Part 85, Chapter 1303
Chapter One Thousand Three Hundred Three
6th January 1959
Mitte, Berlin
She had to have known what was coming. Why else would Kat have made sure that she was unreachable this week?
It was Helene who found herself answering questions about the painting, the maiden and her guardians, the last great work by the late Alphonse Mucha that was on public display for the first time. It was Gerta had reveled in the attention, of course she was a model for that painting. Why wouldn’t she have been? That was hardly a surprise, the way that Gerta was depicted was better than Helene as Death herself and Kat as the personification of madness. The truth was that Gerta had been as much in the dark about Gia’s real identity as Helene had been. Everyone had assumed that the painting had been a gift to Kat, a rather twisted one at that. Unable to find Kat, the press had come to her office and had been asking about the painting.
It was all an unwelcome distraction for Helene, she had found herself in the Shadow Cabinet as the Deputy Minister of Education. Mostly that involved putting forward policy papers that would be ignored by the majority. As frustrating as that was it was important work if she was ever going to be a part of a majority coalition in the future. After a few days of that, Helene had decided that she needed to give the reporters what they wanted to get her to leave her alone and went to the Old National Gallery. Seeing herself depicted as Macha didn’t quite have the same power to Helene as she looked at the painting, mostly she wondered how she had managed to be so thin when she had been in her early twenties.
The press who had accompanied her had asked about if it would be possible to get Gerta, Kat and Gia there in the future. Helene didn’t know. Gerta would be easy enough, but Kat hated attention and Gia was living in Moscow these days. Helene didn’t know if that would be possible.
Near Hejnice, Bohemia
The house was much smaller than Kat had been expecting. Gerta and Kurt had originally built it as a place to escape from the city to during the summer. Then a ski resort that had gone in a few kilometers up the road and the nature of the place had changed. Gerta herself lived up here when she grew tired of playing the social butterfly, not that she would ever admit to such a thing.
It had been snowing when the caretaker had opened the gates for them. The snowfall had continued for the next couple days making Doug wonder how they were going to get the microbus out to the road. Kat had just laughed and said that they would just wait for spring and she wouldn’t have a problem with that. As it turned out they were awoken this morning as the caretaker was running a snowblower and his wife had brought them fresh groceries a few hours earlier. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, taking a trip into Hejnice tomorrow would probably be a good thing.
The children had delighted in playing out in the snow until they had gotten cold and wet by early afternoon. Having them back in the house with a roaring fire in the fireplace as it was starting to get dark was nice, having the children watching television even though there were only a couple channels available was not. One channel was out of Dresden and the other was from Prague which were both about an equal distance away. The television channel from Prague was entirely in Czech, so that limited their options further. Kat had listened to their protests as she turned off the television and made them help with dinner. Marie watched this all from side. She would be turning three in a few months and would be joining her older siblings in complaining every time their mother laid down the law soon enough, though she wasn’t there yet.
At twelve, Jo normally considered complaining beneath her, sulking silently was more her speed. She had wanted to stay in Berlin, but that was out of the question. Someone had killed Henning Krause a few months earlier and Sven had said that whoever had done it was keeping very quiet. That was totally at odds with how things normally went with criminals, someone always bragged about such things. From Kat’s perspective, it likely meant that someone high up the food chain was cutting off loose ends. That was why she wanted to keep Jo where she could have a close eye kept on her. While it was extremely likely for it to have been Jarl himself who had Henning killed, his daughter could easily be seen as just another loose end. It was that besides Kat, Douglas and Jo’s mother, no one else knew that. Having Jo complain about Kat turning off the television with Tat and Kol was actually a good thing. For a long time, Jo had been doubtful about her acceptance into Kat’s family. It had taken a long time but these days Jo hardly thought about it. She told people that lived with her Aunt, Uncle and their children. It was something that Kat would have encouraged her to do anyway.
Kat poured a bit of wine in with the stewing meat that was cooking in one of the pans while the Jo supervised Tat and Kol pealing the potatoes. It was simple, filling and it would be ready in an hour or so. They didn’t realize it yet, but the children would be ravenous as soon as the smell of cooking food filled the house.
