake one small assignment for me before you two head for Canada.”

Karl wasn’t sure what to say. “We were planning to leave for Canada for a couple of months. My mother is expecting us.”

“It won’t take that long. Geoff, Simon, Meg and her husband came to see me yesterday with an idea. They are not seasoned enough to do this without some guidance. I decided to tell them you would be their guide.”

“They are going back too soon for their own good. They need time to recover from all the anxieties they face in the field. How is Jonni coming along?”

“He’s young and full of ideas, but he has the makings of a leader down the road. He insists on being with Meg, no matter where she goes,” and after a pause, “can I tell them you’ll meet with them this afternoon?”

Karl had lunch with Irene and headed back to Stone’s office.

Stone met him outside his office. They’re in the conference room, waiting for you.”

Karl opened the door to see them sitting in a semi-circle around the chair at the centre. They clapped as he stood behind the chair meant for him. Geoff was the first to speak. We took a vote among ourselves to set up an operation in Moscow.”

“Everyone, including Jonni, would like to shake Stalin and his cronies up and let them know they’re not the only ones who can spy on others. Now that the spa finder of Moscow has switched sides, we feel our chances of surviving and causing damage are pretty high,” said Meg. “The cards are stacked against you. For starters, you don’t speak Russian, and if you did, you’d be suspected immediately by anyone you contacted there.”

“That’s the beauty of our operation,” said Simon. “Each of us would assume your role and direct Russians fed up with Stalin to be our eyes and ears outside and carry out any espionage we might plan.”

“We would have two operations going on at the same time,” added Meg. “If one operation is shut down, the other would carry on.”

“What do you think?” said Geoff. “You knew Simon and I weren’t keen on coming back from East Berlin.”

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if one group gets caught. What happens when the group is tortured until they reveal all about the other team? And believe me, they have ways of making you talk, no matter how brave you are, including drugs.”

His last comment was greeted with silence. Karl looked around.

“If you’re convinced this is something you wish to do, I’m prepared to help you in every way I can. But only if you can devise a plan for something less adventurous.”

Irene arrived with steaming coffee cups for them and could feel their silence almost immediately. Meg took her cup and gave it to Karl. “You’re right, of course. But bank on us coming back with something better.”

When they left, Karl went to see Stone. “Did you know what they had in mind? They’d be picked up in a week or less.”

“What did you tell them?”

“To come up with a better plan and see me again.”

***

Irene put on her best dress and took extra pains with her makeup. She could hear Karl humming as he shaved in the bathroom.

When he finished, Irene brushed off dandruff from his shoulders and looked at himself in the mirror.

“You’re worse than any woman. Irene took his arm and led him to the elevator. They got off to the second floor, where Jake greeted them.

“Katia will be down in a minute or an hour when she finishes with her hairdresser,” said Jake. “you, two, go ahead and entertain our guests until we make our grand appearance.”

Col. Stone was talking to Meg and Jonni and waved them to join them. “Where are the guests of honour?”

“Jake is waiting for her at the elevator until she finishes with her hairdresser.”

Geoff and Simon came over to them with drinks in their hands.

“Jake likes to do things in a grand way,” said Geoff. And then, glancing at the door, “I see them coming now. The buzz of excited voices dropped as Jake, holding Katia’s arm, headed for the centre of the room, shaking hands with everyone on their way. Waiters mingled among guests with trays of small biscuits filled with caviar and other appetizers. The noise level was high again as Jake shook hands with everyone, and Katia kissed the ladies.

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the hotel’s courtyard. Yellow curtains, the colour of gold on ornate rods, hid the room from most of the room. The carpet, which once graced the floors of a senior Nazi official, had come from Persia before the war, was dark red with old Persian scenes and soft to walk on. There was a bar at the end of the room, and a five-piece string quartet played Mozart and German composers.

A young man dressed in a black uniform walked among them to tell them to take their places at a long table near the bar. Jake and Katia sat at the end, with Col. Stone on Katia’s right and Karl and Irene beside Jake.

“I just thought of something,” Katia whispered in Jake’s ear.

“We can’t get married. I’m still married to my old husband. You remember I told you he refused to give me a divorce.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to Canada. “ Karl saw the colour drain from Jake’s face. “Is all well, my friend?

You look as though you’re ready to faint.”

“I will tell you later,” Jake said, turning back to Katia. “When we finish dinner, everyone will expect us to speak. It happens at all weddings in Canada. I will go first to give you time to prepare.”

When supper ended, Jake rose and thanked everyone for coming. “As a radio personality, you’d think I’d be used to speaking, but I’m as nervous as a cat when it involves getting married.”

He said he was fortunate to have the most beautiful woman in the world at his side. Katia rose slowly. “If you think he’s nervous, I’m ready to faint. I’ve had to give many speeches over the years, but this one has my heart pounding in my ears.”

Col. Stone stood and nodded. “And so am I.” Everyone laughed and clapped. “I’m the oldest person who has known Jake. I have been friends with his parents since Jake was a puppy and marvelled at how he grew to the celebrity he has become in Canada.” Then, after a pause, “he was quite a handful for his parents.”

A crowd gathered outside to peek inside. You could hear the laughter and laugher from outside. A waiter opened the door with a tray of drinks for Katia and Jake. He walked with a stiff back and placed the glasses in front of them before turning to the left, where he remained.

The string quartet began playing Strouss waltzes, and their guests rose and started dancing. Jake rose to talk to Karl away from the table and other well-wishers. “Katia just reminded me that she is still married to someone else who refuses to give her a divorce.

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Katia froze as she saw the man who had placed drinks before them walk towards her. It was Boris, her husband, dressed in his old tuxedo. ‘What is this farce?”

The blood drained from Katia’s face. “Leave me alone.”

“You will stand now and walk with me out of this room. If anyone asks where you are going, tell them you forgot something and keep walking.”

Katia shook her head. “I don’t want to go anywhere with you or ever see your face again.”

“If you do not,” he said, reaching into his pocket and showing her a small bottle. “It contains acid that would ruin your face forever, and this would-be husband of yours would run away as fast as he could once he sees how you look.”

Boris knew her weakness and smiled as he helped her rise and leave with him to the door. They left and went through the lobby for a limousine that was waiting for them.

When Jake returned, he found Katia’s seat empty. One of the women sitting a few chairs away from the head table rose and said, “If you’re looking for your bride, she just left with that old man who had placed drinks for you.”

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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

B

oris opened the door for her, slid in beside her, and told the driver to drive to the checkpoint as fast as he could. The guards at the checkpoint were waiting for them and passed them through without checking them. They went to the hotel where all the foreign correspondents were located. He would parade her through the lobby and tell them she had forgotten to tell them she was married. It was a fitting sequel to her little escapade and a reminder of what would happen to her should she ever try to leave him again.

Katia refused to sleep in the same room as him. “I don’t trust you in any way, even using that acid on me.”

“You need not worry about that, my lovely. Moscow wants you just as you look today. They still have use for you. You will start by telling all the correspondents in the morning that you were abducted

by Western agents and want to thank her husband for saving them from their clutches.”

Before she went to sleep, she composed a short note to Steve Worthington, describing that her husband had abducted her after she had escaped to West Berlin the night before and was heading to Canada. “Can you send a message to Allied headquarters and let Jake know?”

In the morning, she joined Boris in the lobby, where she spotted Worthington. She slipped him her note as she passed by and went on to shake hands with some of the correspondents she had met earlier.

“You seem to have made friends with them,” Boris whispered to her. “Good. It will make them more inclined to believe what you 147

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are about to tell them. One slip, and I will see you pay dearly for it before leaving East Berlin.”

Katia took centre stage and sat down next to her husband. She rose and welcomed them again on behalf of the Soviet government and the new German republic. “The gentleman beside me is my husband, who went to East Berlin and rescued me from Western clutches, tortured me and tried to betray Mother Russia. If anyone has any questions, now is the time to ask them.”

“What happened to Jake Richmond, our buddy from the CBC?” Other voices asked the same question until she raised her hand for silence.

Mr. Richmond forced me at knifepoint to leave East Berlin with him in an escape he and one of his friends had engineered. He took me to their prison, where I underwent torture. They decided to parade me in front of other journalists to mock me as a sky finder. My good husband, Boris, managed to get inside West Berlin and rescued me.”

“I don’t believe it. Jake was not that kind of guy,” shouted the CBS correspondent. Others joined in until an East German officer appeared on the stage and closed the session.

“What do you think, Worthington? You were a buddy of his?”

“I think they flew in her husband, who managed to get across the checkpoint and bring her here.”

***

“It was her husband,” said Jake to Col. Stone. “We talked about him getting a divorce from him first thing when we landed in Canada.”

Before she went to sleep, she composed a short note to Steve Worthington, describing that her husband had abducted her after she had escaped to West Berlin the night before and was heading to Canada. “Can you send a message to Allied headquarters and let Jake know?”

“What do you think he told her to get her to go back with him?”

“I’m not sure. Katia’s father is dead, but maybe her mother, who lives far away from Moscow. I can’t imagine what else.”

“I think I know,” said Stone. “What is the most important thing for her of all? Her looks. I’m willing he threatened to disfigure her somehow if she did not go with him.”

“The question now is: How do we get her back?” Once was tough enough.”

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Stone buzzed for his secretary. “Track down Karl and ask him to see me immediately.

Karl showed up a few minutes later. “I think you know why we buzzed you.”

“To kidnap Katia again.” He looked at Jake. “Sorry this has happened to you, Jake.”

“I would go, but I no longer have the CBC cover to get past their checkpoint. I’m sick with worry. Karl and I haven’t slept all night. I feel utterly hopeless.”

Stone looked at Karl. “But you could, Karl. You know the lay of the land. Besides, your old group is itching to get back.”

“Irene may have another idea.”

“I’ll talk to her and bring her around. In the meantime, I’ll have your old team back here in the afternoon. You can take it from there.”

Stone called them all together for an impromptu lunch. “Some of you have expressed a desire to go back into the field again. That opportunity has suddenly appeared.” He nodded to Karl, who tried to smile and failed.

“I’m the bearer of bad news. Katia and Jake were getting ready to fly to Canada today when she was abducted, taken back to East Berlin, and probably flown to Moscow shortly afterward. So time is against us. You all know East Berlin better than any other team we could create. What do you say?”

“Will you be coming with us as our leader?”

Karl nodded and smiled back at them.

“You should have left Geoff and me behind when we were there,” said Simon with a laugh.

“Your first order is to find a creative way past the checkpoint and report back to me at four o’clock.”

They left laughing, found an empty conference room, and went to work immediately. As they sat down, Meg grabbed their writing pads and pencils.

“Write down the craziest things you can think of,” said Geoff, for the next 20 minutes, and then we’ll stop and laugh at everyone’s ideas.”

