Vengeance 10

‘Why? They would shoot you if they had the chance. You English, you are so naive. You have not lived so close to the Russian as we have, nor have you experienced his full treachery. They even feed upon themselves. All that shooting and killing during the past few years. And before, preying on our German citizens or those of German ancestry, like wolves, for centuries, denying us the right to eastern lands, lands needed to make Germany a great nation. Is it any wonder that Hitler and his like decided to make war on Russia? The Slav is inferior and he must give way to the German folk. But by fighting England and America as well, Hitler destroys the fatherland.’

Memling left it at that, sensing that to argue would only persuade her that he was at least a closet communist.

Late that afternoon they came in sight of a distant church steeple, and Francine led him off into a patch of woods. From her rucksack she extracted a loaf of brown bread and a large piece of cheese. Memling filled his water bottle from a nearby stream, and they ate, after which the girl scraped a mossy patch clear of twigs and stretched out, relaxing with a sigh. After a moment she opened her eyes and, seeing that Memling was watching her, smiled.

‘No one will come for us until after midnight.’ She patted the moss beside her.

Memling cleared his throat and glanced around at the trees, silent and filled with muted colour in the long summer dusk. ‘Where do we go then?’ His voice was hoarse and a bit unsteady.

Francise turned on to her back, stretching arms above her head so that her breasts rose and fell languorously beneath her thin cotton blouse. ‘To Peenemunde, by boat. You will be a foreign worker employed at the works. I am to be your wife. Everything has been arranged. We will stay with another married couple, friends of our movement.’

‘My wife?’ Memling repeated stupidly.

‘Of course. A married man is always suspected less. A foreign worker married to a German woman must be safe, the authorities will think. After all, to get married a foreign worker must be a party member, and so he must have been investigated fully. We will be given our documents tonight. The day after tomorrow you will report to work.’ Francine grinned and rose to her knees, unbuttoning her blouse at the same time. ‘You see, we are married. So I think there can be nothing wrong. And besides, if we are to carry out our role as a married couple, then I should not remain a virgin, should I? The Gestapo are quite thorough.’ Memling was having difficulty keeping up with this girl who had started out that morning as his guide and was now his wife. Sunlight filtering through the trees had taken on the radiance of early evening and coated her skin with gold. Francine had removed her blouse, and her large, well-shaped breasts swayed only inches from his hands as she wriggled out of her skirt. She smiled and took his hand, placing it flat against her stomach.

‘In Germany it is the duty of a married couple to have as many children as quickly as possible. You must make me pregnant or it will seem suspicious.’

‘Pregnant…?’

Francine tossed her skirt aside. ‘Oh, do stop repeating things. Yes, pregnant. It is no sin,’ she assured him. ‘The Nazis have become as godless as the communists. Our priest was taken away to the concentration camps two months ago.’

The girl’s voice was matter-of-fact as she talked, sitting back with her hands on her knees, unconscious of her striking beauty. Memling’s breath caught in his throat. Her figure was firm, well rounded, her large breasts were perfectly formed, and her flat stomach sloped to wide hips and sturdy thighs. Her skin was smooth, milky, and scattered with freckles. Curly blonde hair capped a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones. Sitting nude before him, she seemed as natural a part of the forest as the trees or the stream nearby, and Memling knew then why the Greeks had invented the nymph.

‘It only matters that the communists be stopped, not how. We work for an armistice with the English and Americans so the struggle can continue wholly against the godless communists. So, you see, this is a holy endeavour, as Father Dunn told us before they took him away.’

The girl leaned forward and began to unbutton his shirt. ‘You English. You must be as cold as they say. Perhaps the sun will warm you.’