“Gee … this seems awfully far-fetched to me. And I don’t see how it would help. If this woman is a leader in the underground, she’ll know what she’s doing. These people are specialists. They’ve pipelined hundreds out before us.”
“Yes, but you don’t understand Lee. She’s got connections even the queen of England doesn’t have. If anyone can find a way to get us out of here, it’s her.”
“I don’t know … it might be better not to bring it up. From what I’ve heard, these underground workers make sure that everyone involved knows as little as possible—that way, if they’re ever captured and tortured, one person can’t do much harm. She might not like it that you’ve figured out this connection.” He lifted her chin so their gaze met. “But it’s something to think about. If things don’t turn out like we think, we’ll try to get word to your friend, okay?”
“You’re right.” Mary shook her head as if brushing away her wild scheming. “Besides, who knows how she got that scarf. Lee could have cast it off, if she tired of the style. The woman drives me crazy sometimes.”
“I thought you said this reporter was your friend.”
“Did I say that? She’s more of an acquaintance, really.” Mary let out a low sigh. “But I have a feeling I’d be able to count on her if it really mattered.”
Eddie and Mary were taken to the dining hall, where the nun sat waiting, and the priest beside her. They were two people in a room designed for two hundred.
Magda motioned for them to sit, and she paced as she spoke. “The Germans are looking for you, you see. They have searched all the homes near the crash site. The closets, beds, everything pulled apart and destroyed. They even looted, taking what little valuables the people still held on to.”
“Just for us?” Mary tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and met Eddie’s gaze. His face was pale, and his eyelids only opened halfway.
He let out a low breath. “And have they found anyone?”
Magda strode to a Nazi flag that still hung from the wall. She paused before it, reached up, and took the fabric in her two fists, pulling on it with strength that surprised Mary. The flag broke free and fluttered down, falling to the ground around Magda’s feet.
Words painted on the walls in German still remained. Mary couldn’t make them out, but one word stood larger than the rest: Lebensborn. She’d almost forgotten Eddie’s question when Magda turned.
“Five.” She clenched her fists to her sides. “With the body, and you two, that leaves only three unaccounted for. Unless the other airmen connected with a cell of my workers farther south, I have little hope for them remaining free—I am still trying to know this. I have sent a messenger to my cell.”
“Body?” Eddie whispered.
Magda hunched before Eddie, placing a hand on his knee. “I am sorry to say. He was one without a parachute.”
“Chancey.” Eddie looked to Mary. “The tail gunner. When the wing hit the back he must not have had time to snap on his chute.”
He turned back to Magda. “So what’s the plan? What’s going to happen to us?”
Mary’s stomach growled, and she realized it had been nearly a day since they’d had anything to eat besides the candy bar from their kits. She thought of the sandwiches they’d been given but never had a chance to enjoy.
“We have a secret room here.” Magda motioned down the hall with a toss of her head. “You will remain there for a few days, hidden. I know a nurse, too, who will tend to your arm.”
“This place?” Mary glanced up at the writing on the wall once more. “What is this place?”
“Lebensborn. Source of Life. The Germans used it for their own evil schemes. A scheme to create a bloodline that would carry on for one thousand years. But it is abandoned now. Safe for you.” She hurried on, refusing to meet Mary’s gaze. “But first we must feed you. Make certain you are strong for the journey. Nothing is worse than an airman unable to keep the pace.”
Mary noticed Magda had said nothing about her.
“And Mary?” Eddie asked. “She’s coming with me, right?”
Magda looked away. “I am sorry. Not at this time. She will remain here. No one is searching for a woman, after all. And this home will be the perfect place for her to hide.”
“No way. I’m not going without her.”
“Do you think so?” Magda folded her arms over her chest. “And your life is worth risking for hers?”
“Of course. I promised to protect her.”
“Yes? Well, then you can do it yourself.” Magda motioned to the man, and he rose. She hurried out of the room, not giving Eddie a chance to respond.
The man lingered, a puzzled expression on his face. Mary wasn’t sure why he hadn’t spoken, but she guessed it was because he didn’t know English.
She hurried toward him. “Sir?” She spoke to the man in German. “Convince them to include me too. I know this airman. He won’t leave me behind. In order to save him, you will have to take me.”
The man cracked a smile and shrugged. “I cannot, miss,” he answered in English. “You do not know my mother. She is even more stubborn than he.” Then a grin curled on his lips. “But do not worry. She will be back. In a few days, when he is well. I doubt she will abandon the airman for long.”
They ate a hearty breakfast of sausage, eggs, and biscuits, and then the nun sent Eddie to bed with a promise that someone would be there in the afternoon to check his wound. They were taken to their private rooms, still wondering about the secret ones that Magda spoke of.
Mary helped Eddie to his room, where he collapsed into the bed once more. Now she had a choice—a bath or a bit of exploring. She lifted her arm and sniffed under it. “How did Eddie stand to be around me?” But still her curiosity won out. “I can hold out a few hours.”
As she slowly walked down the long corridor, Mary wondered what the woman had meant by “Source of Life.” Had it been a command post for top Nazi officers? Barracks for German soldiers? Surely such a beautiful place would be occupied by the most valued members of the Reich.
