Part 113, Chapter 1873
Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Seventy-Three
20th August 1968
Hohenzollern Castle
“We are going to need you to get back to your room before you fall asleep” Kiki said to Ben who had been on the verge of dozing off.
Looking at Kiki in the dim light from the lamp on the bedside table, he realized that he would prefer to spend the rest of the night here with her. However, he also knew that this castle and the villages that surrounded it were full of people who loved to talk about whatever Kiki happened to be doing while she was in residence. His mere presence in her chambers late at night would give them loads to talk about for the next several years. He had only intended to talk about what had transpired over the last month before he left the next morning. With him getting grounded and how it had likely been her father putting pressure on his Commanding Officer in order to give her one less excuse to head for Poland over the summer. How they had made up for that afterwards was the sort of thing that would probably be a happy memory that would stay with Ben for the rest of his life.
Ben watched Kiki climb out of bed and pulled on her blue silk robe, much to his disappointment. He had rather liked seeing her without it.
“I mean it Benjamin” Kiki said pulling the blankets off him and throwing his clothes at him.
“Hey!” Ben yelled in reaction to suddenly finding himself in a draft while in a decidedly unclothed state. Then a cold, wet nose shoved itself into his ear. He realized that Rauchbier had decided to make an appearance, right before the dog started licking his face.
“You’ve made your point Kristina” Ben said once he pushed Rauchbier away so that he could put his clothes back on. “And I still think that you love the game, all this sneaking around.”
“Not really” Kiki replied, “I could live without it.”
“We won’t have to sneak around after next summer, now will we” Ben said.
“What is happening next summer that will change anything?” Kiki asked in reply and Ben wondered how she could be so obtuse at times as he finished dressing. He had loved every aspect of her since he had met her more than a decade earlier. However, whenever Kiki didn’t want to deal with something, she stubbornly pushed so far out of her mind it may as well not exist. That could be aggravating at times.
Opening the door, Kiki stepped out onto the darkened landing and peered down the stairs. “I can’t hear anyone down there” She said, “So, go now.”
“I love you too Princess” Ben said before he kissed her.
Ben saw the look of surprise and consternation on Kiki’s face before she closed the door because he had done that.
When he had put some distance between himself and Kiki’s room, he stopped sneaking and just ambled down the hallways humming to himself.
“Why are you up Herr Hirsch?” A child’s voice asked. Looking over, Ben saw two girls wearing the sort of flannel nightgowns that would serve them well in a drafty castle. Kiki’s guests, one with dark hair and brown eyes, the other was a dishwater blond with hazel eyes. Ben knew that the girl with hazel eyes walked with a bad limp and she used crutches to get around. He had assumed that one of her legs was broken or something and she wasn’t allowing that to get in the way of summer fun. Tonight though, he could see that she was leaning on her crutches with only one foot was visible, the other missing entirely. Their names came back to him. Sophie and Franziska.
“I couldn’t sleep” Ben replied, that seeming like a safe enough answer for these two.
“Marie said that she saw you go up the tower to kiss Kiki” Sophie said in a rather naïve tone that Ben suspected wasn’t as innocent as it seemed.
“Sure, to wish her good night” Ben replied.
“That was hours ago?” Sophie asked, “What sort of kiss is that?”
That was a question Ben was not about to answer, not in a million years.
“What are you two doing up anyway?” Ben asked changing the subject, hopefully to something safer.
“Ziska had to go to the bathroom and needed help” Sophie said, “Then she got to telling me about this Doctor she is supposed to see when she gets home… a, what did you call it?
“An Orthopedist” Ziska said, “Then I will be able to walk normally again because my leg is now too short for me.”
“Your leg?” Ben asked, wondering what sort of answer he was going to get.
“I left it in our room” Ziska said, “I told my mother that I thought it would be good for the summer, but I was wrong. It really is a bother.”
This wasn’t a conversation that Ben would expect to have with a pair of nine-year-old girls. He couldn’t help but notice that the way they came across seemed out of ordinary. Far beyond their years.
“Are you going to marry Kiki?” Sophie asked.
“I haven’t asked her” Ben said, because he knew that she would probably say no and had been trying to gently bring Kiki around to the subject.
“Are you?” Ziska asked.