Irene knew something was up the minute she saw Stone. “I think I know what you’re going to tell me. It isn’t fair. Karl’s paid his dues, and his family is getting ready to greet us at the airport in Toronto.”

She started to cry.

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as quickly as possible. We understand Katia will be sent to Moscow shortly, and we must act now.”

Karl’s team had five options before the first hour was up. Geoff was the first to offer his idea. “The best thing I can think of is entering the checkpoint with someone behind me throwing a smoke bomb at them so that we can all enter before they know it.”

“That’s a possibility,” said Meg, who turned to Simon. “How about you?”

“What about a skunk or a porcupine wandering into their post?

Definitely, an animal they don’t want to tangle with.”

“And about you, Jonni?”

“Mine is quite simple. I would take a birthday cake to my mother with a fast-acting drug that would put them to sleep for at least 15 minutes.”

“I don’t see how we could get them to fall for that,” said Simon.

“They don’t see much sweets in East Berlin and will make sure it’s a real cake by eating a slice or two. I know how their minds work.

They will confiscate the cake and try to keep it for themselves after they test it,” said Jonni.

“I came up with something similar. A knock-out gas that would enable us to pass through before they know it. But I like Jonni’s idea better.”

“Do we need to take all four?” said Geoff.

They all shook their heads. “Then we will go for Jonni’s idea. I’ll find out about the drug and find someone to make the cake for us,” said Meg. “Let us meet again in one hour. To be effective, we must go tonight. I will be going with you.”

Karl went to see Stone. “They’ve got two or three great ideas for crash checkpoint guards. My concern is how we get them and me back here with Katia.”

Meg popped by to tell them they had found a knockout drug and a chef to ready our cake in an hour. When do we leave?”

“Just after it gets dark.”

“What about coming back, Karl?”

“We were hoping you guys might also have an idea for us.”

“I had an idea, but it was a bit too nutty compared to the others.

We could use one of the strategies we came up with,” said Meg. “I don’t recall hearing your idea?”

“It’s a little goofy.”

“That’s all right. I’d still like to hear.”

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“So would I,” said Stone, who appeared in the doorway.

“I thought of a hot air balloon to land in a field just outside the town. But there were too many problems associated with it, such as where to store it out of sight.”

Karl looked at Stone, who was smiling. “It would be perfect and the last thing the Stasi would think of.”

“The only problem I can see is where to land the balloon where you can climb aboard.”

“I researched that when I was toying with the idea. If you have a map of East Berlin, I can pinpoint the area precisely for you. It’s a field on the edge of a growth of trees.”

Stone left and returned with a large map of Berlin before it was carved up. He set it down on Karl’s desk and smoothed it out. Meg went to the map and ran her fingernail over where she saw the field.

“Perhaps, here,” said Stone.

The map even showed the growth of trees and the vacant field about half a mile away, where the houses ended. They looked at each other with smiles. “Now, if you will join me in my office, we toast to our success.”

Meg decided to have a coffee instead. “We’ll need a few weapons to take with us, just in case things get hot,” said Karl.

“And a few smoke bombs as well. You can never tell when they might come in handy,” added Meg,

***

“Just how dangerous is this?” said Irene.

“I wish I could tell you it’s going to be a cakewalk. Each of us will be walking a tightrope until we get our way into the hotel room, where she is kept under guard by at least six Stasi officers. It’s the old hotel Katia stayed in with Jake. After that, it’s a mad dash just outside East Berlin proper.”

“Is Jake going as well?”

“No. But he told me to seek out Steve Wellington, whom I met with him on one occasion. He said Steve would help us. I bet he knows the room they’re in. Journalists are nosey buggers, thank heaven.”

Karl left Irene at the restaurant and headed to Stone’s office. Meg was already there with her cake, along with Jonni. Stone came in a few minutes later and closed the deep red drapes, followed by two soldiers with four Tommy guns and a box of smoke bombs that included two grenades. Geoff and Simon entered just as the soldiers 151

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were leaving.

They looked at the Tommy guns, and Simon picked up one and looked it over. Stone nodded to Geoff. “Could you ask the two soldiers who just left to return.

They came back with Geoff. “Can you show these gentlemen how to use the guns?”

They sat down with Karl, Jonni, Simon and Geoff and showed them how to release the safety pin and hold it when you’re ready to take aim and press the trigger.

They had to show Simon twice, but the others had it on the first try. “You must remember how to stand and aim before pressing the trigger. But above all, when you’re in uncertain terrain, be sure to release the safety. Try that four or five times until you get used to it.

I might save your life.”

The other soldier removed one of the smoke bombs and showed them how to pull the safety before throwing it. “Here, you try it,” he said, tossing it to Meg. She grabbed it out of the air and put her finger around the safety pin.

“The rest of you try it. And when you throw it, aim it at the floor and move away quickly in case someone fires at you in the smoke.”

The grenade – there are two in the package – is a bit different.

Once you pull out the safety pin, throw it at your target as soon as you can. Don’t wait. You and your associates will be the victims if you don’t.”

The men slung the guns on their shoulders, and Meg picked up the package of grenades. They all shook hands with Stone and left with their hearts pounding. An army car was waiting for them outside. Karl held the cake until Meg sat inside and held it gingerly in both hands. Karl squeezed into the back seat with the others and started to hum the nervous energy that crackled in the air as their car headed for the checkpoint, stopping some distance from the checkpoint. Karl left first and helped take the cake so Meg could get out.

Jonni took the cake and walked with her to the checkpoint while the others remained in the shadows.

A young officer stopped them. Jonni did the talking, telling the guard it was his mother’s birthday and that he was bringing her a cake. The older guard knew him. “It’s you. Kauser has ordered you shot on sight. Why are you trying to come back?”

“It’s my mother’s birthday, and I am bringing her a cake.

Wouldn’t you?”

“Why should we believe you?”

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“I would not lie about my mother’s birthday. You would do the same if it were your mother.”

The older guard grabbed the cake box and tore open the cover.

He reached down, grabbed a handful of the cake, and stuffed it in his mouth. Pieces of the cake decorated his beard and fell on his tunic.

He grabbed another handful for his mouth and nodded to the young guard. “Take a handful. It takes like the old cakes my mother made for us on birthdays.”

“Please save some for my mother,” said Jonni.

The older guard ignored him. The younger guard paused for a few seconds and dug for another mouthful.

“Who’s the woman with you?”

“My wife. My mother has never met her.”

“I’ll let you go to see your mother but be back in two hours.” He stepped aside to let him in and fell on the floor. The younger guard bent down to rouse him but fell over him. Jonni waved the others to join him. They came running and kept on running until they reached a main street. They stopped beneath a lamp to study a street map and what streets to take to get to the hotel. They walked along in the shadows until they could see the hotel, hiding their weapons beneath their jackets. The night had grown cold, and Jonni peeled off his outer coat and placed it on her shoulders.

Karl and Geoff entered the hotel, followed by Jonni and Meg. Simon was last, keeping a short distance between himself and the others to ensure they weren’t being followed. Worthington’s room was on the second floor. Karl stopped and rapped on his door.

Worthington opened the door a crack, and all the way once he saw Karl. They entered his room. “We need your help,” said Karl.

“I gathered as much.

“Jake sends his regards. We need to know the room where they’ve stashed Katia. We’re here to rescue her.”

“Did Jake come?”

“We thought he might gum up everything if we brought him along.”

“She won’t be easy to rescue. They have her in the penthouse suite, with four heavily-armed Stasi officers guarding the entrance.

Every one of them mean as hell.”

Worthington scribbled a note to Jake and stuffed it inside Karl’s jacket. His room was sparse. Aside from his bed, a typewriter sat on a small desk fronting a small window.

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They left silently and entered through an exit door to a flight of stairs, panting and out of breath by the time they reached the top floor. Karl opened the door a crack to see the guards in front of the door.

“You need to approach the guards before landing a smoke bomb in front of them,” said Karl to Meg. “Once we see them trying to find their way out of the smoke, we’ll take them prisoners.”

Meg approached them and asked if she could see Katia, who was one of her friends, reaching into her handbag and throwing the smoke bomb in front of them. She surprised herself. She felt cool in a way she would never have believed of herself.

Simon pointed his Tommy Gun into the chest of the first one.

Jonni held another at gunpoint. “If you make a sound, you won’t live to tell the tale. Now, unlock the door and be quick about it.”

As they entered, the leading Stasi officer knocked Jonni’s Tommy gun from his hands and grabbed him by the throat. The others turned on them. Karl shot the leader in the leg. The Stasi officer fell to the ground, writhing and holding onto his leg. Karl turned his gun on the others.”Who’s next?”

The other officers raised their hands. Karl motioned to Geoff and Simon to bind their hands with anything they could find. He knocked on Katia’s door. There was no answer. Karl tried to open the door, but it was locked. He raised his leg and kicked it open to find Katia sitting up, covering herself with a blanket.

“Get dressed,” said Karl. “It’s time to leave her.”

She lowered the blanket. “It’s you, Karl.” She looked at the others with wonder in her eyes. “Where is Jake?”

“He was ordered to sit this out by Stone.” He glanced at his watch. “We don’t have much time. Get dressed.”

There was a sound of someone entering the outer room, and Karl turned just in time to see Boris, Katia’s husband, standing there, pointing one of the Stasi’s discarded rifles at them.

“Drop your gun, or I will kill you where you stand,” said Karl.

Boris swung around, and Karl shot him in the head. Karl waved Meg inside the bedroom to help Katia get dressed. She saw her husband where he lay with blood oozing from his forehead. Karl grabbed her and danced her out of the room. They left the room with the Stasi officers bound up and headed for the elevator, getting off at the second floor and, from there, down the stairs and rushing out the side door before anyone saw them.

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squeezed in and were on their way. They saw at least a dozen Stasi officers waiting for them as they neared the street that fronted the field, where the helicopter would land.

“Now what?” said Geoff.

“Back up and to another exit to the field.”

They ran back down the street until Karl spotted an alley that would take them to the field. In the darkness, they could hear the Stasi officers running after them. The alley was long and dark, with a dog kennel in the backyard. They froze. “Walk slowly without noise.

We can’t afford to wake them. Just as they were passing the kennel, one of the dogs emerged from the kennel and ran after them. Meg could see the saliva dripping from its mouth. She wanted to scream but couldn’t.

“Throw one of your smoke bombs in his direction,” shouted Karl.

She seemed to freeze. Jonni reached into her bag and threw it in the dog’s path. Smoke filled the air, and they ran towards the field as fast as possible. Katia turned her ankle and had to be carried by Geoff.

Ahead they could see the balloon beginning to land. The other dogs were awakened and ran in their direction, barking loudly. The lights went on in the house, and the owner, still in his nightshirt, appeared in the doorway and called for the dogs to return.

