by Renee Duke
Marta nodded toward Hani. “She ask to wear it. As it is her birthday, I say yes. In giving of it to her, it slip and roll. She follow, and fall.”
Nicko nodded. “Such things will roll when thrown.”
“I not throw. It slip,” said Marta, looking a combination of annoyed and concerned. “You were here not, so you know not.”
“Where were you, Nicko?” Dane asked, suddenly wondering where the boy had come from. “There wasn’t anyone on the path behind us.”
“I was ahead of you. Off the path. Behind that tree up above the bend. Fortunately, there was enough snow there for me to slide down quickly and come to help once I knew what was happening.”
“What were you doing off the path?”
“I found a Marder there some time ago. What you’d call a marten. She had injured her leg, and winter was coming. Both the leg and the weather are better now and I wanted to let her go in the place she knew.”
“Familiar territory,” said Dane, nodding approvingly. “Drat. I’m nearly always on the look-out for wildlife. I’d have liked to have seen your marten. I might have if I’d been looking on both sides of the path. I guess it’s gone now.”
“Was it not savage?” Marta asked, curiosity, for the moment, overcoming hostility. “Did it not bite when you, to help it, try?”
“No. I have an uncle who is good with creatures. All creatures. Even savage ones. He taught me how to handle them. As long as you are careful not to frighten them, animals in distress are usually willing to accept human help, and appreciate what you do for them.”
“Unlike some people,” Paige commented.
Marta flushed, then suddenly reached out and grabbed Hani by the wrist.
“I think we should now back to the castle go. Our parents will, where we are, be wondering.”
Switching to German, she said the same thing to Hani, who nodded and put her free hand out to Nicko, tugging on his sleeve to ensure his attention.
“Danke, lieber Junge, danke. Möchtest du mit uns, kommen, bitte?”
The look on Marta’s face made it clear that she did not approve of this invitation to accompany them. But, thrusting her chin in the air, she said, “You may come if you so want, My father will reward you.” She looked at the others. “He will all of you reward. So you, also, should come.”
“We can’t,” said Paige. “We have to get back down to the village. And we don’t want a reward. We were happy to help.”
“I, too, was happy to help,” said Nicko. “But we are poor, so if a reward is offered, I will take it. That is not why I am going with you, though. I am going because the little one wants me to.”
Smiling, he took the pudgy hand Hani offered him. As soon as he did so, Marta dropped her sister’s wrist and stamped off in the direction of the castle, leaving them to follow.
Paige waited until they were all safely out of earshot before she turned to Jack and asked him what Marta had said earlier, when an upset Hani had tried to go to her. “Whatever it was, neither you nor Nicko looked like you thought too highly of it.”
Jack’s face darkened. “She told her not to touch her. She said she was tired of telling her not to touch her, and that she should know better by now, even if she was stupid.”
“You’re kidding! That’s despicable. Good thing I didn’t understand her. How come you didn’t let on that you did?”
“I’m not sure. I just got a feeling, a very strong feeling that it might be to our advantage to keep that little piece of information to ourselves for the time being.”
Paige nodded. “Yeah. Since they speak English, it might be best for us all to try and come across as clueless foreigners.” She grinned. “I think it really bugged Marta that Nicko’s English was so much better than hers. You guys ready to go home for a while?”
“Might as well,” said Dane.
Chapter Five
They walked back around the bend to retrieve their rucksacks before returning to their own time.
“So, we did go to Nazi Germany, just like we figured,” Dane said after they materialized. “From what Marta said, it was a year and a bit after Hitler became Reich Chancellor. That was in January of nineteen-thirty-three, so we must have landed in the spring of nineteen-thirty-four.”
To prepare them for their roles, Mr. Marchand had told them a bit about how the leader of the once insignificant National Socialist German Workers party had risen to power in Pre-World War Two Germany.
“Hitler wasn’t in full control of things then, though,” said Paige. “That didn’t happen until later that year. Sometime in the summer, I think.”
