“Animal,” she said. She took the sheet off her bed and tied him up tightly. A pillowcase made a marvelous gag.
He wasn’t moving. She checked for a pulse and there was one. She despised him but had not planned on killing him. Her decision had been made for her. She would leave right now.
Lena dressed quickly, this time in the heavy and practical clothing she’d already squirreled away. These included some of Astrid’s ski clothing, including her boots. They were large for her but she solved the problem by stuffing them with rags. She went to the kitchen and filled a cloth sack with food that would both be nourishing and would last. At least that was her hope. She also added some kitchen knives and a cleaver to the sack.
“What is happening? What have you done to Anton?”
Lena had been concentrating so hard that she’d missed the sound of Anton’s sister Astrid coming home. “You’ve murdered him,” Astrid yelled again.
Lena screamed, letting go of suppressed rage. She grabbed a lamp and smashed it against Astrid’s head. The young woman dropped to the floor like puppet whose strings had been cut.
Lena checked for a pulse. It was there but light and feathery. A shame, she thought, but she could not, would not, do anything to help either one of her captors.
More bedding was used to secure Astrid. Lena completed her escape plans by breaking into Gustav Schneider’s gun rack. His shotguns and rifles would be too obvious and they would be awkward for her to carry. She smiled when she saw the Luger he said he’d brought back from the Great War. He always bragged that he’d used it in combat and had killed Frenchmen with it. She doubted that he’d gotten anywhere near the trenches and had probably won it in a card game.
It didn’t matter. She had it now along with several clips of ammunition. The extra ammo went into another sack and the pistol was tucked in the small of her back. There was a shoulder holster and she took that as well. It was too large for her but maybe she could adjust it. Nor did she have to worry about Olga, the cook.
Finally, she found a couple of pieces of Herr Schneider’s official Nazi stationery and quickly typed passes for herself, signing Gustav’s signature to them. One was in her own name and the other in her mother’s maiden name. She was now both Lena Bobekova and Lena Madzyk. Better, the papers authorized her to go anywhere she wished with the blessings of Adolf Hitler.
She went back to where Anton and Astrid were tied up. Astrid’s eyelids were fluttering, so maybe she would recover. Good, Lena thought. Anton was more alert and staring at her. She took the cleaver from the sack and held it in front of his nose. His eyes widened in fear and he started to cry. She turned the knife and dragged the flat side down to his swollen testicles and alongside his bruised penis.
“You are an evil little boy. I should cut this off and save everyone a lot of trouble. When your parents come home, you will tell them that I could have killed you but did not. Do you understand?”
Anton nodded. She smiled as she noticed that he had also peed himself. She let herself out the back. With a couple of hours lead, she could be anywhere before the Schneiders started a search. In the growing chaos of the times, she wondered if there would even be a search.
* * *
Field Marshal Ferdinand Schoerner gave the Nazi salute. He then jubilantly rushed and embraced Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels. “It is so good to see you, Minister,” he said with genuine enthusiastically.
Goebbels laughed. It was good to be off the road and out of an ambulance. Even though he was currently in a cave carved into a mountain, there was a strong feeling of security and safety. And of hope for the future of the Reich.
“I won’t ask you if you had a pleasant trip. I think we all know better.” Schoerner turned and waved the others out of his office. “I believe it is time for privacy.”
When they were alone and behind closed doors, Schoerner poured brandies into expensive crystal and they toasted their good fortune. “Thank you,” Goebbels said. “I’m exhausted. I feel like I’ve been on another planet for the last several weeks. I’ve lost track of everything. However, I do know that the Americans have crossed the Rhine and that the British have followed suit. Is there any hope of stopping them?”
“None whatsoever,” said Schoerner sadly. “Nor is there any hope of stopping the Soviets. Berlin will be destroyed and many of the people trapped inside will die horribly.”
“Then I am doubly glad to be here with the children. They and their mother are staying in Bregenz. They are comfortable and their villa is on the outskirts of a town that is almost too small to have outskirts.”
Schoerner laughed. He noticed that Goebbels had not mentioned Magda by name. He had already gotten word from one of the ambulance drivers that there had been several flare-ups between Josef and Magda during the last few days. Magda and the children would live in Bregenz while separate quarters were made up for her husband. It was what he had anticipated. He would also arrange for attractive women to be available if the Reich Minister was so inclined-as he generally was.
Goebbels’ second brandy appeared to be relaxing him. “And what is the shape of the army, Herr Schoerner?”
“It could be much better and it definitely could be very much worse and I am not trying to be confusing. We have elements of at least fifty divisions in the Redoubt with more arriving daily. Unfortunately, the operative word is elements. A full infantry division should have seventeen thousand men. These remnants sometimes only have two or three thousand, sometimes much less. Worse, a disproportionate number of these are from noncombat and rear echelon areas. Our real combat forces have been decimated. General Warlimont has been working tirelessly and brilliantly to reorganize these battered groups into something resembling a coherent force. They will not be the same German army that invented the Blitzkrieg and destroyed France in only a few weeks, but they will do extremely well when well-fortified and fighting on the defensive.”
Goebbels was satisfied. “Fighting such a defensive war is why we came to the mountains, Field Marshal. The days of launching huge armies across vast continents and winning great victories are over. At least for the time being,” Goebbels added with a smile. “Who knows what might happen in the future. Right now our goal is simply to survive.”
“Indeed,” said Schoerner. “Our forces have other problems that we are trying to confront. For instance, we have only a few dozen planes and pilots and very little fuel. The Luftwaffe is somewhere between nonexistent and grounded. While we did manage to bring in a goodly number of artillery pieces and antiaircraft weapons, we do not have an excess of ammunition. The factories set up by Herr Speer’s minions are just now beginning to produce but they will never be able to supply ammunition in the quantities that we really need.”
Goebbels nodded. What he needed and wanted desperately was a good night’s sleep. The last few days with Magda had almost driven him mad. The closer they got to safety the more unreasonable and irritable she had become, loudly reminding him of every affair he’d ever had, including some he had totally forgotten. He’d countered by reminding her of her own sexual escapades. Thank God the children traveled in a separate vehicle.
Schoerner was still talking and Goebbels was jarred back to reality. “I didn’t mention armor, but the situation there is reasonably good. Warlimont’s ever-changing inventory says we have about five hundred tanks of all kinds. Few are Panthers or Tigers, but most of them are Panzer IVs with upgraded guns. Fuel is again an issue, so they will likely be used as a mobile defense force.”