by Kitty Parker
"Captain Eiffel, I'd like to believe that you are being honest with me. But, I get the sinking feeling that you are not. Would you be so good as to come with us and answer a few more questions?"
The officers voice was smooth and calm, while Jacks insides were pounding and twisting in ways that were most uncomfortable. He had never been the most excellent liar, despite all of his practice with Klara and Grandmere. In that situation he was never asked point blank about any of the things going on in their house, which is probably how he had managed not to incriminate them. Jack stood, knowing that he would be taken to the questioning room by force, or of his own free will. At least this way he might remain unhurt, for now.
Chapter 24
Jack flew to the floor, his hands tied behind his back with a sturdy rope, leaving him unable to prevent the fall with his arms. His breath was knocked out of his chest, and only a heavy cough enabled him to breathe again. The force of the cough left a pool of blood on the grey cement below him. Before his mind could clear from the dizzying blow, a foot connected harshly with his side, then a fist pommeled down on his face as he tried to get up.
"Where are they!" The interrogating officer screamed an inch from his face. His breath coated with the pungent smell of cigars, alcohol and cheese, it accompanied the spit that found it's way on to Jack's face.
"I told you, I don't know." Jack said, his voice labored with heavy, difficult breaths.
"Do you think I'm stupid? They are your parents, of course you know where they are!"
Jack was pulled upward by his hair, his face tightening at the rough tug on his greasy hair. The officer slapped him, sending spit flying from his mouth, across the room. Jack winced, wishing he could put a hand to the pulsing spot for comfort. He was thrown harshly into the metal chair, the officer pulling a chair up across from him.
"All we want to know, is where they're taking the Jews, we really don't care about your parents, we'll let them go. Just tell me where they are."
"I don't know where they are, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. I work in the communications office, I know that you won't let them go. They've been helping Jews, they've defied Germany, and for that, they would have to pay. I don't believe a word you say." Jack said weakly.
The officer stood, pushing the chair back with his foot, causing a loud clatter against the cement of the small room. He threw his fist into Jack's face, throwing him back to the hard floor, but that wasn't all. He continued to attack Jack while he was on the floor, and being unable to defend himself, all Jack could do was writhe around on the floor, trying to anticipate where the blows would land. Fortunately, it didn't take long before he was knocked unconscious by one of the many strikes to his face.
* * *
Jack rolled over, discovering his own discomfort, and tried to open his eyes. Only one opened, the other was swollen shut, he realized after reaching up to feel his face. The ropes had been taken off, and he was back in the small cell they had been keeping him in. He pulled up his shirt, discovering a large, odd shaped lump on his stomach. Touching it gently, he decided it was probably a broken rib or two, remembering a similar sensation from his fight with the Colonel.
He was peppered with cuts, bruises and lumps, he could only imagine what he must look like right now. Sitting up, he pressed his cheek against the cement brick wall, it being the only cool thing in the hot cell. His stomach growled and his throat burned begging for something to eat and drink. They had not been giving him regular meals, and he could only hope something would come soon. As he began to doze back to sleep, he heard the scratching sound of his cell door being opened. He hoped the person entering would be bearing food and drink, not the rope to bind his hands again. When he saw Erik, carrying a tray, he sighed in relief.
"What are you doing here?" Jack asked.
"They asked me to come talk some sense into you, and to bring you some dinner." Erik slid the tray forward, Jack pounced on it, picking up the bratwurst with one hand. "You look awful."
"I don't feel so great either."
"Why haven't you told them where your parents are, you know they aren't going to stop. You've been in here for two weeks now!"
"I know it's been two weeks, believe me. But, I'll tell you what I've told them, I don't know where my parents are."
"I find that hard to believe." Erik sighed.
"It's the truth, I swear it. But let me ask you Erik, if they were looking for your parents, would you be quick to tell them how to find them?"
"Yes! Jack, your parents are helping the Jews, the people who are destroying our country! If my parents were helping the Jews I would have turned them in a long time ago, I can't believe you didn't, it was your job, as a communications officer and a German."
"I'm sorry, I know it's my job, but it's also my family."
"Jack, they're going to go after Klara." Erik said bluntly.
"What?" Jack pretended surprise, putting his head in his hands.
"They think if they threaten you, with hurting her, you'll talk." Erik sighed.
Jack sat quietly, trying to look like he was deep in thought. He was thinking, but not about Klara being safe, he knew she was. Instead, he was wondering about Erik, how much could he trust him with. The fact that he would have turned in his own family certainly said a lot about the man he'd worked beside for so many months.
"Jack, I don't want to see them hurt Klara, and I know you don't either. So tell me where your parents are and I'll see to it that she isn't harmed."
"I don't know where my parents are Erik!" Jack said through clenched teeth, wanting to appear as though he was afraid for Klara.
"I can't believe you would be willing to sacrifice such a wonderful girl for your parents, who are traitors against our country." Erik said with a bite.