6th January 1959
Mitte, Berlin
She had to have known what was coming. Why else would Kat have made sure that she was unreachable this week?
It was Helene who found herself answering questions about the painting, the maiden and her guardians, the last great work by the late Alphonse Mucha that was on public display for the first time. It was Gerta had reveled in the attention, of course she was a model for that painting. Why wouldn’t she have been? That was hardly a surprise, the way that Gerta was depicted was better than Helene as Death herself and Kat as the personification of madness. The truth was that Gerta had been as much in the dark about Gia’s real identity as Helene had been. Everyone had assumed that the painting had been a gift to Kat, a rather twisted one at that. Unable to find Kat, the press had come to her office and had been asking about the painting.
It was all an unwelcome distraction for Helene, she had found herself in the Shadow Cabinet as the Deputy Minister of Education. Mostly that involved putting forward policy papers that would be ignored by the majority. As frustrating as that was it was important work if she was ever going to be a part of a majority coalition in the future. After a few days of that, Helene had decided that she needed to give the reporters what they wanted to get her to leave her alone and went to the Old National Gallery. Seeing herself depicted as Macha didn’t quite have the same power to Helene as she looked at the painting, mostly she wondered how she had managed to be so thin when she had been in her early twenties.
The press who had accompanied her had asked about if it would be possible to get Gerta, Kat and Gia there in the future. Helene didn’t know. Gerta would be easy enough, but Kat hated attention and Gia was living in Moscow these days. Helene didn’t know if that would be possible.
Near Hejnice, Bohemia
The house was much smaller than Kat had been expecting. Gerta and Kurt had originally built it as a place to escape from the city to during the summer. Then a ski resort that had gone in a few kilometers up the road and the nature of the place had changed. Gerta herself lived up here when she grew tired of playing the social butterfly, not that she would ever admit to such a thing.
It had been snowing when the caretaker had opened the gates for them. The snowfall had continued for the next couple days making Doug wonder how they were going to get the microbus out to the road. Kat had just laughed and said that they would just wait for spring and she wouldn’t have a problem with that. As it turned out they were awoken this morning as the caretaker was running a snowblower and his wife had brought them fresh groceries a few hours earlier. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, taking a trip into Hejnice tomorrow would probably be a good thing.
The children had delighted in playing out in the snow until they had gotten cold and wet by early afternoon. Having them back in the house with a roaring fire in the fireplace as it was starting to get dark was nice, having the children watching television even though there were only a couple channels available was not. One channel was out of Dresden and the other was from Prague which were both about an equal distance away. The television channel from Prague was entirely in Czech, so that limited their options further. Kat had listened to their protests as she turned off the television and made them help with dinner. Marie watched this all from side. She would be turning three in a few months and would be joining her older siblings in complaining every time their mother laid down the law soon enough, though she wasn’t there yet.
At twelve, Jo normally considered complaining beneath her, sulking silently was more her speed. She had wanted to stay in Berlin, but that was out of the question. Someone had killed Henning Krause a few months earlier and Sven had said that whoever had done it was keeping very quiet. That was totally at odds with how things normally went with criminals, someone always bragged about such things. From Kat’s perspective, it likely meant that someone high up the food chain was cutting off loose ends. That was why she wanted to keep Jo where she could have a close eye kept on her. While it was extremely likely for it to have been Jarl himself who had Henning killed, his daughter could easily be seen as just another loose end. It was that besides Kat, Douglas and Jo’s mother, no one else knew that. Having Jo complain about Kat turning off the television with Tat and Kol was actually a good thing. For a long time, Jo had been doubtful about her acceptance into Kat’s family. It had taken a long time but these days Jo hardly thought about it. She told people that lived with her Aunt, Uncle and their children. It was something that Kat would have encouraged her to do anyway.
Kat poured a bit of wine in with the stewing meat that was cooking in one of the pans while the Jo supervised Tat and Kol pealing the potatoes. It was simple, filling and it would be ready in an hour or so. They didn’t realize it yet, but the children would be ravenous as soon as the smell of cooking food filled the house.
Last edited:
