by Kris Tualla
In a way I did.
“I thought the Nazis wouldn’t allow us to print any new textbooks that weren’t German-edited.” Teigen frowned. “Have the schools capitulated?”
“Of course not.” Oskar finally smiled. “We outsmarted them. We dated these nineteen thirty-nine.”
Teigen’s jaw fell slack, then he roared his delighted laughter.
Dierks, the physics teacher, reached the office first. He whooped when he saw Teigen and fell on him with a bear hug.
“Aren’t you a sight!” He backed away. “How are you?”
“Better now, I guarantee.” Teigen’s eyes fell to the paperclip on Dierks’ lapel. “Why are—”
“Teigen?” Jorgen, the head of the sciences department, stood in the doorway. “Oh my God, Teigen!”
Jorgen pumped his hand and slapped his back. “I never thought I’d see you again!”
“You almost didn’t,” Teigen admitted. He tapped the paperclip on Jorgen’s lapel. “What’s the deal with people wearing paperclips?”
“It means stay together,” Jorgen said. “Everyone started wearing them last spring. It’s a non-violent protest, I guess you could say.”
“Non-violent for us, true, but not for the Germans.” Dierks laughed. “The Nazis hate them and they tried to pull them off our clothes.”
Jorgen grinned and flipped his lapel over exposing a razor blade under the paper clip. “This stopped them.”
Teigen laughed again. “Serves the bastards right.”
“Sit. Sit,” Oskar urged. Dierks and Jorgen obeyed and all three men faced Teigen. Even Sophie calmed herself enough to stand in the doorway.
Oskar clasped his hands on the desk. “All right. Now—tell us everything.”
Chapter
Twenty One
The plan was for Karolina to find Elsa during intermission, congratulate her on winning the tickets, and instruct her to remain in her seat when the play ended so she could be escorted backstage for her tour.
Teigen was going to wait behind the door inside Selby’s changing room. Karolina would have Elsa walk inside first, then step back and pull the door shut revealing Teigen’s presence. What happened next was up to him.
He moved through the production like an automaton, moving set pieces with Bennett and Jonas, and working the curtains like he had done dozens of times before. Of course he knew which seats were given to Elsa, and he peeked through the curtains before the play began, waiting for her to appear.
Teigen needed to see her before she saw him. He needed that tactical advantage.
“Sure, you need to see her first,” Bennett said the fourth time Teigen went to look for her. “You can’t be distracted by surprise if you want to control the interview.”
“She’s there now.” Teigen pulled away from the split in the fabric. “She brought her mother.”
Bennett looked for himself. “The blonde in the blue dress?”
“Yeah… she wears blue a lot to make her eyes look bluer.” Teigen hated that he remembered that.
Bennett stepped back. “I’m sorry to say it, but she’s beautiful.”
“On the outside,” Teigen qualified. “Turns out what’s inside isn’t so attractive after all, is it.”
The play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was finished and the curtains closed. Teigen opened them for the first curtain call as the cast of seven bowed. If the applause demanded it, he was ready for a second curtain call.
Part of him wanted to delay what was about to transpire, but the rest of him wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.
He caught Jonas’ eye across the stage. Jonas nodded. They opened the curtains one last time.
When the curtains were closed, Teigen crossed the stage and ducked back into the dressing area. Gunter patted his back, and Karolina stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
“Good luck,” she whispered before heading to the front of the house to collect Elsa and her mother.
Teigen knocked on the slightly open door to Selby’s little changing room.
“Come in.”
Teigen pushed the door open. Selby was still in costume, but had changed her wig and shoes.
“I normally would have a date on opening night,” she said casually as she watched herself in the mirror and adjusted the wig she wore in public. “But I sent him a message that some of Quisling’s high-ranking staff were rumored to be attending tonight and I needed to postpone until tomorrow.”
Teigen knew that Selby’s role as Nazi consort was only a role, and a valuable one at times, but he still hated that she did it. When he didn’t say anything she turned to look at him.
“You’ll do fine.”
Teigen drew a chestfull of air and let it out slowly. “I honestly don’t know what can make it fine.”
Selby closed the space between them and took his larger rough hands in her smaller softer ones. “Say what you need to say, Teig. We don’t all get the chance to confront those who wronged us, so make the best of it.”
Teigen knew she was talking about her own mysterious past, and he hoped that someday he would learn her story. For now, he just needed to follow her advice.
“Thanks.”
Selby let go of his hands and looped her arms around his neck. The kiss she planted on his cheek was entirely different than the brief peck from Karolina.
As she pulled away, Teigen stared into her eyes, surprised. For a moment she didn’t move.
“I need to get out of the way.” Selby turned and quickly left the room.
Teigen blew another deep breath and hid himself behind the open door. His body was zinging with adrenaline.
God be with me.
*****
“This is where we do our hair and make-up,” Karolina trilled. “And, by the way, I absolutely love yours!”
“Thank you.” That was Elsa.
“What do you use on your skin?” Karolina’s voice wasn’t moving closer.
“Whatever I can find, I’m afraid. I’m dying to get my hands on some cold cream.”
“Maybe I can slip you a little before you go,” Karolina said in a conspiratorial tone. “We all use it to remove stage makeup.”
“I would love that—thank you!”
Teigen heard their footsteps approaching. “And here’s the lead actress’s changing room. It’s kind of small, so I’ll let you ladies go in first.”
The door pressed briefly against his chest, and then swung away and clicked closed. Teigen moved to block the only exit as Elsa and Dina Borg whirled and stared at him in shock.
“Teigen?” Dina squeaked.
Elsa’s eyes flashed with anger. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’m part of the troupe.” Simple unemotional answers on his part seemed the best plan.
“Really? You’re not teaching anymore? That’s no surprise,” Elsa scoffed. “When were you released from Grini?”
Teigen stared at her, trying to hold back his burgeoning anger. “Three weeks after I was arrested…”
Her eyes rounded. “Wha—”
“And I was taken to Kirkenes.”
Dina clapped her hands against her cheeks. “Oh nooo…” she moaned.
“You were?” Elsa scrambled to hide the surprise she clearly didn’t mean to show. “I didn’t know. I mean, no one knew that would happen.”
Teigen felt like the ground wobbled under his feet. “Did you report me? Are you the reason I was arrested?”
Elsa’s mouth opened and closed.
Teigen’s hands turned into fists. “How could you do that?” he shouted.
Unemotional answers be damned.
“I made plans… it was necessary.” She glared at him. “You were so stubborn and wouldn’t listen to reason. You were your own worst enemy and so you got what you deserved.”
“Elsa!” Dina’s jaw dropped and her cheeks drained of color. “How can you say such a thing?”
Teigen grabbed the doorknob to steady himself. His face felt numb.
“What sort of plans, Elsa?”
She lifted her chin and stared down her nose. “I was in demand.”
“Demand?” That didn’t make sense. “For what?”
“The program is called Lebensborn,” she said proudly. “Heinrich Himmler started it years ago to assure the continued births of superior children.”
Superior?
“Are you out of your mind, Elsa?” Teigen couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What’d you do? Go fuck a German?”
“There’s no reason to be vulgar about it. He was an officer. A major,” Elsa snipped. She folded her arms and spoke as if he were the errant one. “Norwegian girls with blue eyes and blonde hair are being recruited because of our pure Aryan blood.”
Teigen shifted his shocked regard to Dina. “Did you know about this?”
Tears were streaming down the older woman’s cheeks. “Not until she was three months gone. But what could I do then?”
“And once I was, they treated me like a princess,” Elsa bragged.
Unthinkable pieces were falling into their terrible place. “You had to turn me in to prove your loyalty. So they would accept you.”
Elsa flipped an unconcerned hand. “You were begging to be caught with all your self-important loyalist decisions. I just sped up the process is all.”
“But after you conceived,” Teigen growled, “you told the Resistance that the baby was mine and you collected my salary from them.”
“Oh… Did you know about that?” Elsa was momentarily diverted.
“I didn’t!” Dina grabbed her daughter’s arm. “I thought all the money was from the Nazi officer. What else have you done?”
“Where is the baby now?” Teigen demanded before Elsa could answer.
“With his father’s family.” Elsa’s haughty gaze faltered momentarily and Teigen saw the first glimmer of regret. “They live outside of Berlin.”
Teigen slumped against the door and rubbed his eyes. This situation was far, far worse than he thought. The woman he would never again think of as the former love of his life had just shown her true and traitorous colors.
“Oh, Elsa,” he said quietly without looking at her. “You are in trouble. Deep, deep trouble.”
“No, I’m not,” she objected. “Hitler is going to win. And when he does, I’m going to move to Germany and live with my son and his father.”
Teigen would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so horribly tragic.
He met her defiant gaze. “None of that’s going to happen, Elsa. Hitler will be soundly defeated, and then you’ll never see your son or his father again.”
She scowled. “You don’t know that.”
“Yes. I do.” Teigen spoke with calm authority. There was one more thing that needed to happen before this interview was concluded. “Now, tell your mother that there’s no way the baby could have been mine, because we were never intimate once you moved into their home.”
“Of course the baby’s not yours,” Elsa sneered. “I already made that clear.”
Teigen stepped to the side and opened the door. “Have you heard enough?”
*****
Elsa sat in a chair, visibly stunned by what was happening around her.
While the actors went about the business of taking off their costumes and hanging them carefully in place, donning their modern clothes, removing their makeup and wigs, and replacing prop in their spots for tomorrow night, she waited to find out what was going to happen to her.
Teigen stood behind Colonel Berntsen, reading and correcting the notes the Milorg officer made. Berntsen nodded and turned to Elsa.
“All right. Let’s get started.”
Selby was in her changing room, and Teigen wondered why she hadn’t come out yet. Dina was sobbing in a corner periodically wailing anew when she heard what Berntsen was telling her daughter.
“Milorg is now part of the Norwegian Army,” Berntsen said to Elsa. “That gives us the authority to arrest you now, and put you on trial for treason once the war is over.”
“Not if Germany wins,” she snapped.
“True. But they won’t.” Berntsen gave her a tight, confident smile. “And delayed justice is still justice.”
“So where do you think you’re going to lock me up now?”
He looked at the paper he was writing more notes on. “We can send you to Grini.”
Elsa straightened in her chair. “No you can’t. That’s a Nazi prison.”
“No, Elsa,” he said patiently. “It’s a Norwegian prison. And your theft of Teigen Hansen’s salary was a Norwegian crime.”
For the first time, Elsa Borg looked terrified. “No!”
“If she pays the money back will the charge be dropped?” Teigen asked.
Berntsen looked up at him, his expression pensive. “The theft, yes. The treason, no.”
Teigen shifted his gaze to Elsa. “What do you say to that, Elsa? If you’re so certain Germany will win, it sounds like a perfect solution.”
“How am I supposed to pay back so much money?” she scoffed.
“One kroner at a time.”
Elsa flopped back in her seat and folded her arms angrily. “That’s a ridiculous answer.”
“Fine, then.” Teigen turned his attention back to Berntsen. “I’d like to place a lien on the Borg home in the amount of twelve thousand kroner.”
“What?” burst from Elsa’s lips.
Her mother wailed anew.
“I do believe that’s fair.” Berntsen made more notes.
“No, it’s not!” Elsa cried. “We could lose our home!”
Berntsen lifted his eyes to hers. “Yes, you could.”
Teigen walked around her chair and stood over Elsa. He leaned forward so she was forced to tilt her head back to look up at him. He lifted one stiff finger in front of her face.
“Let me be extremely clear about this. You gave my name to the Nazis accusing me of who-knows-what. Didn’t you?”
She shrugged.
“As a result of your actions, I spent a month in prison and seven months—SEVEN MONTHS!”
Elsa jumped when he shouted. There was no insolence in her expression anymore.
“Seven months deep in the Arctic Circle, crowded in a hut made out of cardboard—CARDBOARD!”
Elsa winced.
“I did hard physical labor twelve hours a day. Every. Single. DAY.”
Elsa’s lower lip began to quiver.
“I was freezing, and I was starving, Elsa. And why was that, exactly?”
She shook her head.
He leaned closer. “ANSWER ME!”
She was crying in gulping sobs. “Be-because I g-gave them your name.”
“And why did you give them my name, exactly?”
She covered her face shook her head again.
“I’ll tell you why—because you are nothing more than a spoiled and selfish girl who has no thought for anyone but herself.”
Teigen straightened. “And then you lied, and you stole my salary from your countrymen.”
Elsa’s wracking sobs echoed from behind her palms.
Teigen spoke slowly and clearly. “If all that happens to you now is that I foreclose on your house, then you need to count yourself very, very lucky.”
Teigen looked around the dressing room. Eight of his troupe members watched him silently, soberly. Selby opened the door to her changing room and stared at him, half-hidden by the door.
Teigen heaved a heavy sigh. He’d said almost everything he needed to say to Elsa. Only one thing remained. He waited until she lowered her hands to look at him.
“Your last words to me told me to go to hell.” His voice was low and calm. “And I did. Now it’s your turn.”
Teigen turned around, grabbed his coat, and walked out the stage door in search of a tavern.
Chapter
Twenty Two
Selby pulled on her coat and ran out the door after Teigen. He was already half a block away.
“Teigen!” she sho
uted. She ran as fast as she dared on the icy pavement. “Teigen!”
His voice floated back to her, frigid as the air that carried it. “Go away.”
Selby struggled onward. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
He was gaining distance. “The taverns aren’t empty, I’m pretty certain of it.’
“I want to talk to you!”
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
She slipped badly and nearly fell; her arms wind-milled to keep her balance and she was glad he didn’t see.
Teigen turned a corner. She was going to lose him.
“Sergeant! Halt!” she bellowed as loud as she could.
She found a bare spot and rushed forward.
Teigen reappeared around the corner looking back at her like he could spit fire. “Are you joking?”
Selby didn’t say anything until she was standing in front of him. The streetlight at the corner encircled them both in an incongruently romantic light and gave Teigen an angelic halo of blond hair and frosted breath.
Neither idea could be farther from the truth.
“You don’t want to talk to me,” Selby panted. “Or you don’t want to talk to anyone.”
The man looked miserable; that was no surprise. “Anyone.”
That was the answer she hoped for. “Well, I just wanted to tell you that you were brilliant just now.”
“Brilliant?” Teigen’s face crumpled in confusion. “I was horrible.”
Now Selby’s expression imitated his. “Horrible? What are you talking about?”
“I just—I don’t want to talk about it.” He started to take a step, but stopped himself. “Am I free to go, Lieutenant?”
Selby pulled rank, glad at the moment that she could. “No. Not until we get this cleared up.”
Teigen threw his hands in the air, growled, and turned in a frustrated circle. Then he planted both feet and leaned toward her.
“I’m not proud of what I said to Elsa. Is that clear enough?”
That surprised her. “But you only said what was true.”
“I called her names!”
“No, you didn’t.” Selby had heard everything clearly. “You called her spoiled and selfish. And her actions obviously deserved that description.”
