The Keep

However, she could certainly question him about how he played some of the songs.

"You played the last one wrong," she told him.

"Which one?"

"I call it 'The Bricklayer's Lady.' I know the lyrics vary from place to place, but the melody is always the same."

"Not always," Gle

"How can you be so sure?" That irritating smugness again.

"Because the village tauter who taught me was ancient when we met, and she's now been dead many years."

"What village?" Magda felt indignation touch her. This was her area of expertise. Who was he to correct her?

"Kranich—near Suceava."

"Oh ... Moldavian. That might explain the difference." She glanced up and caught him staring at her.

"Lonely without your father?"

Magda thought about that. She had missed Papa sorely at first and had felt at a loss as to what to do with herself without him. But at the moment she was very content to be sitting here with Gle

"Yes," she said. "And no."

He laughed. "A straightforward answer—two of them!"

A silence grew between them, and Magda became aware that Gle

"You have a husband?" he asked, his gaze resting on the gold band on her right ring finger—her mother's wedding band.

"No."

"A lover then?"

"Of course not."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Magda hesitated. She didn't dare tell him that except in her dreams she had given up on the possibility of life with a man. All the good men she had met in the past few years were married, and the unmarried ones would remain so for reasons of their own or because no self-respecting woman would have them. But certainly all the men she had ever met were stooped and pallid things compared with the one who sat across from her now. "Because I'm beyond the age when that sort of thing has any importance!" she said finally.

"You're a mere babe!"

"And you? Are you married?"

"Not at the moment."

"Have you been?"

"Many times."

"Play another song!" Magda said in exasperation. Gle

But after a while the playing stopped and the talking began. Their conversation ranged over a wide array of topics, but always as they related to her. Magda found herself talking about everything that interested her, starting with music and with the Gypsies and Romanian rural folk who were the source of the music she loved, and on to her hopes and dreams and opinions. The words trickled out fitfully at first, but swelled to a steady stream as Gle

Hours slipped by, until shadows began darkening the i

"Excuse me," she said, "I think I'm boring myself. Enough of me. What about you? Where are you from?"

Gle

"You speak Romanian exceptionally well—almost like a native."

"I've visited often, even lived with some Romanian families here and there."

"But as a British subject, aren't you taking a chance being in Romania? Especially with the Nazis so close?"

Gle

A man without a country? Magda had never heard of such a thing. To whom did he owe allegiance? "Be careful. There aren't too many red-haired Romanians."

"True." He smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "But the Germans are in the keep and the Iron Guard stays out of the mountains if it knows what's good for it. I'll keep to myself while I'm here, and I shouldn't be here that long."

Magda felt a stab of disappointment—she liked having him around.

"How long?" She felt she had asked the question too quickly, but it couldn't be helped. She wanted to know.

"Long enough for a last visit before Germany and Romania declare war on Russia."

"That's not—!"

"It's inevitable. And soon." He rose from the stool.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to let you rest. You need it."

Gle

She could see that Gle

Then he broke contact and retreated to the door. The feeling ebbed, leaving her a trifle weak. Magda wanted to stop Gle

As the door closed behind him, she felt the warmth fade away, replaced by a hollow space deep within her. She sat quietly for a few moments, and then told herself that it was probably all for the best that he had left her alone now. She needed sleep; she needed to be rested and fully alert later on.

For she had decided that Papa would not face Molasar alone tonight.

TWENTY-ONE

The Keep

Thursday, 1 May

1722 hours

Captain Woerma

The morale of the men had improved immensely. They had begun to act and feel like victors again. He could see it in their eyes, in their faces. They had been threatened, a few had died, but they had persisted and were still in command of the keep. With the girl out of sight, and with none of their fellows newly dead, there was a tacit truce between the men in gray uniforms and those in black. They didn't mingle, but there was a new sense of comradeship—they had all triumphed. Woerma

He looked over to his painting. All desire to do further work on it had fled, and he had no wish to start another. He did not even have enough ambition to get out his pigments and blot out the shadow of the hanging corpse. His attention centered now on the shadow. Every time he looked it appeared more distinct. The shape looked darker today, and the head seemed to have more definition. He shook himself and looked away. Nonsense.