The Stasi officers also heard the dogs barking and raced back and ran into the field as the dog owner blew his whistle to see the dogs turn and run back to the kennel.

Karl reached the balloon first and helped the others get aboard.

Five minutes later, the balloon owner puffed more warm smoke into the balloon, and they were suddenly aloft. In the darkness, they could barely see what was happening below as they flew even higher.

The Stasi were firing at them, and they could hear a bullet or two whistle by them. Meg dipped into her bag and threw down one of her smoke bombs. “Aim it where you see them shooting,” said Karl. ”Look for a sudden flash and throw it at them. We’re also moving away from them, and we’ll be past their shots every minute that passes.”

One or two of the shots hit the balloon, and it slowly descended.

The balloon owner puffed more smoke into the balloon, which gave them a momentary lift. In the darkness, they could see the tops of trees ahead.

“How much longer to reach the other side?” said Karl.

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“Maybe five minutes. If you want to help, throw away anything heavy.”

Karl unslung his gun, as did the others, who threw them overboard. The balloon rose higher for a few seconds. It was just getting light, and they were an easy target now. Karl kept watching below and saw at least a dozen Stasi officers aiming their rifles at them.

Meg dug into her bag again and threw a smoke bomb and a grenade for good measure.

They were nearing a hill, and just past it, the early morning lights of West Berlin. They were losing altitude now faster than before. They could hear their balloon carriage scrape the treetops as they neared the border. They were barely above the fence when the carriage caught onto the barbed wire atop it and sent them headlong onto the other side.

Geoff was bleeding from a cut from the barbed wire, and Simon lost one of his trouser legs which floated from the barbed wire. Karl raised himself and looked around at the others. Meg was lying atop Jonni, and Katia was atop of her.

Two Stasi officers suddenly appeared on the other side of the fence with their rifles aimed at them just as Stone and four soldiers arrived in two jeeps. The Stasi officers backed away. “We’re not looking for trouble,” said Stone in his parade voice. “But if you want to violate our agreement with your government, you would be wise to leave and walk away.”

They didn’t budge. Stone signalled his soldiers to aim their Tommy guns at them. A minute later, they disappeared.

Stone called for another jeep, piled Katia, Karl and Geoff into his jeep, and headed back to his headquarters. The others followed them, arriving five minutes later. Stone placed his jacket over Katia’s head so that no one could see who it was. It was morning, and Karl suddenly felt sleepy. He collapsed into Irene’s arms.

Jake was in the outer office waiting for them and grabbed Katia by the waist as she entered the room. “There will be no more trips for you.”

“Were there any problems?” said Stone.

“Nothing but problems from start to finish,” said Karl. I had to kill Katia’s husband, who threatened to kill us. Didn’t feel good about it. Still don’t.”

“You did what you had to do. Otherwise, I would be back in Moscow now, and the others sent to that horrible prison of theirs.”

She turned to Jake. “Why weren’t you there to rescue me? I had fall156

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en into despair. Never let me down ever again, no matter who forbids you.”

“You all look pretty exhausted. So I took the liberty of ordering breakfast. Follow me into my conference room.”

Stone placed Karl and his crew around him at the head of the table. Jake, Katia and Stone sat on either side and dug into the bacon and eggs. Two waiters dressed in black with white napkins over their arms poured coffee into their cups and brought in a birthday cake. “It’s to replace the cake you lost.”

***

Back at her apartment in bed, Irene sat up. “I’ve had enough of this cloak and dagger business. It’s time to quit and return home to your family.”

Karl was nodding. “I was thinking the same thing myself. But I’m also worried about your mother and father. You’re their only child and will not know what to do if you’re in Canada.”

“Not really. I’ve also taken the liberty to apply for Meg and her husband to settle in Canada. They’re not sure about it, but we’ll see.”

“I’ll chat with Stone in the morning and see how he feels.”

“Whatever it is, I’ve booked a flight to Toronto tomorrow and have called your mother and told her we were coming home to stay.

She’s ecstatic.”

***

Col. Stone was ready for him. “Irene and I already have had this talk. What I’m going to suggest, and you can take it or leave it, is that you train spies. We have a place in Canada that does just that. What do you say?”

“When would I start?”

“Take three months off and report for duty then.”

“Good thing because Irene has booked a flight to Toronto for us tomorrow.”

***

Katia was in a good mood as she walked around their hotel room. “Now that Boris is dead, we can get married any day we decide. Even tonight.”

“I had my heart set on getting married in my old church with my mother and father there to wish us luck.”

“Karl feels bad about killing him. But he had no other option. It was either him or me and Karl and the others. In a way, I felt sorry 157

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for him at the end. He didn’t deserve to die this way.”

“No one does, but he brought it upon himself,” said Jake. But that will be a dim memory after a couple of years, settling in Toronto and listening to myself on the radio. I can have you on as well if you’d like it.”

“I’ll call my parents tonight and tell them what plane we’re landing on. Let me know if you would like to say hello to them.”

Jake was the first one up in the morning. He showered and shaved before Katia left the bed and ordered a big breakfast.

Katia looked out the window at the city coming to life before washing and applying her makeup. She looked at three of the four dressed before deciding on a skirt and her favourite light blue blouse, which had stitched leaves on the collar. She looked ten years younger.

“My mother will think I’m marrying a teenager.”

They ate slowly, talking about Canada, its Winters and Summers. “Sounds a lot like Russia,” said Katia. “You’ve never told me about all the dress shops there. I assume they do have them.”

“In spades.”

“But most of all, it feels free after so long in my life,” said Katia.

“And not have to worry about being kidnapped or worrying about what some official or that official thinks.”

Katia couldn’t seem to shake the unease. He knew she had nothing more to worry about, but it stayed with her even when they checked into the airport and were escorted to a lounge for passengers.

Jake checked his watch. “Another 43 minutes to take off.” He looked to see Karl and Irene enter with a stranger behind them.

Katia froze. Karl noticed that the colour had drained from her cheeks and looked around. Irene sat down beside her and saw it as well. “Karl’s mother and father will be at the Toronto air terminal to drive us to the Niagara area, not far from Niagara Falls. They’re wonderful.”

Katia tried to smile. “Jake’s parents live in Toronto and will also be meeting us.”

The stranger approached them and asked Karl for a light for his cigarette. Jake reached into his pocket, found his lighter, and lit it for him. With his other hand, the stranger bent down and stuck a knife under Karl’s throat.

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atia shrunk in her seat. So did Irene. Jake was looking out the window to see their plane taxi up to the entrance.

“If you do not want these people to die, you will get up and leave here with me. Get up softly and walk before me,” said the stranger.

He reached down and pulled Tania up. Jake could feel her movement and turned to see the stranger with his knife at Katia’s throat.

Karl was feeling his throat and looking at the blood on his fingers.

Irene stared at him. “Where are you taking this woman?” she shouted in a voice loud enough to be heard outside. Irene saw a face pressed against the other side of the glass and pointed at the stranger.

The stranger backed away towards the door when it suddenly opened, and two soldiers entered with their guns pointed at him.

The stranger glanced at them as one of the soldiers knocked the knife from his hand. The other soldier ran headlong into him and pinned him to the floor.

Karl, still dressed in his uniform, acknowledged their salute.

“Take him to Col. Stone and tell him what happened. My name is Captain Aberbach. Be sure to mention my name to him.”

Katria shrunk in her seat next to the window. It gnawed at her all the way to Newfoundland, where she mentioned it to Karl. Will she ever be safe, she wondered, even in Canada?

“Highly unlikely. Kidnapping someone from Canada, so far inland, is virtually impossible. The only way they can escape is by plane, and every airline would be on the lookout for you even if they did try to kidnap you.”

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“What would you do if you were me?”

“I’d have someone by my side wherever I go. After a year or two, you’ll be forgotten by Moscow and just about everyone else.”

When they boarded the plane again, she fell asleep before it took off and woke only when the airplane’s wheels bumped against the tarmac. She looked around and saw Jake smiling at her. “We’ve just landed in Toronto.”

Jake’s parents waved to them as soon as they descended the plane. Grete stood behind Konrad, who had edged their way to the front and waved to Karl and Irene.

Jake descended first. His mother wrapped Katia in her arms and kissed her cheeks over and over. “She is beautiful beyond compare,” she said, holding Katia in her arms.

Konrad led Karl and Irene to his mother, standing behind the line. His mother hugged him and then Irene, kissing her on both cheeks, holding her back, and kissing her again. Grete glanced at Katia and looked away.

“What’s wrong, mother?” said Karl.

“That’s something not right about that woman,” said his mother.

“In what way?” said Irene. “I’ve spent some time with her, and she has made Karl’s friend, Jake, a very happy man.”

“Don’t ask me to explain it. When I look at her, I see a dark aura.”

Karl rolled his eyes and nodded to Irene to say goodbye to Jake and Katia.

They were standing in the terminal, waiting for their bags, when Karl stood beside Jake and Katia, drawing glances from people passing by.

“I’d like you to be my best man and, if Irene is of a mind, Katia’s bridesmaid.”

“Just let us know where and when, and I’m sure Irene would be pleased to be Katia’s bridesmaid. We’ll ask her now.” He grabbed Irene’s arm. “Katia would like you to be her bridesmaid.”

“I would please me greatly,” said Irene. “Let me know what colours you would like me to wear.”

“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” said Katia. “In fact, we haven’t set a date for our wedding. I’ll call you when I know. In the meantime, what about a shopping day once we get settled?”

“It’s a date,” said Irene feeling very pleased with herself.

Grete slept most of the way back to the farm. Karl had to tap her on the arm to wake her. She seemed disoriented and was about to stumble when Karl grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.

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“Your wanderers have returned, Auntie Kay. I smell something in the oven. What have you made for our homecoming?”

Your good wife confessed that she loved potato scallop and ham when she came last. She opened the stove door, let Irene smell, and see the brown crust forming on top of the scallop.” There’s also your birthday favourite,” said Kay, waving Karl to look inside the oven.

“I know you like your custard with a black crust, so that it will need some more time.”

Peggy had a young man with her, who introduced him to Karl and Irene. “He looks absolutely smashing,” said Irene. Harry, let me introduce Auntie Grete’s son, Karl. He’s a Captain in the Canadian Army, and his wife, Irene. Karl is a twin of Rhinehart, who joined the German Army during the war.”

Karl shook his hand. “Are you a farmer as well, Harry?”

Harry had light brown hair with a crew cut, bright white teeth, smiling brown eyes and an oval face with dimples. His grip was strong, and he was at least four inches taller than Karl.

“I’m learning to become a professional golfer. There’s a lot of money if you’re really good at it.”

May entered with Rhinehart, who was walking beside her. Karl grabbed him and lifted him into the air. “You look just like your father and your uncle.” He put him down. “How long has he been walking?”

“A couple of months ago,” said May. “Will you be returning to Europe soon?” said Konrad.

“Not if I can help it. They’ve posted me near here to train wouldbe spies. So we’ll be bumping with you until we find our own place.”

“I aired out your room as soon as I heard you were coming home,” said Grete, putting her arms around him and Irene. She stood back. “It’s also time for you two to have a baby.”

Irene blushed, and Hugh took down his large bottle of Cognac from the top shelf and poured everyone a shot. He raised his glass and held up his arm. “To all you youngsters. May you all find peace, comfort and joy with each other.” He grabbed Kay around her waist and held her tight.

Harry left an hour later. “I have a big day tomorrow. Come and see me if you’re interested in gold.”

***

Jake’s father drove them to their home and helped Katia out of the car. His mother put her arm around her as they walked inside the 161

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door and into their living room, where Katia sat on the sofa, covered with prints of country scenes and large flowers. The living room was large, with a yellow Persian carpet that matched the colour of the walls. There were two wide windows on the opposite wall along and near the front, a painting of the King and Queen. And just beyond the arched entrance, a dark dining room table. Two large ferns caught Katia’s eye in the two corners near the kitchen entrance. She went immediately to the ferns and smoothed them with her fingers.

“What a lovely room,” said Katia smiling at Jake’s mother.

“I thought,” said his mother, “that we would dine at the hotel down the street in honour of your visit.”

The restaurant was packed. They sat at the entrance until a table was available. Katia looked at the menu, noticed a picture of a lobster, and showed it to Jake with a smile. Jake looked around and could sense the interest of other diners in Katia, who never looked more beautiful.

It was like that, no matter where they went, and Jake started to eat most of his meals at home. Now in her 60s, his mother always smiled when she looked at her.

Crete and Katia began to hold meetings together to plan for their wedding. When Katia and his mother emerged from their latest meeting, it was to tell Jake and his father the wedding date.

Katia called Irene with the date and chose a day for her to visit Toronto, where they could go shopping together. “Let Karl know so he can prepare for it as well.”

Irene couldn’t wait. She loved the farm but also needed some excitement in her life. She liked shopping even if she didn’t buy anything. Karl joined Jake when he when to the CBC on Jarvis Street.

They went to a men’s store, picked out two matching outfits, and went to the CBC with their new suits hung over their shoulders. Jake brought him into the studio and told Karl he was going to ask him what it was like in East Berlin. Karl waved his hands “No,” but Jake ignored him. Before he knew it, Karl was talking about the lifestyles of East Berliners, their rationing, their infamous prison and about buying a new car and how many years it would take before they delivered it.

They went to a nearby tavern, ordered beers, and left arm-inarm for Jake’s home, singing all the way. Katia and Irene had just finished deciding on her wedding dress and what colour dress Irene would buy.

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Jake’s parents that they were intoxicated. “I think you should have a good meal with us before heading back, “ Jake’s father said.

He poured them coffees and led them to the dining room table.

Jake’s mother had cooked a roast, cut large slices for each of them, mashed potatoes, and two other vegetables Karl could not remember.

Three more mugs of coffee, extra helpings of the roast and the effects of the alcohol were gone three hours later. Karl took another mug of coffee for the road.

Irene shoved him on the passenger’s side when they reached the car and started it. Karl looked at her: “Just make sure you don’t drive on the right side of the road.” Karl laughed and went to sleep. Irene woke him when they approached Hamilton. “Wake up,” she said, shaking him with her right arm. “I’m not sure where we take the turn-off for Niagara.”

She parked the car, and Karl got out and sat behind the wheel.

By this time, he was sober and drove at top speed the rest of the way, arriving at the farm in less than an hour.

Grete was waiting for them in the front room, where she could see their car drive into the driveway. She ran to the door. Karl looked a mess, and Irene led him to a chair.

Grete shook her head. “You can never trust men to do the right thing. How was your day?”

“Fantastic. We went to shops I’d never imagined and decided on Katia’s wedding dress. We also chose a colour for my dress. But that is nothing. You should see how these people live. My mind is still whirling in circles.”

“Do you need to help him upstairs?”

Irene shook her head. He’s my responsibility, and I will see that he gets undressed and in bed.”

In the morning, Irene called her parents. “I want you both to fly to Toronto and join Karl and me at a fancy wedding in Toronto. It’s to that Russian woman. Call me – you have the number – and let me know what plane you will be coming on and when it will land in Toronto. Karl and I will be there to meet you.”

The telephone rang, and Irene answered it. It was Peggy. She was crying and asked for her father. Irene ran up the stairs and knocked on his door before opening it. Hugh was sitting up against his pillow and reading a magazine. Kay was sleeping but woke when she heard Irene’s voice.

“Peggy’s on the phone and crying. She wants to talk to you.”

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Hugh followed her downstairs. Grete was talking in a calm voice to Peggy. She held out the phone to Hugh shaking her head.

“I’m at the police station. They’ve arrested me for driving while intoxicated. Harry and I went to see one of his friends. He had asked me to marry him and wanted to share our good fortune with his golfing buddy. We shared a bottle of Sherry. I had one small glass, but Harry had more than he should have. He passed his keys to me, and I drove back when another car from the street we were passing crashed into us. Harry was badly hurt with his right arm cut very badly. The police arrived, and when they smelled alcohol on my breath, they arrested me and took me to the station after dropping off Harry at the hospital.”

High could barely hear the rest through her crying.

“I will be there as soon as I get dressed. What about the other car that smashed into you?”

“It backed up and drove away.”

Kay followed Hugh down and took the phone. “Were you injured in the crash?”

“I have a bad case of the jitters. Just get me out of here.”

Kay had dressed and brought down Hugh’s clothes. Hugh dressed quickly and felt his pockets. “My wallet. I have a feeling I will need it.”

Kay raced up the stairs, returned a minute later, and passed it to him. They sped all the way to the police station. They met Constable Graham at the entrance, who led them to where they had her seated.

Peggy rose as soon as she saw them and held her mother close as she started crying again.

Hugh took Constable Graham outside. “Peggy has told me she had only a small glass of Sherry and a slice of cake and coffee. That sounds like a long way from driving while intoxicated. Did she tell you the names of the people they were visiting? Harry had just proposed to her and wanted to share his news with his friend. Call them and see if they will back up her story.”

Hugh walked around Harry’s car and looked at the big dent in the door on the passenger side. “Is there any way you can track down the driver of the other car? The front of their vehicle has to be dented as well.”

“Thank you for coming. To be honest, we were holding your daughter until the morning. We haven’t formally charged her with anything and will have someone on dayside to look for a car with a damaged front.”

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A chill wind blew across the field fronting the police station.

Hugh shivered, “what about her boyfriend?”

“I drove him to the hospital before bringing your daughter to the station. We haven’t checked up on his injury yet.”

Peggy clung to her mother as they left the station. Hugh started back to the farm, but Peggy pounded his back. “I want to go to the hospital. I want to make sure Harry’s all right.”

Harry’s parents were already there and talking to a nurse at reception. Like his son, Oliver Newman was tall with a slim build. He had wavy brown hair, a handsome face and an authoritative bearing.

He and his wife, Jocelyn, smiled when they saw Peggy. “Thank you for coming,” said Harry’s father, shaking Hugh’s hand. “I understand Peggy and Harry are going to be married. He’s been asking for her.”

Hugh looked around for Peggy, but she had disappeared. Oliver Newman saw her leave for Harry’s room and smiled.

Peggy opened the door and peeked in. Harry was sitting up, wiping the tears from his eyes.

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eggy flew to him and kissed him, careful not to disturb his arm that was in a cast. “I would have come earlier but was taken to the police department. They smelled Sherry on my breath and thought I was drunk.

My father came and talked them out of it. We came here as soon as I was released.”

Harry held her close with his left arm and started to cry again.

Peggy wiped his eyes, “I won’t leave your side and be here all night.

Now, close your eyes and go to sleep. I will get it for you if you need anything and sit next to you when you wake.”

He looked at her and held her hand. “The doctor told me I may never be a golf pro, that the crash had broken my arm and that some important nerves have been severed.” He was breathing hard, and she wiped his brow with a cloth beside his bed.

“The future will take care of itself,” my grandmother told me.

“No one knows if you’ll ever be the great golf pro inside you.”

Harry smiled at her and squeezed her hand again before closing his eyes.

She asked the nurse who came to check on him if she could provide her with a pillow and a blanket. “I want to be at his bedside when he awakes.”

When Kay and Hugh returned, Karl and his mother sipped tea in the kitchen. “We heard that Peggy was in trouble,” said Karl.

“She and her boyfriend were in a bad accident. Harry hurt his right shoulder and arm, and the car that crashed into them disappeared. The police smelled Sherry on her breath and were going to charge her with driving while intoxicated. I was able to talk them out of it.”

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is Peggy now?”

“She decided to stay with Harry until morning.”

Angelo came into the kitchen and looked at them. “I thought I heard people talking.” He saw the tears in Kay’s eyes and sat beside her.

“Peggy and her boyfriend were in a bad accident. He’s in hospital, and Peggy has decided to be at his bedside,” said Hugh.

It was four o’clock when they went to bed. Kay tossed and turned and woke up Hugh every time. He finally rose, went into the front room, and slept on the sofa until Konrad woke him with a mug of coffee laced with Cognac. Hugh breathed in the aroma and came alive as she sipped on it.

By eight, the entire household was awake. May was feeding Rhinehart in the kitchen with Grete and Konrad when Irene and Karl came down. There was excitement in the air, with everyone wondering what was going to happen next.

Karl joined Hugh when he left to pick up Peggy, who was feeding Harry when they entered his room. “He’s like a baby,” said Peggy with a smile. He wiped his face and was about to leave when he reached out and held her arm. “Promise me you will come back later.”

Peggy smiled at him. “Count on it. I’ll be back to feed you supper. But I need to go home, take a long bath and change my clothes.”

Karl asked Hugh to make a detour to the police station. Constable Graham wasn’t there, but the constable on duty suggested he see the chief. He wore his uniform and looked tall, a force to be reckoned with.

Chief Emerson shook Karl’s hand. “How may I help you, captain?”

“It concerns someone in my family circle, Peggy McGill. The car she was driving was rammed by another car that took off without seeing if someone was hurt. Have you found that person yet?”

Emerson was nodding as Karl talked. “We have a lead and hope to arrest that individual before the end of the day.”

“And the name of that person?”

“Palmer Dykeman, a local banker.”

