The Serpent's Egg

by JJ Toner

  Max’s knees turned to rubber. Adam grabbed his arm and held him up.

  Libertas and Harro slipped into the church and joined the congregation on Max’s side in the pew behind Greta. Adam went back to explain the situation and hand over the rings to Harro. Looking very smart in his Luftwaffe uniform, Harro joined Max in the first pew.

  The bride and her father arrived at the altar. She was wearing the same dress, but had added a white veil . She knelt on the kneeler to the left. Max knelt beside her. She smiled at him through the veil. He did his best to smile back.

  The organ music died away, the usher closed the church doors, and Vigo began the ceremony. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God to witness the joining together…”

  Max tuned out, praying silently that nothing would go wrong, that Vigo would hurry and complete the ceremony.

  “…If anyone here knows any reason why these two people may not marry, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”

  Vigo paused. Max held his breath. No one spoke. Max exhaled. And Vigo continued. “Please stand.”

  Max and Anna stood.

  “Do you, Max-Christian Noack, take this woman, Anna Weber…”

  They repeated the words of the wedding vows. They exchanged rings. Vigo smiled and raised his voice. “I now pronounce—”

  The doors at the back of the church flew open with a loud crash. Four men in jackboots and gray uniforms charged down the aisle.

  One of them shouted, “There he is.”

  Vigo held up a hand like King Canute trying to turn back the tide. “This is the house of God.”

  The Gestapo men charged toward Max. Max braced himself, but they pushed him aside and seized Harro Schulze-Boysen. Libertas shouted and beat the nearest man with her fists. The young women on the bride’s side of the church all screamed. Anna’s witness fainted. Anna went to her aid.

  The Gestapo hauled Harro down the aisle and out to a waiting Kübelwagen while Libertas screeched like a banshee caught in a bear tap. Max grabbed Vigo’s arm. “For God’s sake, man, finish the ceremony.”

  Part 3

  Chapter 46

  March 1939

  “I now pronounce you man and wife,” said Vigo.

  Anna tossed her bouquet over her head. No one caught it. Then the couple and Ebba rushed into the vestry to sign the church register. Anna wondered fleetingly if it mattered that they had only one witness signature. Then she remembered that they had two signatures on the official register in the registry office in Schönstedtstrasss. They were definitely married.

  When they emerged from the church, the photographer took a few pictures. He seemed as shocked as everyone else. Anna thought all her wedding photographs would probably be blurred. While Adam and Anna’s mother did their best to console Libertas, Max’s mother gravitated toward Anna’s father, who took her arm.

  Anna clung to Max. “Your mother looks pale, and I don’t like that distant look in her eyes.”

  Max said, “Don’t worry about Mother. That yellow outfit she’s wearing makes her look paler that usual, and her eyes always look like that.”

  Adam asked Libertas if they should make alternative arrangements for the reception. Libertas was furious. She insisted that the reception would go ahead as planned. Everything was ready. She wasn’t going to let the Gestapo ruin the young people’s wedding day.

  The Schulze-Boysen’s car was unavailable. The key was in Harro’s pocket. Libertas took the front passenger seat in Adam’s car. Max, Anna and Greta all squashed together like sardines in the back with Ule on Greta’s knee.

  Adam started the car. He checked his back seat passengers before moving off. “Everyone all right back there?”

  Libertas replied, a snarl in her deep voice, “They’re fine, Adam. Just get us home as quickly as you can.”

  Ule formed an instant attachment to Anna, crawling onto her knee from Greta’s. Anna held onto the infant to stop him from falling off. “What happened? Why did the police arrest Max’s witness?”

  Libertas whispered, “That witness was Harro, my husband.”

  “I’ll explain later,” said Max.

  The maid was waiting for them at the front door, her eyes red from crying. Libertas swept past her into the house before the girl could say anything.

  Anna and Max heard Libertas’s howl before they reached the door. They stepped inside.

  The mansion had been ransacked. Everything that could be moved had been thrown on the floor in every room. Only three books remained on the bookshelves that covered three of the four walls in the study. The rest were piled high in a mountain on the carpet. White boot marks littered the carpets in the hall and on the staircase. Following them back to their source, Anna came to the kitchen where the floor looked like a giant cake in the making with ingredients tossed in a heap and stamped into the ground by heavy boots.

  Max called Anna to the front parlor. The food for their reception lay scattered on the floor. Something stirred in Anna’s stomach. She righted one of the chairs and sat down.

  Max hunkered down beside her. “Anna? Are you all right? Should I fetch a glass of water?”

  “Go outside and send the guests away. I don’t want them to see this.”

  “What should I tell them?”

  “I don’t know. Think of something. Tell them the reception has been called off.”

  “What about Ebba?”

  “All of them. Just send them all home.”

  More howls from Libertas in the upstairs rooms.

  Adam climbed the stairs after Libertas. Greta took one quick look around and went into the garden with Ule.

  Anna found the maid, Pauletta. “Who did this?”

  The maid whimpered. “Three men in gray uniforms. They had a piece of paper. They said it gave them the right to search the house.”

