The Ring

by Steel, Danielle

  You look ravishing, Frau Gotthard. Like a snow princess. The compliment came from the man she had just met, some banker or other. Walmar had greeted him with a curt, friendly nod and quick assent when he had asked his permission to escort Kassandra to the floor. They were waltzing slowly as Kassandra watched Walmar chat with some friends.

  Thank you. I take it you know my husband?

  Only slightly. We have had the pleasure of doing business once or twice. But my ' activities have been a little less commercial in nature during the past year.

  Ah? Enjoying a sabbatical? Kassandra smiled pleasantly as they waltzed.

  Not at all. My efforts have been engaged in assisting our leader in establishing the finances of the Third Reich. He said it with such force that Kassandra was startled and looked into his eyes.

  I see. That must keep you busy.

  Decidedly so. And you?

  My children and my husband keep me busy most of the time.

  And the rest of the time?

  I beg your pardon? Kassandra felt herself growing uncomfortable in this bold stranger's arms.

  I understand that you're something of a patron of the arts.

  Really? Kassandra found herself praying for the dance to end.

  Indeed. , He smiled pleasantly at her, but there was a glint of something chilling lurking in his eyes. I wouldn't waste a great deal of my time on that though. You see, our concept of the arts is going to change greatly with the assistance of the Third Reich.

  Is it? For a moment she felt faint. Was this man warning her about Dolff? Or was she growing as crazy as he was, fearing threats at every turn.

  Yes, it is. You see, we've had such ' such inadequate artists, such sick minds holding the pen. Then it was Dolff he meant All of that will have to change.

  But suddenly she was angry. Perhaps it already has. They don't seem to be publishing the same people anymore, do they? Oh, God, what was she doing? What would Walmar say if he could hear? But the dance was coming to an end. She was about to be free of this evil stranger. But now she wanted to say more.

  Don't worry about all of this nonsense, Frau Gotthard.

  I wasn't planning to.

  That's encouraging to hear. What was? What did he mean? But he was leading her back to Walmar now. It was all over. And she didn't see the man again that night. On the way home she wanted to tell Walmar, but she was afraid of making him angry or worse, afraid. And the next day Dolff was back in such good spirits that she didn't tell him what had happened either. And after all, what did it mean? Some moron banker who was in love with Hitler and the Third Reich? So what?

  Dolff had come to a decision. He was going to write whether they published him or not. And he was going to go on trying to publish. But if he starved to death, he was going to stay. No one was going to drive him out of his homeland. He had a right to be there, and to prosper, even if he was a Jew.

  Can I interest you in a walk near the castle? She smiled at him. It would be the first time they had gone out for a walk in two weeks.

  I'd love that.

  They walked for almost two hours, near the schloss and next to the lake, watching the few children who had come to play there, and smiling at other strollers passing by. It felt at long last like their first winter, when they had met by chance there time and time again, anxiously seeking each other, yet afraid of what might lie ahead.

  Do you know what I used to think when I looked for you here? He was smiling down at her, his hand tightly clasping hers as they walked.

  What?

  I used to think that you were the most elusive, mysterious woman I had ever known, and if I could only spend one day with you,? d be happy for the rest of my life.

  And now? Are you happy? She drew closer to him, her short fur jacket a ball of fluff over a long tweed skirt and dark brown suede shoes.

  I've never been happier. And you? Has the last year been too hard on you? He still worried about that much of the time. She was one with the pressures, with Walmar and the children, especially now that Walmar knew. She had told him of Walmar's warning.

  It hasn't been hard. It's been lovely, She looked up at him with the fullness of their loving in her eyes, It's all I ever wanted and always thought I couldn't have. And she still couldn't have it Not really. Not all the time. But even this was enough. Just these precious afternoons that she shared with Dolff.

  You'll always have me, Kassandra, Always. Even long after I'm dead and gone.

  But she looked up at him unhappily. Don't say things like that.

