Colonel Berry

Chapter Forty-Three

David lay on the couch with his head in Maria's lap as he recounted his ordeal in the interrogation rooms. She asked frequently for more details whenever he seemed to gloss over portions of it, and in this manner, a quarter-hour later, he had revealed every aspect of his apprehension and interrogation.

Maria bobbed her head as she absorbed the last of it. "So, an ignorant and dishonest guard too eager to please and an arrogant, privileged young man placed in a position beyond his comprehension. Seems the Fates were against you."

"True." He released a slow sigh. "And the tyre punctures."

She reached down and gently caressed the bulge in his trousers. "Yet you escaped with light cuts which will soon heal. Had you been stopped by competent soldiers, none of this would have happened."

"But, Franz and Ernst? Why would they have been..." He winced.

"What chance they'd have met a similar combination of incompetence? Besides, you had said they were sneaking along a rail spur to the plant." She tilted her head. "That would be seen as threatening behaviour, not as an innocent approach, such as yours had been."

David nodded. "And the possibility that they tried to hide or flee when they were spotted." He paused and grimaced. "Likely shot."

"Hiding or fleeing would have immediately marked them as enemy."

"Exactly! They may have panicked. Our rule if discovered, is to remain calm. Identify and explain, rather than attempt to evade. Our covers and stories are solid, and we need to stick to them."

"And you proved that works. Even with your being prejudged because of the lies of the guard."

"Yeah." David blew out a deep breath. "But what about Greg? He knows the rule. Why would he have been apprehended?"

"How do you know he has been?"

"Assuming." David shrugged. "He's two days past due."

"What else might have happened? What did Otto say Greg's plans were when they parted?"

"To spend a night of passion. He had met a very eager young woman in the gasthaus." He chuckled. "Otto said she couldn't keep her hands out of Greg's trousers."

"Might he still be with her?"

"That's not at all like Greg. He would honour his return schedule."

"Might she have feigned attraction to take advantage of him?"

"How do you mean?"

"I don't know." Maria shrugged. "Maybe undress him and tell him to bathe first. Then run off with his satchel and clothes. Leave him naked and without money. Maybe her hotness was a ruse to rob him."

"Plausible." David nodded. "More likely than being apprehended at the border. His birth certificate is genuine, and his acting as a fuse salesman is flawless." He chuckled. "But from what I've been told, he cannot resist an eager woman."

"From my research, few men can."

"I wonder – last night in Ettingen – whether that was a ruse." Prompted by Maria's confused expression, he recounted his experience with the three women in the gasthaus.

When he mentioned the exploring hand, she asked, "Were you tempted?"

"No, not at all." He shook his head. "But I was amazed how fast their attitude changed when I mentioned having a gorgeous, pregnant wife."

Maria hummed a loud sigh, ran her fingers across his lips and blew him a kiss. "Seems they intended to take advantage of you. Get you into your room and rob you. Ten Marks for three seems suspiciously under-priced."

"No, not at all under-priced. When I was in the trenches, the going rate for a clean woman was three Francs. Four for an infected one."

Maria laughed. "You have that backwards."

"No, the ones with syph and gonners were in higher demand. Catching the clap got the soldiers out of the trenches for treatment. Injuries were a ticket out of the mayhem, and many saw a visit to clappy prostitutes as the easiest and most enjoyable way to be injured."

"Oh, God! How desperate the situation these men must endure."

"In Oxford, we learned about men cutting themselves in the trenches to become infected from the filth. But now, that and the clap ruse are over. They're treated, fined, demoted and sent straight back to the trenches."

"Fined and demoted?"

"Self-inflicted injury. Purposefully weakening the Army."

"Such horrors the soldiers face. No way out of it alive or intact. And there's little or no mention of any of this in the papers. I guess they don't want to scare young men from signing up." She shook her head. "So, back to the women. Did they find another victim?"

"No, I bought them dinner, and from the way they devoured it, they were near to starving. There's no work for them, and they had decided to try prostitution to earn enough to feed their families."

"But, you had said most of the women work in the factories."

"They do, but Ettingen is well away from the industrial areas. They told me many of their friends had headed north or across the river to find work, but they've stayed home to care for the injured in their families."

"What horrors. And I thought it was bad when we left last year."

"They're still told the war will soon be won." David blew out a noisy sigh. "They're victims, and reality is being withheld from them."

"As it's withheld from the people in Britain. And likely in France."

"True. But much worse in Germany. At least in France and Britain, the big picture is reported. In Germany, the papers report little but positive stories, and many of those are concocted. The people there are fed a far more distorted view, and most appear to still believe the war is going well and will soon be won."

"Would it be safe for you to tell them differently? Or might this be seen as a subversive act?"

"If it is done privately, it would be safe. Being from neutral Switzerland gives me a broader view of both sides of the conflict, and I can talk about the reality I see in all innocence. Though, if I were to present an organised public talk with the same information, that would likely be considered subversion."

"Similar to what the Bolsheviks are doing."

"Their message is directed to long-oppressed people living in squalid conditions, unlike the Germans who are new to deprivation. I've read they're allowed to continue because there's little support for their ideas." He shrugged. "But last night, the three women were grateful to be told the reality of their situation. Ursula said it was like finding lost pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, filling the gaps they had been questioning."

"Ursula? Which one was that?"

"The one who explored my length."

"I wonder whether this could become a new mission."

David contorted his face. "What? Have women fondle my goods?"

"No, silly." She giggled. "Offer women the real picture about what's happening with the war. You know how women love to talk, to gossip. I bet what you shared with them last night has already spread."

He nodded. "I like this idea."

"Besides, with the new security around your targets, they are now too dangerous for the men to approach."

"Yeah. Inexperienced, incompetent, unpredictable." David blew out a deep breath. "Far too dangerous for them now."

"But selling fuses is still a safe cover. They can use this to explain their presence while they share bits of reality with the women. They'd appear completely innocent. Like your selling watches." She tilted her head. "After all your troubles, did you manage to meet with the General?"

"I did, and with superb success. He glanced again at his watch. "Nearly twenty-five past noon. We should refresh and go down for lunch. You'll learn the details as I share them with the Ambassador."