When Karl told Hugh what the chief had told him, Hugh exploded. “He’s the guy who tried to rape Peggy and left her alone in the dark and deep in the forest. When I found her, her face and arms were scratched with mud all over her body and dress. I wanted to go after him, but Peggy feared she would be talked about and wanted 167

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us to drop it.”

“The police should know about this.”

“Peggy would not want that known. Once he’s arrested, he’ll be charged with leaving the scene of an accident and causing bodily harm. They don’t even need to say he did it on purpose.”

“People like Dykeman get away with murder. I’ve had to deal with people like them all my life, even during my school days. But I’ll leave it to Peggy.”

Peggy was anxious to see her mother. She wanted to tell her that the accident had cost Harry his career as a professional golfer. “I don’t know what to say to him to make him feel better,” she said, “or how to make it up to him.”

“In my experience, bad things can also lead to even better, greater things. I have seen it many times in my life. You and he will see.”

Irene popped by her bedroom as Peggy was combing her hair.

“I was saving this for the right occasion to give it to you,” she said, passing her a cocktail dress she had bought at one of the high-end stores in London. “The style is all the rage in England now.”

Peggy took the dress from Irene’s stretched hands and pressed it to her body in front of the mirror. It was the colour of gold and showed off her hair in a new way. She smiled for the first time.

A shadow floated across Peggy’s face. “Maybe he will not want to marry me now.”

“He will need you now more than ever to find another passion to help him find his way to where he was meant to be. Life has a way of evening things out.”

In the morning, Hugh drove Peggy to the hospital and saw her safely inside, where a nurse escorted her to Harry’s room. He had moved him to a new room after another operation. His previous surgery had begun to fester and showed signs of enlarging.

She moved a chair next to his bed, reached out for his hand, and felt him squeeze back. Harry was coming out of the anesthetic and still feeling drowsy. From time to time, he would open his eyes and try to smile at her before going back to sleep.

Two hours later, an orderly came in with two trays – one for Harry and one for her. Peggy nodded to the nurse, who poked her head in. “He’ll be awake soon, and seeing you beside him will make him smile. His parents are here and waiting to see him. I’ll send them in when he wakes up.”

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her sit next to him. Harry opened his eyes a few minutes later and saw his mother holding his hand. She rose, wringing her hands and kissed him and started to cry. There were tears in his eyes as he felt her hands soothe his arm.

“Where’s Peg?” “She’s here, Harry. She was here before you woke up and looking after you.” She looked up at Peggy, who helped her sit back in the chair. “Here, you sit,” she said to Peggy. “Right now, he needs you, perhaps more than his father or me.”

“We talked to his doctor while waiting to see him,” Harry’s father said. “He says Harry will take some time to recover and will need a lot of care and understanding when he does.”

***

Kay was in the middle of placing new loaves of bread into the oven when the phone rang. Grete answered it and called out to Karl.

He picked up the receiver and said, “what’s this all about?”

“It’s Constable Graham, Captain. We have an update about Thorton Dykeman. His car is still in his driveway, but he is no longer at work. We’re not sure where he is, but we have a hunch he’s headed for the border. The Niagara Falls Police are checking with U.S. border guards to see if he’s gone through there. So far, we’ve had no luck, but we promise he will not escape. We will get him, no matter where he hides. The Niagara Police have also given pictures of him should he make a break for it through there later.”

“Thank you for the update, constable.”

“In the meantime, I’d be extra careful at the farm. Should you see someone you do not know, call us immediately. Do not try to confront this individual yourself.”

Karl called Hugh, his father and Angelo and told them to be on the lookout for anyone they did not know around the farm and repeated what the constable had told him.

Grete, Kay, May and Irene listened in. “Just how dangerous is this individual anyway?” said Irene.

“They think he’s lost control of himself with Peggy in his crosshairs.”

“He seemed like such a nice man,” said Grete. “Very mannerly.”

“I will not forgive him for what he did to Peggy. It was lucky that Hugh tracked her down when he did. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened to her.”

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“He won’t be the first man who lost his head over a woman,” said Irene.

***

Palmer arrived at his secret place in the Kitchener area, where he had many private weekends with young ladies from the Niagara area. He had taken great pains never to mention his secret place to anyone and, as far as he knew, only he knew how to find it. He had camouflaged it with several tall evergreens planted in front of it and had a month’s supply of food always in his pantry against such a day as this.

He was stupid to have rammed his car against Peggy and her new boyfriend but seeing them together and how she kissed him made his blood boil. Even the memory of it sickened him. He would show her in the end that no one could shun him and get away with it.

Palmer drove his sportscar behind his hideaway and entered.

It was growing dark, and it felt chilly. He brought in an armful of wood and started a fire in the old iron stove. He had bought some hamburg, bread and come cream for his coffee from a small store off the main highway to provide him with all the comforts of home.

When his hideaway became warm, he fried some hamburg and opened a can of beans. There were the remnants of a chocolate cake from a previous visit to eat with his coffee.

He turned on his battery radio to hear the news and Wednesday Night on CBC when it grew dark. They always had great dramas, which he loved.

He lit three candles, took off his shoes, sat on his sofa, and put his feet up. Thoroton closed his eyes as he listened to Lister Sinclair introduce this week’s play – Shakespeare’s As you Like It. He opened his eyes to put a coverlet over his knees when he saw a face in the window. It was only for a fleeting second but enough to scare the wits out of him. He threw off the blanket, slipped into his shoes without lacing them and headed for the door, grabbing his jacket on the way out.

He walked slowly back to his hideaway. He thought he saw a shadow slip into the forest just beyond the trail that led to his hideout and ran as fast as he could down the path, tripping over a tree root and landing in the bushes, cutting his hands. An owl in the tree above him hooted and sent shivers up his back. He looked at the mirror over the bathroom sink. His face was pockmarked with cuts 170

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that sent blood running down his cheeks.

Palmer washed his face, opened the drawer on the sink’s righthand side, and felt for the iodine bottle. His hand shook as he dabbed on the iodine on his face, which twisted in pain. Thornton looked at his face when he finished, barely recognizing himself. When the pain subsided, he crept into bed and closed his eyes. Outside, an owl was hooting as a deer thrashed through the forest.

He rose and downed three mouthfuls of Whiskey. Palmer could feel himself relax with every mouthful. He took a few more mouthfuls and closed his eyes again.

In the morning, he woke and could feel the pain immediately. He struggled to his feet and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like something out of a horror movie with the cuts and patches of iodine. He tried to smile, but the pain was too much. He dabbed his face in hot water. Palmer looked at himself again. He looked a shade better, but the cuts on his face began to bleed again.

He went to the stove to light it again when he heard voices outside. He edged himself to the window to see two young men with axes over their shoulders. Palmer held his breath as he watched one of the men walk to his door and try to open it. The door rattled as he tried to open it. The other young man foined his friend as they pushed hard against the door. It finally gave way, and they walked inside.

They looked at Palmer with the blood and the iodine patches on his face and screamed, running to the door and slamming it behind them as they ran headlong into the forest beyond.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

J

ake woke to see the sun flood his bedroom. A great omen for his wedding day. He bounced out of bed, singing to himself as she showered.

There was a faint knock at his door, and he wrapped himself in a towel to see his mother carrying a new shirt, a freshly ironed tuxedo, and a bowtie. He dried himself, slipped into his housecoat, and went downstairs for breakfast.

His father and mother were already seated. His mother rose to his breakfast. “Tania is eating in her room. I’ve already brought her breakfast and helped her prepare for the big day.”

“What about your friends in Niagara?” said his father.

“They’ll be driving up and will meet us at the church.”

“That’s cutting it pretty fine. I hope there are no problems.”

“Karl is a very resourceful guy. I’m not worried about him. He will drop off Irene here and take her to the church with Tania.”

“She has never looked more beautiful than on her wedding day and can’t wait to be at your side. But you’ll have to wait until she comes down the aisle.”

His mother rose to see Tania, who was pacing the floor. “I know I should not be nervous, but I am,” she said, laughing. In a way, she will miss her room with its Victorian-style wallpaper and the dressing table with its fancy mirror. She took another look around.

It was the kind of bedroom she saw in magazines, and she smiled to herself. One day, all this would be hers.

She had her mission and would do her best to meet her expectations. If only her mother could see her now.

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***

Karl had everyone up and ready for travel by nine. Kay had risen early to make breakfast for everyone and was looking forward to it. She left to help Hugh get dressed, while May and Rhinehart got ready. Irene was already dressed and had packed her bridesmaid dress in the trunk of Hugh’s Chev. May and Peggy drove with Grete and Konrad.

Rhinehart cried for much of the journey, stopping only as their car reached Toronto. Hugh dropped Karl and Irene off at Jake’s home and went on with the others to the church. Jake’s mother opened the door and led Irene and Jake into their living room.

“Jake will be down in a minute or two, and in the meantime, Irene and I will visit Tania and help Irene get into her bridesmaid’s dress.”

“How is she?”

“She looks stunning but seems uneasy for some reason or another.”

Jake came bouncing down the stairs and hugged Karl. He passed Karl the wedding ring. “I know you won’t lose it.” Jake was rattled on, looking nervously at the stairs as they made their way out the door and to Jake’s car.

“Do you want me to drive?”

“No, I’ll be all right. Just be there in case I forget what to do.”

“You won’t. Once you’re inside the church, it will be over before you know about it.”

They reached the church a few minutes later. Jake glanced at his watch. “We’re 18 minutes early.”

“That’s just about perfect. We will now enter the church, go up to the altar, and wait for Tania. She’ll be along before you know it.”

At the altar, Jake kept looking at the door almost every minute.

After what seemed an hour, the organ suddenly broke into music, and Jake could see Tania and his father, along with Irene, walk slowly up the aisle. Tania stopped just next to him.

A few minutes later, he was walking down the aisle with Tania on his arm. He was now married and couldn’t wait to get her into the back seat of his car with Karl at the wheel.

“Where to, Mr. and Mrs. Richmond?”

“To the Empire Hotel. And take your time getting there,” he said, lifting Tania’s veil to kiss her. The others were there before them, standing on the steps of the hotel and throwing confetti over them as 173

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they ducked and entered the hotel and headed for the dining room that had been reserved for the occasion. They took the elevator to avoid well-wishers and entered the dining room. Jake spotted his father and mother at the head table and seated himself and Tania as the room filled. A six-piece string orchestra played classical music.

Karl sat next to Irene, who was sharing a joke with Tania. He winked at Jake and stood. “I’m not used to giving speeches, but I must tell you the story behind Tania’s romance. Jake, the handsome devil that he is, was sent by Canadian Intelligence to distract Tania, an amazingly beautiful lady who was wooed by almost every Western correspondent. I was there undercover to create a few problems for the East German government. We hoped that Jake would distract her from my activities, but he did more than that. They fell in love with each other. We smuggled her to West Berlin when things got hot in East Berlin. Actually, we had to do it twice after she was kidnapped and taken back to East Berlin.