“August,” Jack specified. “After the old German president, Paul von Hindenburg, died. That’s when Hitler illegally combined the offices of President and Chancellor and became Führer. But he was so highly regarded, the nationwide vote on that came out ninety per cent in favour.”
“He was certainly highly regarded by Marta.” Paige shook her head. “Talk about a loyal follower! The Nazis started brainwashing kids early.”
“She’ll come in for even more of it once she joins the girls’ version of the Hitler Youth,” said Dane. “Those people were brainwashing experts. Do you think the medallion took us to her to keep her from getting involved with them?”
“Maybe. She seems really set on it, though.”
“It might not be Marta the medallion wants us to help,” said Jack. “It could be Hani. She was the one who actually had the Keeper Bracelet.”
“We’ve already helped her by helping Nicko get her back up the mountainside,” said Dane. “There has to more to it than that, though, or the medallion would have tingled to let us know our time task was finished.”
“Well, maybe we can figure it out next time we go to them,” said Paige. “Not that I’m looking forward to meeting Marta again. I don’t think we’re going to get on. In fact, I’m flat-out certain we’re not.”
“I didn’t like her much, either,” Dane admitted. “But we don’t really know her yet. She might be better once—”
He stopped as Zach and Alina appeared from around the bend.
“We return to see how close you are in catching up to us,” Zach informed them.
“Closer than you are to catching up to your dad,” said Dane.
“He cheated,” said Alina. “We were not prepared.”
“I see you have changed already,” Zach observed, eying their nineteen-thirties’ outerwear and bare knees.
“Yes, just now,” Jack replied. “Wanted to toughen up before we got to the castle.”
“It is too cold to wish to be tough,” said Zach. “I shall wait.”
They walked the rest of the way together. When Mr. Marchand and his remaining crew arrived, they were all glad of the hot chocolate he brought with him.
Filming finished well ahead of schedule. Once everyone was back down in the village, cast, crew, and family members went to have lunch at a restaurant before re-boarding the bus and heading for the picturesque little Bavarian village of Oberammergau.
“What are you having the children do in Oberammergau?” Aunt Regina asked Mr. Marchand during the meal. “Something connected to the Passionspiele—the famous passion play it performs every ten years in gratitude for having being spared the plague back in the seventeenth century?”
“Well, the Passionspiele will definitely come into it,” Mr. Marchand replied. “Especially the extra one put on for the three-hundredth anniversary in nineteen-thirty-four. With the ironic exception of Judas, a lot of the key actors belonged to the Nazi party, which managed to get some anti-Semitic mileage out of it by pointing out how well it revealed the true nature of Jews. The usual evil, untrustworthy, ‘Christ-killers’ garbage. But the play’s not my primary focus. I want to go into why so many Oberammergauers came to be staunch Nazi supporters. It’s not really what you’d expect from people living in a place with such deep religious associations.”
“I think it is because of those associations that so much has been
made of the Oberammergauers’ Nazi leanings,” said Uncle Ludi. “But as in all of Germany, many there were simply eager for change.”
“Yeah, that’s one of the points I’ll be trying to make. But mostly through my adult cast. The kids are only going to be in two scenes in Oberammergau—a quick, outdoor arrival one, and an indoor eavesdropping-on-the -grown-ups one. Which means no one will have to worry about them being cold.” He looked pointedly at his wife and sister-in-law as he said this.
“Can we wander round the village for the rest of the time?” asked Paige. “I vaguely remember it from our last trip. A lot of the stores and houses had really neat murals on them. Religious scenes and fairy tales. Dane didn’t like the Red Riding Hood one. But then, he never liked the story of Little Red Riding Hood.”
“That’s because, in almost every version, someone kills the poor wolf.”
“Who, in every version, is trying to devour poor Red and her grandmother.”