  I meant when I was eighty, silly lady, I'm not going anywhere without you. She smiled then, and they found themselves running hand in hand along the lake. Without explaining or asking, they made their way home and wandered happily upstairs after making tea. But they drank it quickly, they had other things on their minds, and their lovemaking was passionate and urgent, as though each of them needed the other desperately and more than anything on earth. At the end of the afternoon they lay sleeping, Kassandra curled tightly in her lover's arms.

  It was Dolff who stirred first, aware of someone pounding on his door on the floor below them, and then there was the sudden battering of feet on the steps leading up from the main floor He lay listening for an instant and then came fully awake and sat straight up in bed. Feeling the motion of his body, Kassandra stirred, and then, as though sensing danger, her eyes went wide. Without saying anything at all to her, he flung the covers over her and sprang from the bed, standing naked in the center of the large bedroom just as they pressed through the door. At first glance it looked like an army of brown uniforms and red armbands, but there were only four.

  Pulling his robe around him, Dolff stood firm. What is this? But they only laughed. One of them grabbed him roughly and spat in his face.

  Listen to the Jew! He was suddenly pulled taut between two of them, as a third delivered a ferocious punch to his belly, and Dolff grunted with the pain and bent double toward the floor. This time the third man kicked him, and instantly blood gushed from a gash near his mouth while calmly the fourth surveyed the room.

  What have we here under the covers? A Jew bitch keeping our illustrious writer warm? With a sudden motion he pulled back the covers, exposing every inch of Kassandra to their interested gaze. And a pretty one. Get up. Immobile for a moment, she did, sitting upright, and then gracefully slipping her legs onto the floor, her lithe, supple body trembling slightly, her eyes wide in terror as she stared silently at Dolff. The four men watched her, the three around Dolff questioningly gazing at the fourth to see what he would do. He surveyed her carefully, his eyes scouring her flesh, but she could only watch Dolff, still gasping, standing hunched and bleeding between the two uniformed men. And then the fourth turned to them with a sneer. Get him out of here. And then in amusement as he touched his belt, Unless he'd like to watch.

  Suddenly Dolff came to his senses, his eyes frantically reaching for Kassandra and then turning furiously to the man in charge. No! Don't touch her!

  Why not, Mister Famous Author? Has she got the clap? The four men laughed in unison as Kassandra gasped. The full realization of what was about to happen filled her with a terror she had never known. At a signal from their sergeant, they shoved Dolff from the room, and an instant later a resounding crash told her that Dolff had just been pushed down the stairs. There was an exchange of angry voices and Kassandra heard Dolff's above them all. He was calling her name and attempting to fight his captors, but a series of scuffling noises silenced him quickly, and then there was a dragging sound at the bottom of the stairs, and Dolff's voice did not rise to her ears again as, horrified, she turned her eyes to the man who was about to unzip his pants.

  You'll kill him ' oh, my God, you'll kill him! She shrank back from him, her eyes wide, her heart pounding wildly. She could barely think of herself now, only of Dolff, who may even already have been dead.

  And if we do? Her assailant looked amused. It's no great loss to our society. Perhaps even not so great a
loss to you. He's only a little Jew boy. And you, my sweet? His pretty Jewish princess? But now Kassandra's eyes flashed; there was anger mixed with terror in those wild lavender-blue eyes.

  How dare you! How dare you? It was an anguished scream as she ran from the wall toward him, clawing at his face. But with one deft sweep of his arm he slapped her, backhanded, across the face.

  When he spoke to her, his voice was quiet, but his face was tense. That's enough. You've lost your boyfriend, little Jewess, but now you will find out what it is to be had by a better race. I am going to teach you a little lesson, dear one. And with that, the belt whipped swiftly from its loops and cracked her mightily across the breasts. Stung by biting wings of pain, she clutched her bosom and bowed her head.