“But today, we come to a very happy ending that was meant to be. Please join me by raising your glasses to Jake and Tania. May they find peace, comfort and joy with each other for the rest of their lives.”

The orchestra struck up again, and the servers moved about the tables like dancers, placing appetizers at each table. The noise level rose, and Karl used his fork to get attention.

Irene stood and surveyed the hall until the noise level subsided before beginning. “I first got to know Tania through messages to and from her and Karl. She underwent a lot just to be with Jake. Since then, we can come to love each other like sisters.”

Some of Jake’s friends lined up to wish them well. When the tables were cleared, the string orchestra started playing dance music, and Jake and Tania led everyone to the dance floor. Someone started singing, and all the others joined in. It would be an afternoon and evening they would always remember.

Irene and Tania left to change clothes in one of the hotel rooms they had rented. When they changed their dresses, Tania decided to call her mother. “I’m not sure I will get through. You never know about things in Russia.”

She picked up the phone, asked for long-distance, and gave the operator her mother’s number. Irene saw Tania’s eyes light up and waved to her as she left to return to the dining room.

Jake spotted her first. “Where’s Tania?”

“She decided to call her mother. I left her once I saw her connect.

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I could see the tears in her eyes as she started talking.”

Jake shook his head. “Strange. I distinctly remember her telling me her mother had died.” He looked at Karl, who had heard the exchange, and nodded. “We’ll see what’s keeping her up.”

They took the elevator to the top floor and rapped on the door.

“It’s me, Tania. Let me in.”

There was no response. Karl looked at him. “Do you have a key?”

Jake shook his head. He spotted a waiter opening the door to the next room and called out to him. “Can you open the door to my suite? I left them with my wife.”

The waiter paused before unlocking the door. Jake entered first to see Tania lying on the floor. Karl knelt beside her and smelled her face. The smell of chloroform was still strong. He rose and went to the bathroom to wet a cloth and wipe her face. ”She’s been drugged.”

Jake kept shaking his head while Karl left to track down the waiter at the elevator. “My friend’s wife has been attacked by someone.

Did you see anyone on this floor in the past few minutes?”

The waiter shook his head. “I’ve not seen anyone since I arrived.”

When Karl returned, Jake was slowly bringing her around. “Who did this to you?”

Tania shook her head. “It was a woman. I thought it was Irene returning when I hung up, and this woman entered and withdrew a gun from her purse. She told me if I made a sound, she would kill me. When she heard you at the door, she produced a handkerchief from her purse and drugged me with it.” Tania’s words came out in pieces between breaths.

Karl went to the door leading to the balcony. He looked down and saw that someone with some agility could have made their escape down the fire escape close by.

There was a knock at the door before Irene entered. “We were wondering if something had happened to you three.” She noticed Tania stretched out on the large armchair beside the bed. “What has happened?” The colour in Irene’s face drained, and Tania sat down on the edge of the bed, suddenly dizzy.

Karl went to her side. “Someone tried to kill her. We prevented it from happening when we knocked on the door. Her would-be killer drugged her and probably escaped down the fire escape near the balcony.”

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escort me downstairs,” said Tania. “She entered, pulled a gun on me and ordered me to leave with her. That’s when Jake and Karl came to the door.”

Irene took charge. “Jake, you go down and tell your parents that we’re helping Tania get ready for her honeymoon. Karl will stay with me in case this lady decides to return and finish the job.”

Jake’s mother and father were waiting for them in the lobby.

“What on earth has kept you?” said his mother. “And where is Tania?”

“She met with an accident,” said Jake. “But Irene is with her, and they should be down presently.”

His father was smiling. “That was quite a turnout for a wedding, Jake. I’m surprised the CBC wasn’t here to broadcast it.”

“I didn’t tell them, said Jake.

“They should have seen the announcement in the newspaper.

Many of your friends did.”

Karl looked at Jake, and they both nodded. Wait, thought Karl, until he tells Irene. “I think a change in your honeymoon plans would be in order.”

When they returned to the suite, Irene had helped Tania dress, brush her hair and finish her makeup, and they were ready to go downstairs.

“I’ve decided to change our honeymoon plans. If you agree, we can find a place where we’re not known and be alone without the thought of being attacked,” said Jake.

Tania nodded. “Anywhere no one will track us down,” “I have an idea,” said Irene. “There is an unoccupied home at Karl’s farm – a two-story house with everything you need to set up house, a brook nearby, and a wonderful place to walk without seeing anyone.”

Tania was nodding. “Just be aware I’m not the best cook in the world,” she said, looking at Jake.

“Sounds great to me,” said Jake.

“And my mother and Kay would love to have you join us for lunch and supper, “ Karl said.

They returned to the lobby to find everyone waiting for them.

Jake took his parents to one side and told them he and Tania had decided to change their honeymoon plans.

“What on earth for?” said his father. “Banff is a wonderful honeymoon. Ask your mother,” he added with a laugh.

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week or two. I hope you understand.”

Karl had a quiet chat with his father, Hugh, his mother and Kay. “Tania’s life has been threatened, and she and Karl would like to spend their honeymoon at a place where they would be free. I suggested the house at the farm.”

“By all means,” said Hugh and Konrad.

“It’ll be nice to have them with us,” said Kay. Karl nodded at Jake. ”It’s all set. I suggest I drive down with you and Tania. Otherwise, you’ll get lost. The others will come after us to ensure no one is following us.”

Jake packed his car, and he and Karl escorted Tania to the garage.

Karl waited for his parents and Hugh to get to their cars before nodding to Jake to leave the garage. The sun was warm and welcoming as they passed Hamilton and down the highway to St. Catharines.

“Turn off at the next dirt road, you see,” said Karl.

A few minutes later, they were passing farms and then another dirt road that took them to the farm. “There’s space in the barn for your car if someone comes looking for you.”

They let Tania out of the car just as High’s Chev entered the driveway, followed by Konrad a few minutes later. Karl opened the barn doors while Kay and Grete escorted Tania inside the house.

“Tonight,” said Grete, “you will dine with us and test the wine we produce at our farm. In the meantime, you will join Kay and me as we make supper. Is there a special meal you would like?”

“Surprise us,” said Tania. She looked out the window to see Karl driving an old truck down the field with their suitcases with Jake sitting beside them.

A few minutes later, the truck entered the yard again. Jake was the first to jump off and followed Karl inside. “You can’t believe the house,” said Jake. “It has everything. It’s like being at a fancy resort.

Trees surround it, and if you stop and listen, you can hear the brook nearby.”

Hugh reached into the upper shelf and brought down their bottle of Cognac. He poured each of them a glass and raised it in a toast to them both. Kay began coughing as they downed her first mouthful.

“Why not entertain Tania in the front room while Grete and I finish getting supper ready.”

Irene led them in and turned on the radio to hear one of Jake’s broadcasts. It was his interview with Tania while they were in East Berlin.” Jake shivered a bit as he listened to it.

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May entered and told them supper was ready a few minutes later. At the end of the meal, Kay and Grete left and entered with a cake with two candles on it. Hugh left to turn off the lights. Everyone clapped in the candlelight.

“Now, both of you make a wish and blow out the candles.”

Konrad left and found an unopened bottle of the farm’s wine.

Tania sipped on it and smiled. “It is lovely.” Jake was nodding as he held out his glass for another shot.

Karl drove them down to the farmhouse. He opened the door and turned on the lights as Jake lifted Tania and walked past the threshold and into the front room.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

D

ykeman packed his bags and put them in the car. Someone was bound to investigate if those kids talked to the police or even their parents.

He started his car and drove it down the rough, rocky road to the main highway. He thought about returning to St. Catharines but decided that his chances would be better if he found a room in the Beaches area in Toronto as he neared the main highway. The sun flooded his car as he entered the 401. He glanced at himself in the mirror to see his face. It was healing faster than Dykeman expected, and some of the cuts were hidden by the growth of his whiskers. He looked a bit older, different somehow, with a beard and decided to let it grow before trimming it.

By the time Dykeman reached the Beaches, he felt better about everything. He drove slowly along the beach strip and decided he would blend in better if he found a room two or three streets away and found exactly what he was looking for in a tree-shaded street just off the main thoroughfare, where he stopped in front of a house with a small sign on its lawn.

“Apartment to Let”.

“I see you have an apartment to let,” he said with a smile to the older woman who crept to the door.

The old woman looked him over before she said, “it’s really small.

It may not suit your purposes.” Her voice was husky, and she bought up 178

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phlegm between coughs.

“It’s just for me.”

She opened the door wider and led him to the rear. “If you have a car, you can park your car behind the house. ” She paused at the door to the apartment. “It’s $20 a month. I need two months’ rent in advance.”

The apartment was really small. It consisted of a small kitchen with a wood stove, a bedroom just large enough to fit in a cot and a small bathroom without a bathtub.

“As I said, it is small,” she said with hesitation in her voice.

“It will suit me just fine,” said Dykeman, counting out 40 dollars to her. She counted the bills and passed him the keys to the apartment and back door. “There is a store just down the street. They will deliver for 50 cents. You can use my phone.”

“That would be very kind,” he said, following her to her living room, where he found an old phone attached to the wall with the receiver hanging next to the mouthpiece. “The store number is on the list beside the phone.”

He returned to his apartment and felt safe for the first time. He lay down on the cot, rising when he heard a knock on his door. It was a young delivery boy who had come on his bicycle. Dykeman dialled the number and ordered enough food to last him a few weeks. He passed the order to Dykeman and waited for him to pay him. The bill came to eight dollars and forty-four cents, and Dykeman gave him the money and thanked him.

Dykeman made some bacon and eggs, toast and a pot of coffee. He still felt hungry and added three oatmeal cookies which he dunked into the coffee. The apartment had a small radio on a table next to the stove. He brought it into the bedroom, lay on the cot, and listened to the CBC. It was dark when he opened his eyes. He made his way to the kitchen, where he turned on the light that hung from the ceiling.

He listened to the radio for the next three days and cooked himself proper meals, complete with meat, potatoes, and the apple pie he had also ordered and rested. His beard covered his cuts now; if he wore his broadrimmed hat and sunglasses, no one would know who he was. It was time to settle scores with Peggy, who still haunted his mind. He smiled.

Before Dykeman fled the bank, he had heard that Peggy would be getting married in the coming weeks. He toyed with the idea of attending church on her wedding day and challenging the marriage. He knew that he would only be causing problems for himself if he did. He thought of other options and slowly concluded that if she would not have him, no one else would either.

He would track her down, lure her into his car, and offer her the option of marrying him or not living to see herself married to anyone else. He would kill her and bury her in the forest if she refused. There was only one problem. She knew his car by sight, and he would need a different vehicle 179

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to carry it out.

