Perigord

by Marc Lindsay

  “Sorry to bother you Miss, are you busy at the moment?” Selene asked sweetly. Ms Gaia smiled back.

  “Of course not dear, how can I help?” she replied, putting her lunch to one side.

  “Before I ask what was that tune you were humming?” Selene asked, the question was obvious to all, including Ms Gaia a not too subtle tactic to get on her good side.

  “A Norwegian folk tune, but that’s not the reason that’s brought you here Selene,” Ms Gaia replied.

  “We have a question which maybe only you can answer,” Jason replied. Ms Gaia regarded him for a moment.

  “Ah, you must be the famous Mr Page everyone is talking about,” Ms Gaia stated with a grin. Jason nodded a little bashfully. Selene gave him a playful slap on the shoulder.

  “It’s him alright,” Selene answered cheekily. Ms Gaia got up from her chair and walked around the table toward the pair. Jason noted to himself how quickly and fluidly she moved. Ms Gaia was in her early thirties, 5”4 and very slim. She wore her long dark brown hair in a braid that hung over her left shoulder. As she approached, Jason noticed how fair her skin was. Ms Gaia held out her hand to Jason. At the exact moment when their eyes met, Jason flinched.

  “I’m sorry, I just, your eyes!” he stammered. He stared almost hypnotically at the most amazing pair of eyes he had ever seen. They were a vibrant shade of violet and practically glowed. He was completely red with embarrassment. Before he could say another word she gave him a reassuring smile.

  “It’s okay I get this reaction a lot from first timers. I have a condition known as Alexandria Genesis,” Ms Gaia explained.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that Ma’am,” Jason replied apologetically. Both Ms Gaia and Selene chuckled.

  “It’s not fatal or anything, doofus,” Selene said.

  “Oh,” Jason replied lamely.

  “People with the disorder have fair skin a fast metabolism, no facial or body hair and purple eyes,” Ms Gaia said as she pointed to her own.

  “You forgot to mention heat vision,” Jason replied wistfully. Selene and Ms Gaia looked at each other before bursting out in laughter, followed tentatively by Jason. Ms Gaia pointed a finger at Jason while looking at Selene.

  “I like this one,” she stated.

  “Yeah he’s weird but kinda cool,” Selene replied.

  All three of them sat around Ms Gaia’s desk and watched as she continued to eat her lunch.

  “So what is this question you want to ask Selene?” Ms Gaia said through a mouthful of food.

  “It’s nothing big. We just wanted to know if there was a supernova set to occur within our solar system anytime soon?” Jason asked. Ms Gaia looked at them both, a quizzical expression on her face.

  “First up, is this a school thing and if so, why don’t I know anything about it; and secondly, as a matter of fact yes, yes there is,” she said curiously.

  “It’s not for school, just general interest,” Selene replied.

  “Yeah we heard about it and wanted to know more,” Jason interjected. “Wait just a second,” Ms Gaia instructed hopping up from her chair and walking briskly across the room to a locked cupboard. After a minute of fumbling with the lock she rummaged through the cupboard’s contents, as they waited Jason took a look around the classroom, littering the walls were flyers for various eco charities and posters depicting warnings about climate change and pollution concerns, Jason thought to himself that she must be some hard core hippie. Ms Gaia returned with a long cardboard cylinder under her arm.

  “What’s that?” Jason asked as Ms Gaia sat back down in her chair and removed the cylinders contents, unrolled a large celestial map onto the table.

  “Look here,” Ms Gaia said pointing to a spot on the map. “This star is known as Sirius, or the dog star. These other two smaller stars are its companions, Sirius B and Sirius C, also known as the pups,” she explained.

  “Look how far they are from the earth!” Jason commented.

  “They’re about eight point six light years from the earth” Ms Gaia replied,

  “I don’t know what that is but it sounds impressive,” Jason replied. Ms Gaia leaned back in her chair.

  “Well one of the pups, Sirius C, went in to Supernova about eight and a half years ago, its light will reach us in about two weeks,” Ms Gaia concluded.