  Oh, God ' And then, knowing she must do it, she looked up at him with anger mixed with shame. He would kill her. He would rape her and them kill her. She had to tell him. Had to ' she had no choice. She was not as brave as Dolff was. She looked in fury at the man who had just whipped her, still holding tightly to her bleeding breasts. I am not a Jew.

  Oh, no? He approached her now, the belt waiting to bite her yet again. As she stared at him, she saw the undeniable erection clawing at the front of his tr+|ugers, The calm he had sported only moments earlier was giving way to a frothing frenzy that Kassandra feared was already beyond control.

  My papers are in my handbag, I am she winced at the agony of what she was doings but she had no choice "Kassandra von Gotthard. My husband is the president of the Tilden Bank.

  For an Instant the man paused, eyeing her with anger and suspicion, not quite sure what to do. And then Ms eyes narrowed. And your husband doesn't know you're here.

  Kassandra trembled. To tell him that Walmar knew was to doom Walmar! Into the bargain. To tell him that Walmar did not was to doom herself. My housekeeper knows precisely where I am.

  Very clever. The belt slipped slowly bade into the loops on his trousers, Your papers?

  She pointed. Over there. In two strides he had reached the brown alligator handbag with the gold clip. He almost tore it open, fumbled for a moment and found the wallet concealed inside, Roughly, he pulled out her driver's license and identity cards and threw them to the floor, He almost snarled as he did it, and then menacingly he walked back toward her. It hadn't worked. He didn't give a damn who she was, Kassandra stood bracing herself for what would coma next.

  He stood looking down at her for an endless moment and then slapped her hard again across the face. Whore! Filthy whore! If I were your husband, I would kill you. And one day, for something like this, you will die, like that bastard Jew. You are filth. Filth. You're a disgrace to your race, your country. Filthy bitch! And then, without another word, he turned and left her, his boots clattering down the stairs as he went, until at last she heard the front door slam. It was over ' over' '. With every inch of her body trembling, she fell to her knees on the floor, a double trickle of blood still running from her breasts, her face bruised, her eyes filled with tears, as she lay down on the floor and sobbed.

  It seemed hours that she lay there sobbing, keening for the last instant when she had seen Dolff, and terrified of what would come next. And then suddenly it occurred to her what might happen. They might come back, to destroy his house. Frantically then, glancing hurriedly around her, she pulled on her clothes. Standing for a last moment in the bedroom where she and Dolff had given birth to their dreams, she gazed, sobbing, at the spot where she had last seen him, and then without thinking she reached out a hand to the clothes he had worn only a few hours before. Discarded on the floor before their hungry lovemaking, still smelling of the special spice and lemon scent he wore, she felt them for a moment and ran them through her fingers, pressing his shirt to her face with a sob. And then she ran from the room and down the stairs. It was at the bottom landing that she saw it, the pool of blood where he had lain, and the trail it made where they must have dragged him, unconscious, from his own house. She fled the building and ran frantically toward her car, parked only slightly farther down the street.

  She was never quite sure how she had gotten back to Grunewald, but she had driven home, still sobbing, clutching the wheel. She had crawled out of the car, unlocked the gate, driven on to their doorway, and let herself in with her key. Silently, and with tears still streaming from her eyes she had run up the stairs to her bedroom, slammed the door, and looked around her. She was back, she was home it was the pink bedroom she had seen so often the pink ' the pink ' it was all she could see as it spun around her and she sank at last, unconscious, to the floor.

  Chapter 6

  When Kassandra came to, she was lying on her bed, a cold compress pressed across her head. The room was dark and there was a strange buzzing. She realized in a moment that the sound she heard was in her own head. Somewhere in the distance there was Walmar, staring down at her and applying something damp and heavy to her face. In time she felt her blouse stripped off, and she was aware of a terrible stinging, and then of something warm draped across her naked breasts. It seemed a long time before she could see him clearly, and then at last the buzzing stopped and he sat down quietly in a chair beside her bed. He said nothing, he only sat there as she lay staring at the ceiling, unwilling and unable to speak. He asked her nothing. He only changed the compresses from time to time. The room stayed dark for hours, and when now and then there came a knock at the door, it was Walmar who sent them away. She looked at him gratefully and then drifted off to sleep. It was midnight when she woke again; a dim light burned in the distance in her boudoir, and keeping his silent vigil, he was still there.