  Anna was distracted by the thought that just three men could cause so much mess in – what – an hour? Through the front window she saw Max standing at the gate. When the wedding guests arrived in two taxis, he gave them her message. Ebba took some persuading, but both taxis drove away. Anna’s parents arrived in their car and hurried into the mansion. Anna rushed into her father’s arms.

  “I warned you,” said Anna’s mother. “Didn’t I warn you not to marry him?”

  Anna left her parents in disgust and went looking for Max.

  Libertas came back down the stairs accompanied by Adam Kuckhoff.

  Greta stood by the front door keeping a firm grip on her wriggling, whining offspring. “I’d like to get home as soon as we can, Adam. I can’t let Ule loose in the house. He’d spread the mess around even further.”

  Libertas waved an arm at Adam. “Greta’s right. You need to get home.”

  Adam nodded. “I’ll drop in to Arvid’s house and warn him. We should ring the Communists and Dr. Himpel.” He picked up the telephone on the hallstand.

  “Leave that to me, Adam. That telephone is not safe.” Libertas looked distracted. “I’m going to need help cleaning up all this mess.”

  “We can help,” Anna said.

  “Nonsense.” Libertas ran a hand across her face, leaving a streak of baking soda on her cheek. “There are people who do that sort of work for a living. You’ve already suffered enough on your wedding day.”

  Adam offered to take Max and Anna home, but Libertas had other ideas. “Take Greta and the boy home, Adam. I’ll look after these two.”

  Chapter 47

  March 1939

  Adam drove away with Greta and Ule. Libertas led Anna into the back parlor. Max followed.

  Anna perched on a chaise Longue. “I wanted to thank you for helping us with our Marriage Application, Frau. We would never have got permission to marry without your help.”

  Libertas hunted around and came up with an unbroken bottle of schnapps. She poured some into a glass and handed it to Anna. “You look a bit pale, my dear. Drink this. It will make you feel better.”

  Anna was a little ligh
theaded. She took a sip. The schnapps started its long journey down her gullet to her stomach.

  Libertas went off to make a telephone call. Max found a glass and poured himself a glass of schnapps. He sat beside Anna. They held hands.

  Anna looked into Max’s eyes. “What happened? You said you would explain.”

  “I will, my love, but not now.”

  Libertas returned. She said, “I need to speak with your husband alone for a moment.”

  My husband!

  Anna waved consent with her glass. Max followed Libertas out the door.

  Anna took a mouthful. It chased after the first one. For a woman who’d just had her home destroyed by a Gestapo demolition crew, Libertas was strangely calm, although her eyes seemed unusually bright.

  Libertas and Max returned within a few moments. His glass was empty. Libertas refilled it, poured a glassful for herself and drank half of it. “Max tells me he has spoken to you about what Harro and I do.”

  Anna took a third sip. “You’re an actress and Harro works in the Air Ministry for the Luftwaffe.”

  “That’s right, but that’s not all we do.”

  “Oh, you mean all that other stuff with the Communists.”

  “We are not Communists, but we don’t like the Nazis. We do what we can to disrupt them. We resist.”

  “And Max helps with that. Yes, he told me.” Anna swallowed some more schnapps and closed her eyes. She was tired.

  “Anna, open your eyes. Look at me, Anna.”

  Anna opened her eyes. Libertas was blocking her view. She couldn’t see Max.

  “Listen to me Anna. I’m going to ask you some questions. You need to answer them truthfully. Do you understand?”

  What did this actress woman want?

  “Tell me you understand. You must tell me the truth.”

  “I’m not a child. Ask your questions.”

  “Very well. Did you tell anyone about the Red Orchestra?”

  “No.”

  “Maybe someone at work?”

  “No. Nobody.”

  “Did you mention my name to anyone – anyone at all? Think carefully before you reply.”

  “I told Ebba that you were hosting the reception.”

  “You told her my name?”

  “I think so. Yes, I’m sure I did.”

  “What else did you tell her about me?”

  “Nothing. I told her nothing.”

  “You’re certain?”

  “I may have said you’re an actress.” She closed her eyes again. It had been a long, long day. She just wanted it to end.

  Libertas gathered her petticoats and strode to the door. “Wait for me here. I have a visitor coming, and I’d like you to meet her. Her name’s Emmy.”

  “Who is she, this Emmy?”

  “She’s an actress like me. She’s the one who arranged your Marriage Authorization.”

  “I thought that was you, Frau Libertas.”

  Libertas patted Anna’s hand. “I passed on your request, dear. Emmy was the one who arranged it.”

  Libertas left the room, and Max sat beside Anna again.

  Anna rolled her eyes. “Madam Krauss passed our Marriage Application to Frau Greta, Frau Greta passed it to Libertas, Libertas passed it to her friend Emmy. Perhaps Emmy passed it to the German football team.”

  Emmy was a pretty, slightly plump woman with wisps of gray in her hair. She spent a few minutes talking to Libertas in private before Libertas presented her to Anna.

  Anna did a passable curtsey while holding on to the furniture. “I want to thank you, Frau Emmy, for arranging our Marriage Authorization.”