  “I’ve heard that a supernova transmits radiation, is it harmful to us?” Selene enquired,

  “The residual radiation that will pass the earth is completely harmless to life on earth,” Ms Gaia replied.

  “Well that’s a relief,” Jason said.

  “Not that I’m complaining about helping a student on this subject, but I am puzzled about the origin of your interest,” Ms Gaia said, Both Selene and Jason looked at each other, then at Ms Gaia.

  “Just curious is all. Thanks for your help but we better get going” Selene said quickly, then dragging Jason, they departed, not wanting to arouse any more suspicion.

  Both Selene and Jason walked quickly down the corridor.

  “That was a bit rude,” Jason said.

  “Sorry, she was asking too many questions and to be quite frank I’m enjoying this whole secrecy thing,” Selene replied with a wry smile. “Women, who can understand them?” Jason muttered to himself. Just then the bell rang. “Better get to class, I’ll meet you after school,” Jason said taking off down the corridor, leaving Selene to find her own way to class.

  The final bell rang signalling the end of school. Selene was waiting for Jason at the front gates, leaning casually against one of its stone pillars, twirling a lock of her hair with one hand and wearing a bored expression on her face. She instantly brightened when she saw him amidst the throng of other students eagerly departing their daily grind.

  “About time,” Selene said pushing away from the pillar with one foot. Jason walked briskly toward her.

  “I got here as soon as I could,” Jason remarked a little testily.

  “Relax, I just thought you’d be in a hurry for your first day on the job,” she said sweetly.

  They made their way down the staircase toward the library’s front reception desk. Selene grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You’ll be right,” she said sensing his trepidation.

  “Thanks,” he said and squeezed her hand back. “I’m going to need it,” he muttered.

  “I’ll be around if you need me,” Selene said, leaving Jason to wait alone. Ms Jax had her back to Jason as he patiently waited for her to finish loading returned books onto a push cart. Once finished, she turned and regarded him for a moment, her face a stony mask of neutrality.

  “It’s good to see you up and about Mr Page,” she said in her gravelly voice. “Thank you” Jason said. “Oh and please call me Jason”.

  Ms Jax smiled her big toothy smile.

  “How is your mother?” Ms Jax enquired.

  “She’s good,” Jason said.

  “Mr Walker and I were concerned when we heard about your unwanted visitor, but now you’re here and well, which is good,” Ms Jax stated plainly. Jason returned her smile.

  “Yeah, um, where do you want me to start?” Jason asked eagerly. Ms Jax bent down behind the desk and produced a broom, brush, and dustpan.

  “At the top,” she said, pointing to the top of the staircase. Jason followed her gaze up to the entrance way, mentally counting the stairs in his head, losing count somewhere around the two hundred mark. His smile faltered as he inwardly groaned.

  “Great, let me at it,” Jason said. Taking the cleaning tools from Ms Jax, he trudging his way up the staircase.

  He had been sweeping solidly for an hour when he finally reached the bottom. Grabbing his cleaning equipment he took a final look at his handy work before making his way back to the desk. When he returned, Ms Jax gave him furniture polish, cleaning cloths and a ladder, instructing him to start in the north wing cleaning shelves. Jason grimaced but went off without a word of complaint.

  Stopping at the first shelf he came
to Jason unfolded the ladder. Removing the books from the top shelf he commenced by wiping the shelf free of dust, then using the polish he buffed the shelf to a high shine before replacing the books. He continued on like this for several hours working steady and methodically. Jason had just finished replacing the books on one of the shelves when he heard a set of footsteps from behind. He turned to see Ms Jax approaching.

  “You work well, I think you can call it a day,” she said regarding his handy work.

  “Thanks, I’ll just grab Selene and head home,” Jason replied as he dusted his hands on his pants.

  “She’s already gone. I told her not to wait as I knew you would be a while. I hope I didn’t overstep my authority,” Ms Jax said.

  “No, no, of course not, I’m glad she didn’t wait around for me,” Jason said. “Good, then I’ll see you again Wednesday, same time,” Ms Jax instructed, flashing her toothy smile.

