Secret Family - Part Six
gOOd Reads, Novel, Novelist, Writer, Writing, Blogger, Free Books, Free Serialized Books,
gOOd Reads, Novel, Novelist, Writer, Writing, Blogger, Free Books, Free Serialized Books,
Let me get you up-to-date with what's happening!
Google deleted some of my pages! 😰They didn't like the way I was linking to Google Drive with my books. It was not the method they want so they deleted my pages. It was the only way I know to do it, the way nic showed me. Anyway I've fixed it. No, not the way Wayne fixed stuff in the 'Secret Family'!
While I was fixing the site I decided to update it. There were so many small things I needed to change and they were bugging me. So I fixed them! 😏 The upshot of this is that I reworked my Blog too! I've installed a new theme and changes the 'labels' so they relate to 'Secret Family' story.
The biggest changes are the ones you can't see. I'm working on a guide to blogging. Yes, I know it's all been done before. Stay with me! I have read so many blogs and books about setting up a blog that I talk about it in by sleep😲. (I'm told, but I don't believe it.) This guide tells about the stuff that they don't tell you.
Wow! The difference in readership since I did it. I'll be telling you all about it in a new post in the 'Anja's Secrets' soon. There are new sections 'Marte's Secrets' and 'Kellie's Secrets' on the way. 'Marte's Secrets' gets under way this some quick, easy, and delicious recipes this month and 'Kellie's Secrets', her hacks, follows.
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Enough of my jawing. Read!
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| Cover art: The cousins chillaxing. |
15.
Late in the afternoon after Tim had returned from his errands Kellie and Solo were on their computers in the guest bedroom which they had converted to an office. Marte was dividing her time between cooking dinner and flitting up and downstairs with the others in the new office she setup in one of the guest bedrooms. Maddie was just happy to see that they had resolved their problems and were talking again.
“Have you talked it out and managed to kiss and make up?” Maddie asked
“Oh yuk! Gross.” Kellie pulled a face.
“Yeah. We're gonna keep working together. I'm gonna take a gap year an' Kellie has quit school an' she won't be going to Uni.”
“Good. I'm glad you sorted that out.”
“And I've been appointed official Office Administrator, unofficial mediator and relationship coach.” Marte added grinning.
The doorbell rang and Rose swept in and everyone appeared together. She had two more boxes of photos and papers.
When everyone was gathered together around the dinner table Tim announced that he wanted to call a Turner family conference after dinner. Tim insisted that Solo was invited too. He said it particularly involved him. Like Kellie, Solo didn’t handle stress well. In his case he became even more withdrawn and uncommunicative than usual staring at his food and moving it around the plate without eating anything.
Kellie and Marte fought a whispering campaign with Solo.
“I told you to tell him before dinner.” Marte mouthed at Solo.
“I'll tell him later.” he mouthed.
“I just want to see his face when you tell him.” Kellie smiled. She was still annoyed with Tim: She blamed him for causing her so much grief.
After diner, with everyone settled in the family room for tea, Tim started. “The first and most importantly, I am very sorry that John's casket will not be back with us again in Fareham this week. The undertakers have us informed us that there are a number of bureaucratic issues that have yet to be resolved in Berlin. I've been with the undertakers here most of the day on the phone with Alrik, the Berlin Police and in the German undertakers. The regulation governing German funerals are the strictest in the world and the bureaucracy endless. Because of the problem with the initial identity everything is being double and triple checked. I will let you know as soon as I have good news.
There was a flurry of tissues, dabbing eyes and sniffling but no great out outpouring, it seems that everyone was cried out.
Maddie was content to have Tim take charge. Her feelings were too raw for her to process yet, swinging between love, loss, anger and guilt.
“Next concerning Alrik.” Tim continued. “He has located John’s wallet, and it will be arriving here by DHL Courier before 10am tomorrow.” He grinned at his joke. “Alrik apologized for the mistake on behalf of the German Police. Anja Turnau spotted that she had the wrong effects. Maddie and I met Anja briefly at the Hospital and have kept in touch.” The name Anja caused a barely audible intake of breath from Kellie.
“Alrik as also cleared up a mystery that will have all wondered about. Why John and Jana were together in that car that day. It seems we are all related, long lost family. Apparently Jana inherited some things from her mother and was researching the family history. She contacted John trying to find families called Turner living in the Solent area.”
“Oma Turner was German. I wonder if that’s what John was looking for when he asked me to find old pictures of Oma. He had phoned just before he went to Berlin. Of course I was too busy then and I forgot all about it.” Rose explained.
“Finally I need details of who is going to Berlin for Jana's funeral. I'll get our travel service on it.”
“Don't worry. I've got it in hand.” Marte said.
“I thought Kellie was the travel agent.”
“She's too busy with working on the Siemens project, so as Office Administrator I've taken over the day to day running of things while she and Solo do the technical stuff. So please refer to all queries to me: check your email for details.” Marte said trying to sound professional and efficient. Tim appeared surprised, Maddie smiled knowingly and Rose didn't seem to know what to make of it.
“I thought Frank was going to London with me. . .”
“I'm so pleased that you had faith in the young ones ability to make the right decision without interfering Tim.” Maddie interrupted pointedly as she raised her eyebrows with a look that told him that the subject was not up for discussion. “Frank will be working with Kellie and he will live here with us.”
“Uh! Well . . .” he paused started before he appeared to change his mind. ”Well er,” he coughed.
Marte seized the opportunity to side track the conversation.“I need everyone's help with this. It's about the family and the family history.” Marte said. “As most of you know that I recently inherited my grandmother's cameo. Well, while it's not worth a lot in monetary value I think it will prove invaluable in my search of our family's history.”
Marte unhooked the cameo placing it on the table so everyone could see it and admire it. They passed it between themselves, turning over and examining until it was returned to Marte. Then Kellie helped her to fasten it again.
“I took it to the museum and emailed pictures to the county archives especially in view of what we have found about the Turnaus. Anja Turneau inherited a similar cameo from her mother; the one was sent to the Turners by mistake. I thought that two identical cameos was odd, especially because on the possible family link.
“Images of three girls together are frequently mistakenly called the three graces, who were pagan Greek muses. And that's what the conservators thought at first. The subjects are usually depicted as naked or partially dressed generally debauching, over indulging in feasting, drinking, or er, dancing.” Marte glanced at her mother and allowed a hint of a smile show as she saw Rose's demeanour stiffen. “In these cameos the subjects are displayed in head profile. That left me to think that they are not random models but real people.” She showed a picture of the cameo on her tablet.
