Fire and Steel, Volume 6

by Gerald N. Lund

  “In a snowstorm?” the officer scoffed.

  “That’s what I said too. But to my surprise he was very agitated. Something about what was going on in the library had him very upset. When I asked him what was wrong, he just brushed me off. Told me to go home. That he would see me the next day. And then he turned and started away across the quad.”

  “And you didn’t try to stop him?”

  “I called after him, told him again that I could give him a ride to wherever he wanted to go. By then he was walking swiftly away. I’m not sure he even heard me.”

  He held his breath as the officer picked up the letter and read it again. “He makes no mention of being with you.”

  Hans shrugged. “Why would he? I went home.” He held his breath, but the officer didn’t look up. He was going over the letter again. So Hans went on. “When I came to campus the next morning, I went to his office to see how he was doing. He wasn’t there. Later, I heard that he had asked for emergency leave.”

  “Just as I said,” Dean Eberhardt confirmed.

  The officer’s eyes narrowed to slits as they bored in on Hans. “How convenient that you had that much money to lend him, Herr Eckhardt. And why would you give money to help a Jew?”

  Hans rocked back, feigning deep shock. “But, Colonel,” he sputtered, “I had no idea that he was a Jew. He was my friend. He helped me get a position here at the university.” He looked over at Eberhardt. “Tell him. He has been my mentor.”

  “Yes, yes,” the colonel sneered. “But five thousand marks is a pretty sweet friendship. Do you lend all of your friends that kind of money?”

  “I. . . . No!” Hans raced on. “He said it was a family emergency. Said that he had plenty of money in a trust but that he couldn’t get to it right away. He swore that he would get it back to me in no more than a week.” He moaned. “This can’t be! That was almost all of our savings. My wife tried to tell me not to—”

  The colonel’s eyes never wavered. “We might be able to trace him. Do you have the name and number of the bank where you wired the money?”

  “It was a bank in Zurich. He wrote out the name and number of the account, but I threw it away. But the bank will know.”

  “You were an idiot to give the money to him,” the officer sneered. “I think you can pretty well kiss your five thousand marks goodbye.”

  When Hans groaned again, the colonel went on in that same hard tone. “Where was he going?”

  “I don’t know.” Hans threw up his hands. “What do I care about that?” he cried hoarsely. “Didn’t you hear what I said? I just lost my life savings. And to a filthy Jew!” He spat in disgust.

  The colonel eyed him for a moment, then pushed his chair back from the desk. “Herr Eckhardt, I would like you to come with me back to the station and—”

  “No!” Hans reared back so hard that the chair legs caught on the rug and tipped him over backward. He scrambled to his feet, shrinking back. “I didn’t do anything wrong, I swear! I didn’t know he was a Jew. I’m a faithful party member. I would never—”

  The colonel got up and came around the desk. “Calm yourself, man,” he said. “We know who you are. Your so-called friend seems to have duped everyone around him, not just you. But you know him well. You know his habits. His preferences. I believe you can help us find him and his family. Falsifying personal records is a felony. Will you help us catch him and put him in prison where he belongs? Will you do that?”

  “I. . . .” Hans blinked, as if this were all happening too fast for him to follow. Finally, he straightened. “Yes. Of course I’ll help you. If we find him, will I get my money back?”

  “Of course. And if we seize his assets, which is highly likely, there may even be a reward in it for you as well.”

  Hans found himself relaxing a little. The Gestapo officer was buying it. It was working. “How long will I be with you at the station?”

  The officer stood up. “It’s hard to say.” He turned to the dean. “Herr Doktor Eberhardt, will you have your secretary call Frau Eckhardt and tell her that her husband is assisting us in an investigation? Tell her we’re not sure how long it will take, but I will have one of my men drive him home when we are finished.”

  “Of course.” Then the dean turned to Hans. “We have to catch him,” he said angrily. “This makes our department look very bad.”

  “And especially those who were his friends,” Hans said gloomily.