  Arriving home stiff and sore he was half regretting his decision in accepting his job. As he entered the kitchen, his mother gave him a sympathetic smile as she laid his meal on the table.

  “You poor dear, Selene stopped by on her way home and said you might be a bit tired,” Helen said. Jason nodded wearily.

  “Yeah, I think they’re getting their pound of flesh from me,” he replied. Helen patted the seat by the table.

  “Well, have something to eat and you can tell me all about it,” Helen commiserated. During their meal Jason explained the ordeals he had faced at work while Helen patiently listened to her son’s detailed descriptions of his first day; knowing only too well what long hours and hard physical labour was all about.

  After dinner Jason went up into his room, showered and completed his homework. Despite his busy day he no longer felt tired but actually quite energised. He decided to continue with his detective work. Having been through the books on Heinrich Perigord, most of them said the same things. Not much was known of his early childhood, he had multiple wives and his church had been persecuted in the major cities. But the information he really sought concerning the harvest festival eluded him. Jason decided to gather some more information from his uncle’s journal, but upon further investigation he couldn’t locate it amongst the large pile of books amassed on his bed.

  “Where the hell could it be?” he muttered to himself as he turned his room upside down without any luck.

  He eventually gave up on his search and collapsed on his bed in frustration. Looking at the pile of books still sitting there, he carefully tossed them onto the floor when he noticed the book on the secrets of the SS and its inner circle. He shrugged and picked it up. The book had detailed chapters on the Unit’s politics, its high ranking officers and the part the Unit played during World War II. One of the chapters that caught his eye concerned the medical experimentation of prisoners within the camps. Jason had heard the horror stories about the Third Reich. The chapter detailed the events from camps such as Auschwitz and Mauthausen where inmates were subjected to various experiments designed to help the military in combat situations, create new weapons and aid in the recovery of military personnel that had been injured. More often than not, these scientists just conducted experimentation on the innocent for their own perverse reasons.

  As Jason read through it there was a sub-chapter on Hitler’s super soldiers which told of the Fuhrer’s obsession with the perfect Arian subject. There was a picture of one of the scientists that was leading the research into creating his perfect warriors, a middle aged officer dressed in a SS ceremonial uniform. Beneath the picture it read Colonel Heinrich Perigord. Jason did a double take.

  “What the hell, it couldn’t be,” Jason whispered, but there was no mistaking the face and those piercing eyes. “Sonofabitch!” Jason grabbed one of the other books from the floor and flicked through it until he found what he was looking for, a picture of Perigord’s founding father, Heinrich Perigord. Jason placed the pictures from both books side by side. Apart from some grooming differences it was definitely the same man, including the three inch scar running vertically down from the right eye. Two pictures of the same man separated by a hundred and twenty years and he hadn’t aged a day. Jason couldn’t believe what he was seeing but the evidence was right in front of him. He marked each page in the books and slipped them into his school bag. ‘Wait till Selene see’s this,’ Jason thought as he turned off the light. Thoughts of Heinrich stayed with him until sleep came.

  Selene was sitting in their usual lunch time spot on the grass overlooking the oval, casually eating when Jason arrived.

  “Hey, where have you been?” Selene asked.

  “Got held up with an assignment. Why, did you miss me?” Jason replied, batting his eyes daintily.

  “No,” Selene said coyly. “I’m just keeping an eye out for you is all”.

  “You won’t believe what I discovered last night,” Jason said changing the subject. He placed the book about Heinrich Perigord on the grass beside her. It was opened displaying a clear image of the man.

  “Take a look at that,” Jason said. Selene peered down and studied the photo, then turned back to Jason.

  “It’s Perigord, so what?” She replied, nonplussed. Without saying a word Jason placed another book down next to it and pointed to the picture of Perigord the Nazi scientist. Again she glanced at the picture, then at Jason. “You’ve lost me,” Selene said again. Jason smiled patiently.

  “Look at the pictures closely, then look at the dates,” he replied. He watched as Selene studied the books, her gaze going from one then to the other. After a couple of seconds, realisation dawned on her. Again Jason smiled at her reaction.

  “This can’t be right,” Selene whispered.

