Chapter One Thousand Thirty-Five
18th September 1953
Berlin
“Four hundred hectares near the center of the city up for grabs” Doug said as he opened the door to the nursery with his toe, with as big as Malcolm was getting he didn’t have a free hand. “And you don’t want to talk about it?”
They had given Eha the night off, so putting the twins to bed had fallen to them completely tonight.
“It’s not just up for grabs, it is just going to be for sale” Kat replied as she carried Tatiana up the stairs. They had been watching television and letting Tatiana and Malcolm play until they fell asleep. It occurred to Kat that they had fallen into boring routine and that he was looking to generate some excitement. “There are also the ethical questions, we would have to use my connections to be first in line to buy the land. We will probably have to bribe a few people along way as well.”
“Just how do think that family fortunes are made?” Doug asked, “You have a problem with ethical grey areas, yet do I need to point out that your Patroness married into the House of Hohenzollern. Do I need to tell you where their money came from?”
“I am not ignorant of history” Kat replied.
“In our case, we are not sacking cities or holding kings for ransom” Doug said, “We would be buying cheap and selling dear. Which is actually encouraged under the laws of this country.”
Kat gave Doug a dirty look.
“But what if this isn’t the only questionable thing we do like this?” Kat asked, “What if it makes it easier next time?”
“You are not Otto or Urban” Doug said as he set Malcolm into the crib, “you have conscience.”
“Not as much as I might like” Kat replied, “Is this how my father became who he became? One compromise, then another and another, until he was a monster?”
“Perhaps” Doug answered, “But he was selfish in a way that you’ve never been.”
Kat didn’t respond to that, instead she carefully put Tatiana next to Malcolm. They had a tried to have them sleep separately a few times and that had simply not worked. Finally, she said, “You and Gia need to let this go” She said.
“We will regret it if we don’t do this.”
“I think that we will regret it if we do” Kat said, “There is far more to life than money.”
“There is more to this than just money” Doug said, “It is an opportunity to change the city you live in for the better.”
Kat felt her stomach churn. She knew that Doug and Gia were going to wear her down and Tempelhof wasn’t scheduled to be closed until the end of the year, so they had time.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“You two don’t need to laugh at me” Kiki said.
“We were laughing at what was on the news” Aurora replied, as if that made it better.
It was the evening news report that they were watching while waiting for the variety show to come on. It had featured a story about the Emperor and Empress attending the grand opening of a wing of the Neues Museum the night before. Kiki had been dragged along with them and the entire way to the Museum she had Freddy and Mikey poking fun at her, telling her that the formal dress she was wearing clearly hadn’t been designed with a skinny little whippet in mind. Then once they had gotten there Kiki had been required to be social when she really wanted to explore the new wing. Eventually, she had grown tired and just wanted to go home. Naturally the instant she sat down in an out of the way corner the camera crew had happened along. The news report had featured her staring banefully at the camera and they had turned it into a big joke. Unfortunately, it was perfectly in keeping with what her mother had been complaining about a lot lately. Kiki was getting a reputation as a dour, studious girl with a dislike of the press.
Mercifully, the next story came on. This one featured an absurd interview with a woman representing a far-right political party who was arguing that women should not have prominent roles in society. “Yet, there is Eva Braun on television hogging the limelight” Zella said, “My mother says that no matter what I do with life to make sure that I’m not a hypocrite.”
“If not becoming like that is the goal then that’s a low bar to get over” Aurora said, “Besides that, behind closed doors she a complete and total anti-Semite, along with the rest of her party. They just trot her out as a human mask that they can wear between elections.”
Both Kiki and Zella were a bit surprised by Aurora’s reaction. They knew what her religious background was and even though both her parents were famously secular it was a part of who she was. They could hear the disgust in Aurora’s voice when she said that.
Then the interview was over, and the weather report came on. Overcast and rainy in the morning and clearing in the afternoon, Kiki could have told them that by looking out the window.
Finally, the variety show that they were waiting for came on and much to Kiki’s annoyance it was the dancing poodle act again first thing. “My father says that men like owner of those dogs must have photographs of the producers with a goat” Zella said.
“I doubt that” Kiki said, “Lady von Wolvogle is the producer of this show and she doesn’t have a thing for goats and she told my mother that…”
“She told your mother what?” Aurora asked.
Kiki felt her cheeks burning up as the thought intruded.
“Let’s just say she bragged to my mother at a meeting of the hundred that her husband, Oberstlieutenant Knispel…” Kiki said wishing she had a rock to crawl under, “He knows how to make her very happy.”
Zella and Aurora both started laughing, but there was a nervous undertone. It was something that they had been trying to wrap their heads around without much success as yet.
Then the poodles left the stage, “Good riddance” Zella muttered.
What followed was a man juggling running chainsaws, that was a lot more interesting. “My cousin lefty used to do that” Zella said, which they found genuinely funny.
