by Kris Tualla
What kind of man does something like that?
The kind who tells you that you’re better than you know.
Teigen’s startling words to her about how she should lead the men under her authority had changed her life. Since then, she made an effort to loosen the reins and allow the troupe’s soldiers to act on their own ideas. As a result the troupe was accomplishing more.
Selby sat up and wiped her cheeks. She needed to be at the ship in just over an hour for the journey to Kristiansand, and she needed to be clear-headed for their on-board rehearsals of The Winter’s Tale.
Teigen mustn’t know how her feelings toward him were changing; she couldn’t give him that power over her. If he knew she might someday be willing to explore a relationship with him it would ruin the friendship they were building.
She washed her face, combed the blonde wig, and applied lipstick. The actress looked somberly back at her from the mirror.
When will you stop acting?
Selby heaved a ragged sigh. Teigen’s reply to her dangerous question, when would he know if he’d found another woman who interested him, was stuck firmly in her head.
When she does, I suppose.
“Do you know yet, Selby Hovland?” she murmured to her reflection.
Then she resolutely shook her head, closed her travel case, and returned to the bedroom to finish packing her suitcases.
*****
“Have you ever been on a ship?” Teigen asked Ben. The pair braved the fitful weather to stand on the stern deck as belching tugboats pushed the ship away from the Oslo dock.
“No, sir.” Ben looked a little apprehensive. “It won’t sink, will it?”
Teigen caught sight of a pair of brown-clad SS officers standing at the rear of the ship. “Well, we won’t be attacked by the Germans because they’re on board. And, of course, the allies won’t attack because there are Norwegians on board.”
Ben squinted at the sky. A gust of damp wind spit in their faces. “What about the weather?”
Teigen gave him a reassuring grin. “These captains sail the Norwegian coast day after day all year. They know how and when to seek shelter along the inner passages, if that becomes necessary.”
Ben nodded. “If you say so.”
The ship was being turned around to face toward the North Sea, about sixty miles to the south. Teigen pointed up at Akershus Festning, the medieval fortress standing on the bluff overlooking Oslo harbor.
“Did you know the Norwegian soldiers at Akershus blocked the German’s entry into Oslo when they attacked us?”
Ben rolled his eyes. “Of course. That’s how the royal family, the Storting, and the treasury got out.” He looked up at Teigen, his expression skeptical. “Are you going to be teaching me all the time?”
Teigen laughed. “Probably.”
“Great.” Ben made a face, but for the first time since Teigen met him he saw a glimmer of humor in the boy’s eyes. “Is it too late for me to go back to the woods?”
*****
Selby knew she’d have to face Teigen again today. She couldn’t hide from the man forever, no matter how off-balance she felt about him at the moment.
So after checking her face one last time, and not seeing any obvious reminder of her former tears, Selby exited her cabin and went to join the actors in the ship’s dining room for their final read-through of The Winter’s Tale before their off-book rehearsal later.
At least Teigen’s not an actor and won’t be there.
Selby strode into the dinning room.
Damn it. Why is he here?
Teigen stood when he saw her. “I thought it’d be a good start for Ben to see how the troupe operates, from read-through to performance.”
Selby’s brow lowered. “Don’t you have lessons to teach?”
Ben smiled and then covered his mouth
Teigen gave an apologetic shrug. “I’m accomplished in the sciences and mathematics, of course, and I have a strong grasp of vocabulary, grammar, spelling and punctuation,” he said. “But I’m a little weak in literature.”
“So now that’s our job?”
Teigen’s expression was sculpted by confusion. “Is everything all right?”
Selby glanced at Ben who was starting to squirm. Her unfounded irritation with Teigen had nothing to do with the poor teen, so she backed off.
“Everything’s fine.” She forced her face to relax and look pleasant. “A little rehearsal jitters is all.”
“Since when—”
“It’s fine, Teigen,” she interrupted. To further make the point she gestured toward to a pair of empty chairs. “Come sit beside me, Ben. You can read the script while we go through it.”
Ben hopped up, clearly relieved. “Thanks, Miss Sunde.”
Selby looked back at Teigen once she and Ben were settled in their seats. “You’re not staying, are you?”
“I, um…” He looked even more confused than before. “I’ve got some letters to write.”
Selby watched him leave, half relieved that he was gone and half wishing she could run after him.
Damn it.
Chapter
Twenty Five
March 1, 1943
Kristiansand, Norway
“We have to lay out all the flats and select the ones we’ll use for this play,” Bennett told Ben once everything was unloaded from the ship and transported to the theater in Kristiansand.
“Then the four of us will repaint what we need to,” Teigen said.
“And fix what needs fixing,” Jonas added.
Ben nodded. “I’m pretty good with a paint brush.”
Teigen smiled at Ben’s enthusiasm. Though the youth struggled with the ship’s constantly rocking movement the first day of their voyage, Ben adapted pretty well after that. And with their regular meals the boy’s face was already showing signs of filling out; at least he’d lost the gaunt look he had when Teigen found him.
And some of the fear.
