by Renee Duke
“Those same people must have worked on you and Gustav as well,” said Paige.
“We were older. She was only eight. Barely past the age of reason. And I do not think she has ever felt as close to Mutti and Vati as we do. I am sure they love us all the same, but to Marta, it must seem they love Hani more because they must do more for Hani. Many things are hard for her and she is not always well.” Frieda paused, looking thoughtful. “Perhaps Marta likes being in the Jungmädel so much because Hani cannot be one. She does not have to share it with her, the way she must share Mutti and Vati. It is all her own and her dedication has won her the liking and respect of the other girls.” She pulled a face. “For me, the best part of being in America will be never having to go to one of those meetings again.”
“You’ll like lots of things about America,” Paige assured her. “But as for getting there, I still think a ship would be better. Way better. It might take longer, but there’s lots to do on a ship. More than on an airship, I bet. And your mother wouldn’t feel quite as stressed out.”
“We will talk to Vati,” Frieda promised.
Just then a mantle clock chimed.
“Oh. Wow. Look at the time.” Dane stood up. “We still want to visit your grandparents, too. Can you tell us the way so we don’t get lost again?”
Frieda laughed. “It is just in the next street. When you get to the bottom of this street, turn to the right.”
“Thanks.”
Dane really only wanted to go to Gasthaus Altmeyer so he and the others could talk en route.
“Well, what do you think?” he asked as they walked along. “Is the trip they’re planning on the Hindenburg its final trip? If it’s not, great. The Reitzels will be out of the country and safe. But if it is, there’s a good chance they’ll all perish when the thing explodes. I know there were some survivors, but—”
“—but we can’t count on them being among them,” Paige finished. “When did the Hindenburg crash, Jack?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know everything,” he added defensively, seeing their looks. “I’ve heard of the Hindenburg disaster. Who hasn’t? But I’ve never studied the details.”
“Neither have we.” Paige groaned. “I sooo want an Internet connection right now. A computer could tell us the crash date within seconds.”
“So could Uncle Trevor,” said Jack, brightening. “Let’s nip back and ask him.”
“No,” said Dane. “Too risky. We jump forward every time we connect to the past. Lately, by years. The medallion might not bring us back to the point we’re at now.”
“It will if it wants us to keep the Reitzels from going on the Hindenburg.”
“But what if it doesn’t? With so many people involved this time, we don’t know that’s what it wants us to do. Marta owned the Keeper Bracelet first. We can’t be sure it’s not just her we’re supposed to save. And not necessarily from the Hindenburg. She doesn’t want to go. She might kick up so much, they’ll leave her behind. If they do, she’ll still be a little Nazi and changing her mind-set will still be what we’re supposed to do.”
“Or what her psychiatrist uncle is supposed to do,” said Paige. “Going to America would be in the best interests of all the Reitzels, Dane. Provided they actually get there. If the medallion wants us to make sure they do, it will bring us back to this point.”
“But if it’s not what it wants, it won’t,” said Jack. “Dane’s right about that. It could just be Marta we’re here for. Or just Hani. But then there’s Nicko and—”
Paige held up her hand. “One problem at a time, Jack. We can work on saving Nicko later. It’s the Reitzels’ Hindenburg trip that poses the most immediate threat. And stopping that would save both Marta and Hani.”
“What if we’re not supposed to?” Dane challenged. “It’s possible that we really are only supposed to save one of them. The other could be among those whose paths Aurea-Rose’s rhyme says we shouldn’t disrupt because she’s not a lost one.”
“Yeah? Well, if so, and we have to choose between Marta and Hani, I vote for Hani,” said Paige.
“So do I,” said Jack. “I like her.”
Dane rolled his eyes. “I don’t think it’s based on who we like. It’s based on who owns the Keeper Piece we connect to.”
“No, it isn’t,” said Paige. “They’ve both owned it. Same as the princes. When we first connected to the fifteenth century, Ned owned the Keeper Ring. After he gave it to Dickon, we connected through him. And the last connection we made for them was actually to the Keeper Bracelet. Same one the Reitzels have now. At that point, it was owned by the princes’ little nephew. But he wasn’t the one we were supposed to save. They were. And we did. Both of them. So ownership isn’t necessarily the key factor.”
“Maybe not, but that still doesn’t help us know what to do about the kids involved in this connection. Should we assume the Hindenburg trip the Reitzels are booked on is the bad one and talk them out of it? Or should we assume it’s not, and let them go? If we talk them out of it, we’ll have saved the Reitzels, but not the Brases. And if we…well, I really don’t know what to do. It’s hard to make a decision without knowing the crash date, and we can’t go back and ask Uncle Trevor without putting our current time fix in jeopardy.”
By then they had reached Gasthaus Altmeyer. For a few minutes, they just stood across from it feeling frustrated.
Then Paige said, “Okay, guys. How about this for an idea? We know from our Victorian adventure that if one or more of us stays in the past while another goes back to our own time, time doesn’t move much for the ones who stay behind. Sort of the reverse of how it is for our time when we’re in the past. Well, suppose one of us stays here to keep this time spot open while the other two go back and check the date with Uncle Trevor? I say two because one might have to distract Mum and Aunt Augusta while the other talks to Uncle Trevor.”