“I would like to” Ben replied.
20th August 1968
Hohenzollern Castle
“We are going to need you to get back to your room before you fall asleep” Kiki said to Ben who had been on the verge of dozing off.
Looking at Kiki in the dim light from the lamp on the bedside table, he realized that he would prefer to spend the rest of the night here with her. However, he also knew that this castle and the villages that surrounded it were full of people who loved to talk about whatever Kiki happened to be doing while she was in residence. His mere presence in her chambers late at night would give them loads to talk about for the next several years. He had only intended to talk about what had transpired over the last month before he left the next morning. With him getting grounded and how it had likely been her father putting pressure on his Commanding Officer in order to give her one less excuse to head for Poland over the summer. How they had made up for that afterwards was the sort of thing that would probably be a happy memory that would stay with Ben for the rest of his life.
Ben watched Kiki climb out of bed and pulled on her blue silk robe, much to his disappointment. He had rather liked seeing her without it.
“I mean it Benjamin” Kiki said pulling the blankets off him and throwing his clothes at him.
“Hey!” Ben yelled in reaction to suddenly finding himself in a draft while in a decidedly unclothed state. Then a cold, wet nose shoved itself into his ear. He realized that Rauchbier had decided to make an appearance, right before the dog started licking his face.
“You’ve made your point Kristina” Ben said once he pushed Rauchbier away so that he could put his clothes back on. “And I still think that you love the game, all this sneaking around.”
“Not really” Kiki replied, “I could live without it.”
“We won’t have to sneak around after next summer, now will we” Ben said.
“What is happening next summer that will change anything?” Kiki asked in reply and Ben wondered how she could be so obtuse at times as he finished dressing. He had loved every aspect of her since he had met her more than a decade earlier. However, whenever Kiki didn’t want to deal with something, she stubbornly pushed so far out of her mind it may as well not exist. That could be aggravating at times.
Opening the door, Kiki stepped out onto the darkened landing and peered down the stairs. “I can’t hear anyone down there” She said, “So, go now.”
“I love you too Princess” Ben said before he kissed her.
Ben saw the look of surprise and consternation on Kiki’s face before she closed the door because he had done that.
When he had put some distance between himself and Kiki’s room, he stopped sneaking and just ambled down the hallways humming to himself.
“Why are you up Herr Hirsch?” A child’s voice asked. Looking over, Ben saw two girls wearing the sort of flannel nightgowns that would serve them well in a drafty castle. Kiki’s guests, one with dark hair and brown eyes, the other was a dishwater blond with hazel eyes. Ben knew that the girl with hazel eyes walked with a bad limp and she used crutches to get around. He had assumed that one of her legs was broken or something and she wasn’t allowing that to get in the way of summer fun. Tonight though, he could see that she was leaning on her crutches with only one foot was visible, the other missing entirely. Their names came back to him. Sophie and Franziska.
“I couldn’t sleep” Ben replied, that seeming like a safe enough answer for these two.
“Marie said that she saw you go up the tower to kiss Kiki” Sophie said in a rather naïve tone that Ben suspected wasn’t as innocent as it seemed.
“Sure, to wish her good night” Ben replied.
“That was hours ago?” Sophie asked, “What sort of kiss is that?”
That was a question Ben was not about to answer, not in a million years.
“What are you two doing up anyway?” Ben asked changing the subject, hopefully to something safer.
“Ziska had to go to the bathroom and needed help” Sophie said, “Then she got to telling me about this Doctor she is supposed to see when she gets home… a, what did you call it?
“An Orthopedist” Ziska said, “Then I will be able to walk normally again because my leg is now too short for me.”
“Your leg?” Ben asked, wondering what sort of answer he was going to get.
“I left it in our room” Ziska said, “I told my mother that I thought it would be good for the summer, but I was wrong. It really is a bother.”
This wasn’t a conversation that Ben would expect to have with a pair of nine-year-old girls. He couldn’t help but notice that the way they came across seemed out of ordinary. Far beyond their years.
“Are you going to marry Kiki?” Sophie asked.
“I haven’t asked her” Ben said, because he knew that she would probably say no and had been trying to gently bring Kiki around to the subject.
“Are you?” Ziska asked.
“I would like to” Ben replied.
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