  June 4, 1937, 12:25 p.m.—The Roof Garden Restaurant,

  Hotel Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

  Mitch Westland was just about to take a bite of sandwich when his wife reached out and poked him. “Oh, my. Look who’s here.”

  He turned as Edie raised a hand and waved. Coming into the dining hall were five people who were smiling and waving back. Oma Inga Eckhardt had one arm linked with her granddaughter Jolanda and the other with her younger sister, Paula Grohl, or Aunt Paula, as everyone called her. Following close behind them were Anna and Rudi Lemke, Inga’s youngest daughter and son-in-law.

  Mitch and Edie laid their napkins aside and got quickly to their feet. As the women exchanged hugs, Mitch shook hands with Rudi, then beckoned to a passing waitress. She quickly came over. “Could we pull another table up so our friends can join us?”

  “Of course, sir,” she said pleasantly.

  Rudi and Mitch helped the waitress move a table and five additional chairs into place, and they all sat down. “This is a pleasant surprise,” Edie said, reaching out and laying her hand on Inga’s. “We didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow.”

  “How delightful,” Mitch said. “We would love a chance to visit with you, and with tomorrow being the wedding, we’re guessing things will be a little hectic.”

  Inga looked around. “Speaking of that, where is everyone else?”

  Edie smiled. “They all went to Lagoon to spend a day at the amusement park. We didn’t go because Frank and Celeste are flying in this afternoon.”

  “No wonder you look relaxed,” Paula said. “Are you sure we’re not interrupting?”

  “No, no,” Mitch assured them. “On the way up to Salt Lake, Edie and I were talking about getting together with all of you before we head back home. So this works out perfectly.”

  “It does,” Edie agreed. She reached across the table and laid a hand on Paula’s. “How are you doing now, Paula?”

  Instantly Paula’s eyes were glistening, but the smile was genuine. “Well, I know it was a blessing that the stroke took Wolfie so swiftly. He didn’t suffer at all. I still miss him fiercely, but knowing that he is in a better place and reunited with his parents and grandparents and the child that we lost gives me great peace.”

  “It was a beautiful funeral service,” Edie said. “But still very sad. We’ll all miss him.”

  Mitch turned to Jolanda. “And how is my favorite adopted daughter? You’ve finished your second year of school here now, right? Your English is very good.” He smiled at Inga. “And yours as well, Grandma.” Then he turned back to Jo. “Have you liked it here?”

  “Yes. I have made many friends. But—” She stopped and looked at her grandmother. “But Oma and I miss our family. A lot!”

  Inga smiled sweetly. “We realize we can’t go back. Even if we sometimes wish we could.”

  “What about you and Anna and Rudi?” Edie asked. “Do think about returning to Germany?”

  “No way we’d do that,” Rudi scoffed. “No. This is our home now. And who knows where that madman is going to take the Fatherland. We miss Germany, of course, especially our families, but we don’t regret coming here for one minute. Best decision we ever made. Anna and I are working on getting citizenship now.”

  “Really?” Mitch said. “Wonderful.” He turned to Jo and Inga. “You’re both still planning on coming down next week for your annual vacation at the EDW Ranch, right?”
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br />   “Absolutely,” Jo said with a broad smile. “We wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

  “Wish we could join you again this year,” Rudi said, “but my brother and sister-in-law and their family are coming over about that same time.”

  Mitch nodded, turning to Inga. “And how is Lisa doing? This will be her last summer camp with Hitler Youth, right?”

  “Yes. She starts next week. She told me that she is dreading it, but she turns eighteen in November. So no more after this one. And that keeps her going.”

  Edie nodded. “Benji tells us that he and Lisa write each other every week.”

  “Without fail,” Jo said, her eyes glowing with pleasure. “I got to talk to her for a few minutes when we called Mama and Papa last week. When I asked her about Benji, her voice changed. It’s like a light comes on inside her. It makes me so happy to see how happy she is.”

  Edie was pleased with that. “We see that same happiness in him too.”

  Inga turned to Edie. “So will everyone be here for the wedding?”

  “Yes. Everyone except for Benji, of course. And we’re so excited to see them all again.”

  “Tell us about Abby’s young man,” Inga implored. “Jo said that he served in the same mission as she did. Is that right?”

  “Yes. His name is Christopher Halverson. We all call him Chris. But she didn’t actually know him well in England. They were never in the same area together. One night, a few weeks after Abby came home, there came this knock on the door. And there he was. She didn’t even recognize him. But he introduced himself and—”

  “The poor kid,” Mitch said. “I thought he was going to die of embarrassment when she wasn’t sure who he was. But once he introduced himself, she remembered him.”

  “So they went out on the porch swing,” Edie continued, “and talked for about an hour. Then he took her into town and they had malts at the drugstore. And that did it. He lives in Spanish Fork, so he’s about three hours from us. Two weeks later he called and asked if he could come and see her again. That happened about every other week, then it was every week. By fall, when they both went to BYU, they were dating steadily, and by spring they were engaged. We are very pleased. She is so happy. She hums and sings to herself all the time.”

  “Which mission was she in again?” Rudi asked.

  “British Mission, headquartered in Liverpool, England,” Mitch replied. “Which was exciting for her, but a bit of a disappointment too. Her German is almost as good as Benji’s, and she really hoped she would be called to a German-speaking mission too.”

  “But she got to use her German a lot, right?” Anna asked.

  “Yes, much to her surprise and joy,” Mitch answered. “I read an article that said that with a lot of Germans leaving the Third Reich, there are about sixty thousand Germans in England now. And because of her German, she got to spend almost half her mission in some of those communities.”

  The conversation lulled for a time while they finished their lunch, but once they had finished and the waitress had cleared their dishes, Paula leaned in. “So, catch us up on your family. How many grandchildren now?”

  “Seventeen,” Edie said proudly. “And two great-grandchildren.”

  “No!” Paula said. “Not great-grandchildren!”

  Edie smiled. “It’s true.”

  “Frank and Celeste have four children now and are still living in D.C.,” Mitch said.

  “What is it that he does there?” Rudi asked.

  “He can’t say much,” Mitch explained. “It’s a top-secret project our government is participating in with several other countries. All he can say is that has something to do with nuclear fusion and atomic energy, whatever the heck that means.”

  “But he loves his work,” Edie said. “And they love D.C. Celeste is a wonderful mother.” Her face lit up and she turned to Jo. “Oh, and did you hear that Reggie has decided to join the Church?”

  Jo sat straight up in her chair. “No! Really? Oh, Edie, that’s wonderful!” And then as everyone looked at her, she blushed deeply. It was no secret that even though Jo was about a year and a half older than Reggie, there was a special bond of friendship there.

  “He is a fine boy,” Paula said. “And his French is pretty good. Maybe you’ll end up with a French missionary,” she chided.

  “But Frank and Celeste still have no interest in the Church?” Anna asked.

  “No. Reggie has asked them to come to church with him occasionally, but they don’t. Frank takes Reggie to church and picks him up, but he won’t go in at all.”

  Mitch frowned. “Moving on with the rest of our family. We are happy to announce that when you come down next week to see us, that you will find that we are building a third ranch house on our property, just to the west of MJ and June’s home. Rena and Rowland will move in by the time school starts. After five years being up here, they’re finally coming back home to San Juan County. They’ll be joining MJ and me in the cattle business.”

  “And Rena is very happy about it,” Edie added. “She’s been our little cowgirl since she was two. It was no surprise when she married a rancher and no surprise that they are back into it again.”

  Edie turned and smiled at Inga and Jo. “And guess what else? Do you remember our Oberammergau Jar?”

  Jo nearly jumped out of her chair. “Yes! Do you have it out again?”

  “Yup,” Edie crowed, “with a big red Oberammergau 1940 pasted on it. Got it down from the attic a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Wunderbar!” Inga exclaimed. “Oh, we would love to see that happen.”

