Written by Britta Ventura, Sat 25/04/98 13:58
Chapter 7
Christmas was coming on as they returned to Schloss Ritter. Thick snow covered the nature around the old castle.
It had been a great time in Alfdorf and to Gabriel it had seemed like a vacation.
As they entered the castle they overheard a conversation between Gerda an somebody else.
"Gerda, I told you something must have happened. Suddenly everything is back to normal again. They even moved me back downstairs. And if you ask anyone about it, no one knows anything or has seen anything. I only found out, that it had something to do with the government."
"You see Joachim, I told you that there would be nothing behind it. You were clearly imagining things."
"I don’t know Gerda. Somehow I’m sorry. I had hoped for something really exciting. Well, maybe when Doctor Bruns returns from his extended vacation, he will tell me something."
Friedrich grinned at Gabriel "Hopefully he won’t!"
The door of the main living-room opened and Gerda led Joachim past Gabriel and Friedrich to the main door.
When Gerda returned she let out a small sigh "That was close you know, Friedrich. Joachim was most eager to find out something about that special laboratory they set up down at the university."
Later that evening when they all had joined downstairs, Gabriel told Gerda everything about their time in Alfdorf. Gerda was impressed with what Gabriel had learned in such a short time, but Friedrich tried to calm Gabriel down.
"Gabriel, many years of practise still lie ahead of you. There are a lot of things you have to know and dangers you will face and I will not be around all the time to watch over you."
"But I thought we were companions now, Friedrich. Isn’t that it what you always wanted?"
"Yes, it is the most valuable thing for me, but we still have to live our own lives. You must dedicate your life to those in need of a Schattenjäger and you want to find a way to break the, what you call, curse. I, for myself, would like to continue the easy life I am used to. I have grown old and have seen and done so many things, that I need rest for a while."
Gerda looked thoughtful "But where do you want to live, Friedrich. Haven’t you lost everything?"
Friedrich regarded Gerda with a warm smile "Oh no, I have a few more houses all over the world and there should be enough money left on my accounts in Switzerland. But thinking of it, do you know what happened to my house and belongings in Munich?"
"No, I’m sorry. Did you have anything important there?"
"Well, on or two things shouldn’t really fall into the wrong hands. The most important stuff I have in a safe-deposit box at the bank but some of my valuables and keepsakes are still in my house. I hid them, so hopefully the police didn’t find anything."
"How do you know the police has been in your house?" Gabriel asked.
"Your friend Gracie was so helpful to tell Kommissar Leber who you pushed into the furnace. So I suspect German law and order has fulfilled its duty and sealed the place off."
For a moment Gabriel was clearly shocked, he had never thought of the consequences his actions at the night at the opera would lead to. He wanted to make it up to Friedrich.
"Hey Friedrich, why don’t we spy out your place? You told me yourself that being a werewolf would be an asset to me. I’d like to sneak around a bit, see how it works. Don’t you think it would be a good practise for me?"
"No, Gabriel I don’t think so."
"Hey wait a minute! You said I could ......"
"Gabriel calm down! You must stop this outrageous behaviour. Your fierce temper will help no one and especially not yourself. I will think about observing my house and we will do it in time. But for now there is nothing we can do."
Gabriel wasn’t really satisfied but as usual Friedrich had his point clear. They would have to wait and figure out a plan first.
Gerda led both men to a lighter conversation as she started talking about Christmas preparations.
A short while later, Friedrich suddenly got up from his seat and walked over to Gerda. Gabriel’s eyes grew wide as he watched Friedrich bent down to kiss Gerda on her cheek. But unseen to his eyes Friedrich gently brushed Gerda’s hair back and whispered in her ear "I would like to talk to you later when Gabriel is in his bedroom. Meet me in my room please."
Gerda tried to give Friedrich a positive answer as she smiled at him with all her charm.
"I will retire now," Friedrich explained to Gabriel "see you in the morning. Sleep well."
Gabriel watched stunned as Friedrich left the room.
"Hey Gerda! What was that there about a minute ago? Do you two have a thing going on?"
"What? No, definitely not. He was just wishing me a good night. Do you expect him to give you a good nights kiss, too?" Gerda laughed.
Friedrich sat in his bedroom and watched the clouds as they flew across the nights sky. He would have to do something about Gabriel and Gracie and he would need Gerda’s help. He knew it was going to be a very dangerous situation for him, but he felt responsible for Gabriel and he knew Gabriel missed Gracie. He just was too chicken to call her. Hopefully Gerda would come tonight.
Only moments later he heard a soft knock from the door.
"Come in"
Gerda entered his room. She looked a little anxious and he could smell a trace of fear. He walked over to her and took her hand.
"What would you like to talk about, Friedrich?" she asked as he led her to a chair.
"We have to talk about Gabriel and Gracie" he explained and sat down on his bed.
Gerda relaxed "What do you mean?"
"Look Gerda, I have the impression that Gracie means quite a lot to Gabriel."
"Yes and I know he misses her. He would never say so, but you can tell by the way he talks or rather not talks about her."
"That is exactly what I mean. We both know how he feels and we also know he will be the last person to call her. Especially now that he deliberately became my friend and stayed a werewolf. He knows that it would be very hard to make Gracie understand."
"So what do you want us to do?"
"I thought of calling her and inviting her over. But I think you should do it, a call from a stranger wouldn’t be very inviting don’t you think?"
"You really think that is wise? She will try to kill you again, Friedrich. I must admit, I wouldn’t like you to be killed."
"Gabriel will never learn to face problems if we don’t push him to. I hope to have a chance to talk to Gracie and explain everything to her before she rips off my head." Friedrich tried to smile a little. But Gerda’s face still showed her worry.
"No Friedrich, You mustn’t talk to her. If you think it is a good idea that they see each other again, okay but you must leave here at once. Go somewhere she can’t find you. I will try and talk to her. Please, I don’t want you to get hurt."
"I am responsible for Gabriel and his fate. I must stand up to it! Gerda, all I ask you to do is call her and invite her over. Until then I will think of a plan to resolve the situation. But I’m very touched by your worry for me."
"All right I will call her. What do you want me to tell her?"
"Oh just that Gabriel misses her and you as his friend thought of the idea of calling her, that sort of thing."
"Shall I tell her anything about you yet?"
"No, please don’t! I don’t want her to come running with a whole army at her back."
They sat a short while longer and when Gerda got up to leave Friedrich turned to her and this time she really got her good nights kiss.
If you have any comments, you can email Britta Ventura at BuAVentura@compuserve.com.
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