Chapter 10
Mating at Last in Gods' Valley
Awaking shivering, lying on top of snow, the Colonel felt heat in waves pass over him and the snap and crackle of a fire and smelled the smoldering smoke unpleasantly tinctured with the smell of burnt flesh. He also heard the swooping noise of blades battering air. Surrounding him were Wolf and Maria and Heinrich and Bobbie and Gretchen, all of whom except Gretchen holding pistols loosely and impotently towards the ground. Raising his head, he felt a pain at his chin. Wanting to rub it, he found his wrists had been shackled behind him painfully since he lay on his back and thus on top of them. He managed to see the remains of the lodge, the last of the flames licking at blackened timbers.
"Sorry, Colonel," said Wolf standing over him. "I had to slug you when you refused to settle down."
A heavyset man approached the Colonel, and he realized to whom Wolf's lie had been for. The Stasi general, his boss, shook his head.
"It's them, General!" shouted the Colonel. "They're all werewolves. I came here to destroy them at last!"
"Sure you did, Foxx," the General sighed.
Gretchen approached the General shyly. "Here's the tapes. Sorry about the deceit."
"I understand," said the General, taking a small red canvas bag from her. "Being a problem inside the Stasi made for unusual counterintelligence. Your parents must be proud."
"Did you manage to capture Yablonski?" asked Gretchen.
"I'm afraid not. He managed to escape to the west. His works won't be welcomed in his home country, that's for sure." The General gestured at the remains of the lodge. "What happened here?"
Maria reported, "Comrade General, last night we caught the Colonel limping away from here, the lodge ablaze, muttering something about insubordination and silver bullets and werewolves and such. We couldn't find any of his soldiers and most of Gretchen's troupe has gone missing. You'll find a pistol in the bag with a couple silver bullets. I'm afraid the rest of the bullets might be found lodged in the bodies of those trapped inside and burned. Major Bauer and I along with Gretchen with the help of a local nurse who injected him with a sedative, managed to interview him. The ravings of a madman I'm afraid, and they're in the sack along with video tapes Wolf took over the last few months as he became suspicious of the Colonel's mental health. Further tapes we believe had been taken by an associate of the Colonel's who had worked with him over the years on his insane research and were delivered to us via messenger. We believe Dr. Katarina Manx began questioning the Colonel's sanity several years ago but had fears for her safety. Unfortunately her fears may be well founded as she seems to have gone missing as well. She had been last seen here working in Heinrich's laboratory."
"Heinrich?" asked the General.
Maria gestured at the sad faced, handsome blond man standing nearby with pistol in hand. "Heinrich Foxx, the Colonel's son. He's shook up as you can imagine. His father threatened his life as well, and...finding his father to be quite mad after being such a model for him..."
"I'm sorry son," the General nodded. Heinrich sadly nodded back. The General noticed a beautiful black haired woman grasping the man's hand in comfort. In fact he noticed the folks surrounding the fallen Colonel were all exceptionally beautiful or handsome. "Such fine looking Germans," he thought to himself.
"They're all a bunch of fucking liars, General, don't you see?" shouted the Colonel.
"Get this..." the General began angrily before interruption.
"Don't be a fool General, you have to..."
"You're the fool, Foxx! Muzzle him!"
Instead Wolf silenced him with a fist. The General chuckled. "Muzzle him anyway, Captain, and toss him on the helicopter. Good work Majors. Report to Colonel Schilling when you return to Berlin."
"Uhm about that, Comrade General," said Wolf carefully. "Would it be possible if the Major and I had a couple weeks of R and R. You see, Gretchen and I plan to be married in a couple of days and Maria, Major Braun, she's to be my, uhm, best man or whatever."
The General chuckled. "Congratulations. Fine. Such work needs to be rewarded, and the processes need to be done discretely without your continued involvement, so perhaps its best to keep you out of Berlin and without assignments for let us say one month?"
"Thank you Comrade General," smiled Wolf sternly.
"Yes, thank you Comrade General," smiled Maria equally stern.
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The old woman opened the door to her quaint cottage upon hearing a gentle knock. Smiling she greeted the visitors, "Hello Bobbie. Who's your handsome man?"
Bobbie smiled, "This is my fiancΓ© Heinrich, Frau Heilemann."
"Oh Bobbie, that's wonderful, but what's with that Frau shit. We played together in my youth for god's sake. Call me Olga, Heinrich. Your lovely friend had a good night's sleep after we chatted. She's making sausage and eggs, bless her heart. Hungry?"
"Ravenous," smiled Bobbie and they chuckled.
"Thank you for helping Hilda," Heinrich said as he entered the warm abode. "I'm afraid she had a most terrifying night. Is she okay?"
"Come and see," Olga said and they followed Olga into the kitchen smelling the spicy smells of sausage cooking and the rich smell of coffee.
The pretty, buxom blonde hid her body in an old housecoat as she worked on the sausages and eggs. "I'll make some more if you're hungry," she asked her lovers.
"Bobbie said they're ravenous," Olga chuckled. Hilda laughed nervously.
"So Olga told you everything?" Bobbie asked, noticing the nerves of the barmaid.
"Unh-hunh," Hilda responded.
"And?"
"Yes please," Hilda smiled uneasily.
"Are you sure?" asked Heinrich.
Turning towards the stove as she added sausages and eggs to the pots she nodded. "I love you Heinrich. You too, Bobbie. I'm sure."
Bobbie kissed her neck. "It saved you, you know, loving us and us loving you."
Receiving the kiss pleased Hilda, but the words made her tense. Bobbie responded to the tension, "I'm sorry I would have ended your life, sweetheart. It wouldn't have been avoidable. Just know that the Colonel intended it, not me."
"I'm sorry Heinrich, but your father..." Hilda sniffled.
"I'm sorry for my father. You know I'm like him. Until I met Bobbie and found a match for my...confidence shall we say, I had no room in my heart."