“I’m good at distracting people,” said Jack. “And you have the medallion.”
“Making me the best one to stay,” said Dane. “Well, I’m up for that.”
No one was around, so Paige and Jack clasped hands and Paige said the connecting rhyme.
As soon as they materialized, they headed for the Deutsches Museum, where a frowning ticket seller began to wave and call out in rapid German.
“What’s she saying?” Paige asked.
“She’s saying we can’t go in without paying.”
“We have paid. Well, Mum has. Tell her.”
Jack went over and spoke to the woman, who shook her head firmly.
“No go,” he said, returning to Paige. “Once you leave, that’s it. Even showing a ticket with today’s date wouldn’t work. You have to pay again if you want to go back inside. I don’t have any euros with me. Do you?”
“No. Did you tell her we didn’t know? That we just went outside for some fresh air and our parents will be wondering why we’re taking so long?”
“Of course I did. She still wouldn’t budge. I suppose people pull all sorts of tricks.”
“So, what are we going to pull?”
“Well, I could start to cry and say I want to be taken to my mummy.”
“Can you cry to order?”
“I can pitch a full-blown tantrum if I have to.”
But, just at that moment, a large number of school children came along, accompanied by several adults. One of the latter glared at Paige and Jack and yelled something in German.
“What’s she saying?”
Jack grinned. “That we’re to get back in line immediately, and how dare we run ahead.”
“Doesn’t she know we’re not part of her group?”
“Apparently not. It’s a really big group. Big school, probably, where teachers only know the kids in their own class. Each of these will assume we’re in someone else’s. Come on.”
The woman spoke again as they joined the group.
“Now what’s she nattering about?” Paige whispered.
“Leaving our coats
on the bus,” Jack whispered back. “A very foolish thing to do in such weather.”
Getting back into the museum with the school group was easy. Slipping away from a teacher who now viewed them as troublemakers was not. She watched them like a hawk as the group moved around the ground level exhibits. Every time they tried to hang back or veer away, she ordered them to re-join their supposed schoolmates.
Jack tried to explain that they were foreigners visiting the museum with their parents. Parents who had let them go outside for a bit of fresh air without realizing they wouldn’t be able to get back in.
“She’s not having it,” he reported back to Paige. “I even thanked her for getting us in and said Mummy would reimburse her for our tickets but…” He shrugged helplessly.
Paige growled. “I had a teacher like her once. Grade Five. To everyone’s joy, the inflexible witch left halfway through the year. Got any ideas on how to get away from her? I’d like to just up and run, but it’s too crowded in here.”
“Perhaps I can help,” said a voice to their left.
Turning, they saw Penelope step from behind a tall exhibition sign.
“Give me a minute,” she said, and moved off into the crowd.
She reappeared close to where the lead children in the school group were congregated and began to wave and call out frantically.
“Paige! Jack! What do you think you’re playing at? Mummy is positively frantic.”
She started forward. When she reached her cousins, the zealous teacher immediately came to join them.
“You…are…English?” she inquired, looking puzzled.
“Yes,” said Penelope. “So are they. We were up on one of the other levels when they wandered off. Mummy’s in ever such a state. She’s had me looking down here while she and Daddy searched other floors. Now that I’ve found them, we’re all supposed to go to the entrance and wait there.”
When it became clear the woman’s English was not up to this, Penelope switched to German. She used much the same explanation as Jack as to why he and Paige had been outside, and repeated his offer to reimburse her for their tickets.
“Nein. Nein,” the teacher said as Penelope reached into her shoulder bag for her purse. “Is …all right.” Frowning at the other two she added, “Ihr seid sehr unartige Kinder,” before hurrying off to oversee the conduct of her legitimate charges.
“Don’t require a translation for that,” said Paige. “She called us brats, right?”
“‘Very naughty children’, actually’,” Jack replied.
“Same thing. Well, uh, thanks, Penelope. Good thing you speak German.”
Penelope nodded. “Pater’s never taken to other languages. He thinks foreigners should all learn English. Fortunately, my grandfather disagrees. He considers it an asset to be multilingual in today’s world. He paid for me to have private lessons. Well, come along. We’d best head back to the entrance so that tiresome teacher believes my story.”
“What are you doing down here?” Paige asked as they set off. “You got left behind when we got in the elevator.”
“Which I’m sure was your intention. But it flustered the grown-ups so much, I managed to do a bunk. I made good time on the stairs and got to this level just as you were heading into the toilets. Imagine my surprise when you came out dressed as you are now.”
“Uh, well, Dad wanted some Deutsches Museum pictures of us wearing these outfits. Publicity stills for his docudrama.”
“Your mother didn’t say anything about that. I’d have thought she’d have been the one taking them for him.”
“We’re all pretty good with a camera.”