“Look how similar the faces are, and their hair. See the subtle changes between the subjects. They could be triplets or twins with another sister or just three sisters, but they're definitely related.” She swiped the picture and displayed the photo of the three girls in dirndls. “The picture is not very big and it’s a bit faded. Its the one with 'Faith, Hope and Love – Oktoberfest nineteen thirty whatever, on the back. The last digit is too smudged and faded to read.” She paused before she swiping the next picture that showed a blow-up of the girls faces. She swiped again and showed a photo -shopped picture showing the cameo and the girls photo rearranged to look like the cameo. “I'm certain that the cameo shows Faith, Hope and Love.”
They sat looking at the screen.
Tim spoke first. “I think it's a bit of a leap from a faded, blurry, old photo to claiming that these are the same girls. The cameo could have been made during the last hundred years or more.”
“I'm sure that John was searching for that photo before he went to Berlin.” Rose said. “He called me and said he was trying to trace the families history. I told him ‘best luck with that,’ I’d tried several times but I couldn’t find a single trace of them before the war. It’s like they popped-up from nowhere.”
“I checked once and gave-up. I didn’t think anymore of it, but it is odd. Grampa always changed the subject when the war was mentioned. It was like they had something to hide.” Tim agreed frowning. “I’ll look into it.” He made a note in his diary.
“'I mean really; the whole Anja, Jana, Nadja thing. What's that about?'” Kellie quoted what Marte's comment to he earlier. “They're short-form anagrams in German. Well, except for the 'd' in Nadja. ” She didn’t like the direction the conversation was going and was becoming agitated.
“Actually it's Russian, well strictly speaking its derived from Slav.” Tim corrected
“I remember great grandma she had a strange, very thick accent. There were words that she couldn't or wouldn't say like, 'Thursday'. I remember asking her about it when I was little: Tim was just toddling. Mum gave me a right telling off. I never asked her again.” Rose recounted.
“I thought she was German.” Marte said.
“She could have been Russian or Slav.” Kellie suggested.
“She was German.” Tim said emphatically. “As I heard it that her father was German and her mother was Slav or Russian, definitely mixed blood. That was not something that you wanted to speak about in Berlin at the time. You could find yourself with a one way trip to the labour camp if you weren't careful.”
“Anyway, as I was saying.” Marte resumed. “I did some more research and I found that they were named after the scripture in 1st Corinthians 13:13. ‘And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three but the greatest of these is charity’, but most translations change Charity to Love. Or should it be Love to Charity. Whatever!”
Faith, Hope and Charity or Love, were the three daughters of Sophia. They were Christian martyrs of the early church. Sophia, whose name means wisdom, was a Christian woman who was martyred in 137 AD, that was in Emperor Hadrian ruled. That’s the Hadrian of Hadrian's wall fame, by the way. Sophia’s daughters Faith, Hope and Charity were beaten and tortured to death one by one before her eyes in an attempt to force them to renounce their Faith in Christ. The daughters stood firm until death, and their mother Sophia, remained by their graves refusing food or water until she too finally died faithful a few days later..”
“That's awful!” Rose said.
“That's why they call it martyrdom.” Kellie's flippant response raised eyebrows but no one said anything.
“More to the point these names were 'true' Christian names. They may have been named Kellie or Marte at birth, but later after they were confirmed in the Church they would have been baptized with their 'true' Christian names like Mary or Elizabeth. To the world you would be Kellie but to your Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters you would be Mary. It was like a secret society, especially in times of persecution.
The early Christians, were persecuted. Then the Eastern Orthodox Church separated from the Church of Rome and split due to differences in interpretation and doctrine. They had their own version of the Bible and even had their own language called Old Church Slavonic (OCS). I don't understand the finer points of theology, but as far as family it seems goes, the use of icons like the cameo would indicate that the three girls and their mother were of Eastern origin.
People in the know could identify others of similar faith by the use of rituals or symbols, a broach, a ring, or a cameo. They were frequent considered to be of special significance to their families and passed through the generations as valued heirlooms.”
“A secret society like Masons and their hand shakes.” Tim explained.
“Exactly like Masons. Well, kind of. I think.” Marte wasn't really certain what Masons were only that they were some kind of secret society.
“I think it's them; I mean the three girls.” Maddie who had kept quiet until then said, “and I think John knew about it. He told me that he wanted to find Nana's necklace. I think that was what he called the cameo.”
“I've found more.” Marte was not finished and Kellie groaned and rolled her eyes. Marte raised an eyebrow. “I emailed the names to the cameo makers and I've got and answer from one of them. Her great grandfather carved the three originals in the 1930's, probably after the twins confirmation. It was made for a German family called Koeppel from Berlin. I've ordered a new one for Kellie.
”Thank you. That's very generous.” Maddie was the first to speak. “You said it had special significance to the families.”
“Would you like me to explain about the differences of the dogma between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox-ism.” Marte said with a twinkle in her eye.
“No!” They said together looking horrified.
“Maybe just the part about the family and the cameo.” Maddie added.
Marte grinned, “Just the family and the cameos then. I don’t know the exact details, but I do know that these lockets were typically given when there were three sisters or nieces in the family. They could be added as middle names and would be passed on by generations. If there weren’t any girls then, they should skip a generation. For one of the lockets, to be missing would mean the line was dead, and it would be the remaining owners job to reunite the missing locket to the family. It’s just an old and still followed superstition in parts of Slavic families.”
“That's all very interesting, but what does it mean?” Asked Rose who had been uncharacteristically quiet.
“It means we need to find Anja's family history for one thing.” Tim's policeman's instincts fired-up. “I seem to remember that I gave a box of great-grand-ma's papers to Rose for safekeeping.”
“They won't do you any good. If you remember they were all written in some weird code that no one could read. They're in those boxes the girls brought across the other day.”
“We don't have the time to decode it before we go to Berlin; We are on a deadline with the Siemens work.”
“I can look at it while you're in Berlin. It'll give me something to do while you're away.” Solo suggested.
“You're going with me.”
“I don't have a passport.”
“Then get one Nerf. Make sure he gets one tomorrow.” Kellie ordered Marte.
“Not that easy,” Tim said. “You'll see.”
16.
“Anja, this is your cousin Marte.” Maddie introduced them. “Her parents are Rose and Per Larsen. They live in the New Forest near Kellie and I.”
“Please to meet you.” Anja smiled and kissed Marte's cheek. “Will Kellie be coming also?” She asked.
“She hopes to catch-up with us later. She has been waylaid by some of the Siemens people.” Marte explained diplomatically. “They were colleagues of your mother and Kellie's father.” Anja was not concentrating on the conversation. Her eyes were locked on the cameo Marte was wearing.
“Its lovely, isn't it? Why didn't you wear yours?”
“I didn't know any of the others still existed.” Anja said sounding uncertain.
“Yes, this one is Nadja, or Hope in English. Yours must be Vera or Faith. I'm hoping you can tell me more about their story.”
“It was my mama who was the expert in family but I remember Uroma telling stories me about our family's history. She would never speak about what happened in the death camps. I know she had bad dreams about it right up until she died.
She was the eldest of three sisters. Vera was the oldest and Nadja and Lubja were twins. They were well educated and they lived in Siemensstadt with their parents and their Oma and Opa nearby. Their father was a research scientist who worked at Siemens, and I think her mother was Ukrainian; Everyone said she was a strikingly beautiful woman. With the rise of the Nazis the family’s mixed German/Slav heritage meant that her mother and the three sisters were classed as unmenschlich or subhuman and subject to internment or deportation. It was only their Opa's war record and papa's essential research that saved then from deportation. They were difficult times.
The story was that they were all reported missing during one of the bombing raids on Berlin. Vera and her mother were found in hospital having been injured by the bombing and were sent to the labour camps. Her mother died in the camps. In the last few weeks of the war she was liberated by the Russian army who transported her to Russia. Eventually she got back to Berlin and the East German authorities confirmed the loss of her family.
She accepted that her father and grandparents had been killed in the bombing but she was convinced the twins had escaped to America. For her the fact no one found the bodies and more importantly the cameos were never found in the debris meant that the twins were still alive somewhere. She spent the rest of her life searching in vain for any trace of them or their families.”
“Why was she so convinced that they survived?”
“For her it was a matter of her faith. The cameos weren't just pretty jewellery, they symbolised their names, Christian names the names they would be called by Christ at the last trumpet. They were God given, sacred icons. They never without them. The priest blessed then and sealed the last link; they would never be removed until the owner died.” Anja pulled Marte's cameo chain so it was short and nestled at the nape of her neck. “See,” she said.
“Wow! Didn't realise that.” Marte exclaimed.
“Well, now you know your Great Aunt Hope survived and you to have found some of your long lost family. I'm sure we are descended from Uroma Hope.” Maddie said kissing Anja tenderly on the cheek.
“I'm trying to trace the family history. I've only just started and all I've got so far is the cameos and the three names Faith, Hope and Love.” Marte said
“I'm trying to find my missing relatives too. We should work together. I can search for Vera and you can search for Nadja and Kellie could search for Lubja.”
“No, we’ve found Faith and Hope.” Marte pointed to herself and Anja. “We’re searching for Love.”
“Talking of missing people,” Maddie glanced at her phone, “Kellie says that she will be a while more before she can join us. Now they've met her, the Siemens people want to go over some plans and designs before she has to go home.” She said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
The discussions with Siemens lasted all day adjourning for the night and finally ending after lunch the next day. While Kellie got to get her tech-nerd on with Siemens, Maddie and Marte wanted to go shopping in Alexanderplatz or Alexandra Palace as Marte insisted on calling it. Maddie had never got the opportunity to really shop with Kellie. Kellie, being a shop-a-phobic who preferred her mum to shop for her. Now she bonded with Marte over shoes and bags and clothes. The two of them were in raptures as they plundered the stores of Alexanderplatz.
Back at the hotel Kellie was relieved to change out of her smart formal suit and revert to her usual uniform of jeans and tee. While Kellie plotted her next move; She decided to investigate Siemensstadt where Anja lived. She didn't want to meet her, she was just curious to see where she lived. It could be useful to observe the creature in its own lair; see it in its natural environment she reasoned.
She headed back to St Joseph's Church where the service had been the day before. Then it was a warm sunny day with a cooling breeze; normal for the time of year. It is only a short walk from the hotel. She hadn't realised so near it was. She stood on the steps of the church as she checked for directions on her phone. The pointer stood at the end of a block and she walked toward it.
The area was unique. She remembered that she had read somewhere it was a UNESCO World Heritage site. The architecture was the German Modern style. Definitely of the Bauhaus House she muttered to herself; actually that was the only German designer's name she knew other that Hugo Boss and he was a fashion designer and oh! Karl Lagerfeld she remembered. She was genuinely surprised that she knew that as a sliver of a smile of satisfaction played across her lips. She wondered when she'd heard it; Must have been Art or History at school she thought. She was now standing in front of a large block. She wished she'd been listening when her mother explained now to get there.
She looked around. There was no one around. A couple of cars swept past but the street seemed to be devoid of pedestrians. There was nothing else for it, she'd have to call her mum for instructions. She shuffled around waiting for the call to connect and hung-off as the answering system kicked in. She tried Marte, becoming more irritated by the minute. The smug bitch on the answerphone started talking again. It was even more annoying in German than in English she thought. Irritated Kellie texted them both for help before, not thinking, she'd punched the power-off button and swore aloud. She shoved her phone in her pocket when what she really wanted was the throw it at something.
She stood, shading her eyes against the bright sunlight and scanned to the top floor of a nearby building for any sign of life. As she kicked her heels for at least five minutes she wondered what that caused the change of mood. The urge to dig her nails into her arms and let the blood run was becoming irresistible. She decided to get a coffee; distracting herself should give her the time to calm-down. She would try some of coping strategies they taught her at counselling. Then she would try the phone one more time before quitting. Quitting! What was she quitting?
She sipped her coffee at a table outside a Kiosk where there was a cooling breeze. The sun was so bright that it made her eyes water. It was reflecting from the windows of the block she was watching. She dabbed at a tissue as she sat there staring at the blank windows across from her. She twisted her wrists in a Chinese burn until she couldn't hold on any longer. That helped her focus. She didn't understand why she was bothered. She hated it when her emotions got the better of her. She'd shown willing to come here. If no one was in, well that wasn't her bad, mum could blame her for that, she thought.
“Ich bin Anja und Sie müssen Kellie sein. Lassen Sie uns gehen und reden … dass wir verwandt sind.” a voice from behind said quietly. Kellie spine tingled and the hairs on her arms stood up. The voice was uncannily familiar.
Kellie startled spilling her coffee on the table.
“I said 'I am Anja' . . .” Anja took the chair opposite as Kellie used a napkin to staunch the spillage.
“I know what you said.” Kellie cut in annoyed at the intrusion as she bristled at Anja's sudden appearance.
Anja let her jacket fall open to show her cameo. “Don't be worried you're with your family,” Anja smiled.
“Huh!” Kellie slung her bag or her shoulder and stood up suddenly intending to leave.