The first test of his new name and papers happened when they boarded the ship in Oslo—and thankfully he walked onto the ship unchallenged. Teigen would be lying if he claimed he wasn’t worried, but the forger in Oslo was very, very good.
Even so, he advised Ben to avoid the Nazi soldiers on board the ship if he could do it without looking like he was running away from them.
“Now’s a good time to start practicing the skill of avoiding attention,” Teigen told him. “Can you do that?”
Turns out, he could.
So could Selby.
Teigen hardly saw her at all on the journey, but when he did, all she would say to him was that she was learning her lines in her cabin and practicing with Karolina.
Except that Karolina was visible most of the days. Something was clearly wrong with Selby, but in spite of his efforts Teigen hadn’t succeeded in finding out what.
Bennett pointed at one of the larger flats. “That one needs to be changed from Much Ado’s Italian pillars and landscape to Winter’s English stone and countryside.” He handed Ben a geographic picture book. “We use this for reference.”
Ben flipped the book open, turned a few pages, and then nodded. “I can do that.”
“Really?” Bennett looked pleased. “Come on, then. Let’s get you some paint.”
Jonas tapped Teigen on the arm and waved a hand-written list in the air. “Let’s sort through the props and get these ready.”
March 4, 1943
Kristiansand, Norway
Opening night of any of their plays still set Selby’s nerves on edge. She wasn’t nervous about performing—amazing in itself because she’d never acted before the troupe was formed—but because opening night was the night she always arranged her assignations with her SS officers.
Tonight’s lucky man was Lieutenant Colonel August Bernhardt, a forty-year-old redhead with a slight stutter—but his Norse was excellent.
When she walked out of her dressing room in the slinky dark blue silk dress that she bought in Oslo for t
heir trip north, with her wig in place, her luscious Arctic fox coat around her shoulders, and her new red shoes, she thought poor young Ben would have a heart attack.
“M-miss Sunde,” he stammered. “You look very nice.”
The expression on his face screamed the question: who was she dressed up for? There was no way she was going to answer that now.
Selby smiled politely. “Thank you, Ben.”
She walked to the stage door and looped her arm through Dahl’s before he pushed the heavy door open to the expected flashes of camera bulbs and the cries of adoring fans who waited months between the troupe’s appearances.
Bennett had served the lieutenant colonel a glass of aquavit to prime his pump, so to speak, and when the officer saw Selby, his ruddy cheeks split in a gap-toothed grin.
Selby walked down the short flight of steps and held out her hands toward the officer as Bennett claimed the empty glass and moved quietly out of the way.
“August, you’re looking well.” She stood on her toes to kiss him on both cheeks.
“And you, my darling, are as s-stunning as always.” He tucked her arm in his and turned away from the scowling crowd. “I have a very s-special surprise for you t-tonight. I hope you will love it.”
Selby smiled charmingly, though a German Nazi’s idea of a special surprise was unlikely to be the same as hers. “I do hope it involves food,” she demurred. “Putting on these plays always leaves me starving.”
The surprise turned out to be a private yacht in the Kristiansand harbor. “We c-confiscated this boat from a Jewish merchant back in O-october,” August bragged as he helped Selby climb on board. “But don’t worry, my d-dear. Every surface has been thoroughly d-disinfected.”
Selby turned her face toward the cabin of the expensive boat to hide any trace of revulsion that might have leaked past her resolve. “It’s beautiful, August.”
“And preparing our supper this evening is my p-personal chef, Leo Herrmann.”
As if waiting for a stage cue, Leo appeared through the cabin door, smiling in his white uniform. “Welcome.”
August led her inside to a white-covered table gleaming with silver and china. “Here we can see the lights of K-kristiansand and still be p-protected from the chill.”
Selby sat in the seat he held for her, wondering how she was going to get the officer drunk if he was controlling their alcohol. She resigned herself to a wasted evening rather than a frustrated one and tried to relax. Rather than help however, that mindset exacerbated her already dour mood.
Something had shifted inside Selby, and she blamed Teigen Hansen for every last bit of it. The teacher had shown her that maybe her categorization of his gender was too broad and, at least in his case, unfair.
How was she supposed to flirt and deceive her Nazi contacts if she started thinking differently about men in general?
Think about Germans specifically.
No, think about Nazis specifically. Nazi officers.
Damn it.
Selby downed her first shot of aquavit purely out of irritated rebellion.
“D-don’t get ahead of me, liebchen.” August swallowed his as well, and reached for the bottle to refill both of their glasses. “Are you p-pleased with my surprise?”
“Yes. It’s truly lovely.” You thieving racist pig of a man.
That helped.
Because the aquavit was clear and alcohol evaporated fairly quickly, Selby poured hers on the wooden floor of the cabin as often as she could. She pretended to be getting tipsy during her exquisite supper of smoked salmon, beef Wellington, and cauliflower topped with cheese and swimming in butter.
When their chocolate mousse was served, Selby abandoned hers and climbed onto August’s lap. She giggled like a schoolgirl as she fed him the decadent dessert, barely suppressing the urge to jam the spoon down his brown-collared throat.