“And why was it abandoned?” she whispered to herself. She knew the American front lines grew closer by the day—but wouldn’t this be perfect ground to hold? An ideal location for boarding troops for the fight?
The castle consisted of three floors with bedrooms running down two sides of the courtyard. Mary opened one door, then the next, but instead of rows of bunks, each room had a single bed with a flower-patterned duvet. Clothes had been tossed aside and items remained in the bathrooms as if someone had packed in a hurry. Women’s things …
In one room Mary discovered the photo of a handsome blond Nazi officer on the dresser. She couldn’t make out the other words, but it was signed for a woman named Katrine from a man named Hendrick.
A brush and mirror rested next to the frame as if a woman had looked into the face of her beloved as she primped herself for his return. Yet Mary frowned. Some type of skirmish had apparently taken place in the room. She stepped closer to a wall. Tiny drops had splattered the wallpaper, and they looked like blood.
A chill ran down her spine, and she thought of the horror stories Paul liked to read, checking them out by the armload from the New York City library. A perfect setting for murder and mayhem, she thought, hurrying toward the door. She let out a squeal as a person stepped in front of her.
“The Castle of Wegimont itself was first built in the fifteenth century, but modernized later,” said the nun in English.
“Oh, my goodness, you nearly scared me to death, sister….” Mary placed a hand over her pounding heart.
“Sister Clarence, please. The moat, courtyard, and four towers date from the seventeenth century. I learned this growing up as a girl, living not too far away.” The nun hurried down the hall, and Mary assumed she was supposed to follow.
“It was the coal mines, you see, that supported the local people. Yet this place …” She motioned about her with a sweep of her arm. “This place is darker still. Come, let me
show you.”
Mary’s peasant shoes echoed as she was led past the dining hall, through a separate wing, and into another set of rooms.
The nun paused before a closed door. “This is the chapel.”
Sister Clarence opened the door wide, and an eerie chill hung in the air. It was dim, but Mary could make out a white altar, framed photographs of Hitler and Himmler, candles, and … was that a cradle? “What is this place? The women’s things. The cradle. I don’t understand.”
“Come, come, there is more.”
They walked farther until the nun swung open the doors to what appeared to be a nursery. Rows of cribs lined one wall, some knocked over on their sides. Bottles, toys, children’s things. They were scattered everywhere.
“Where are they? Where are the children?” Mary hurried over to the nearest crib, picking up a stuffed doll, and pressed it tightly to her chest. “Just what has happened here? Or do I want to know?”
“It’s a birthing home, for German mothers. They come here to have their babies, you see.”
“And where are they now? Did they return to Germany?”
“Yes, most of them did. In mid-November, when the war drew closer. They were taken to Steinhoring, in Bavaria—the safest place possible, so the blood would not be lost.”
“The blood?”
“The blood of the children. The so-called lifeblood of the thousand-year Reich. Aryan blood. They birthed these children to carry on what they started.”
“Sister, you said most escaped. And what of the others?”
The nun lowered her gaze. “A few did not make it. It’s very sad, but some … well, I will tell you later. But first, we must check on the airman. The nurse should be here shortly to tend to his wounds.”
Mary had many more questions, but now was not the time. The nun was right. Getting Eddie well was the most important thing they could do. Only then would they be able to escape this country. This place the Nazis still held, refusing to lose any more ground.
She glanced around the room one more time, and then followed the nun. Nazi blood, bred to carry them on for a thousand years. Now that would be an interesting story.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Eddie found himself tied to what appeared to be some type of examination table, as the dark-haired nurse gingerly unwrapped the bandages on his upper arm. She tugged when a piece of the bandage stuck to his wound. He let out an involuntary moan. Hot pain swelled through his body, and he felt like he was going to pass out.
Mary had knocked on the door to his room, awakening him just an hour before, telling him some crazy story about this place being a Nazi breeding facility. He hadn’t believed her at first, until he’d been taken to the delivery room to be cared for.
What did she say? Nazi women had come here to give birth? He tried to remember her words, but his throbbing arm wouldn’t allow it.
A stench rose as the nurse cut away the bandage layers closest to his skin. The strips of cloth were caked with dried blood.
He looked to Mary and saw her eyes wide with fear. “I’ll be okay,” he whispered. “Just you watch.”
“Sure, Eddie. I know.” She took his right hand and placed it to her lips. “They’re going to fix you up.”
The nurse hurriedly said something to the nun in German, and the nun placed a finger to her lips, silencing her.
Eddie looked to Mary for an explanation, but her brow was creased in a puzzled expression, as if she was trying to figure out the words herself.
Am I going to lose my arm? He pulled his fingers from Mary’s grasp and covered his mouth, willing his stomach to calm.
You’ll be fine. Think of something else, Eddie, he told himself.
The nurse moved around the room with practiced efficiency, and he knew he’d have to ask Mary about this place. Ask her to tell him again what it was all about. Yeah, focus on that instead.