  At last he couldn't hold back any longer, and he could see from her eyes that she was conscious and no longer in shock, and he had to know what had happened, for her sake and his own. Kassandra, you have to talk now. You have to tell me. What happened?

  I disgraced you. , Her voice was the merest whisper, and he shook his head and took her hand.

  Don't be silly. And then after another moment, Darling, tell me. You must tell me. I have to know. Anna had come to him screaming that something terrible had happened to Frau von Gotthard and she was lying near death on her bedroom floor. In terror, he had run to find her, not near death, but beaten and in shock. And then he had known. Kassandra?

  He was ' going to kill me ' to rape me ' ' I told him ' who I was. Walmar felt a chill of fear run through him.

  Who was it?

  Them ' they took him ' , And then she whispered horribly. They took Dolff ' they beat him ' they ' he was ' bleeding ' and then they dragged him ' ' down the stairs' . She sat up in bed and retched, emptily, onto the bed, as Walmar sat by helplessly, holding out a monogrammed pink towel. When it was over, she stared blankly at her husband. And one of them stayed behind ' for me' I told him ' I told him ' ' She looked at Walmar pathetically. They thought I was a Jew.

  You were right to tell them who you are. You'd be dead by now if you hadn't. They may not kill him, but they would probably have killed you. , He knew that more likely the reverse was true, but he had to lie, for her sake.

  What will they do to him?

  He took her in his arms then and she sobbed for almost an hour. When it was over, she lay there, spent and broken, and he laid her back quietly on her pillows and turned off the light. You must sleep now. I'll be here with you all night. And he was, but when she woke up in the morning, he had at long last gone to rest. For him it had been a night of anguish, watching the pale face writhe and contort in her nightmares beneath the ugly bruises that had darkened it. Whoever the man was who had slapped her, he had spared not an ounce of his strength when he did. And as he watched her, hour by hour, Walmar came to hate them in a way he never had before. This was the Third Reich. Was this what they had to look forward to in the coming years? Was one meant to count one's blessings that one was not a Jew? Walmar would be damned if he'd see his beloved country turn into a nation of thugs and marauders, beating women, raping the innocent, censuring artists for their heritage. Wh
at had happened to their world that this was the price his beloved Kassandra had to pay? He was outraged, and in his own way he also mourned for Dolff.

  When he left her to bathe and have a cup of coffee, he glanced at the newspaper with dread. He knew just how they would do it, and he fully expected to find a notice that some accident had befallen Dolff. That's how they had done things like that before. But this time there was no small, unimportant news item. Or rather, it was so small that he didn't notice it on a back page.

  When Walmar returned to Kassandra's bedside two hours later, she lay silent and awake, her gaze empty as she stared at the ceiling. She had heard Walmar come into her bedroom, but she didn't turn eyes to him.

  Are you feeling any better? But she only stared at the ceiling in answer, and now and then she closed her eyes. Can I get you anything? This time she shook her head., It might make you feel a little better to take a nice warm bath. But for a long time she just lay there, staring at the ceiling and then finally the wall, and then as though the effort was almost too much for her, she dragged her eyes to his.

  What if they come to kill you and the children? It was all she had thought of since woke up.

  Don't be ridiculous, they won't But now she knew differently. They were capable of anything. They dragged people from their beds and killed them, or at the very least took them away. Kassandra ' darling ' we are all safe. But even Walmar knew he was lying. No one was safe anymore. One day it wouldn't be just the Jews.