Part 22 (1/2)
Diabolically brilliant. ”So those leftover minerals, those would be the copper tailings?”
”Excellent!” he said with great satisfaction. ”I am glad you can appreciate my genius.”
This man's inflated ego could fill a copper pit. ”It would appear you don't need me, Herr Mueller. Why not just let me go?”
”I don't need you. Not in any capacity,” he sneered, looking me up and down with repugnance on his face. ”But my cousin, Heinrich, is very interested in having a little chat with you. Perhaps you've heard of my dear cousin? He is a very important man in Germany.”
The very Heinrich Mueller I had feared when I first met Herr Mueller.
”Heinrich thinks you might be able to enlighten him about Dietrich Bonhoeffer's treasonous activities. So, for now, Frulein, I hope you will relax and enjoy your accommodations, confining though they may be.”
I thought back to that lunch at Herr Mueller's house when I first arrived in Copper Springs, navely telling him I was convinced Hitler was losing the war. I remembered that picnic in Robert's office when I openly shared details about Dietrich's involvements in those plots.
I was right; so was Dog; there was someone listening to us. Herr Mueller. How nave could I have been? I never dreamed that sharing information with Robert could have such disastrous consequences. And now William's life was at risk, too. Even more haunting, it was possible I had made things worse for Dietrich and Hans.
”One more question, Herr Mueller. Is child labor part of your scheme?”
He turned back toward me, eyes narrowed. ”Insinuating what?”
”Glenda's nephew, Tommy. I saw him at your mine. How could you do it? How could you make a ten-year-old boy work in a dangerous mine?”
He threw his head back and laughed. ”Oh, you don't miss much, do you?! A boy that age is just the right size to be lowered into our mines and carry out some tasks in the deep crevices that only small hands could do. Explosives in small crevices, for example.”
A child's life, dismissed with a shrug. Was there any evil this man wouldn't commit? Was nothing too low for him? He was utterly devoid of a conscience.
He sat back down and crossed his legs. ”I've had great success using children. Only trouble is that little boys grow up. Fortunately, there always seems to be a child here or there who isn't really looked after. I had thought that the Reverend's brat might be a candidate for the job, though, I'm not sure he has enough brains to complete a task. It would've been nice for that boy to have something to do other than to torment people.”
He slapped his hands on his knees and stood up to leave. ”Too bad, Frulein, that we did not meet under other circ.u.mstances. I must say that you are not the naf I had expected you to be.” And he started chuckling to himself all over again. After he left, the aroma of his putrid cigar smoke lingered in the room behind him.
Rather fitting.
As soon as I heard Herr Mueller walk down the hall, I ran back to the window. This time, I caught sight of William's blond head behind the truck the servants were packing. He was letting the air out of each truck tire. I held my breath as I saw a guard walk back toward the truck. O Lord, protect him! Suddenly, the guard spun on his heels and went back toward the house, as if he'd forgotten something.
William finished the last tire and then peeked around the truck, looking for guards, and ran under my window. I pulled him up and through the bars. ”What were you doing?” I asked.
”Look Girl. No see Girl. See Bad Man.” He shook his head with grave disappointment.
What was he talking about? Why was he looking for a girl? Who was he looking for? ”Who, William, who?”
”Girl!” he said again, getting frustrated with me. ”Look. No see Girl!”
”What girl?” I said, equally frustrated.
”Girl!” He responded, exasperated with my obtuseness.
I put my hands up to cover my face. This line of questioning wasn't getting us anywhere. I asked him if he saw many men guarding the house.
He shook his head and held up the number four. Four guards. That was better news than I had expected. I was still determined to find a way to escape, and William's espionage work was proving to be helpful.
Just then, I heard a guard shout out. He had just discovered four flat tires on his truck. Soon I heard other guards loudly complain. Herr Mueller came outside and waved his arms up and down in anger. I could only understand a little bit of the Spanish/English/German ranting and ravings, but apparently someone had put soap in the fountain by the magnificent front entry, and bubbles were pouring forth.
I went into the bathroom. Just as I suspected, the big bar of soap that had been there when I arrived yesterday was missing.
Chapter Fourteen.
All day long, I watched the guards hurriedly pack the trucks with more boxes, furniture from the house, and paintings packed in wooden crates. William remained glued to the window. He kept saying he was looking for ”girl.”
I kept a close eye on him in case he had any other capers up his sleeve. I had to admit he would have been a wonderful worker in the Resistance; he did excellent reconnaissance work. And better still, one of the cardinal rules of Resistance Work was to confound the enemy by creating chaos and confusion with whatever weapons or supplies we could get our hands on. William had a genius' flair for getting Herr Mueller wildly upset.
Sometime in the late afternoon, I heard high heels clicks down the hall, accompanying Maria's now familiar shuffling. I quickly got William under the bed, motioning for him to wait quietly. The key turned at my bedroom door lock. A tall, slender woman came through the door behind Maria, who was holding my dinner tray. Maria put the tray down on the desk.
”Gracias, Maria,” the woman said dismissively.
Maria shuffled away. The woman was dressed in a pale blue silk blouse and skirt, matching high heels; her sandy blonde hair was held back in an elegant French twist. She fixed her eyes on me; it was evident some kind of calculation was being made. Her steady gaze made me feel uncomfortable.
Then my heart skipped a beat. Nearly stopped, actually. I recognized this woman. I knew her from the picture on William's bureau.
This woman was Ruth.
”So. You are Louisa,” she said. ”I can see you know who I am.”
She seemed to enjoy the shock on my face. I was at a rare loss for words, stunned by her sudden appearance. The pictures I had seen in the shed and in the tree house barely conveyed her beauty.
She was breathtaking, with alabaster skin and delicate features, like fine Dresden china. Her face was so lovely it almost hurt to look at her, the same way it hurt to listen to beautiful music. I think she was even more beautiful than when she was younger. Except...except for her eyes.
I remembered that first picture I had seen of her, where I thought her eyes showed mystery. Not so now. They glittered coldly.
”Friedrich has told me all about you.” She walked over to the window. ”But you're probably wondering why I'm here.”
Afraid to trust my voice, I only nodded. I shot up a silent prayer. Lord, please keep William under the bed. Lord, keep him hidden! I wasn't sure what worried me more: Ruth spotting William or William seeing Ruth.
I cleared my throat. ”Shall we sit down?” I asked her. Intentionally, I sat on the desk chair that William and I had positioned by the window to keep a lookout, and Ruth leaned against the bed, facing me. William was only inches away from her.
She took a silver box of cigarettes and a lighter out of her skirt pocket and lit it. ”You don't mind if I smoke?” She didn't wait for an answer.
Why did everyone feel an inclination to smoke in this hot, stuffy little room?
”Interesting, isn't it? That you and I are from such different worlds, and yet seem to share a similar taste in men?”
No doubt, my face betrayed my disgust. ”I despise Herr Mueller.”
Ruth's lips tightened.
”Ruth, Herr Mueller doesn't love you. He doesn't love anyone but himself, with the possible exception of Adolf Hitler. I don't know what he's promised you, I can only imagine, but in the end, he will destroy you.”
”Actually,” she said haughtily, ”I was referring to Robert.”