  “Oh it is,” Jason replied, “Somehow, Heinrich Perigord, priest and pioneer settler, was also a scientist working for Adolph Hitler.” Selene was speechless. “Doesn’t it just blow your mind?” Jason said with a grin.

  Chapter 20

  Selene and Jason sat hunched over a pile of books at the Perigord Town Library reviewing what they had discovered so far.

  “It has to be some kind of mistake, I mean, come on it has to be a fake,” Selene said. Jason shook his head.

  “I know it’s not, this book is over thirty years old,” Jason replied. Selene gave him a blank look. “It might be common place nowadays to photo shop a picture, but thirty years ago not such an easy feat,” Jason added. Selene didn’t look too convinced.

  “It wouldn’t be easy, but not impossible,” Selene said sceptically.

  “But why go to the trouble?” Jason interjected.

  “Who knows, but if it’s legit, it raises more questions than answers,” Selene said solemnly.

  Jason mulled over Selene’s question.

  “The first thing that comes to mind apart from the obvious, is does this have anything to do with the upcoming Harvest Festival?” Jason queried.

  “That’s a big leap,” Selene questioned. Jason sighed but continued.

  “Not really, think about it. From what we’ve learned so far about the Nazis’ quest to produce the perfect race and the prophecy concerning the raising of a super Army, in the middle we have this scientist that can’t die,” he said.

  “Hey, we don’t know that for certain,” Selene replied.

  “But what if he isn’t dead? What if he’s still alive and here in Perigord?” Jason replied with finality. Selene looked at Jason with concern.

  “We have to get to the bottom of this, we need to study your Uncle’s journal,” she said urgently, then noticed his agitation. “What’s the matter?”

  “I don’t know where it is,” Jason said.

  “You don’t know, or you’re not sure?” Selene urged gently.

  “I honestly don’t know, I could have sworn I placed it in my room,” he said. But?” Selene interrupted.

  “But I’ve looked everywhere. It’s like it just vanished,” Jason said, clearly upset. Selene gave him a consoling look.

  “Don’t worry I’m sure it�
�ll turn up, but in the meantime we need to find the information through other means,” Selene said.

  “And how do we do that?”

  “Well for starters we need more information on the ceremony, what exactly is needed and where it needs to be conducted,” Selene said. Jason thought for a minute before answering.

  “Has anything strange happened here in in the past couple of months?” Jason asked. Selene shrugged.

  “I don’t know, I have to admit that I don’t really take that much notice about the day to day events that happen here,” Selene said truthfully. “But I’m sure if we checked through the town’s old newspapers we might find exactly what you’re looking for, whatever that may be”.

  “I’m not sure, anything out of the ordinary, something not explained, weird, strange, who knows?” Jason said perplexed.

  “Let’s go see Ms Jax, I’m sure the library keeps a hold of all the old newspapers,” Selene suggested. And without another word they took off in search of the assistant librarian.

  Jason and Selene found Ms Jax in one of the aisles in the west wing of the library unloading her book cart. She greeted them warmly when she saw them approach.

  “How can I help?” Ms Jax asked.

  “I was wondering do we keep copies Perigord’s old newspapers, and if so could we get access to them?” Selene replied.

  “Yes we do, and yes you can. Here take this,” Ms Jax said as she removed a large metal key from a ring on her belt and handed it to Jason “Down the end of the east wing you’ll find a door. Inside is a storage area. The shelves on the left hand side have the old papers. Good luck with your investigation,” she said.

  “Thanks Ms Jax,” Jason replied as they turned to leave.

  “Wait-how did you know we…,” Selene hadn’t finished her sentence when she turned back only to find the enigmatic librarian gone. Selene’s eyes went wide.

  “Where the hell did she go?” she asked. Jason shrugged.

  “I’m actually starting to get used to that,” Jason said as he grabbed Selene by the arm and led her away.

  The door had a brass number one inlaid upon it and Jason slid the key into the lock and turned the handle. Darkness greeted them as Jason fumbled for the switch. Light flooded the area as they both let out a gasp. They stood on a steel catwalk staring down at an area the size of a football field.