SINS of the FATHER

by Marshall Huffman

“Obviously he felt this was safer. Look, I don’t mind helping you but what is it we are looking for exactly? I mean did the diary mention what this was all about?”

  “Geez Kate, you’re kind of putting me on the spot here. I mean it wasn’t very nice if what the diary says is true. My grandfather was a hero at the Battle of the Bulge. He was decorated personally by General George Patton. Everything is about the war and how hard the conditions were. He actually came ashore at Utah Beach. Some of the things he did were amazing.”

  “But?”

  “Yeah. But the last few pages are so uncharacteristic. I mean. Crap. Okay, according to the last few pages he met up with some Nazi officers trying to smuggle gold and diamonds out of France. Somehow he found out about it and offered to help them if he got a cut of the goods. Evidentally they realized they would never get it done without someone like my grandfather so they struck up a deal.”

  “Wait. Your saying your decorated hero grandfather suddenly decided to help the Nazis for money?”

  “That’s what the diary says.”

  “That sounds unbelievable. Why would he do such a thing?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t understand. My gramps was the kindest man I ever knew. I greatly admired him. I didn’t know any of this until I found his diary. Talk about a shock,” Alan told her.

  “I would think so. Do you believe it?”

  “Honestly? I don’t know what to believe,” Alan said.

  “So you intend to follow the leads until you find out what exactly?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe the gold.”

  “Do you really think so? I mean, like you said, it has been almost 70 years. It wouldn’t still be there after all this time. Wouldn’t he have brought it back to the US?”

  “You would think. I just don’t have nearly enough answers and too many damn questions,” Alan said.

  “But you know the coordinates are around Bayeux someplace?”

  “Yes, but I need Wi-Fi to locate exactly where.”

  “Then let’s check out and go find someplace with internet service.”

  They finished breakfast quickly and packed the luggage back in the car. Alan checked the gas and found they still had almost a half tank.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Let the scavenger hunt begin,” she replied as she buckled her seat belt.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Any suggestions on where we can get internet service?” Alan asked.

  “Sure, McDonalds.”

  “McDonalds,” Alan exclaimed, “Are you telling me McDonalds in France has internet?” Alan ask in disbelief.

  “They do. I went to one with my brother last year. It was exactly like the ones in the US. Well not exactly. Some of the items are slightly different.”

  “Unbelievable.”

  “I’ll tell you what’s unbelievable. They are packed from open to close. It is a mad house,” she told him.

  “Who would have thought it?”

  “Location isn’t as important either. They can stick them anyplace and people will find them. Did you know there was one on the Champs Elyséese?”

  “Incredible. Do you know where it was in Bayeux?”

  “Sure,” she said and grabbed the GPS.

  She called up restaurants, found McDonalds and a few seconds later they were following the directions. When they got to the lot, it was full. Cars were parked along the street.

  “Well we need to go inside anyway,” Alan told her.

  “Good luck finding a place to sit. If you see something just grab it. Don’t hesitate or it will be gone before you can bat an eye,” Kate told him, “By the way, do I have bad breath or something?”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “No kiss? Was I just a one night stand?” she said smiling.

  “Two maybe,” he said straight faced.

  “You are a booger but kiss me anyway,” she said leaning towards him.

  Their lips touched and he pulled her to him and probed her deeply.

  “Wow. That’s more like it,” Kate said as they finally parted.

  **

  As Kate had predicted, it was wall to wall people. Kids were everywhere, running around while parents just sat and talked. Only half were actually eating, the rest seemed to be on a break of some kind. Kiosks were stationed in the lobby so you could pre-order and pick up food to go instead of holding up the line. Order takers were in the regular lines pre-recording to expedite things.

  Alan was lucky. He spotted two stools at a counter and just made it before another couple.

  “Do you want to get something to eat?” Kate asked.

  “Not really, I can get Mickey D’s at home anytime.”

  “Don’t be so sure. Let me surprise you while you work on the computer.”

  “Sure, but Diet Coke.”

  “Diet Coke or Coke Light? Over here Coke Light tastes closer to Diet Coke in the US.”

  “Too confusing. Whatever you get will be fine,” Alan said, relieved when his laptop acquired the signal and he could log into the internet.

  He knew approximately where they were headed so it didn’t take as long as previously. The coordinates 49 16’22.66 by 0 42’58.39 placed the next journey at another cemetery. That made sense. Cemeteries are hallowed ground and are seldom moved or transferred. This time it was the Bayeux Cimetiére Anglais which just off of D5 rodeway and near the Musée Mémorial de La batáille de Normandy ã Bayeux. The Cemetery was multinational as a dedication to all soldiers who died during the long and fierce battle for Bayeux.

  Alan was just closing laptop when Kate arrived with the food. She slid onto the stool next to him.

  “Don’t ask, just try it,” she said.

  “What is it?”

  “Just eat your food young man.

  “Yes mother,” Alan replied and took a bite.

  He was pleasantly surprised. It was some kind of hoagie roll and had two patties of meat laid on it and a potato cake or something like it on top and a sauce he had never had before. It was actually quite good. As expected the Diet Coke wasn’t anything like in the US. Kate was eating a salad.

  “Where is the dressing?”

  “I don’t use dressing,” she replied.

  “Oh give me a break. Are you eating that with nothing on it?”

  “Salt and pepper.”

  “No wonder you are so fit.”

  “Are you complaining about how I look Mr. Lang?”

  “Well, with all those bulky clothes on it’s hard to tell. Maybe later I could see what I think.”

  “Humm. Just looking at your lap I think I already know.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t be looking down there.”

  “I’m not having to look down very far,” she shot back.

  **

  After they got back in the car Alan told her what he had found out.

  “What are we going to find there?” Kate asked.

  “I honestly don’t know. I mean if my grandfather really did help steal the gold and diamonds I don’t see how they could have buried them there,” Alan replied.

  “Unless they used an empty grave site.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. I guess maybe at that time since they had so many to bury they might have dug hundreds of sites and then put the coffins in as necessary.”

  “It certainly seems like one possibility,” Kate suggested.

  “Well, let’s go see what we can find out.”

  Kate put the cemetery into the gps and Alan drove. They rode in silence just listening to the directions being given. Both were lost in thought. It only took a few minutes to locate the entrance to the Bayeux Cimetiére Anglais. Alan found a place to park and they walked into the graveyard.

  “Do you know where to look?” Kate asked.

  “Generally. It will be almost to the end on the right side. Back near that large tree back in the corner,” Alan said pointing.

  They walked hand in hand through the cemetery.

 
“A lot of people died here,” Alan said.

  “War is a bad thing. All it brings is death and destruction.”

  “I don’t disagree but sometimes it is necessary. Think about how many people Hitler was killing every day that he was in power? Where would the world be today if no one had said ‘stop’?” Alan replied.

  “I understand. I just wish there was a better way.”

  “I can tell you one thing. Every soldier I ever knew wasn’t too thrilled with the thought of killing someone or getting killed. When someone is trying to kill you it gets personal very quick.”

  “Has anyone ever tried to kill you?” Kate asked looking at him.

  “Many times. I was in Afghanistan for two tours.”

  “Oh,” was all Kate said.

  They walked on until they were at the base of the large shade tree.

  “Now what?” Kate asked.

  “Darned good question. You go down one row and I’ll go down the next. It should be that way,” Alan said pointing west.

  “Sure, but I still don’t know what we are looking for.”

  “Anything unusual. Like a string of numbers that have no meaning”

  “And you think looking around in a graveyard is usual? That alone is pretty unusual in my book,” Kate said.

  “Then put your book away and move that pretty little butt of yours or we will never get anyplace,” he said.

  Kate walked down the last row going west and Alan walked down the next to last going in the same direction. It took almost an hour to reach the end of the row.

  “Okay, I’ll go three going back the way we came and you take row four,” Alan said.

  “Boy, you really know how to show a girl a good time,” she said but started looking anyway.

  It wasn’t until they got to the next to the last cross that Alan found a string of numbers like before.

  “Got it,” he shouted.

  Kate came around to where he was and looked at the numbers.

  “Ah, now I see what you were looking for. I mean you told me but seeing it makes it a lot easier.”

  “Did you see something like this someplace else?” Alan asked.

  “No. Why? Isn’t this what you need?” she asked.

  “This is just half of it. There should be a second set of numbers.”

  “Why?”

  “One is longitude and the other is latitude. This is just half of what we need. This is the longitude. We have to find the latitude to make any sense of where we are being led,” Alan explained.

  “So where are the other numbers?”

  “We have to keep looking,” Alan said writing down the longitude.”

  “Okay. So it’s not next to this grave, it would make sense it would be nearby,” Kate surmised.

  “Sounds about right.”

  Kate backed up to her row and looked at the cross directly behind the one where Alan had located the longitude and there it was.

  “Got it. 135446,” she read off.

  Alan wrote it down and then came back to check.

  “Nice work,” he said and gave her a kiss.

  Damn. Why was it every time he touched her he felt like electricity was passing through his body?

  He was surprised when he looked at his watch and found it was almost 5:00 p.m.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “We should find a place to stay tonight night that has WiFi,” Kate suggested.

  “I agree. Just using logic, from the way the coordinates are, we should head southwest,” Alan told her.

  “How do you know that?”

  “Well, see how the longitude and latitude are at Calais? Then look at Bayeux. Now this set. Just using reasoning and a little military background, I get the feeling we are being directed towards the southwest,” he told her.

  “Okay, if you say so,” was Kate’s only response.

  “Saint-Lô isn’t all that far. We can stop there for the night and zero in on the coordinates,” Alan said.

  “Saint-Lô.”

  “Does that bother you?” Alan asked frowning.

  “Not really I guess. I mean my grandfather was in the Second World War and was killed in Saint-Lô,” she told him.