“Emphasizing that demonizes wolves and teaches kids to be afraid of them. That’s why wolf culls don’t bother a lot of people. They think wolves are dangerous and should be eliminated. Like pit bulls and other innocent animals that have got a bad name because a few—and only a few—have attacked people and pets. But wolves aren’t evil creatures. They’re playful, and family-oriented, and do a lot to conserve the environment by keeping down deer and caribou populations.”
“Are deer and caribou not worthy of your concern? Do you not feel for them as well?”
“Of course I do. But that’s the law of nature and—”
Mr. Marchand decided to intervene. “Stop tormenting your brother, Paige. He’s entitled to his views. In answer to your question, I’ll do your scenes first; then you’ll be free to do what you want.”
“That will suit us, too,” said Aunt Regina. “Ludi and I mostly came along today to visit with friends in Oberammergau. If you’re not going to want Zach and Alina for long, we’ll wait and take them with us. Jürgen is a wood carver and they love to watch him at work. You and the boys are welcome to come, too, Paige. You obviously like murals, and the Gerlachs have a nice one on their house.”
The children’s Oberammergau scenes didn’t take long. As soon as they had finished, Aunt Regina asked them if they wanted to change into modern clothes before going to the Gerlachs.
“We can’t,” said Dane. “We didn’t bring any besides our parkas and the sweat pants that cover up our knees. But we don’t mind going to your friends’ house in costume.”
“Oh. All right, then. But don’t bother about your knees. We don’t have far to go, and it isn’t as cold here as it was up in the mountains. Those shoes you have on could prove useful, though. Since you haven’t been outside in them they’ll do as Hausschuhe—house shoes. I’ll even carry them for you in this large, currently empty, wicker basket.”
“What about coming back, Oma?” Zach asked. “Will the basket not then be filled with Onkel Jürgen’s carvings?”
“Possibly. But I have a cloth bag as well.”
“Since we were small, Alina and I each have a wooden stable that Onkel Jürgen made for us,” Zach told his cousins. “Every Christmas, Oma and Opa give us a new figure so we will one day have a whole nativity. When we were very small, he made us a Noah’s Ark. Mutti says that, this year, Oma has asked him to make one for Tata.”
“That’s supposed to be a secret,” said Aunt Regina. She bestowed a look of mild disapproval on her daughter, who was about to set off on a shopping expedition with Mrs. Marchand and Aunt Augusta. “And you, my lad, might be making assumptions. How do you know we’re giving you more figures for your nativities?”
“Because you always do, and we do not yet have them all.”
“But we will be most intrigued to see which ones you get for us,” Alina assured her.
Aunt Regina laughed. “Come on. We must get going. I’ve already rung Olga to let her know how many Kinder to expect. You’re in luck. She told me she made a big batch of Pfefferkuchen yesterday.”
“Pfefferkuchen are holiday cookies of much spice and sugar,” said Zach. “Oma makes them also. As does Mutti, but Oma’s are better.” He grinned at his cousins. “Do not tell Mutti I said this. She uses the same recipe, but…” He shrugged.
Paige nodded understandingly. “Sort of like the sponge cakes our mother makes. They’re good, but Granny Hollingsworth’s are really good.”
On the way to the Gerlachs, they stopped to admire some of the murals they passed.
“This type of decoration became popular in the eighteenth century,” Uncle Ludi informed them. “Rich merchants and craftsmen would commission large frescos for their houses or businesses to show how wealthy they were. Rich farmers, also.”
The Gerlachs’ mural was of an historical nature. After they had admired it, they were welcomed into the house by Frau Gerlach, a plump, white-haired woman in her early eighties.
Her initial greeting was in German, but in deference to Paige and Dane, she thereafter spoke in English. As the children switched from boots to shoes and hung their parkas on a large coat rack, the old lady was able to get a good look at their pre-war outfits.
She clapped her hands in delight.
“Ah, that brings back memories,” she said, looking at Zach and Alina in particular. “Later, I will show you photographs of Onkel Jürgen and I when we looked like that.”
“Is Onkel Jürgen in his workshop?” Alina asked.
“He is. You may take your cousins through to him.”