She'd barely got two steps before her head started to swim and she felt herself falling. She was weaving and swaying as she struggled to escape in her heels. They were only kitten-heels but they weren't helping. Her first instinct was to kick them off and run but her body would obey her. She felt Anja put her arm around her to steady her; She must be overcome with grief she thought hugging her tightly to her side.
“Why don't we go to my place for another coffee. I ran out without any money when I saw you.” She linked her arm around Kellie and guided her toward her home.
Kellie steadied herself with Anja's help. She had no choice, her head was still swimming from the head-rush. Against her better judgement she allowed herself to be guided as Anja talked. She was conflicted, Anja had saved her from falling and was still holding her up. She struggled to gain her balance on legs that didn't want to support her as her sworn enemy comforted her. She was horrified.
“I'm sorry I missed you yesterday, I hope that your meeting with Siemens was successful,” she continued without stopping for an answer. “I hoped you'd come today. I'm so pleased. I nearly missed you. I was just getting ready to get out when I noticed you standing there. You were on the phone and I thought that you couldn't decide to come in or not. I could see you were troubled and I had to go to you. I was in such a hurry to meet you. I went out without my bag when I saw you crying.”
The head-rush had subsided and her thoughts had been far more lethal than Anja's. She observed Anja from the corner of her eyes as she helped her toward her home. Damn it! She was being kind and helpful. Kellie tried to resent her but it was starting to get harder to hate her by the moment. She was wondering how she'd got herself in this situation and more importantly how she could escape.
Out of nowhere the answer appeared. Well, it appeared from Kellie pocket.
“Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no. Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no.”
The surprise floored them both.Literally. Kellie's wobbly legs stopped working altogether as she sank slowly to the ground while reaching for her phone. “Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no. Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no “
The full weight of Kellie's limp body took Anja by surprise and she skewed into the ground along with her.
“I look and stare so deep in your eyes, I touch on you more and more every time,”
The two of them sprawled on the path. Anja was smiling and laughing. Kellie's face was drained of blood. She was visibly shaking so hard that she dropped and scrambled for her phone. She fumbled the accept call button tentatively.
“Hello?” Her voice barely a whisper. Anja looked Kellie and her expression dropped.
“Kellie. Its Solo. You OK?”
“OMG is it serious?” Anja mouthed.
“I was until you gave me a heart attack you nerf. What the hell are you playing at? It's not ******* funny!” She shook her head in response to Anja. She could imagine the surprise in Solo's face when Kellie swore. He'd never heard her swear before, well not using that kind of language.
“Easy, easy there. Don't shoot the messenger! Your mum was frantic trying to contact you. Your phone's switched off, an' Anja's. Are you at Anja's?”
“Not if I can possibly avoid it.”
“Well get there, they'll be with you in a couple of minutes.” He warned, “FYI I broke the code. Cool huh!” He dropped the connection before she could say anything else.
“Mum and Marte are on their way to yours.”
“It's OK, they can get in, I left the door unlocked.”
“Oh no! You need to get there before them.”
“Its OK they can get in . . .”
“But if they go in and find no-one there they'll think I've been kidnapped and call the police. This is my mother we are talking about; She'll call out a full SWAT team, the SAS, International Rescue, everyone!”
“Really!”
“Well, not really. But she will panic, and she will probably call the police.”
“What, panic like you when you got that phone call? Who was that?”
“That was Solo and before you say anything 'he's not my boyfriend'. He just works with me.”
“So much we need to talk about. . . Start with the phone call. You went white and breathless, you started shaking. I thought you were having some kind of attack.”
“That was only the third time it ever happened. The first two times were at school when my dad and your mum were killed. It's the system we developed for Siemens it detects that something bad has happened and summons help.”
“Like a 'guardian angel'?”
“Kind-da. That would be a good name for it. Mind if I steal that name from you?”
Anja frowned not knowing how to respond.
“And it called you at school in England for help when it detected your dad had been in an accident in Berlin,” she said.
Her expression changed from puzzled to amazed.
“Yeah. It’s only at the early development stage now. I've got dozens of new ideas for it. That's what the talks at Siemens were about.”
“OMG. That's amazing. And your dad invented this?”
“No!” She insisted, annoyed at the assumption. “I invented it and me and Solo built it. Dad manages it and markets it.” Her voice was tinged with annoyance again.
“Would it have helped my mum?”
“Yeah, I've improved it. It can do so much more. New algorithms.”
“Thank you. I know it wouldn't help your dad or my mum, but you will help save other peoples loved ones. Thank you.” She hugged Kellie's shoulders and kissed her cheek.
“But, why did it call just now? There wasn't an accident.”
“Like I said, it can do all kinds of things. Mum and Marte couldn't contact me, my phone was powered off and your is out of power, by the way, so mum got Solo to locate us.” She explained matter of factly.
“Despite our phones having no power! How is that even possible?” she sounded incredulous.
“It's really simple. . .” Kellie started in her matter of fact way.
“No, don't tell me. I'd never understand it. But I can understand why you were freaked-out. You seem to be OK again now.”
“It's stress. The first time it happened I got angry. I blamed everyone, my dad, your mum, you, everyone. I couldn't process it. Talking about tech stuff helps. It makes me think about possible solutions.”
“It must have been awful for you. I didn't know what had happened to my mum for days. It was over before I knew about it. It was a shock but it was quick. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you having to suffer through it. Unable to see or help; Being so far away.”
“Being in Berlin now, going to the hospital and speak with the doctors helps too. See, I haven't tried to kill you once,” she paused, “so far.” Kellie grimaced as she said it and Anja frowned and tilted her head slightly as she thought about it but let it go.
“I saw your dad in the ICU with your mum. Only from the window. I wanted to thank him for trying to save my mum and I prayed for him to recover; I've never prayed before. He was so brave.” Tears were welling in Anja's eyes as she told about it.
Kellie was stunned into silence. Anja prayed for her dad! She struggled to process it.
“We share so much in common. I can't imagine us not being friends. When your mum and Marte get here why don't we go to dinner together. There's a pizza place just around the corner. It's not anything special to look at, but the food is good.”
“Hello? Anyone there?” Maddie called opening the door.
“Hi, come on in.”
“Thank goodness you are both OK. What happened?”
“Nothing. Nothing happened, expect Solo tried to give me a heart attack.”
“Now don't go blaming Frank. He was desperate. Poor love.”
“Huh! I don't understand the problem. I switch my phone off for a bit of peace and quiet and everyone panics!”
“The problem was, you madam, sent calls and texts to me and your cousin saying you needed help then proceeded to switch off your phone. What did you expect us think? We were frantic with worry.”
Marte shook her head mouthing, “I wasn't,” behind Maddie's back.
“You could have been hurt or even kidnapped for all we knew.”
Marte shook head again and rolled her eyes.
“We called Siemens to see if they knew where you were. We couldn't reach Anja. We were at our wits end.” As Marte grimaced shaking her head.
“OK. Message understood. I'll be adding a function to find someone without causing them a heart attack.”
“I insist that I would be the first user.” Maddie said.
“You are and Tim. If you read the stuff I gave you when you went to visit dad, it was in the instructions I gave you.”
Maddie looked a little crestfallen but managed a defiant, “I wouldn't remember. I was suffering from trauma.”
“Can I have it too. But only if mum doesn't know about it.” Marte added and grinned. Maddie shot her a quizzical glance.
“All the family can have a copy. Alright.”
“Me too, I'm family too.” Anja pleaded.
Kellie and Marte looked at one another, feeling guilty. Marte nodded her head to Kellie as if the plead for her.
“Oh. OK.” She finally conceded, not mentioning that they had been tracing her every movement for days. Well, it was now official, she'd actually legitimised her illegal hack.
“There are all kinds of privacy issues that will have to be ironed out, but if that's what everyone wants, OK. This will only be a temporary solution while I test the proper app but I'll need you to sign a permit to test the system with me. OK?” They all agreed without reservation. “Then you are my official Beta test team.”
They seemed excited to be a part of it.
“I was hoping that we could go out to dinner.” Anja suggested again. “There's a pizza place around the corner. It’s cheap, informal and the food is good. Or we could get dressed and go somewhere more upmarket.” She hoped for the cheap option; She was low on funds.
“The place around the corner sound fine. I'm famished and I don't want the hassle of dressing-up.” Marte was eager to go right then.
“Kellie?” Maddie queried looking at her expression. “I know that look. What's the problem?”
“Nothing.” she said defencelessly. It was definitely wasn't nothing.
“Are you still having issues with Anja? I hoped you'd managed to sort it out when I found you were together.”
“Not now mum.”
“Yes now. The therapist said you should address issues immediately and at their source.” Maddie insisted. “This is the source and the sooner you address it the sooner we can all get on with our lives.”
Kellie buried her head in her hands and groaned. Anja looked uncomfortable. Marte looked on intently.
Addressing Anja, Maddie explained, “I expect you noticed Kellie is an exceptional young woman, she's gifted.“ Anja nodded, “Sometimes there is a downside to these things. For Kellie it is being autistic. She has Asperger's. Do you know what Asperger's is?”
“Yes, one of my friends at college has the condition.”
“Good. --- No. --- I mean it’s good that you know not that your friend has it. I'm not explaining this very well.”
“Its OK. We understand.”
“In Kellie's case the usual lack of social skills has been exacerbated by outside factors. She suffers with separation and loss anxiety issues and the loss of her father has affected her more than she admits.” Maddie leant over to cuddled her and Kellie cringed and shook her off.
“Was it an anxiety attack you suffered when the phone rang?” She turned to Maddie explaining, “I thought she had tripped but she was white and shaking. I'd seen her at the cafe through the window and I came to meet her. She seemed to be crying, I spoke to her and it startled her and she ran off. Then before I could speak the phone rang and we were both sitting on a heap on the floor.”
“Have you been taking your tablets?” Maddie asked accusingly. “She should take one a day for her anxiety.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I forgot to pack them.”
“Here, take one of these.”
“I expect you forgot to eat as well.”
“Yes, let's eat I'm famished. Is that deja vu?” Marte quipped.
“You know the therapist said that some people subconsciously push friends away to avoid the pain of loss later.” Maddie continued.
“I don't push people away, I reserve my judgement. People have to earn my friendship.”
“That's all right, but poor Anja is starting from an impossible position.”
“What do you mean?”
“You blame her mother for dad's accident.”
“Huh!”
“That's just it, you see. It was an accident. Your dad and Anja's mum were in an accident. They were family, long-lost family and the first time they met they were in an accident. A horrible, tragic accident. The one thing they wanted was to reunite their families. Don't let their last wish end up like this. None of us want that to be their legacy. Think of what da wanted.”
Kellie sat silently staring into the distance sullenly wishing she was anywhere but there. Her tummy rumbled. Marte's tummy rumbled as if to answer. “Excuse me, it's catching.” she laughed.
“See, you do need to eat.” Maddie added.
“Yes, at last. I'm famished. I think I'll get a recording made of that.” Marte stood-up and gathered her bag and to her and Kellie's relief they started to go.
“I was surprised that your mother's service was in a Catholic church. I don't know why but it expected it the an Eastern Orthodox Church.” Maddie commented.
“Well I don't subscribe to any religion myself, but I know that mum was officially Eastern Orthodox, the Christ Resurrection Church in Wilmersdorf is the nearest Orthodox church. Mama always worshipped in the Catholic Church a few minutes from home. It's historical, many Slavs like my Oma were forced to convert to Catholicism during the persecution in second world war.”
“Oh, I know lots about the Orthodox church and the Catholic Church their history and their beliefs. For instance did you know . . .” Marte started.
“No. No, now see what you've started?” Kellie interrupted.
“I was going to say that John's service will be non-denominational, and I think it would be only right that is Anja there. That's if you don't mind. You can stay with the family, we've got space and you could come back with us and meet Rose and Per. I know it seems sudden but anyway you can think about it and let us know.” Maddie said.
“Rose and Per are my parents. The Trolls. They met in Norway. My dad is Norwegian, so Mum is a Troll by marriage. I was kidnapped as a baby and grew up as a slave imprisoned in a big ice palace until a wandering minstrel's song melted my heart and freed me. I think, or was that Frozen? Whatever!”
“That would make you a Troll by birth.” Kellie grinned, “Aren't Trolls supposed to be blue. Yes I can see the resemblance.”
“No that's Smurfs and they're Danish or is it Swedish.” Anja joined in.
“That's what we should you. Marte 'Smurfette' Larsen.” Kellie teased
“Smartette!” Marte corrected
“More like smart-ass!” Kellie pushed.
“Look. I got an email from Italy.” Marte said palmed her phone reading the message and changing the subject.
“About the cameos?” Kellie asked.
“Yes.”
“Well, go on. Are you going to tell us or just leave us hanging?”
“First Kellie's cameo will be shipped tomorrow,” Marte read, “and even better. They have checked their records and only six cameos of the three girls have ever been carved. The first three were the original order and then one was ordered from Berlin in 1990. . .” They all shot questioning looks at Anja.
“That would have been Oma. Her original Vera cameo was stolen by the Gestapo when she was arrested. The first thing she did after the fall of the DDR was to buy a replacement and get it blessed by the priest.” Anja explained.
“One from England this month, that's Kellie's copy of Hope, and the other was ordered from America in 2001. That must have had been Lubja's. She survived. We've got a cousin in America.” Marte added.
“We've got to find her.” Anja pleaded.
“Hey, just a minute! Why didn't you tell us that earlier?” Kellie accused.
“'Cos I just got it. See on my phone, see it's on silent”
“Huh! What else does it say?”
“It says that they can't give-out the invoice addresses because of European Data Protection laws. Huh! I have an uncle who'll get us the data.”
“Do you think he will?” Anja asked hopefully.
“Well, it’s worth a try.”
“And Alrik, he may be able to help. And I need to email Grandma Ritter.” Anja looked that their puzzled expressions, “I'll explain later.” She said.
“Copy the email to me. I'll see what I can do when we go get to the hotel.” Kellie offered.
“Now don't you start doing anything illegal.” Maddie warned.
“Huh! As if I would be caught doing anything illegal.”
“You know I would really like to come with you to England. If you really don't mind.” Anja asked Maddie.
Maddie smiled and nodded at her daughter raising her eyebrows questioningly. Kellie paused, glancing at her mother. She appeared about to argue before changing her mind.
“Give your details to Marte and she'll sort it. She's our travel agent.” she said matter of factly.
“That would be Executive Business Administrator,'' Marte corrected.
Kellie looked at her raising her eyebrows, “Huh?”
“What?” Marte shrugged questioningly, and feigning surprise. “I got promoted. Increased responsibilities.” She said explained grinning.
They spent the rest of the meal making plans to return home the next day
17.
He'd worked on the coded notebooks. He remembered the girls had said their great grandma had been Russian so he decide to start there. It was a tedious task to keep re-mapping the keyboard and then peck-out a few words. Using a Russian / English translation program found a few words but it was generally gobbledygook.
He experimented with a few more languages with no joy. It was then that he found the solution by chance. He typed in the question, 'What language is 'А сейчас' the first words he'd found. Goggle answered 'Old Church Slavonic (OCS)', a dead dialect of Ukrainian Slavonic, almost forgotten except for a few scholars and clerics of the East Orthodox Church.
He learned it could be transcribed to Russian with an almost letter for letter translation. He ordered an OCS and a Russian keyboard from Amazon Prime. Next morning while waiting for the keyboards to arrive he started cataloguing the papers. They appeared to be individual chapters of a manuscript comprising of between two and as many as a dozen pages, stapled, pinned or clipped together. There were a bunch of other pages that seemed to be just notes rather than chapters. His put them aside and concentrated at the 'chapters'.
He re-programmed the Optical Character Recognition scanner to convert cursive OCS. That took forever. Even using the Russian keyboard retyping the documents was mind numbingly slow work. But eventually he was able to translate it and read the first line.
OCS: Ныне же пребывают вера, надежда, любы, три сия: болши же сих любы.
By the the old-fashioned words used he guessed it was probably a translation from Shakespeare or the Bible. He Googled it and I was and exact match to the King James Version of the Bible at 1 Corinthians 13:13.
KJV: And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
He remembered the names Faith, Hope and Charity, and the girls laughing about them. At that point he'd reached the limit of his knowledge of the Bible in English, leave alone Old Church Slavonic which he'd never heard of until the previous day. Thankful for small victories, he celebrated by nuking a slice of pizza in the microwave.
That was just after he called 'find Kellie' and he’d gloated of his triumph in breaking the code. They say 'pride comes before a fall', he thought that it was from Shakespeare. If it wasn’t it should have been, he decided. Translating the next paragraphs yielded rubbish. Not a single word made sense. He checked and rechecked with no success. His spirits sank, he was stuck up a blind alley and Kellie was certain to mock him mercilessly for his failure.
It wasn't until the next morning that he discovered the first paragraph of each 'chapter' was a famous Bible text, the rest appeared to be another code. He took a break and went downstairs to brew a fresh pot of the magic beans. He read an article about the history of encryption systems as he waited for it to brew. As he scrolled through the first document he'd worked on something caught his eye. He used the first bible text as a primer then tried it in a simple substitution cipher. He swore under his breath as he read the result. This was pure dynamite.
It was the day of the funeral. It was held at the crematorium at Porchester. It was not a good morning for anyone. Of course the family were all there including Anja. There were John's, clients, professional colleges, acquaintances and personal friends, but not a large gathering. Kellie was surprised and heartened to find that three senior team leaders from Siemens had come over from Berlin.
The one surprise that everyone noticed and commented upon, was seeing Solo suited and booted and wearing a black tie. He'd had a haircut for the occasion too. That was a first for everyone and it got Marte thinking. This could be the opportunity she was waiting for. She could use the occasion to get to see Solo's father. She could and flaunt Solo's new success. She could pretend to be his girlfriend, while demonstrating her influence over him, and savouring the chance to flip the bird, so to speak, at his father. She found herself squirming with anticipation at the thought as she drove home with him in the car.
Marte drove them to his father’s house to recover a USB drive he had 'forgotten' when he was thrown out. Solo complained that it was not a good idea and that he was uneasy about it, and the old man had probably been drinking. She didn't want to listen; she almost always got her way especially where the men in her life were involved. After all the word 'manipulation' was started with 'man' she smiled to herself.
She bundled the reluctant Solo to the door and rapped loudly on the door knocker. The door opened and a wall of cheap alcohol, stale cigarettes, and human sweat and feet, assaulted their senses. A dishevelled middle-aged man with thin uncombed hair and a half weeks growth of beard blocked the door. He'd been fit once, but he'd got over it; he hadn't gone to seed yet but he was working on it. He had damp patches beneath the armpits and thickets of hair sprouting from his grubby vest. The evidence of at least his last few meals, burgers, pizzas, kebabs and probably this mornings fry-up down trailed down his vest front and onto his stained tracksuit bottoms that slung loosely over his belly to the point of defying gravity. He glowered at them beneath his hooded eyelids. He sniffed at her like a dog scenting as he eyed Marte up and down and licked his lips, then proceeded to rearrange his crotch.
He looked like he was in urgent need of a large infusion of coffee and double dose of paracetamol. The glowing end of a stained roll-up hanging from the corner of his mouth Marte noted.
He sneered, “Brought a girly fer backup.” at Solo before starting to cough. His hungry eyes devoured her body from head to foot and up again, a look that caused her skin to crawl ending with an involuntary shudder.
“This the girlfriend, is it then?” he addressed her breasts, and grunted something incomprehensible as he coughed again.
“Frank was recruited by the National Crime Agency, Cyber Crime Division, so was I.” She lied bluffing realising he was trying to intimidate her. He started coughing again, this time stopping with a wheeze, before he hocked a ball of phlegm and swallowed it. The whole time his eyes never moving from her breasts. He made her feel unclean like she'd been contaminated by just by act of being near him. She would need to take a shower and change of clothes when she got home.
Determined not to be intimidated Marte glared him down without speaking. He belched and mumbled, “Enjoy!”
He turned toward the open kitchen door, hopefully in search of some strong black coffee and paracetamol but more likely to find another bottle of whatever gut-rot was slowly poisoning his liver. Marte glanced around the kitchen doubting that anyone would be able to find anything in that room piled high with dirty dishes and half eaten meals everywhere. She certainly wouldn't want to enter it without the protection of a hazmat suit. She turned away and gasped for clean air as the stench reached her. An uncontrolled shudder ran down her back again and she struggled not to vomit.
Solo had taken the chance to run up the stairs and the sounds of draws opening and closing could be heard upstairs. His father returned to lean on the doorpost and winked at her lewdly, attempting a leery smile that showed his stained teeth at their best advantage. He resumed staring at her cleavage as he stuck his hand in his pants and scratched his backside before pulling out his tobacco pouch. He made a major production of rolling a skinny cigarette licking the paper as his fat reddish-brown slug of a tongue slowly trailed saliva back and forth to moisten the paper.
She would never be able to French a guy again she thought as she watched the tongue dance. He tucked the joint behind his ear and repeated the process again, the whole time his eyes never moved from her chest. If he was trying to gross her out and he was winning. She felt her cheeks blush with heat as her skin reddened under his relentless scrutiny. She was determined not to allow him to intimidate her, she wouldn't be the one to blink first.
He tucked the skinny, wet joint behind his other ear and began the whole process again. The same relentless focus, the same slimy tongue dance. It was really beginning to wear her down; she was deciding if she should punch him on the nose or maybe she should kick him where it really hurts.
He looked into her eyes for the first time, “where's me mannas! Fancy a shag does yuh?" He suggested lewdly, proffering the part rolled smoke at her as he watched for her reaction momentarily before returning to peer down her cleavage.
Then gurned, a trail of saliva dropping from is teeth before he inhaling, and purposely blowing his disgusting stinking smoke and breath directly in her face. She balled her fists and started to swing at him.
Solo appeared between them though by magic. He shot between them taking the force of her punch in his injured ribs as he spun her around. She knew how hard she struck him, but he never flinched.
“Got it!” He cried Holding her by her arms he held her firm, manoeuvring her into the car before jumping in himself.
He started to follow them to the car then stopped and bellowed at the top of his voice, “Thought you'd pimp-out your lah-di-dah London hooker did yuh? Gagging for a bit of rough ain't yuh? Whore! We're respectable people we are!” As if someone was listening. No one was. He started another coughing fit before retreating and slamming the door.
He was seething. That little bitch, both of them. He smiled at the thought, bitches the two of them, he'd teach them. Whore, she'd learn. She had started something, she'd put him up to this. He swallowed a mouthful of his gut-rot spilling half of it down his vest. God he hated that little tart, her fine clothes, her posh accent and her flash car. He smashed his cup against the wall, the wet patch soaking into to match the already stained wallpaper.
Marte gunned the accelerator causing the wheels to spin and sending a shower of grit flying. Around the corner she stopped in a space opposite the junction of another road and glared at him. She was livid with anger, “Why didn't you let me hit him? She demanded punching his arm.
“You're welcome.” he said, “Look, he would have loved the chance to punch your teeth out and then press charges against you for assault,” he explained, “you can't engage with his vile, twisted, psycho games. That's what he wants. Anyway you've ruined his sick game for today, probably for several days. Let that be enough. I told you, he needs help.”
“Sorry I didn't believe you about him, and I'm sorry I punched you by mistake”.
“Its OK. He's a piece of work when he's drinking. He'll be OK after he's had time to sleep it off. He's not always that mean, only when he's tied one on then he'll regret it, until the next time. I hope you're not too grossed out an' disgusted. Are you going to tell anyone? Why did you lie to him about my being in the police?”
“I didn't lie I said we were recruited by the NCA and we were.”
“Why did you to that if he ever finds out he'll pay us back.”
“We'll just have to make sure he doesn't.”
“I'd rather forget it ever happened at all. If I could unsee it I would, but I'm afraid he will be starring in my worst nightmares over the next few months after that.”
“I'll never mention it, if you don't,” he swore.
Marte drove to the Tuner home and she parked at the back to allow the visitors to park in the front drive. She really felt she needed a bath and hair-wash, probably with the strongest disinfection she could find.
Was it possible that Solo felt sorry for his father? The truth was that she was as conflicted as Solo. More importantly Marte realised that her perception of Solo had changed. She had just endorsed with of Kellie's view that he was a wimp and a loser without thinking about it but after today she saw that he had an inner strength a physical toughness and a caring side to him that she had never imagined. She thought she should tell Kellie and then she realised that she could risk losing his confidence and revealing her part in it.
After the funeral the mourners had gathered to the Turner house for refreshments. It wasn’t a wake; it was just a gathering of friends and colleagues. Kellie and Anja were both able to put faces to several names.
There were tales and anecdotes dredged from the past. Tim told of the story of the day John was a teenager and he ‘borrowed’ an earth mover from the by-pass construction site to build a pool in the orchard for local villagers . It was only because the house was so remote and there was no damage, and the local village bobby was unable to locate any reliable witnesses to the crime’ that they managed to get away with it.
Alrik told of some of the scrapes that John and Tim got into in Berlin. 'They were staked out in a bar on the trail of missing army supplies. The gang was planning to steal a big shipment of supplies, and they were finalising the deal when there was gunfire. John and Tim jumped for cover, running right into three of the gang, who in the ensuing melee ended falling down the cellar stairs as they tried to flee followed by John who fell on top of them. He escaped unscathed but two of the gang suffered broken limbs. After that they had no trouble getting a confession'. That was the start of Alrik’s years of ’in-jokes’ about Tim throwing suspects down the stairs and breaking legs.
Per actually told about when he was stuck on the rig when Rose was in labour and John had to play the role of expectant father.
Inevitably the appearance of Anja caused a stir. The story the cameos was recounted and commented upon several times. As was the similarity of cousins appearance to the girls in the cameos. People agreed that the family resemblance especially between Anja and Kellie. It was a constant subject of conservation. To every-ones surprise Kellie seemed to accept the comparison to Anja in good humour.
Per and Rose went home late in the evening but Marte wanted to stay with Anja, Kellie and Maddie. Finally, it was agreed that she would stay for a few more days but Per wanted to spend some family time before he had to return to work.
