by Dora Heldt
“So you came to Nordeney from Cologne? I mean, when you first arrived?”
“Yes, why do you ask?”
That was the explanation for traveling through the night, then.
“Oh, no reason.”
I heard a noise in the hallway. Footsteps came toward the living room door, so I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. They went past into the bathroom, the door shut, and then moments later the toilet was flushed and the footsteps came back. My father coughed softly, and then it was quiet again. I turned over onto my stomach and buried my face in the crook of my arm, the scent of Johann’s aftershave still tickling my nose.
I had contemplated asking Johann directly about Pookie, but in the end I couldn’t bring myself to.
“So how come you’re on vacation alone?”
Johann hesitated for a moment before answering. “I wanted to…relax. I mean, I’ve only just got back from Sweden, then I organized the move, setting up my new office, and so on. I was just tired and wanted a bit of peace and quiet. And there was still a room available here.”
“And you didn’t meet anyone here?”
“You know I did. You.”
“I mean, before that.”
He smiled at me so captivatingly that I felt dizzy. “No, and to be honest, I don’t really feel I need to meet new people right now. I’m happy to just have some peace and steal you away from your crew now and again. That would make me very happy.”
He took my hand. I hoped it didn’t feel too clammy.
At some point we’d left the Surf Café and walked along the beach toward the White Dune. It was a warm night, the moon was glistening on the water, and all we could hear was the sound of the waves. Everything else was still. It was one of those moments you can’t believe is actually happening to you, there and then. And one of those you wish would never end. A little later, we sat in one of the beach chairs, looked out to the sea, and talked about our childhoods, our hopes and dreams. And kissed each other, again and again, in every space between our stories.
The alarm clock ripped me from this tender warmth. It seemed the need for sleep had been more powerful than my infatuation after all. Perhaps it could be attributed to age. My hand couldn’t find the button right away, and the shrill beeps were hurting my ears.
“Good God!” My father’s voice drowned out the alarm, and a well-aimed hit from him silenced the buzzer. “Are you dead? Or paralyzed? That thing’s been making a racket for the last ten minutes.”
My father was standing in front of my bed in his pajamas, looking down at me.
“What did I say? Don’t stay out too late. What time did you get in?”
I buried my head under the pillow and mumbled something like, “No watch.”
“Why? Where’s your watch? Don’t tell me you’ve lost it. We gave that to you for your thirtieth and it was expensive.”
“That was fifteen years ago.”
“So? Then it’ll be an antique by now and worth even more. When did you last have it?”
“Dad!”
“We’ll talk about it later then. Now get up, it’s quarter to. I’m going in the bathroom first.”
I pulled the duvet over my head and hoped he wouldn’t feel the need to hurry.
“Christiiiine!” This time he was dressed and smelled of cologne. “It’s seven now. What on earth did you drink?”
I sat up quickly, then felt dizzy. The tiredness had hit me like a brick.
“For heaven’s sake.” My father knelt down and looked at my face. I could hardly see him. “What’s wrong with your eyes? They’re all red and swollen. You look like you haven’t slept in two months.”
That’s exactly how I felt, too. I put my legs tentatively on the floor and rubbed my face. “Conjunctivitis, I think.”
He stroked me a little clumsily on the head. “Then go and wash up. Perhaps that’ll help. I’ll wait for you.”
Feeling guilty, I dragged myself off into the bathroom and decided I would tell my father about Johann that evening. Calmly and in detail. After all, I wanted him to like him.
Marleen pressed a tray into my hands as soon as we got into the kitchen.
“I’m glad you’re here. Everyone’s come to breakfast early this morning, and Gesa isn’t here yet. Can you take this in quickly? I have two check-outs to take care of. What’s wrong with your eyes?”
“Conjunctivitis.” My father answered right away, a piece of raisin bread already in his mouth. “That’s why she didn’t sleep well.”
Marleen grinned and went past me to the reception. My father watched her go, shaking his head.
“She’s sometimes a little too brash for my liking. I wonder how she’d feel if she had conjunctivitis.”
“It’s not that bad, really.”
“Of course it is, you can tell. Your eyes looked completely different last night. So, I’m going to have breakfast. Kalli will be here soon I’m sure.”
I followed him slowly with the tray.
Once it became too cold down on the beach, we had walked back to the guesthouse. Without feeling the need to discuss it first in any detail, I had gone with Johann to his room. I tried to stop my thoughts from wandering back to the events of last night. My knees were starting to go weak again. But despite that I could picture him in front of me, his face as he’d looked at me in the morning, his brown eyes under tousled hair, lips that gave such heavenly kisses, his smile. I realized I had stopped in my tracks. Gesa almost ran into me.
“Heavens, Christine, what are you doing? You scared the hell out of me.”
“Oh, morning, Gesa, I was just lost in thought.”
She looked at me skeptically. “Right. Because this is a great place for thinking. Probably the best, in fact. If you don’t solve all the world’s problems here, then I don’t know where. Do you have a screw loose? Come on, at least let me through before you fall back into a trance.”
I smiled as she scurried past.
My father sat in the breakfast room at his usual table. Emily was showing him a picture she’d painted, of a seagull, while Lena was taking the shell off his egg for him. I put the coffeepot down on the table and put my hand on my father’s shoulder.
“Here’s your coffee, Dad. So, how’re you two girls?”
Lena was blowing on her finger. “The egg’s hot. And your eyes look funny.”
“I know.”
I looked around at the other guests; apart from Johann and the two “businesswomen,” everyone was there. I made a note of what was needed on the breakfast table and went back to the kitchen. While I busied myself, I heard the voices of Frau Weidemann-Zapek and Frau Klüppersberg approach. As I came back into the breakfast room with their teapot, they took their usual seats. Lena and Emily were still standing next to my father. Emily had a triumphant look on her face.
“Good morning, Frau Weidemann-Zapek, good morning, Frau Klüppersberg.” Johann was the only one to thank for my smile. I put the teapot down on their table.
“Oh, I thought we were on first-name terms now.” Hannelore shook her head leniently. “Weren’t we, Mechthild?”
Mechthild Weidemann-Zapek grasped my hand. “Yes, we were, Christine. But luckily you’re still part of the generation who are wary of becoming intimate too quickly.” She shot a poisonous look in the direction of the twins and their parents. “Nowadays children have no sense for manners and tact.”
I pretended to nod sympathetically and bent over a little.
“Why? What happened?”
“Oh,” she waved nonchalantly, “you know, children. Don’t you feel well? You look a little disheveled.”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” I waved her comment away just as casually. “I just have a little bit of an eye irritation, that’s all. Do you need anything else?”
Both shook their heads and looked over at my father. He didn’t look up, but instead busied himself with drawing over the beak of Emily’s seagull with a yellow felt-tip pen. The ladies looked at each other, then stood up
to pile up their plates at the buffet. My father jumped as I sat down next to him.
“Christine, be careful! You just startled me.”
“Sorry.”
He cocked his head to one side. “Look, Emily, the beak was too small. Herring gulls have larger beaks. Like that. I have to go to the restaurant now, though; it’s already a quarter to eight.” He turned around to me. “Did you want something? Your eyes still look strange.”
“What happened with your ladies?”
Emily folded the piece of paper up neatly. “They’re not his ladies. They’re just staying here.”
“Exactly.” My father handed Emily the felt-tip. “They wanted to sit down with us. Because I’m alone, allegedly, and they wanted to keep me company.”
“And then what?”
“Then Lena told them not to stare at her, and Emily said all the seats were taken. And then she told them to get lost.”
“Emily!”
“What’s wrong with that?” My father brushed a strand of hair from Lena’s face. “There are worse things they could have said. Get lost isn’t so bad. But girls, I really have to go now. We only have two days left until the opening.”
He stood up, but the girls were hesitant to leave the table. Anna Berg waved them over.
“Lena, Emily, let him go. We’re heading off to rent some bikes now anyway.”
“Okay, bye, Heinz, see you later.”
They went back to their parents, and I followed my father out of the breakfast room. But before we had reached the door, the other female duo struck. Hannelore jumped up and blocked our path. She stood before us, a thread of angora fluttering in front of her mouth. “Just a moment, Heinz, we need to speak to you.”
Fascinated, we watched the gentle movements of the yellow thread. My father scrunched his eyes up for a second. “Of course, but unfortunately we have to be getting to work.”
“The con man’s back.”
I gave a start. My father noticed and squeezed my arm reassuringly.
“Hannelore, I think our friend Gisbert has that all under control. We should only intervene if the situation gets dangerous for us; I mean, for Christine or the two of you or Marleen.” He turned to me. “I haven’t seen him again yet. There’s no need to worry.”
I said a quick prayer that Johann would keep to my plea that he not come down to breakfast before nine. Even if passion did work up an appetite. By now, Mechthild had come over to stand next to Hannelore, who had fallen into a disappointed silence at the less-than-satisfactory reaction of her chosen protector. Not as easily appeased, Mechthild gave her an annoyed look.
“What do you mean, if it gets dangerous? It’s already dangerous—the rogue accosted me last night.”
“Who?” asked my father, alarmed.
“The con man of course. That Herr Thiess.”
I thought back to the previous evening. It just couldn’t be. He was sure to have told me if he’d run into the Valkyries. Either Mechthild was lying or she’d gotten him mixed up with someone else.
My father looked worried now. “Christine, is he back on the island? This Thiess guy?”
“Well, I don’t see him here.” My toes were crossed in my shoes.
It seemed that neither Kalli nor Gisbert had passed on their surveillance reports. Wondering how I could get out of this mess, I crossed my fingers that the best lover I’d ever had really would stay away from breakfast until nine. Kalli saved me. I recognized his whistling as he came in.
“Good morning, ladies, hello Christine. Heinz, where have you been hiding? Onno and Carsten are already waiting by the door. Gesa said you’ve got the key.”
“Yes.” My father glanced at me, clearly concerned, then looked decidedly at the ladies. “We’ll take care of it. This evening at eight, we’ll meet by the lounge chairs in the garden. If Gisbert turns up, tell him we’re over there. Come on, Kalli, we’ve got a lot of work to do. Have a nice day, ladies.”
