The Keep

"What do you think, Yoska?" the old woman said in a low voice.

"I don't know... such a concentration of good and evil... and such a clear division between them."

Magda swallowed. Her mouth was dry. "You mean it came out the same? Twice in a row?"

"Yes," Josefa said. "Except that the sides are different. The good is now on the left and the evil is on the right." She looked up. "That would indicate a choice. A grave choice."

Anger suddenly drove out Magda's growing unease. They were playing some sort of a game with her. She refused to be anyone's fool. "I think I'd better go." She grabbed her folder and mandolin case and rose to her feet. "I'm not some naive gadjé girl you can have fun with."

"No! Please, once more!" The old Gypsy woman reached for her hand.

"Sorry, but I really must be going."

She hurried for the rear door of the wagon, realizing she wasn't being fair to Josefa, but leaving all the same. Those grotesque cards with their strange figures, and the awed, puzzled expression on the faces of the two Gypsies filled her with a desperate urge to be out of the wagon. She wanted to be back in Bucharest, back to sharp, clear lines and firm pavements.

NINE

The Keep

Monday, 28 April

1910 hours

The snakes had arrived.

SS men, especially officers, reminded Woerma

Woerma

Against one wall of the reception hall had stood a glass terrarium in which a three-foot snake coiled and uncoiled incessantly. It was the host's favorite pet. He kept it hungry. On three separate occasions during the evening he invited all the guests to watch as he threw a toad to the snake. A passing glance during the first feeding had sufficed for Woerma

The sight had served to make a dull evening grim. When he and Helga had passed the tank on their way out, Woerma

He thought of that snake as he watched Kaempffer wind around the front room of Woerma

He noticed that Kaempffer had aged somewhat since their chance meeting in Berlin two years ago. But not as much as I, Woerma

"I noticed you only brought one squad with you," Woerma

"No, Klaus," Kaempffer said in a condescending tone as he wound about the room. "A single squad would be more than enough to handle this so-called problem of yours. My einsatzkommandos are rather proficient in taking care of this sort of thing. I brought two squads because this is merely a stop along my way."

"Where's the other squad? Picking daisies?"

"In a ma

"What's that supposed to mean?" Woerma

Removing his cap and coat, Kaempffer threw them on Woerma

Reluctantly, Woerma

"Seems you've come quite a way since the Great War," Woerma

"I prefer the SS to the regular army, if that's what you're implying. Far more efficient."

"So I've heard."

"I'll show you how efficiency solves problems, Klaus. And solving problems eventually wins wars." He pointed out the window. "Look."

Woerma

Woerma

"Are you insane? Those are Romanian citizens! We're in an ally state!"

"German soldiers have been killed by one or more Romanian citizens. And it's highly unlikely General Antonescu will raise much of a fuss with the Reich over the deaths of a few country bumpkins."

"Killing them will accomplish nothing!"

"Oh, I've no intention of killing them right away. But they'll make excellent hostages. Word has been spread through the village that if one more German soldier dies, all those ten locals will be shot immediately. And ten more will be shot every time another German is killed. This will continue until either the murders stop or we run out of villagers."

Woerma

"It won't work," he said.

"Of course it will." Kaempffer's smugness was unbearable. "It always has and always will. These partisans feed on the backslapping they get from their drinking companions. They play the hero and milk the role for all it's worth—until their friends start dying, or until their wives and children are marched off. Then they become good little peasants again."

Woerma

"I hardly think so. I do believe, Klaus, that I've had far more experience with this sort of thing than you."

"Yes ... Auschwitz, wasn't it?"

"I learned much from Commandant Hoess."

"You like learning?" Woerma

Moving swiftly and giving Kaempffer no time to ask questions, Woerma