"Do you think I smile at the fact that they might treat Klara the same way they're treating me? There is nothing I can do, because I don't know where my parents are! Please Erik, don't go after her, tell them anything, tell them I am indifferent, tell them she doesn't matter to me, anything!" Jack begged, trying not to betray the fact that she was hidden. He knew she was safe, but he also knew that if they wanted to find her, they probably could. It would be easy for them to discover her maiden name and then find nearby relatives to talk to, her brother was the closest to them, they'd go right to her. And while he still thought she would come to no harm, it would be for the better if they never began to look.
Erik stared at Jack for a long minute and let out a long, heavy breath. His eyes were suddenly sympathetic, his shoulders dropped. "I will make sure they leave her alone, but not entirely for you. I would hate for anything to happen to Klara, after she was so kind to us all. And besides, if they do kill you in here, which, they might, Klara will need some comforting, and I will be all too willing." Erik teased.
"Very funny," Jack tried to smile, "in all honesty, I don't care what your motivation for protecting her is, as long as she is safe."
* * *
"Thank you." Klara smiled as Katharine put a steaming cup in front of her.
"No, thank you! I can't believe all the children are asleep already, and so early! I should have let you put them all to sleep a while ago." she laughed, sliding into the seat beside Klara. "I think we'll actually be able to hear some of the news tonight."
"Let me turn it on, you need to stay off your feet."
Klara stood and tuned the small radio, listening carefully for the quick French drone that signified the news. Klara sat back down in the seat and began to pay apt attention to the unfamiliar male voice. It only took a moment before the loop of news turned back to the war, Klara traced the top of her cup nervously. She knew there wouldn't be any news about Jack, him being a Nazi soldier, and insignificant in any other eyes, but she listened intently anyway.
"Allied soldiers are flooding unoccupied France, pushing back the Germans. We are anticipating that France will be completely free of German control within the week. It seems that Allied soldiers are
finally gaining some ground in France, at this station, we hope that this will mark the beginning of the end of this war. Once the Allied soldiers reclaim occupied territory, they will have easier access into Germany, attacking the heart of this horrible war..."
The news continued, but Klara stopped listening, she jumped from her seat and squealed with delight. "The Allies are here! They're pushing back the Germans!"
"I hope they're right."
"I have to believe they are...if they break into occupied territory, the German's won't be able to hold Jack, because, they won't be able to hold anyone. I just hope it's not too late, who knows what might have happened in these two weeks. He might not even be alive..."
"Klara, you can't think that way. He didn't think they would kill him for withholding information, so unless he found about your running, he should be safe."
"I'll know soon enough, it's just a relief to know I might see him soon. Please, don't say anything to the girls, I don't want them to be disappointed if..."
"He'll be fine Klara, you have to believe that he'll be ok." Katherine smiled, placing a hand over Klara's. She smiled, thanking her sister in law for her kindness and concern. She was probably right, thinking something would go wrong wouldn't help anything, she had to believe everything would turn out alright, for Jack.
Chapter 25
Jack woke in a panic, springing up from his palate despite his injuries. The sounds around him echoed in the cold harsh walls of his cell. Men shouted, drawers slammed, and doors creaked wildly as they were opened and closed. Jack sat silently, tuning his ears to the chaos, listening for anything that might tell him what was going on. He hoped his parents hadn't been discovered, certainly they wouldn't empty the whole office to go after them. It seemed like an hour passed, Jack held his breath tightly in his bruised chest, then let it go in rasps as the clatter continued. Finally all the noise stopped, it was silent.
Not the usual silence that included the pound of the typewriter and the low rumble of German voices. This silence was complete, filling every inch of the station. Everyone was gone, he was alone. "Maybe they got a lead and all went to check it out..." Jack thought. "But they would have left a guard with me, or killed me if they didn't need me anymore, now that they think me unloyal." he reasoned.
No one came to bring Jack his meager meal of bread and water, his stomach growled as the sun began to set. He laid down, trying to sleep despite his hunger and worry. Worrying wouldn't do him any good if he had been left here to starve in his locked cell. He managed to fall in to a light, dream filled sleep. Dreams in which he watched his parents and younger sisters standing limply in front of a firing line. And another in which, Klara was viciously beaten and raped when she was discovered at her brothers home. It was in the middle of one of those repetative dreams that he was woken again by banging and shouting. They were back, and they sounded happy. Jack wanted to know what could have possibly caused such excitement, but knew he was in no position to ask.
Suddenly, the door to his cell was pulled open by a burly man he didn't recognize. He wasn't wearing a Nazi uniform, and he was filthy. Dirt covered his face, streaks running down it where sweat had eaten away at the black dinge. His blue eyes popped from the dullness of his appearance.
"I've got a live one, in here!" he shouted, in English. Three other, equally dirty men, rushed into the small room.
"A prisoner?" one tall soldier asked.
"Looks like he's been beaten pretty bad..."
"Wonder why he's in here?" a boyish looking soldier asked.
"I am here because they thought I knew the whereabouts of a family running Jew's across the border." Jack answered quickly.