“How is the war going for you, August?” she cooed and held a glass of Aquavit to his lips.
He accepted the drink, swallowing and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before he answered.
“For me?” He shrugged. “It’s not so bad.”
Selby knew he was inebriated because he stopped stuttering. She offered him the last bite of mousse but he pushed it away and fixed a bleary gaze on her.
“Adolf is not so happy with Norway right now,” he stage-whispered loud enough to be heard outside on the boat’s deck. “You need to be very careful, mein liebchen.”
The troupe heard an encouraging report the day they docked in Kristiansand and her assignment tonight was to ferret out the details. “What happened?”
“Some men snuck into the Vemork Hydroelectric Plant a few days ago…”
Selby played dumb. “Where is that?”
August waved a limp wrist. “Someplace called Telemark.”
Selby shook her head and refilled August’s glass. “Never been there.”
August snorted and accepted the drink. “Well, do not go now!”
“Why not?” Selby pretended to take another shot.
“The bastards stuck explosives on the heavy water electrolysis chambers and blew them up.” August shook his head. “Adolf is furious.”
Selby ran her hand through the lieutenant colonel’s wavy red hair. “I don’t know what any of that means,” she whined. “Why would anyone want to blow up water?”
August gave her a condescending albeit unfocused look. “Heavy water is for bombs.”
Selby screwed up her face. “Bombs made out of water?”
“No, liebchen. The water from the electrolysis is for atomic bombs.”
Selby’s heart thudded though she kept her expression disinterested. The confirmation that a man like Adolf Hitler was trying to make atomic bombs was truly terrifying.
“So just make more electroly-things,” she said flippantly.
“He will. But they’re expensive. And—” August drained the glass she poured for him. “Apparently it takes a long time to make enough heavy water.”
Selby heaved a petulant sigh. “When will this stupid war be over?”
The lieutenant colonel’s shoulders sagged. “Because of this sabotage, our Fuhrer’s glorious victory will take longer now.”
“That’s too bad.” Selby kissed the top of August’s head, but she was smiling.
*****
Ben glowered at Teigen. “She’s dating German officers?”
“Not really,” Teigen clarified. “She pretends to like them, gets them drunk, and steals information.”
“I don’t like it.” Ben’s strong reaction indicated how smitten the youth was with Selby.
Get in line, son.
“It doesn’t seem safe.”
Teigen agreed, but,
“She’s been doing it since the troupe started.”
“I’m staying up until she gets back.” Ben slid off his bed and walked to their hotel room’s door. “I’ll wait in the lobby.”
He opened the door and cast an angry look back at Teigen. “Are you coming?”
Hell, yes.
The pair descended the stairs from the fourth floor—this hotel didn’t have an elevator—and settled into two of the four big and worn leather chairs tucked into the lobby’s leaded glass bay window.
Teigen grabbed someone’s discarded newspaper and shared it with Ben. The two read the Nazi-controlled news in silence until Selby finally appeared.
She stopped in surprise when she saw them. “What are you two doing down here?”
In the face of the beautiful actress, Ben seemed to have lost his bluster. His face reddened and he jammed his hands into his pockets.
“Waiting for you to get back,” Teigen answered for him. The true reason wouldn’t do, so Teigen added, “We’re curious about what you found out.”
Selby took off her fox coat as she walked over to one of the leather chairs. When she sat down she kicked off her shoes and rubbed her silk-stockinged feet, sighing as she did.
Glancing back at the empty
clerk’s counter before she spoke, Selby faced Teigen and Ben, her expression serious. “Well first of all, it’s completely true that Hitler’s trying to make atomic bombs,” she said softly.
“What?” Ben blurted.
“Quiet,” Teigen warned him. “We never want to attract attention.”
His face flushed again and he glanced at Selby. “Sorry.”
She gave the teen a tired smile before she continued. “It’s also true that the heavy water electrolysis chambers were blown up.”
“All of them?” Teigen asked.
“That’s not clear,” Selby admitted. “But enough of them to put Adolf’s plans back at least a year.”
Teigen exhaled a sigh of relief. “That’s good news.”
Ben stared at Selby like he was about to explode himself. “How do you stand being with them?”
Selby was obviously startled by the boy’s thankfully hushed outburst. She hesitated a moment then said, “It’s a role I play.”
Ben’s lips pressed together and he scowled at her.
“Think of it this way, Ben.” Selby leaned forward. “I hate…”
Teigen saw her falter. What did that mean?
“I hate the Nazis as much as you do,” she ran at it again. “They’re vile racist pigs to a man.”
Ben nodded but his expression didn’t change.
She gave a one-shoulder shrug and a corner of her mouth lifted. “Which is why I don’t have a problem with deceiving any of them. Does that make sense?”
“I suppose,” he muttered. “But it’s dangerous.”
“It’s only dangerous if I make a mistake, Ben.” Selby gave him a reassuring look. “And I’m very careful to never let them see what I really think of them and their damned Reich.”
“Selby is a professional, Ben,” Teigen added. “She knows what she’s doing.”
The appreciative look Selby gave him when he spoke those words shot straight to his groin.
Then she yawned.