  “Oh. Geez I never even thought about that. I guess it makes sense now that I think about it. Was he buried there?” Alan ask.

  He felt like a total jerk. He never gave one bit of thought about her grandparents. She was fairly close to his age so it would make sense that her grandfather had been in the war as well.

  “No. He was buried back home,” she said.

  “I’m so sorry. I am not very sensitive at times. It never dawned on me to ask about your grandfather.”

  “It’s no big deal. That was a long time ago,” she said.

  The rode in silence for a long way before he realized Kate was looking at him intently.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I was just looking at you. I can almost hear the wheels turning in that head of yours,” she said.

  “Those are marbles rattling around, not wheels.”

  “No. I already know you are very smart. What I don’t know is why you are doing this…scavenger hunt. Do you think you will find gold at the end of it?”

  “You know, the truth is I’m not really sure why I am doing it either. Not really. Okay, here is the other part. My father must have found grandpa’s diary. He went ape and tossed him out of the house. It was an ugly time. After that they hardly ever spoke. My father considered him a traitor. They were never able to get past it. Of course I had no idea what it was about. None of the family did. It was one of the reasons I joined the military. I wanted to get away from home.”

  “Go on,” Kate encouraged.

  “So, after my father died I found both of their military trunks in the attic. That’s where I found my grandfather’s diary. Inside was written TRAITOR in my father’s handwriting. He must have found it and read it.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why you are doing all of this,” Kate prompted.

  “The last few pages I told you about. Mostly,” Alan said.

  “Mostly?”

  He drove in silence for some ways before he spoke again.

  “According to the diary, the group met up to divide the gold and then gramps was going to lead them to a place where they could get out of France. However I guess something happened and they all ended up dead except for gramps?”

  She sat a second then said, “You mean he killed them all?”

  “Yeah. That’s what it says.”

  “Why?’

  “I guess to get the gold and diamonds.”

  “Was he rich?”

  “No. He didn’t have any money at all from everything I saw growing up. No fancy house. All his cars were pretty old and he never had much money to travel. That’s one reason he lived with us until my dad threw him out.”

  “Then I guess I don’t understand,” Kate said.

  “Tell me about it. It just doesn’t add up no matter how hard I try. I’ve gone over the events a thousand times in my head and nothing makes sense to me. It’s all kind of crazy,” Alan told her.

  “It certainly is a mystery. And the diary is the first you ever heard of this?” Kate asked.

  “Yeah. Kind of crazy, huh?”

  “Definitely different. Your mother never said anything. Why your father was so mad at him?”

  “Not a word. It was just something we never talked about.”

  “Well, I can see why it is driving you crazy. I know I would want to know what happened.”

  “It isn’t the gold. Or the diamonds really. I need to know for myself if my grandfather really did this monstrous crime.”

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean why?” Alan answered.

  “All these years you never knew anything about it. So now you do. What difference does it really make? If he did, you can do nothing about it. If he didn’t, you still can’t repair the damage between your father and grandfather. I honestly don’t see how you
can win no matter what you do,” Kate said.

  “You are probably making sense but for some reason this is important to me. Hell Kate, I wish I would have never have read that damned diary. I should have just made my father talk to me. Instead I ran off to join the Army. I loved my father but he was really hard to talk to. He had this wall and he would hardly ever let you get past it. He was a good dad but a hard one to understand or to love. Does that make sense?”

  “I supposed but from listening to you, you did love him.”

  “Yeah. I mean when I was growing up, he never missed a sport I was in. Football, he was at every game, home and away. Same with basketball, track and even swimming which he hated. He would always be there. I guess he was proud of me in his own way but it was hard to see.”

  “Why?” Kate asked.

  “Okay. Here is an example. I was what they called a halfback in those days in football. Not that damned soccer, real football. So in one game my entire family is there for Homecoming. We are playing a really good team who were our arch enemies. In that game I scored three touchdowns carrying the ball, one by interception and one on a 90 yard kickoff return. I scored thirty of our thirty eight points. We won by nine.”

  “That’s pretty impressive I would say. He must have been quite proud of you.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking as we came off the field and everyone was going crazy because we had won. When I get to my dad, you know what he said?”

  “Oh dear. I’m afraid to ask.”

  “He said, ‘I can’t believe you dropped that pass in the second quarter. You were wide open. What we’re thinking? You took your eyes off the ball and you could have almost walked into the end zone.”

  “Ouch,” Kate said squelching up her face.

  “I just sort of stood there with my mouth open. I mean, how does a kid answer that exactly?” Alan said.

  “Well, that was a long time ago,” she said.

  “Everything was a long time ago. Anyway. To answer your question. I know it won’t change one thing but I guess I just need to find out for myself.”

  “Still. You won’t love him any more or any less will you?”

  Alan was mulling that over in his mind when he saw the sign for Saint-Lô.

  “No, I guess not.”

  “Good,” was Kate’s reply.