Herr Gerlach’s workshop was attached to the house. He was at a bench working on a decorative plate when the children entered. On a long shelf behind him were three more plates, six complete nativity scenes, some individual nativity figures, a doll house, and two delicately carved cuckoo clocks.
“You do nice work, Herr Gerlach,” said Dane, gazing up at the shelf. “It must have taken you months to make all this.”
Herr Gerlach smiled. “I do not work as fast as I once did. But once I have finished this plate, I will have made all of that for which people asked.”
“We know a wood carver in Canada,” said Dane. “A native wood carver named Wes Creeley. A lot of his carvings are of animals. The First Nations believe animals have spiritual connections to people and try to help and protect them. He told us a bear is an especially good protector, and gave us little bear carvings.”
“Oh? Well, I too will give to you a present.” Herr Gerlach took a box from beneath his work bench. “Choose which you please, all of you.”
Inside the box were carvings of baby animals in various poses.
Zach and Alina made their selections almost immediately. Dane, Paige, and Jack were still trying to decide when Aunt Regina stuck her head into the workshop.
“Olga is about to feed everyone, Jürgen. Before she does, she wants your help with something.”
“Then I will come now.” Herr Gerlach took off his work apron and folded it before placing it on the bench.
“Look what Onkel Jürgen gave us, Oma,” said Alina holding up a kitten playing with a ball of yarn.
“I have a puppy with a stick,” said Zach. “We must show them to Opa.”
As they hurried after Aunt Regina, Herr Gerlach turned to the remaining children. “You are all big enough to know not to touch the sharp tools, ja?” Paige and the boys nodded. “Then take your time in choosing. But not too much, perhaps, or those two will eat all the Pfefferkuchen.”
Once he’d left the workshop, Jack turned to his cousins. “Since we’re on our own for a few minutes, I think we should take another time trip.”
Paige blinked in surprise. “In Oberammergau? Marta said her family lived in Unterammergau, not Oberammergau.”
“They’re close together. If we go right now, she and her family might be visiting Oberammergau. In fact, I’m sure they are.”
“One of your insights, I suppose. But we don’t have our old fashioned coats,” Dane pointed out. “Or even our parkas. Though I suppose we c
ould explain those by saying they’re just a new style that hasn’t got to Germany yet.”
“I don’t think coats will be required.”
“Oh? Well, okay then.” Dane pulled out the medallion.
“Not from in here,” said Paige. “Even in Marta’s day this was probably a private home. We can’t just ‘appear’ inside a private home. Especially not in Nazi Germany. For all we know, the head of the local Gestapo once lived here.”
“Outside would be better,” Jack agreed. “That door over there looks like it leads outside.”
It did. They made the time transfer and materialized on what appeared to be a summer’s day. The air was warm, the grass was green, and colourful flowers filled every flowerbed and window box in sight.
“We’d better get out onto the street,” said Paige. “We don’t want to be accused of trespassing in a private yard, either.”
“Sounds like something’s going on out there,” said Dane.
They found the street lined with people. Excited people standing behind a rope barrier. Many of the men had long hair and beards, an indication it was still the year of the town’s special anniversary passion play and that they were cast members.
Scanning the crowd, Dane spotted Marta in front of a house across the street, her Keeper Bracelet clearly visible on her left wrist. She had on a traditional Bavarian Dirndl dress and was clutching a small red flag with a black swastika within a white circle. A Nazi flag. Three other flag-clutching children were standing with her; a blonde-haired girl who looked close to thirteen, another blonde-haired girl of about eight, and a brown-haired boy of about eleven. Like Marta, the girls were wearing Dirndl dresses, the boy an embroidered white shirt and short Lederhosen.
Marta turned when Dane called out her name, her face registering startled, and not especially pleased, recognition.
After they had wriggled their way through the crowd and crossed the street to join her, Dane spoke again. “Hi, Marta. Remember us from that day at Neuschwanstein Castle?”
“I remember. That was some months ago. It is a long holiday you are taking in Germany.”