  Glancing up at the clock, Edie turned to Mitch. “We’ll need to be headed out for the airport in a few minutes. Frank’s plane comes in at 2:10.”

  Mitch glanced up and nodded. “It’s been so good to visit with all of you. Come by later tonight and say hello to the rest of the family. And we’ll see you at the reception tomorrow too.” He turned to Jo. “I can think of someone by the name of Reggie who is anxious to see someone who goes by the name of Jo. Would you like to ride out to the airport with us?”

  Jo shot to her feet. “I. . . . Do you have room for me with all of them?”

  “Of course we do,” Edie said. “We’d never hear the end of it if we didn’t.”

  August 28, 1937, 2:45 p.m.—

  Hitler Youth Camp, Bavarian Alps

  Lisa’s head came up with a jerk as Hans Otto nudged her hard with his elbow.

  “What?” She looked around, dazed. Then she realized where she was and why she had dozed off. It had been almost three in the morning before she had finished packing.

  Her brother nudged her again.

  “I’m awake, Hans Otto,” she snapped irritably. “What is it?”

  “There they are,” he said, pointing down the road toward the entrance to the camp. “Mutti and Vati are here.”

  “Oh. Sorry.” She got to her feet and moved over beside him, feeling a soaring exultation rising within her. The last time. I’m going out that gate in a couple of minutes, and I’m never coming back. Never!

  Then she saw that another car was following closely behind her family’s car. She squinted. “Hey! That looks like Uncle Klaus’s car. What is he doing here?”

  Hans Otto shrugged. Classic. “I thought you knew.”

  “Knew what?”

  “That me and Rikki and Niko are going to stay with Onkel Klaus and Tante Heidi.”

  “What? Mama and Papa didn’t tell me that!”

  Another shrug, then he took off at a run.

  4:05 p.m.—Village of Natterer Boden,

  near Innsbruck, Tyrolian Alps, Austria

  For the second time that day, Lisa came awake with a start as the car rolled to a stop, tires crunching on gravel. She clawed her way back to consciousness, wondering why the sky above her was beige and had a small square of light
in the middle of it. Then she realized she was stretched out on the back seat of the car and was looking at the roof above her. She also realized that someone—almost certainly her mother—had put a light blanket over her.

  With a groan, she pulled herself up to a sitting position, staring out the window at towering pine trees all around them. “Uh. . . .” She shook her head and wiped at her eyes.

  In the front seat, her mother turned around. “Good afternoon, sleepyhead. Feel better?”

  “No, I feel. . . .” Lisa peered out the front window and saw that they were parked in front of a small, two-story chalet with another car parked in front of it. “Uh . . . where are we?”

  Her father shut off the engine then turned around, smiling impishly. “Surprise! We are in Natterer Boden, a small village in the Tyrol, about a mile south of Innsbruck.”

  That brought her fully awake. “Innsbruck? We’re in Austria?”

  “Well,” Hans drawled, “last time I looked, Innsbruck was in Austria.”

  “But . . .” Lisa rubbed at her eyes. Was this some kind of crazy dream?

  Emilee chuckled, clearly enjoying her confusion. “Dearest Alisa, you just finished your last summer camp with Hitlerjugend. And you did that to protect your sister and keep your father from coming under scrutiny. That was incredibly unselfish of you, so your father and I decided that we owed you a special thank you before you start at the university in a couple of weeks. And so, here we are. Just the five of us.”

  Lisa started to smile, then stopped. “Five of us? But the kids went with Uncle—”

  Just then, the front door of the chalet burst open, and a figure came flying out, waving wildly. “Jolanda?” Lisa gasped.

  “It’s probably time we tell her,” Hans chuckled. “This is another special thank you.”

  But Lisa had thrown the door open, laughing and crying all at once as she raced forward. The two sisters threw themselves into each other’s arms, dancing around and crying. “But this isn’t possible,” Lisa exclaimed. “You’re in Utah with Oma.”

  “Wrong on both counts,” a gruff voice called from the porch of the chalet.