By the end of the afternoon, the old man had got a buzz on. He's graduated from beer to cheap spirits. It was a good thing he wasn't called to a breakdown. That little bitch had really tweaked his tail feathers. Who did she think she was, the stuck-up cow. She'd learn. He'd pay her back. He stewed on it and fantasised about paying them out.
He told Wayne about her and Frank jnr's visit when he came by after work to give him the day's takings. It had been a good day at the yard and the old man spotted him a twenty. But Wayne was more interested about little Frank's new girlfriend. How did a little worm like him get girls like that? He'd like to fix the little worm, given the chance.
Later in the evening the old man sent him to Aldi get more cheap booze; He'd buy a bottle for himself too, the old man wouldn't share a bottle with anyone. He'd experimented with a few things, but alcohol was his poison of choice: The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.
It was in Aldi that he saw her. He knew it was she as soon as he'd seen her. She was everything the old man had told him and she was the girl he'd seen in the Mini. His pulse skipped and quickened. She was already in the line for checkout seven next to the exit. He checked her out. The thought amused him; Checking her out at the checkout.
He scanned the shop to see if the Turner girl was with her. That would be a bonus. He hurried to grab a couple of bottles and join the checkout. He was excited to see her. She did it to him, her and her cousin did it to him, just seeing them started him. He was in two minds to grab her now. No, he needed to do this right. He needed to prepare. He groaned audibly as he tried to calm his mounting excitement, hoping no one had noticed him. If he was quick, he maybe fast enough to see which way she went.
The only open checkout line was empty as he approached; It wasn't long before closing time, and business was quiet at this time of night. He was almost there when a woman beat him to the conveyor-belt and started unloading her goods. He huffed and grumbled a curse under his breath as he spied her full trolley piled high. She looked behind at him, her nose wrinkling as she smelled alcohol on his breath. She indicated for him to steal in line before him.
“I've got a big load,” she said. “You go ahead.”
“Ta luv.” he said muttered, “I got a big load too.” he smirked lewdly under his breath, leering at her bending into her trolley his eyes lingering at the sight.
The woman and the cashier exchanged glances of disgust.
He paid and rushed out. He couldn't see her or her car in the car-park. He stepped to the curb searched the road in both directions to see where she'd gone. A car horn blared beside him. He'd been so intent to find her he hadn't noticed it. It swept past missing him by inches. He shouted a curse at the driver, gesticulating as he jumped back off the road.
It was her. She was driving a BMW estate, not her Mini, that's why he hadn't spotted her in the car park. She'd given him a scare. Her too, by the way she'd swerved, it had been close. He wiped his brow with the sleeve of his grubby shirt and added it to his list of reasons he'd pay her back. Still muttering curses he followed her along West St toward the roundabout. It was somewhere around there just up Grove Rd where he thought she lived. He mentally ticked the place in West St where she indicated to turn onto her drive. Funny, he thought she lived in Grove Rd.
Barely a couple of minutes later he slowed his pace as he passed the house he'd located. Her Mini was there, on the forecourt blocked in front of two other cars. She'd borrowed someone else's car to go to the shop. 'Lazy toad', he muttered. It was less than two hundred yards to the shop. He judged her as he added it to her list of sins. He carried on to the roundabout and crossed the road walking past the house again this time on the same side of the road.
As he approached the house he heard voices as the front door opened. Girls voices talking and laughing, speaking a foreign language, probably German; He'd never been any good with languages. He stopped, staring at the sight before him. There were two girls, not as blonde or curvy as her but still very pretty in their own way. It was the Turner girl and her twin. He mentally caressed their curves, feeling mounting excitement as he watched them bend to remove the groceries from the boot. They didn't seem to notice him lurking in the gathering gloom, staring, his mouth open, tongue hanging out. He could swear they were taunting him with their young fit bodies, as they moved. Yes, they were playing with him; deliberately tempting him. They turned and he saw them properly for the first time.
“***** ****!” He mouthed an obscenity, almost dropping his precious bottles. They were twins! He wanted them! He wanted them almost as much as he wanted her, the blonde. He wanted all three of them. He ached for them and he swore he would have them.
“****!” He cursed again. A slight movement in the doorway caught his eye. She was there! In the doorway, with a white cat nestled in her arms. “Nice pussy.” He thought, sniggering in amusement at his smutty innuendo. The twins went in and she shut the door to the night.
He realised that he had been holding his breath and he sucked air in then exhaled deeply. He was trembling with excitement. It was almost more than he could bear. He needed a drink, a little celebration to ease the tension. He was wired. He broke the seal and swigged a couple of gulps from the bottle.
He turned round the corner into Grove Road and rested on the wall. Twins! He was giddy with excitement. Twins! He couldn't believe his luck. First her, then twins. He untwisted the bottle cap and was lifting it to his mouth when he stopped. He shook his head and screwed the cap on again. He realised he needed to keep a clear head. They'd learn. A plan started to formulate. He cursed, wishing he had his tools with him. No mind he so in such a good mood, nothing was going to put a kink in his night. He turned left at the top of Grove and went to the end and back the whole length of Gordon road keeping a note of every Mini and Merc. between there and the town centre.
Back in his room he prepared his tools before settling down; he had an early start tomorrow. He dozed fitfully between his fantasies about her and the twins. He named her the BB, the 'Blonde Bitch', and two girls were obviously 'The Twins'. BB and TT, yeah. He'd searched their social media and discovered they were cousins. Well, they were still 'The Twins' to him.
Kellie was scanning her emails when one of them caught her attention. It was a picture of a white cat, not Yoda but just like him. The text simply said “Nice cat!” That's all. It was a bit weird and random. She got her fair share of those. She consigned it to the WTF folder.
Email: Anja to Oma Ritter.
Dear Oma Ritter,
I've met my two English cousins, Kellie who looks so like my twin its spooky and Marte who is half Norwegian on her father's side. They are staying with me in England at cousin Kellie's home. They all went to my mama's funeral in Berlin and brought me to their home for a visit. I've met all my English relatives now. Cousin Marte has the 'Hope' locket, the original, that she wears all the time and Kellie wears a copy. I've sent you their FaceBook profiles so you can 'friend' them. Marte discovered that someone in the USA ordered a copy of the Love locket to be carved from a photo they sent to the original makers. They can't tell us the address because of European data laws, but Kellie is a computer genius and she is working on it.
----- o O o -----
With all the changes I haven't managed to do anything with 'Hope's Secrets' other than the cover art. It's Sunday and tomorrow I plan to start writing and editing 'Hope'.
That's all I have time for today.
Regards and best wishes,
nicah.
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