The next day, Dykeman found a garage that rented cars by the week.

He had enough time to carry out what he had in mind. He rented the vehicle on the spot and paid cash in advance. At the same time, he also decided to have his own car painted a different colour. He would do that once he returned and take off from there.

***

“I can’t wait to get married.” Peggy sat opposite her mother, holding her face in both her hands.

Grete smiled. “A year from now, you’ll wonder what the hurry was all about.”

Irene answered the phone. “It’s the bakery,” she yelled to Peggy, who came running. “They told me your cake was ready, and if you want to make any changes, you would need to come to the shop and let them know today.”

It was lunchtime, and Hugh and Konrad came in from the yard. Hugh had barely sat when Peggy sat down beside him. “I need to go to the bakery in St. Catharines about my wedding cake. They told me I needed to come in today to make any changes. Can you drive me?”

“It’s an awkward time just now. Can’t it wait until tomorrow? Konrad and I must get our new plants in the ground today.”

“I’m free,” said Karl, “and I know Irene can’t wait to go shopping. We can drive her to the bakery, drop her off and come back for her when Irene is through shopping.”

“Take my car. It may need some gas,” said Hugh.

***

Dykeman drove the car to St. Catharines and parked near the shopping area. He sat in the car and watched women enter and leave the clothing stores and nearby bakery. It was on the third day Dykeman spotted Peggy enter the bakery. He rubbed his beard, dug out the cane he acquired as part of his disguise and hobbled into the bakery.

He bumped into Peggy on purpose, smelling her perfume and wanting to be close to her. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“No problem, miss. When you get old, you bump into all kinds of things,” he said in a gruff voice.

He stood behind her as the clerk brought in her four-tier wedding cake.

“It’s quite heavy,” said the clerk, unwrapping the see-through gauze paper surrounding the cake. It stood higher and bigger than she had imagined. It had white frosting with blue hearts surrounding it. Peggy had her turn the cake around, nodded, and smiled at every turn. “Just one more thing,” said Peggy, “I’d like the bridegroom and the bride to be a bit larger if possible.”

The clerk nodded. “It will be ready for you tomorrow.”

Peggy glanced at her watch. There were no signs of Irene or Karl.

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Dykeman could ready the impatience in her eyes. He stepped up to the counter, ordered two dozen oatmeal cookies, and took the bag from the clerk. He paused at the door. “I’m going towards Niagara. If you would like me to drop you off along the way,” he said in his gruff voice, “I would be happy to do so.”

“If it’s not too much trouble,” said Peggy.

He shook his head, pulled his white-brimmed hat over his eyes, and hobbled outside the door. Peggy paused at the door and yelled to the clerk, “ If anyone comes looking for her, I’ve got a ride home with this older gentleman.”

Peggy helped him inside the car and sat opposite him. When they reached the main road, he stopped the car. “I have to do something,” he said and slowly got out of the vehicle. She heard him rummage in the trunk and return with a paper bag. He returned and asked her to hold the bag. It took him a minute or two to settle in the front seat again. He took the bag from her and said, “it’s something I’d like you to have.”

He reached into the bag, grabbed the white handkerchief, and placed it over her mouth. Peggy struggled for a few minutes before falling back and went to sleep.

She was still asleep when he reached his cabin and carried her inside.

He laid her on his bed and sat beside her to be there when she woke up.

He went to the bathroom, spent the next 30 minutes shaving off his beard and returned to see that she had turned in her sleep.

She woke at dusk. She raised herself on one elbow and looked around.

She had no idea where she was until she saw Dykeman. She panicked.

“Where have you taken me?”

“Somewhere no one knows about, in case you think someone will rescue you if you are quiet and do what I ask, you will come to no harm. If you think otherwise, you will not leave my cabin alive.”

He rose, walked into the kitchen and brought each of them a sandwich. “If you’d like another, just say so. In the meantime, I’d like to have a quiet chat.” He paused to look into her eyes. “I would like you to marry me.”

“I’m already engaged,” said Peggy flatly.

“Then you will not leave here alive. I will bury you deep in the forest, and no one will ever find your remains. I suggest you think this over carefully before making a final decision.”

Peggy knew then if she hoped to escape, it was to say as little as possible. And if he forced her into a decision to tell him, she needed to think about it a bit more and needed the time.

At midnight, he handcuffed her to the bed and went to sleep in a large chair near the bed. She tried to remove her hands from the cuffs but only ended up bruising her hands.

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my handbag,” she said, “What for?”

“I want to look my best for you.”

She knew she had never looked better when she emerged from the toilet.

***

“When did she leave?” said Karl.

“Almost two hours ago. An older gentleman offered to drive her home.

She decided to go with him and asked me to let you know.”

Karl got into the car and raced out to the main highway. “If I’m right, it has Dykeman plastered all over it. If that’s the case, God alone knows where he’s taken her. I fear for her safety. There’s something not right about that man.”

They rolled into the yard about 20 minutes later and went straight inside. “Where’s Peggy?” Karl shouted.

“With you,” said Kay. “An older gentleman picked her up at the bakery and offered to drive her home.”

Irene could hear Karl grit his teeth. “It has Dykeman for sure. Who knows where he may have taken her.”

“I should have driven her,” said Hugh.

He has a hideout somewhere. Call the police and get them on this right away. He’s gone underground, and the longer we fiddle our fingers, the less time she will be alive.”

Hugh went to the phone, called the police, and told them what had happened.

“We don’t think he’s in the Niagara area; otherwise, we would have caught up with him before now. We sent a message to other police departments to be on the lookout for him.”

The police called and got Hugh out of bed around six o’clock. “We got a curious message from the Kitchener Police about a couple of youngsters seeing a madman with blood on his face in a small cabin in the woods.”

As soon as Karl heard, he knew that was exactly where they would find Dykeman. Kay packed them some sandwiches and a large thermos of coffee, and an hour later, Hugh, Konrad and Karl were on the road, driving straight through until they reached Kitchener Police station.

***

Peggy spotted a long poker hanging beside the stove. She walked into the kitchen and took the frying pan from Dykeman. “Let me cook breakfast. How do you like your eggs?”

Dykeman couldn’t resist her smile and passed the frying pan to her.

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into the toaster. She then had him sit at the table before bringing him the plate with his bacon and eggs, with buttered toast on the side.

She sat down opposite him and joined him in a coffee.

“You’ve made up your mind, I believe,” said Dykeman.

Peggy nodded with her brightest smile. She noticed that his coffee cup was nearly empty and rose, took his mug and poured a fresh cup for him, grabbing the poker with her other hand. It was now or never. She knew she would be done if he saw her with the poker in her hands. He turned his head when it was too late as they threw the contents of the mug into his eyes and hit his head with the poker.

Dykeman fell to the floor and made an effort to rise. Peggy ran to the door and tried to open it. It was stuck, and she pulled on it with all her might. It gave but only a crack. She looked at him, crawling toward her. He grabbed her leg. She tried to kick him away, but he held her legs in a tight grasp.

He pulled her to the floor and hit her face with his hand. She reeled back.

He rose to his knees and grabbed the poker just as the door opened.

“Drop that poker now, or I will kill you,” said the police officer, who entered with her father, Karl and Konrad at his heels.

“If you try, this lady will die before you pull the trigger.

Karl, who was also carrying a revolver, pointed it at him. “Think again.”

Dykeman raised the poker and was about to hit Peggy in the head when the officer shot him.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

K

ay had to admit to herself that she was relieved when Peggy took off on her honeymoon. The kidnapping took a lot out of her, and she was happy that Dykeman would no longer be a factor in her worries. She liked Harry and his parents and felt Peggy would be well looked after should something happen to her and Hugh. She envied Grete with her grandchild and hoped Peggy would not put off having children. Irene had become a second daughter to Grete and had to admit, even to her.

Despite what Hugh thought, Crete had some uneasiness about Tania.

There was something she could not shake. Every time she sat down with Tania, she felt an unease in her stomach.

Tania promised to cook supper and arrived with various vegetables in her arms. “The favourite soup in Russia, which my mother made almost every day, is Borscht. You will like it.”

“What about other soups?” said Konrad.

“Solyanka. It’s a thick soup, a meal in itself, Shchi or cabbage soup, and Ulcha or fish soup. But tonight, I will make only Botdcat and Beef Stroganoff.”

She put everything on the counter and began peeling the beets and preparing beef stroganoff. While they all liked the Beef Stroganoff, they had to admit she also liked the Borscht. Hugh had two bowls and cleaned his plate of Beef Stroganoff with his bread.

They ended the night with a glass of Brandy and toasted Tania for her dinner.

Before taking their leave, Tania asked Irene about the shops in Buffalo and decided she would like to cross the border into the U.S. and buy a couple of outfits. She asked Irene to be her guide.

“I’m not so sure it’s a good idea,” said Karl. “It could be very dangerous for both of you. You’re safe here because no one knows you’re here, but once you step out into the limelight, you’re inviting trouble.”

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who was eager to go.

Jake and Tania decided to stay overnight at the farm and get an early start in the morning.

Kay and Grete were up by six o’clock and were preparing breakfast when Irene and Tania came down. “I couldn’t sleep thinking about shopping across Buffalo,” said Tania.

“We’ll dine at one of the fancy restaurants while we’re there,” added Irene. Grete looked at Kay and smiled.

Jake and Karl came down last. “I share your concerns, Karl, but I’ll stick to them like glue.”

They left in high spirits in Jake’s car, which had to be swept clear of straw from the barn. They sang old English war songs until they reached the border. The guard at the U.S. booth was not inclined to let Irene or Tania enter. “My name is Jake Richmond. I am on assignment for CBC Radio in Toronto. One of the ladies is my recent wife, and the other is married to a captain in the Canadian Army. I will be responsible for their safe return.”

The guard, a young man in his early 20s, wasn’t sure. “You’re cleared to go, but I need to check with one of the older guards.” He left his post and talked to the guard in the next booth, a man with grey hair and in his late 50s, who walked over to their booth, “Why do these ladies want to visit the U.S.?” he said in a smooth voice.

“We want to go shopping. We understand the shops in Buffalo have the latest New York styles,” said Irene.

The older guard nodded to the younger one and returned to his post.

“When will you be returning?” said the younger one, who took down their names.

They sped along the highway at a comfortable speed, with Tania and Irene marvelling at the tall buildings in the distance and entered the downtown area a short time later. Jake stopped to fill his gas tank while Irene left the car to ask a young woman filling her gas tank where to find the best clothing stores.

“Just keep on this road, and you’ll be at Buffalo’s most expensive women’s stores. Good luck.”

When they reached the shopping area, it took Jake 20 minutes to find a parking spot. It was in an elevated garage that cost 25 cents an hour. He accompanied them to the store area and stood while they looked into the shop windows before deciding to enter one. That was three shops later, located in a six-storey building. Jake followed them inside, past rows of dresses on racks at the front. They slowly made their way to the shoe department, where he sat and tried on at least 20 styles.

Next were the latest sundresses and the optical store, where they tried different sunglass styles. There were more styles on the second floor, which also featured a restaurant. They led Jake inside the restaurant and ordered Danish pastry and coffee. Jake lit a cigarette and listened to them review 185

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what they saw, only to check the other stores later before making up their minds.

The store next to it was in a large, one-storey building that displayed the latest New York styles from different designers. They also checked out the store and decided to try the next one.

Irene became conscious of a man staring at them and whispered to Tania, who glanced at him. She shook her head. “Just someone looking at us. It’s been that way ever since I was a child.”

They crossed the street where Buffalo’s largest clothing store was located. Jake spotted a tavern a short distance away. “I’m going down there for a couple of beers. When I return, you will find me at the tavern if I don’t see you in front of the store. Meet me there.”

His feet were getting sore, and his legs were tired. He sat down on the first empty stool and ordered a beer.

***

It was the third time the phone rang, and no one answered. May heard it from outside and answered it on the fourth ring when she came in from outside. A man’s voice asked for Karl. She put her hand over the mouthpiece and shouted for Karl. There was no response.

“He’s not here at the moment,” said May. “Tell him it’s Col. Stone and for him to call as soon as possible.”

It was close to noon when Karl came in for lunch. He had been helping Hugh and his father with planting the new grapevines.

“The phone has been ringing off the hook for you all morning.”

“Who was it?”

“A Col. Stone. He asked that you call him as soon as possible.”

Karl went to the phone and dialled the long-distance operator. Stone picked up on the second ring. “It’s Karl Aberbach, Colonel. I just got your message now.”

“It’s about Tania. Be sure that someone is with her at all times. She’s a double agent and could cause a lot of trouble for us unless we keep her away from her Russian friends.”

Karl jumped into his father’s car and headed for the Falls. When he reached the entrance to the U.S., he was stopped by the same guard that had entered Jake, Irene, and Tania. The guard looked at his uniform and nodded for him to proceed. “If you’re looking for a man with two ladies, they indicated they were going shopping in Buffalo.”

“I am. Best way to get to the shopping area?”

“Stay on the road, and you’ll find it quick enough.”

Karl spotted Irene talking to Jake coming out of a tavern. He stopped the car and yelled to Jake, “where’s Tania?”

Irene was shaking her head. “She’s disappeared on us.”

“What do you mean, disappeared?”

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We both saw outfits we liked and went to the changing room to try them on. When I came out, I rapped on her door, but there was no answer.

After a few minutes, I asked the clerk to see if Tania was all right. When the clerk opened the door, Tania had somehow disappeared. Only the outfit she was trying on was on the bench inside.”

“There’s a problem. I had a call from Stone telling me that Tania was a double agent and could do us much harm.”

“I can’t believe that,” said Jake.

“Believe it or not, she has suddenly disappeared. Either on her own volition or forced by someone else. I need to get to a phone and call Stone ASAP.”

***

The door opened just as Tania was taking off her dress. A man entered and whispered, “put your dress back on. We need to leave here now.”

Tania knew who it was by the sound of his voice. It was Georgi Agafanov, the enforcer. She hadn’t seen him since she left Moscow. There were streaks of grey in his beard now, and his voice had a hardness about it she had not known before.

She just looked at him, not quite sure what to do.

“Mother Russia wants you back where you belong.”

Tania took a deep breath. “I do not want to go back now. I am married to a good man who really loves me, and good people surround me. I have a new life.”

“Either get dressed now, or I swear I will kill you and your friend before I leave.”

Tania put on her dress and started to shake. She knew that he would kill her without a second thought. He opened the door, led her out, and through a door at the back of the store to an alley outside. His hand gripped her arm tightly. She tried to shake herself free, but he just tightened his grip.

Out in the alley, he pushed her towards the street, where a car awaited them. She knew that she would never see Jake again unless she escaped now. “If you don’t let me go, I will scream.”

He loosened his grip, his face twisted in anger. Tania shook herself free and started to run. He caught her legs and threw her onto the cobblestone alley. “Another attempt you will regret it for the rest of your life.”

Karl looked down that alley. He could see Tania in conversation with another man who seemed to be threatening her. He waved to Jake to follow and ran down the alley.

Agafanov looked up to see two figures running towards him. He was ready for anyone who got in his way. He released his grip on Tania, withdrew a long, thin knife meant for carving meat from his holster, and touched her face with the tip. “Either walk to the car without another word, or I will use it on your face. We’ll see how much your new husband will 187

FEMME FATALE

love you then.”

He knew he had her then. But Tania suddenly stopped. “I’m not going with you or anyone else. I no longer want to do this dirty work ever again.”

She reached out, grabbed the hand holding his knife, and screamed at the top of her voice just as Karl arrived, picking up a stick as he ran. He didn’t stop. Karl knew exactly what to do: one of Rhineholt’s tricks. He ignored Agafanov’s long knife, bowed his head and run into Agafanov’s stomach, knocking him to the street.

“Run as fast as you can,” he yelled at Tania, who seemed spellbound

by Karl’s intervention.

Agafanov reached for his knife and stood, grabbing her by her neck and backing away. Tania suddenly came to life and elbowed him. With his free hand, he slit her face and the back of her arm in three places before dashing for the car waiting for him. Jake tripped him and was knocked down with him.

Tania fell onto the cobblestone alleyway. She tried to cover her face with her hands to stop blood pooling around her. “Help me,” she cried out as Irene, who was brushed aside by the force of her attacker, got to her feet and ran down to her.

Karl raced to where she lay. Jake arrived seconds later. He removed his jacket and shirt and put it on Tania’s face.

“We need to get her out of here and to a hospital in a real hurry.,” said Irene.

A policeman spotted them carrying Tania out of the alley. “Someone had attacked my wife,” said Jake. “She’s losing blood, and we need an ambulance.”

“Follow me,” he said, running to a police call box at the end of the street and arranged for an ambulance.

The ambulance arrived five minutes later. Jake got in with her, held her hand, and kept murmuring, “I’m here now, Tania. You have nothing to fear.”

Karl and Irene followed them to the hospital and inside emergency, where two nurses wheeled her inside an operating room.

Irene found a coffee place and brought them back a cup.

“It’s all my fault,” said Jake. “If I had stayed with them as promised, this would not have happened.”

The police who had called the ambulance for them appeared. “Just following up. Was she able to tell you who did this to her? And how did she happen to be in an alley with someone like that? We have an eyewitness who saw a big hulk of a man race down the alley and into a waiting car. So it had to be someone she knew.”

“My wife is Russian. The man who attacked her was Russian. We are sure of that.”

“My name is Karl Aberbach. I am a captain in the Canadian Army.

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Our Intelligence Group warned me not to let her out of our sight. The call came after my wife and Jake, and his wife had left. I came to warn them, just a few minutes late.”

The policeman stopped taking notes, not quite sure how to proceed.

“We have every reason to believe the man attacking her was a Russian operative,” added Karl, “and feel she would be safer now back in Canada, where we can have someone with her at all times,” said Jake.

“We can have Col. Stone, who heads our Army Intelligence, take the matter up with your chief, if need be,” said Karl.

“To tell you the truth, I think it would be simpler if you take her back to Canada as soon as she can be moved.” He looked up to see one of the operating nurses walking toward them.

“Mr. Richmond?” she said.

Jake raised his hand.

“The surgeon is with her now, and you can talk to him about what we have been able to do. Your wife is very weak. She lost a lot of blood and needed a transfusion. She’ll need to stay overnight.”

“Then the three of us will be at her bedside as soon as she is in her room,” said Irene.

The surgeon appeared a half-hour later. “Your wife is in a state of shock and will need a lot of care when she recovers. We sewed up the cuts on her face, but I’m afraid it will leave some scarring. Your wife is a very beautiful woman and may need counselling when she leaves.”

They entered her room just after supper. Jake sat next to her and held her hand. Once or twice she opened her eyes and gripped his hand before dozing off again. The bandages still covered her face.

“On one occasion, she opened her eyes to see Irene. “How do I look?”

“You look fine to me. Your face is still covered with bandages.”

“What do you think Jake will think when he sees me?”

“He’s just thankful you’re still alive and blames himself for everything.”

Tania closed her eyes and smiled. “War is a place for losers,” she whispered as she went to sleep.

***

The bandages came off the next day just before noon. The sewing threads were black and stood out. Tania took one look and started to cry.

Jake held her close. “The threads won’t be there forever. Once they’re gone, you will look like your old self.”

“What if I am scared like this forever?” I’d rather die than have that happen.”

“You won’t be. Once you’re healed, all you’ll see will be a few creases.

And those you can cover up with a bit of makeup,” said the surgeon.

“You’re just saying that to cheer me up,” she said.

“You will see.”

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Jake broke in. “The only thing that matters to me is that you’re healthy and strong and with me.”

The nurse entered 20 minutes later and told her she could go home.

Karl and Jake left as Irene stayed behind to help her dress.

Everything looked so different when they drove back. Karl had called ahead to have his mother cook a mammoth chocolate cake with boiled brown sugar icing, Tania’s favourite, and a roast beef supper everyone would talk about for months.

Tania tried to hide her face in a white silk scarf until Grete sat down next to her. Grete brushed her hair with her left hand and smiled at her.

“You have a rare beauty that glows inside you. Before, I saw a shadow, but now it shines in your face and gives it your real beauty. But that is not all. You may not know it yet, but you’re pregnant.”

Katia looked at her with her mouth open.

J

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

im Carr’s adventure with words began as a teacher of Latin grammar for the first five years. He studied Latin for seven years and holds a degree in Classics and English. He has written a Latin Grammar called Lingua Latina, Latin for Beginners.

It was followed by a lengthy career in print journalism at two daily newspapers as a reporter, copy editor, columnist and editor. He left journalism to become a communications specialist for a number of national and international corporations and institutions.

In retirement, he returned to journalism and now acts as associate editor of Spa Canada magazine and a freelancer for other publications. He writes a blog about Thai Retreats and spas, which is featured on Spa Canada’s website.

He has also written an eBook about 50+ outstanding Thai resorts, and their spas in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Koh Samui, Krabi, and Phuket called Spa Magic Collection.

Four mystery novels, Abbot’s Moon, Gravediggers The Door, and Death Star and his book of short stories, Betrayal, are available as ebooks and print books. His other books include There’s Always Tomorrow, a historical romance; Yesterdays, The Book of the Dead, set in 1936 Italy, and The Alchemist.

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