“Oh? Good enough to put it on a timer, so you could all be in them? Or did you just take turns snapping each other? Funny, I followed you as far as the door, and it didn’t look like you were taking pictures. In fact, strange as it may sound, I thought I saw you holding Grantie’s old medallion and saying something to it. After which, you disappeared. Just briefly, mind. You reappeared so fast, the gap was barely noticeable. But I did notice it. Possibly because Dane was no longer with you.”
Having reached the entrance area, she stopped just short of the ticket inspection counter and gave them an icy look.
“You’re crackers,” said Jack. “It’s snowing to beat the band out there. It’d be hard to make out anything from a distance. What you thought you saw was just some sort of snow distortion.”
“Really? Well, if so, where’s Dane?”
“No mystery there. Once we realized we might not be able to get back in, we had him run round the side to see if there was another door somewhere.”
“If you already suspected you wouldn’t be able to get back in, why bother arguing with the ticket lady? I watched you do that, too.”
“We thought it was worth a try,” said Paige, looking around uneasily. No one seemed to be coming into, or going out of, the museum. The entrance area was empty and the ticket inspector’s attention focussed on something he was reading.
“She didn’t seem terribly impressed,” Penelope said disdainfully. “Good job that school group came along. Didn’t do Dane any good though, since he wasn’t there at the time. Do you suppose he’s still outside?”
“I guess he must be.”
“Then we should probably go look for him, shouldn’t we?”
“No,” said Paige. “That’d mean getting stuck out there again. A school group isn’t going to come to our rescue twice.”
“I can get us all back in. I have a purse bulging with euros.”
“Dane could have found another way in by now.”
“Perhaps. If he hasn’t, I imagine he’ll go back to where you were. You don’t want him standing out there freezing, do you?”
Paige toyed with the idea of giving her a hard shove and running back inside the museum with Jack. But she’s already suspicious, she thought. Already wondering about what she saw and not buying our answers. If we just run, or tell her to go out there alone, she’ll figure we really do have something to hide.
“Okay,” she said. “But he’s pretty fast. If he’s not back within a couple of minutes, it’ll be because he’s found another door. Come on, Jack.”
Jack gave her an uncertain look, but followed her out. Behind them, Penelope stopped at the ticket inspection counter and spoke to the ticket inspector in German. Smiling, he handed her a small cloth-wrapped item which she put into her shoulder bag and fumbled with for a moment before catching up to the others.
“What did you get from that guy?” Paige asked as they moved outside.
“Something I left with him for safekeeping.”
“I didn’t notice you give him anything when we came in with our mums earlier on.”
“Not terribly observant then, are you? Now where was it you would have been when Dane went off looking for alternate doors? Over there, I think. Near that big grey thingy.”
“Maybe,” said Paige. With no other people around, she was feeling increasingly anxious.
Mechanically, she and Jack walked towards the big grey thingy, which was actually a huge rotor from a Francis turbine. Just past it, Paige stopped and motioned for Jack to turn so they were both facing Penelope.
“No sign of Dane,” she said. “He must have found another way in. We’d better go back. It’s really cold out here.”
Penelope gave them a far from pleasant smile. “Let’s stop playing games, shall we? Dane is still wherever it was you went when you disappeared. Where I’ll be able to go once I’ve got the medallion and have learned its secrets. Secrets that have been kept from us for generations. Secrets my great-grandfather says we can use to our benefit. The Wolvertons amassed a fortune while in possession of the medallion. We’re Wolvertons, too, and now it’s our turn.”
Paige stared at her. “Are you nuts? Grantie’s ancestors didn’t get their money from the medallion. They were just good businessmen. And you guys aren’t exactly paupers.”
“Nor are we filthy rich. Or powerful. But we i
ntend to be both. We don’t know everything there is to know about the medallion, but we do know it can take people somewhere beyond where we are now. Just as I saw it do for you. Used properly, that could prove very advantageous. So I’ll thank you to hand it over.”
“Just like that? No way. You didn’t fare too well the last time you tried to grab it.”
“That was foolish,” Penelope admitted, reaching into her shoulder bag. “I acted on impulse, without bothering to think things through. I should have realized there were far too many relatives around that day for me to stand any chance of keeping the medallion. Even if you hadn’t taken it back by force, you would have just told Grantie I had it, and since everyone knows it’s hers, I would have been made to return it before any of us could figure out how to work it. But we’re in a foreign country now. Ownership is just my word against yours, and my father knows some very influential people here.”
“Oh, yeah?” Paige sneered. “Well mine probably does, too. And despite what you seem to think, we’re not just going to give you the medallion. There are two of us and only one of you.”
“So there might be. But I have this. And I assure you I know how to use it. My great-grandfather found me a very good instructor.”
Reaching into her shoulder bag, she drew out a small gun.
Paige felt her mouth go dry. Beside her, Jack’s eyes bulged. Nervously, they clenched hands.
“You are nuts,” Paige gasped. “Totally, genuinely, insane.”
“What I am is the new owner of the medallion. Or will be, as soon as you give it to me.”
“We shan’t,” Jack said tremulously. “And Uncle Trevor won’t let you take it from us. He’s just come out the door. Look.”