"You speak English." they said, surprised.
"Yes."
"So you're not a Nazi?"
"No, but I was a German soldier." he admitted honestly. He figured nothing could be worse than his current situation. And perhaps if he explained the whole story, honestly, they'd be more inclined to believe him.
"You were a German soldier? Why would they lock up one of their own?"
"I was a communications officer. And they locked me up because it was my family that was helping the Jews."
"How do we know you're not a spy? That when we let you go, you'll find your other officer buddies and tell them exactly how many of us there are. Then you'll be able to retake Alsace."
"Re-take Alsace?" Jack asked, confused.
"The Allies have officially taken the occupied region of France from German hands. As we speak we have troops marching toward the Sigfried line. We hope to be in German territory in days." The young soldier announced.
"Hush Mack! We don't need to tell this Nazi anything he doesn't already know. We don't know if he's telling the truth or not." The taller soldier announced.
"I'm not exactly a danger to anyone locked up in this cell..." Jack sighed.
"Yea Jones!" The younger soldier defended. "Like I said, the whole German army is about to be defeated, and this war will soon be over."
"We've been waiting for this for a long time."
"What's your name soldier?" the blue eyed soldier asked.
"Jack Eiffel."
"So let me get this straight. You were a communications officer, meaning, you received intellegence on the whereabouts of hiding Jews and Allied soldiers. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"At the same time, your parents were helping those hidden Jews?"
"Yes."
"But now you won't tell your friends where your parents are, but you were willing to help find other families, Jews and Allied soldiers?"
"No, not at all actually. I have been destroying communications for most of the war."
"You have." the soldiers said, disbelief written on his face.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To protect them, and my family."
"Your family?"
"My wife and I helped run Allied soldiers across the border. I was protecting her and her Grandmother by destroying information."
"So, your wife is also German? And decided to go against her country as well? Do you understand that it's very unusual to find a German citizen who doesn't believe that their countrymen have done anything wrong?"
"Yes, I do realize that, but my wife is French and English. She and her Grandmother were living in occupied territory when I met them and we decided to marry. Her home was inspected by my office, and they discovered some suspicious things in there. I offered to marry her to keep surveillance away from them."
"That story sounds very far fetched. It's hard to believe that you being married would keep German soldiers from inspecting a home they suspected. Just because we've been away from home for years, and trudging through mud and dirt, doesn't mean we're foolish." the soldier laughed.
"I'm telling you the truth."
"And what about your parents? Where are they?"
Suddenly Jack felt a knot in his chest, and it tightened by the moment. His eyes darted around the room at the soldiers, perhaps it was a trick. Maybe the German's had found several soldiers that spoke English well to pretend to be Allied soldiers, thinking he would speak to them. He'd already said too much. Fortunately, he still didn't know where his parents were so he could be truthful about that, and see what the soldiers reactions would be.
"I don't know."
"I find that hard to believe. Why would Germans put you in prison if you had no idea where your parents are?"
"Because they think I'm lying, and they're desperate to find them."
"I think you're lying too."
"Not much I can do about that, is there." Jack shrugged.
"Come on guys, you don't really think he's lying, do you? I think we should let him go." The fourth soldier said, pulling a chair up beside Jack, looking more closely at his wounds. "You don't really think they would have beaten him this badly to trick us."
"Why wouldn't they?"
"I don't know. These wounds look kind of old, they couldn't have known
we were coming two weeks ago."
"I still think we'd be better keeping him here for a few days, at least until the Germans have run back into their own country. Then it might not be so easy for him to slink back to them. Unless, of course, he has some way to prove that he was running Allied soldiers across the line... Like if he could produce this wife of his."
Jack sat silently, staring into his lap, deep in thought. He was tempted to have them call Klara, she could more than prove that he had Allied sentiments. But, he also wasn't sure if he could trust these men. How would he ever know if they were truly Allied soldiers? At the same time, they surely would have killed him quickly after telling them he was a runner, if they were German. No, he would not tell them where to find Klara. He could manage sitting in this cell a while longer, and maybe if they still hadn't killed him in a couple weeks, he would tell them how to find her, maybe.
Chapter 26
"Klara, I really don't know about this..." Oliver said, as Klara came down the stairs with a small bag slung over her shoulder.
"The Allies crossed into Germany two weeks ago, and France has been Allied territory for longer than that. It's safe for me to go, there won't be any German soldiers in the area, unless they're in prison."
"But Jack told you to stay put, he told you not to come to him. He was worried about you, and so am I."
"That was before the Allies came to our rescue! Nothing will happen to me, and I have to know what happened to him." she said, nearly choking on the hot tears that always seemed ready to spill.
She had been convinced that the Allies would free Jack, if that had been true, he would have been home weeks ago, or at the very least called. Days passed, and worry crept over Klara, to the point that she was convinced that Jack must have been killed by the Germans. That was the only possible explanation. It had been almost two months since she had last heard from her husband, and she would go no longer. There was no more danger in Alsace, and she was going to find Jack, alive or dead.