  Emmy smiled at her. “You’re welcome, child. How could any force or device of man stand against the power of young love? And besides, it wasn’t I that made the arrangements. That was my husband, Hermann.”

  “Well, please thank Herr Hermann from us,” said Max.

  “I will,” said Emmy.

  By the time Emmy had gone, Harro’s car had been returned to the house. Libertas offered to drive the newlyweds to their apartment.

  “We can take the S-Bahn,” said Max.

  Anna struggled to her feet. “Thank you, Frau Libertas. That’s very kind.”

  Chapter 48

  March 1939

  Max and Anna took the autobus to Lutherstadt Wittenberg the next day. Max’s mother had agreed to let them spend the first two weeks of their married life in her home. Anna was enjoying the ride. Since the wedding ceremonies – especially the one in the church – she felt utterly changed. She had always wanted to be a married woman. And Max was the only man she had ever wanted to marry. She held his hand tight while looking out the window watching hedgerows, fields and small towns roll by.

  “You do realize who that was?” said Max. “That was Emmy Göring, the wife of Minister Hermann Göring.”

  “So our request to Madam Krauss passed through three pairs of hands before reaching someone who could do something about it, and that someone was Hermann Göring?”

  “The second most powerful man in the Fatherland.” He squeezed her hand. “That’s how important you are to me.”

  “Which of them gave you… that book… to read?” she whispered. Apart from one old woman sitting right at the front, there was no one else on the bus, but Anna was being careful.

  “Libertas. Did you see the number of books she had in the study?”

  “A mountain of them. And bookcases to go with them. What do you think the Gestapo were searching for?”

  “Heaven knows. Evidence against Harro, I suppose.”

  “I thought they might be looking for the printer that was used to print this.” She pulled a sheet of paper from her handbag, unfolded it and placed it in Max’s lap.

  Max leapt in the seat as if he’d seen a rattlesnake. “Put that away. Where did you get it?”

  “I found it behind the cushion on the chaise longue.”

  “Put it away. If anyone sees you with that you could be arrested.”

  She folded the leaflet and put it back in her bag. “You were going to explain what happened in the church.”

  Max took her hand. “The Schulze-Boysens, Harro and Libertas, are leading members of the Orchestra…”

  “I understand that much.”

  “Someone must have told the Gestapo that they would be at the wedding together. The Gestapo took the opportunity to arrest Harro and conduct a search of their home.”

  “That was why Libertas asked me if I’d mentioned their names to anyone at work? She thought I was the one who alerted the Gestapo.”

  “Unwittingly, yes.”

  “But I didn’t.”

  “I know, but there were very few people who knew they would be there.”

  “Greta and Adam knew. You knew.”

  “Yes, and Father Vigo.”

  #

  Anna was enchanted by Max’s family home. “Look at those eaves, the dormer windows, the leaded panes.”

  “It’s an old building.”

  “It’s not just old, it’s beautiful, Max. Where’s your soul?”

  Max grunted. “You wouldn’t think it was so lovely if you’d spent your childhood in there.”

  Anna remembered some of the tales that Max told her about his childhood. His father had gone to war when he was three and never came back. His mother had been far from easy to live with. “That all happened a long time ago. I’m sure our time here will be full of joy and happiness.”

  Max knocked on the door. Anna hung from his arm while they waited. No one came.

  “Use your key.”

  Max opened the door.

  Chapter 49

  March 1939

  The dark hallway was just what she expected. She had been in old buildings even darker than this. Her father had explained that natural light was not considered important by architects in earlier centuries, even though they had only candles in those days. The temperature was a surprise. Outside it was like summer, inside the house was winter.


  She slipped her hand into Max’s. He took her into the front parlor. This room was just as cold and nearly as dark as the hall. Anna took an instant dislike to the period furniture, the dark red carpet, and the heavy curtains. She loved the room in spite of the lack of light. It had a high ceiling, maybe close to three meters. One look at the windows was enough to make her heart flutter. If the house were hers – if ever she inherited it – she would toss out all the furniture and replace the curtains and carpet with something bright – but not too modern.

  The kitchen was brighter than the rest of the house, but only because it had black and white tiles in a checkerboard pattern on the floor. It had the same high ceiling as the parlor. The range was black, the heavy porcelain sink with one tap, like something from the dark ages! The shelving on the walls looked like they’d been there since the house was built. This was not what a kitchen should look like. Those tiles would have to go. The old range would be removed and a modern cooker put in its place. The shelves could stay, but they would have to be painted in a bright color, white or yellow, maybe.

  “Wait here. I’ll go and see if I can find her.”

  While Max was upstairs, Anna had a closer look at the kitchen. The skirting boards were filthy and showed definite signs of rodent activity. Higher up the walls there were cobwebs gathering dust. A long brush would sort those out in a trice.

  Max returned with his mother.

  “You’ve found the kitchen, I see. The range is lit. Why not put the kettle on and make your mother-in-law a cup of tea.”

  Anna lifted the kettle from the range. She put it in the sink, removed the lid and turned on the tap. The water pipe rattled and banged against the wall.