The nurse approached him with a large pair of scissors and a needle. His eyes widened as she removed the cap from the long, thin syringe and aimed it toward his arm. He moaned and forced himself to hold still as she plunged it into his broken skin.
Mary was saying something, and though he stared at her lips, her beautiful lips, he didn’t understand one word.
Then everything faded to black.
A cot had been made up for Mary on the opposite side of the secret room, yet she sat on the floor, her head resting on the mattress next to Eddie. She watched the rise and fall of his chest. Listened to his soft breaths and prayed as she had seen him do.
He should be awake by now. What’s wrong? God, please help him.
On her lap was the small Bible she had found in one of his jacket pockets. She’d opened it, finding a spot he had underlined in pencil in the first chapter of Luke. She held the Bible near the lantern and cleared her throat.
“Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
She thought of Sister Clarence’s words, What happened in this place made it even darker than the coal mines in the hills nearby.
“It is pretty dark here, uh, Lord. If it’s okay with You, could You help us to get away? Do like that Bible verse said; guide our feet into the way of peace. I don’t really know what that means, but peace would be a good thing about now. And please, God, heal Eddie. Take the infection away….”
A moan escaped Eddie’s lips, and a chill traveled down Mary’s spine. She’d prayed before, mostly when she was a child, but she’d never felt anything like the warm heat that filled her chest now.
“Eddie.” She leaned close, her lips inches from his ear. “Can you hear me?”
He nodded once, then smacked his cracked lips.
“I’ll get you some water. Hold on.”
Mary lifted the glass from the side table and held it toward his lips. His eyes opened, and he took a small drink.
“Thanks, Mom. Can I stay home from school today?”
Mary hesitated. Oh, no, he’s worse than I thought.
A smile formed on his lips. “Just kidding, Mary.” He opened his eyes wider, studying the room around him. “Where is this place?”
She returned the glass to the side table and scooted back, creating space between them. “It’s the secret room that Magda lady was talking about. It’s off one of the main administrative offices. The door is hidden behind a bookcase.”
Her eyes darted around the windowless room. Silk hangings hung on the wall. Silver candleholders lined a long shelf. And Eddie’s bed had satin sheets. She felt heat rising to her cheeks, remembering the intimate undergarments she’d found in one of the dresser drawers.
“It looks like a fancy hotel room or something,” he said.
“Something like that.” Mary’s finger traced the pattern on the Oriental rug beneath her. “For important German clients, I mean, officers.”
“You said something about that earlier. Is it true this place was for German babies to be born?”
“And obviously conceived.” She swallowed deeply, trying not to think of what had taken place in this room, and scooted back even farther. She’d never even kissed a man, let alone … Mary cleared her throat again. “But we’re safe here. You can get more rest. It’s the middle of the night, after all.”
“I’ve really been out that long?”
“Yeah. You had me worried.”
She rose and placed the Bible on the table next to Eddie’s bed. He lifted one eyebrow as he watched her, but didn’t say a word. She stretched. “I think I’ll catch a few z’s.” She pointed to the small cot made up for her against the wall.
“Really, Mary, you should be the one sleeping here. I’ll take the cot.” He attempted to sit up and then winced, falling back onto the sheets.
“I don’t think so. I’m fine, really.” She laughed. “Besides, you haven’t had a bath in days. Do you really think I want to sleep on the sheets you’ve b
een sweating all over?”
Eddie sniffed, wrinkling his nose. “Nah, I guess you’re right.”
She moved around the room, blowing out all the candles except one, and then climbed onto her cot, lying on her back.
She could tell by Eddie’s breathing he wasn’t sleeping. She turned to her side and pressed her eyes tighter. Men are trouble, she told herself. Don’t let your weaknesses pull you down.
“Mary.” His voice was no more than a whisper. “Are you awake?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“I just have one question. What did that nurse say to the nun? It must have been in German or something.”
She turned toward him, noticing how handsome he looked in the flickering candlelight. “I didn’t quite catch it. She said something like, ‘These are the ones—an answer to our prayers—we must send him with them.’”
“Him? Who do you think they were talking about?”
“I’m not sure.” Mary let out a sigh. “But if the underground doesn’t want me to go along, good luck to the other guy.”
With no windows, Eddie had no way of knowing if it were day or night, except for the meals Sister Clarence brought. He and Mary had spread one of the blankets on the floor and were having their own indoor picnic. His arm still throbbed, yet it wasn’t as bad as the heat that had coursed through it before. The nurse’s sewing job had worked, and he knew within a few days he’d be well enough to set out.
Still Magda’s words bothered him. Did she really think he would leave Mary? He glanced across the room and watched her eat. She broke off pieces of her bread and then closed her eyes as she placed each piece in her mouth, as if savoring every bite.
Poor thing, he thought. She was losing weight. He could see it in the hollowness of her cheeks. There’s no way I could leave her.
He rubbed his gut, realizing the ache didn’t come from hunger, but from trying to figure out their next plan of action. I have to get my mind off this. Think of something else, Eddie. Talk to her about anything.
He glanced at the Bible on the nightstand. It was as good a topic as any. Really, the best topic.
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