He walked off briskly. Kalli nodded to us and hurried to keep up with Heinz. While Hannelore and Mechthild looked at me thoughtfully, I suddenly had an image of Johann’s feet encased in concrete. I decided to speak to my father as soon as I could, before the conspirators’ meeting later. I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.
The Search Heats Up
* * *
The last guests had just left the breakfast room when Johann came in. He glanced around quickly, then smiled.
“Is the coast clear?”
“It was for your own good. The men are over in the restaurant. I’ll speak to my father later to make sure all this nonsense stops.”
Johann kissed me on the neck before he sat down.
“You know, I’m actually finding this secret romance thing really exciting. You don’t have to tell him anything on my account.”
“Why? Don’t you want him to know about us?”
I’d clearly picked up the distrust from my father.
Johann looked at me, confused. “Christine, you were the one who asked me to stay in my room until the coast was clear. As far as I’m concerned, you can tell everyone where you spent last night.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just in a bit of a state, that’s all. I’ll fetch you some coffee.”
In the kitchen I kicked my foot against the wall, and the pain in my toe lasted until I went back in. We sat opposite one another. Watching him have breakfast, I felt lighthearted and warm inside. He rubbed my feet between his, but whenever he caught my toe it started to throb.
“Good morning, Herr Thiess. Christine, I’m supposed to give this to you.”
Gesa had appeared by the table. I jumped and stared at the package she was holding out to me: eyedrops.
“Where did they come from?”
I pulled my foot discreetly toward me and stood up.
“I popped over to my mother’s practice. Heinz said it was an emergency, and that if you didn’t get drops in the next half hour you’d go blind. My mother said you should go by to see her. What’s wrong with them? They just look a little chubby to me.”
I ignored Johann’s astounded look and took the drops from Gesa.
“Swollen, Gesa, people have swollen eyes, not chubby ones. And it’s nothing, Heinz is just making a fuss. But thank you anyway.”
“Eyes can’t swell up, just the eyelids.” Johann finished his coffee and pushed his plate away. “In my opinion anyway.”
Gesa looked at him with interest. “But don’t you think her eyes look chubby?”
He put his head to one side and looked at me. “Tired, perhaps. So, what are you up to now? Are you coming with me to the beach?”
Gesa’s eyes widened. I avoided her gaze.
“I’d love to, but I have to go and help out. The furniture’s coming tomorrow, and we’re not ready yet.”
“That’s a pity.” He stood up and stretched. “Then I’ll borrow a bike and set off by myself. Have fun.”
He went over to the door, blowing me a kiss behind Gesa’s back.
“Say, Christine, have I missed something? I thought you thought he was a con man?”
“Heinz and Gisbert think that, not me.”
“Well, then you have to tell them that they’re wrong. I was just over there and they’re all sitting around the table with Heinz getting everyone involved in a spy operation.”
I piled the crockery up on a tray. “I’ll speak to my father later when we get a quiet moment. Gisbert can sit on a dune and watch Johann sunbathing with his binoculars for all I care. At least he won’t be here annoying us if he’s doing that.”
Gesa followed me into the kitchen. “But is something going on with you two?”
“Don’t be so nosy, Gesa.”
“Why not? I can ask, can’t I?”
I filled up the dishwasher and turned it on. “Yes, sweetie, you can. But I don’t have to answer. Right, I’m off to join the old men and varnish the baseboards.”
The old men were just breaking up their roundtable when I opened the door of the
restaurant and propped it open with the storm hook.
“Why did you have the door shut? You’re supposed to be airing the place so it doesn’t reek of paint.”
Gisbert tucked away a notepad in his little backpack and looked at me with an air of importance.
“We were having a discussion that wasn’t meant for all ears.”
“Someone certainly thinks a lot of himself.”
Even though I’d only whispered it, Kalli heard and shook his head at me with a reprimanding look. My father noticed and came over to stand next to me.
“Yes, Kalli, I saw you shaking your head. But she has a dangerous bout of conjunctivitis and that’s why she looks strange. You don’t have to work, child, not when you’re ill. Did Gesa’s mother not come by?”
Kalli came a step closer. “Why? She looks just like she always does.”
“Nonsense!” My father bent over and stared at me. “She has really swollen eyes, can’t you see?”
“What’s wrong with her eyes?” Onno pushed Kalli aside. “They don’t look that bad. One of them looks a little swollen, but apart from that they seem fine.”
Carsten laid his hand on my shoulder and turned me around. “Let me see. Oh, that’s not so bad. Just put some sunglasses on and no one will notice.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my eyes!”
“There’s no need to shout at us.” My father turned me back again. “So what did Gesa’s mother say?”
“Nothing, Dad, I didn’t go to see her. Gesa brought me some eyedrops, and I’m nearly back to normal again.”
“Nils used to get hay fever, and that always gave him really itchy eyes.”
“Carsten, they’re not itchy. Can we get on with some work now please? The furniture’s coming tomorrow.”
Kalli looked at me sympathetically. “Leave her be, it’s horrible when your eyes are all swollen shut like that.”
“But you just said I look the same as always. How come I’m swollen again now?”