“Anyway, most of the time, the starving Ronald was visited by the sadistic bitch, although she was always in the company of the other soldiers. Watching was her thing. This beautiful beast never got her hands dirty. Dogs, both canine and human, always provided the torment she so enjoyed to witness. Only, with Ronald’s beatings she appeared less impressed. Instead of grinning and panting, watching him punished had her quiet and cold, as if she was trying to be somewhere else.
“I find it hard to believe that such a character would have any feelings for anyone,” Sam chipped in. “The psychology just does not make sense. She had to have had some incentive for her behavior.”
“Maybe she simply… fell in love,” Purdue smiled.
“Bollocks,” Sam disagreed.
“Nevertheless, this is written in his journal, in his handwriting,” Bernard defended the story. “And since he was eventually in possession of Excalibur, Irma Bormann had to have given it to him.”
“I think he stole it,” Nina guessed. “I mean, he managed to successfully break into the storage rooms and flee almost undetected. Who says he did not steal the sword, plain and simple?”
“And then wrote this shite in his diary to cover his crime,” Sam added onto Nina’s conjecture.
“Ha!” Purdue laughed. “Ever the cynics!” He looked at Bernard and Ava and gestured with open hands at Sam and Nina. “I told you my friends were sharp at seeing through smokescreens!”
Ava smiled at Sam and Nina. “He did tell us that before you two arrived today.”
Nina shrugged and looked at Sam. “Years of collective bullshit endured and overcome, I suppose.”
“Aye!” Sam cheered, holding his glass up to Nina. She clinked it with hers.
“Okay, alright, but let us allow Bernard to tell us what the journal said, even just for interest sake,” Purdue intervened jovially. That same open hand reached to Bernard as Purdue invited him to continue his story. “Please, my friend, do carry on.”
With a laborious sigh, Bernard agreed. “Well, it says that, one night late, after one of Ronald’s torturous sessions, Irma ordered the guard to let him out. Ronald wrote that she tied his hands behind his back and took him to her chambers, commanding the guard to cover for his absence until she would return the prisoner.”
“I guess she did get her hands dirty after all, hey?” Sam jested. The ladies smiled at his naughty reference. “Maybe he was fed after all.”
“Details withstanding, yes,” Bernard chuckled. He looked at his sister. “But since I am to spare the details of Ronald’s account, we can all make our assumptions.”
The grandfather clock struck eleven, surreptitiously reminding the guests of the time, but Bernard spoke over the chimes, hoping not to end the night quite so soon.
“One night, Bormann showed Ronald her collection of knives and swords. He said that he had never seen so many priceless pieces in one place, all apparently genuine weapons seized from heads of state and kings of Europe. Practically everywhere where art and private collections were plundered by the Axis forces, Bormann obtained one or two blades courtesy of her colleagues in the SS,” Bernard relayed. “Among them was what she claimed was King Arthur’s sword, Caliburnus or Excalibur, still sheathed. Ronald was so blinded by the powerful sword that he paid no mind to the scabbard, which seemed to have been crudely fashioned only to carry the sword in. But he would change his mind about that in a few weeks from that night.”
“Why? What happened?” Purdue pressed, just as Bernard hoped he would.
“Well, weak with hunger and barely able to see anymore, Ronald was close to death. On that fateful night, he returned from Bormann’s chamber, as usual. When the guard took him at the door, Ronald brandished an Egyptian khopesh Bormann received as gift from the North African campaign. He was wearing the sheath with Excalibur under the blanket that was draped over his shoulders, holding the khopesh there too. He killed the guard and dressed in his uniform, just as Bormann had instructed.”
“No way,” Ava said. “Did they elope?”
Her brother shook his head. “Problem was that the Stabsscharführer got wind of Bormann’s reprehensible affiliation with the Brit and expected this to happen at some point,” Bernard narrated like a professional. “In true Nazi fashion, they locked Bormann, along with her dogs, in the same cell where Colin and his family were devoured. There they left her to starve. Unfortunately for her, the dogs got hungry sooner. They dismembered her long before she had the privilege of starvation.”
“Jesus Christ, Bern,” Ava bitched angrily. “I told you I do not want to know.”
“You are not the only one here, doll,” her brother bit back. “If you do not like the details, go and sit in the kitchen. We will call you when the conversation turns to kittens and boy bands, okay?”
“Fuck you, Bernard,” she hissed. Sam quickly interjected with an offer of a double whiskey and a charming wink.
“That is when Ronald escaped?” Purdue asked Bernard.
“They were supposed to leave together after he dressed as an officer that night, you see? But they got to her before she could join him and he certainly could spare no time waiting. He fled with Excalibur and the scabbard without a single bullet harming him!” he told Purdue. “Up until the end of his journal entries there is no further mention of the location of Excalibur.”
“Wait, so the scabbard kept him from getting killed?” Nina asked, remembering young Brian’s defiance of certain death under the lightning bolt the day before. ‘Holy shit, it is the real Warkadur?’ she thought in astonishment. Her phone rang in her purse, amassing attention from all present.
“A call this late could only mean two things,” Purdue teased. “I sure hope it is not an emergency.”
22
Wiles and Whims
Nina’s voicemail message knocked the wind out of her. She stood in the darkness of Purdue’s office, playing the message a few times over before she could believe it. Then, it dawned on her that she had no time to tarry. Breathing rapidly in panic she flew downstairs, back to the dining hall.
“Purdue, it has been a wonderful evening, but I am afraid I have to leave,” she excused herself. It was unlike Nina to exhibit such stress. Sam immediately rose from his seat and emptied his glass of whiskey.
“I will come with you, whatever it is,” he offered.
“Wait, what is the matter, my dear?” Purdue asked, also getting up to join her and Sam. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
She looked thoroughly upset. “A… a friend of mine is in the hospital,” she stammered, clearly unwilling to share too much. “I have to… see him immediately.”
“Nina, it is way past visiting hours,” Ava corrected her. The silver-haired beauty did not mean to second-guess Nina’s story. She simply stated a fact.
“Look, lassie, this is not your business, alright?” Nina barked at her. Ava recoiled at the dark eyed historian’s bloodshot eyes, her cheeks wet with tears. “I have to get to Glasgow right fucking now!”
Sam grabbed her and scooped up his jacket. “I will drive her there. Purdue, thank you so much for a riveting party, old man. We will call in as soon as we are there.”
“Good. Good. Please keep me posted on Nina’s wellbeing,” he told Sam under his breath. “And do let me know what all this is about. I have rarely seen her like this.”
“I know,” Sam agreed. “Bothers me too.”
“Have any idea what it could be?” Purdue whispered.
“Absolutely none,” Sam sighed, “but I will text you.”
“Alright, be careful,” Purdue said, patting Sam on the back. He got a quick kiss from Nina before she left with Sam in tail. Out into the mid of night they headed to Glasgow, leaving Purdue to apologize to his guests. He found Bernard and Ava waiting in silence. As a matter of fact, the mood between the siblings had frozen to the point of melancholy.