18th September 1953
Berlin
“Four hundred hectares near the center of the city up for grabs” Doug said as he opened the door to the nursery with his toe, with as big as Malcolm was getting he didn’t have a free hand. “And you don’t want to talk about it?”
They had given Eha the night off, so putting the twins to bed had fallen to them completely tonight.
“It’s not just up for grabs, it is just going to be for sale” Kat replied as she carried Tatiana up the stairs. They had been watching television and letting Tatiana and Malcolm play until they fell asleep. It occurred to Kat that they had fallen into boring routine and that he was looking to generate some excitement. “There are also the ethical questions, we would have to use my connections to be first in line to buy the land. We will probably have to bribe a few people along way as well.”
“Just how do think that family fortunes are made?” Doug asked, “You have a problem with ethical grey areas, yet do I need to point out that your Patroness married into the House of Hohenzollern. Do I need to tell you where their money came from?”
“I am not ignorant of history” Kat replied.
“In our case, we are not sacking cities or holding kings for ransom” Doug said, “We would be buying cheap and selling dear. Which is actually encouraged under the laws of this country.”
Kat gave Doug a dirty look.
“But what if this isn’t the only questionable thing we do like this?” Kat asked, “What if it makes it easier next time?”
“You are not Otto or Urban” Doug said as he set Malcolm into the crib, “you have conscience.”
“Not as much as I might like” Kat replied, “Is this how my father became who he became? One compromise, then another and another, until he was a monster?”
“Perhaps” Doug answered, “But he was selfish in a way that you’ve never been.”
Kat didn’t respond to that, instead she carefully put Tatiana next to Malcolm. They had a tried to have them sleep separately a few times and that had simply not worked. Finally, she said, “You and Gia need to let this go” She said.
“We will regret it if we don’t do this.”
“I think that we will regret it if we do” Kat said, “There is far more to life than money.”
“There is more to this than just money” Doug said, “It is an opportunity to change the city you live in for the better.”
Kat felt her stomach churn. She knew that Doug and Gia were going to wear her down and Tempelhof wasn’t scheduled to be closed until the end of the year, so they had time.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“You two don’t need to laugh at me” Kiki said.
“We were laughing at what was on the news” Aurora replied, as if that made it better.
It was the evening news report that they were watching while waiting for the variety show to come on. It had featured a story about the Emperor and Empress attending the grand opening of a wing of the Neues Museum the night before. Kiki had been dragged along with them and the entire way to the Museum she had Freddy and Mikey poking fun at her, telling her that the formal dress she was wearing clearly hadn’t been designed with a skinny little whippet in mind. Then once they had gotten there Kiki had been required to be social when she really wanted to explore the new wing. Eventually, she had grown tired and just wanted to go home. Naturally the instant she sat down in an out of the way corner the camera crew had happened along. The news report had featured her staring banefully at the camera and they had turned it into a big joke. Unfortunately, it was perfectly in keeping with what her mother had been complaining about a lot lately. Kiki was getting a reputation as a dour, studious girl with a dislike of the press.
Mercifully, the next story came on. This one featured an absurd interview with a woman representing a far-right political party who was arguing that women should not have prominent roles in society. “Yet, there is Eva Braun on television hogging the limelight” Zella said, “My mother says that no matter what I do with life to make sure that I’m not a hypocrite.”
“If not becoming like that is the goal then that’s a low bar to get over” Aurora said, “Besides that, behind closed doors she a complete and total anti-Semite, along with the rest of her party. They just trot her out as a human mask that they can wear between elections.”
Both Kiki and Zella were a bit surprised by Aurora’s reaction. They knew what her religious background was and even though both her parents were famously secular it was a part of who she was. They could hear the disgust in Aurora’s voice when she said that.
Then the interview was over, and the weather report came on. Overcast and rainy in the morning and clearing in the afternoon, Kiki could have told them that by looking out the window.
Finally, the variety show that they were waiting for came on and much to Kiki’s annoyance it was the dancing poodle act again first thing. “My father says that men like owner of those dogs must have photographs of the producers with a goat” Zella said.
“I doubt that” Kiki said, “Lady von Wolvogle is the producer of this show and she doesn’t have a thing for goats and she told my mother that…”
“She told your mother what?” Aurora asked.
Kiki felt her cheeks burning up as the thought intruded.
“Let’s just say she bragged to my mother at a meeting of the hundred that her husband, Oberstlieutenant Knispel…” Kiki said wishing she had a rock to crawl under, “He knows how to make her very happy.”
Zella and Aurora both started laughing, but there was a nervous undertone. It was something that they had been trying to wrap their heads around without much success as yet.
Then the poodles left the stage, “Good riddance” Zella muttered.
What followed was a man juggling running chainsaws, that was a lot more interesting. “My cousin lefty used to do that” Zella said, which they found genuinely funny.
Last edited: