Operation Wolfe Cub: A Chilling Historical Thriller (THE TIME TO TELL Book 1) (31 page)

While the water filled the sink, he looked at himself in the mirror, feeling both sides of his face. Then he let go and grabbed both sides of the sink, letting thoughts invade his mind again. He whispered, “The constable.” At that moment, he left the bathroom. He almost picked up the phone, but stopped. Instead, he went back to the bathroom to finish cleaning up. Without delay, he picked up the mug of lather and his brush. Before he could say, “Holzsager Antiseptic Shaving Cup,” which was written on the face of the mug, he had a white beard of cream painted on.

Next, he reached for his old single-edged razor knife, but saw a new and different looking one next to it. He picked it up for a quick examination, but found himself confused. He twirled it back and forth, noticing it had two cutting edges on each side, instead of one. After playing with it for a while, he
decided to try it out. The first three strokes were so smooth he had to look closely into the mirror just to make sure it was working. It certainly was, but when he tried to finish up, the new blade wouldn’t work anymore. He shook it, dunked it under water a time or two before yelling down the hallway, “Chantain, this new razor you bought…did they tell you how to use it at Gloria’s Market?”

Chantain yelled back, “Yes, you have to rinse it out after every stroke they told me—or it won’t work!”

Eddie suddenly looked relieved and finished up with success. He then wiped himself with a towel when suddenly, from out of the blue, he heard Chantain scream at the top of her lungs.

Eddie rushed out into the living room, where he saw her teetering on the edge of being traumatized. He looked around for perhaps a rodent in the room, but all he could see was her, with a comb in her hand, staring at the back of the baby’s head.

“What’s wrong?”

Chantain could hardly speak, “I-I was cu-combing his hair when I-I discovered this ugly black mark on the baby. Look at it. It-it-it looks like a-a spider or something, look!”

Eddie fanned the baby’s hair back to take a look for himself. In an instant, he recognized it. The little dime-sized mark was the same symbol embossed on the golden medallion attached to his ankle. To make sure, Eddie quickly compared the two. “It’s okay. It’s the same thing that’s on his medallion, see? Look, look up close.”

Chantain dropped the comb and bent down to take a closer look. Still, she wasn’t satisfied so she swept his hair aside for an even closer look. Suddenly, she stood straight back up. “It’s not the same. It’s got something different about it, like initials or something. That’s a grubby tattoo. What kind of animals would tattoo their child?”

Eddie looked closely to see what else he could make of it. “Wait. You’re right. It isn’t the same. There’s tiny letters. I see them too,
hmmm
.”

Chantain grabbed ahold of her head as if she had an instant migraine. “What’s it say, quick? Something evil, isn’t it? I just know it is. Well? Six letters, that’s not good…that means it’s—”

“Hush up, will you? I’m busy…
hmmm
. It looks like the initials say…”

Eddie pulled his head back. “Hey…wait a minute. I know what it is.” Carefully, he sat down on the sofa, in a whirl of bewilderment. He gazed back at the baby in his crib, whispering in a daze, “Odessa. My God…he really
is
German.”

“What did you say?”

Eddie blinked and babbled, “Excuse me? Oh, wow. The beach where I found him…it was a soldier.”

Chantain stepped closer. “I hate it when you whisper. Tell me…what is it?”

Eddie clutched his cane. “Calm down. Stop hovering over me like that.”

“Tell me—I mean it.”

“Okay, do you remember what they said on the radio last night?”

Chantain paused, then gasped, “Yeah, some flying saucers stole one of our battleships. He’s no alien. Anyone can tell that. He-he’s some devil cult thing, isn’t he? I just know it, and you can’t say it, can you?”

Eddie got up. “No, no, no…you listen to all the wrong stuff, for Christ’s sake, now listen to me. The radio said spies reported that the churches aided and abetted certain people. You remember now?”

Chantain kept quiet, so he went on, “You know…. civilians? Children even—out of Germany—to spare their lives from Churchill’s bomb threats and everything. You’ve got to remember that.”

Chantain seemed thoroughly confused. “Y-yeah, I think so…but-but-but—what’s that got to do with his God-awful tattoo? It’s dreadful—six letters like the ‘666’ mark of the devil or something.”

“Shush, Chantain, calm down—”

“I mean look at it…it-it-it’s
BLACK
, with this—demon head in a circle—with four horns! It’s like this—
eye
with spikes staring
back
at me.”

“
Shhhhhh
, calm down and get ahold-a-yourself, will you? I—”

“It’s staring right at me—from the back of his head, too. He’s like a Cyclops or something!”

Eddie shook her. “Stop it now! Enough-a-your superstitions. I hear it all the time.” He waited momentarily. “Okay, that’s better…it says ‘ODESSA,’ now. That’s the name of their escape route or something. The kid’s from Germany, honey, not some devil’s cult. He’s nothing more than a poor, innocent child. I read the note to you—or can’t you remember?”

Chantain wiped her eyes then bit her fingernail. “It’s just scary. I can feel it.”

“You’re getting worked up for nothing.”

Chantain crossed her arms. “Okay, ODESSA, I’ll buy that…what in
hell
does the symbol mean then?”

Eddie leaned back into the sofa, looking puzzled. He grabbed his chin and tapped his cane, looking concerned. “
Whew
, I don’t know…the note mentioned something about the symbol being on the tombstone of his real parents. Maybe it’s their family symbol? Like
uh
, cattle ranchers or something. We have that here in America, you know. I know it can’t be anything worse than that.”

Chantain turned on a dime. “Why, of course. Why didn’t I think of that? Is that sort of thing common in Germany? Maybe they even branded their livestock with it. Do they have cows or goats over there?”

“There…you satisfied now? Because I’d really like to go get washed up. Sometime, I want to get that medal off the poor kid’s ankle before it hurts him.”

“
Ah!
You mean you’re taking it off? I mean, like you said, it’s probably not gold, I mean…okay, I’m satisfied. He’s such a doll. How could I ever think such awful things anyway, right?”

Eddie stood back up, patting Chantain on the shoulder. Just as he turned the corner into the hallway, Chantain spoke up, “Eddie? Did you call the constable? I mean just to be safe?”

Eddie paused in his tracks. As he began to walk again, he slipped back into the bathroom without saying anything.

Chantain kept staring at the hallway, waiting for him to say something, but all she heard was the bathroom faucet turning on.

Nervously, she pretended to play with the baby while indirectly speaking, “
Ahem
, why yes! Yes, sir, big guy. Your daddy owned some rich ranch, that’s what. You’re going to grow up and become a big rancher someday, aren’t you? That’s right…come to Mommy and get a sweet hug. There, all better now…all betterrrrr.”

After a short while, Eddie stepped out of the bathroom looking quite sharp with a little hair oil, a clean shave and a fresh set of clothes. The man was handsome when he wanted to be. He stopped partway down the hall in front of the full-length mirror. He liked the reflection looking back at him—well, almost. To perfect his look, he stuck out his chest, though he really didn’t need to. He was naturally muscular.

He noticed his shiny nickel belt buckle was a little off center just above his long-legged Levi jeans, so he fixed it. After that, he had the confidence to strike a slight pose in both directions before nodding.

All he needed was to be a little happier, so he began to look around for Chantain. His supposed partner in life was somewhere about in the house, but he hadn’t seen her yet. He poked his head around the corner, looking into the kitchen first, but she wasn’t there. He quietly tiptoed his cowboy boots further down the hall, sneaking a peek into the living room, where he saw a sight he’d only dreamed about: Chantain playing games and chitchatting to their new child.

Eddie gently fell against the edge of the doorway in awe, as he took in the sight of an oh-so-sweet, tender, loving mother. Pleasant thoughts ran through his mind, so he shared them. “It’s happening so quickly…you know other parents have to wait months or years sometimes—to have a kid.”

Chantain listened from behind. She didn’t turn around, but she did grin about it. “Yes, I know…he is kind of cute, isn’t he?” She went on, “You know, it must’ve been hard for the real parents to give him up.”

Eddie’s posture melted. “You know, I guess some mothers risk their lives to have a child…it’s true, isn’t it?” Chantain nodded as he carried on, “Think about it…we could be lucky. You’re still as healthy as ever. No medications, no surgery, no complications at all.” He walked up from behind, touching her shoulders. “How is he?”

Chantain turned around and looked Eddie over with a rare gleam in her eye. She quickly stood up, freshening up her hair as if desiring to compare. “He’s fine… he’s a lot of fun…smart too…sooo, how are you? You look good.”

“Who, me? I feel pretty good. Say…it’ll be dark before too long. I’m going outside to light the branches. Should be a nice fire.”

Chantain seemed challenged not too fall into his arms. “Oh, I hadn’t looked outside all day. You finished the tree already then?”

“Yes, I did and I raked up too. Al came over and helped. My leg didn’t even bother me. Anyway, you know where I’ll be in case you need me.”

“Okay. You know, I haven’t had a cigarette all day. Surprising how a kid can affect someone. I think I’ll have one now—but not by the baby, of course.”

Eddie nodded with a smile and stepped outside, softly closing the door behind him. With pleasure, he hobbled over to the burn pile and lit it up. Afterward, he stood back to let the pine needles catch and do the rest. They quickly did, engulfing the pile into one great, big feeling of warmth. From the look on his smiling face, he was feeling it too.

Blissfully, he watched as the embers danced freely. Higher and higher they went, just to spite the night. He turned around to warm his back as he looked across at his humble home with all of its surroundings. He saved his best and longest glance for Chantain passing by the living room window with the baby in her arms. Just before she closed the blinds, she saw him too, pausing to give him an enthusiastic wave.

He waved back, then whispered, “
Ahhhh
, so far so good… what a way to close the day.”

The surroundings of his house gave him cause to look around with some new ideas. More dreams came flooding into his mind as he selectively explored the scenery. The silhouettes of treetops stood high through the fire’s flickering glow in the shadowy distance. He took in a deep breath, smelling the simple, sweet fragrances of the forest and the bit of smoke from the fire behind him. After summing up all of his simple pleasures, he whispered, “Maybe I’ll buy this beautiful place someday…spend the rest of my life with just the three of us…
ah
, smells good.”

By then, the burning pile had turned into crackles and pops of dancing, hot flames. He rotated around to watch the fire for a while, letting his hands feel the warmth. When he
felt too warm, he merrily stepped back. Just as he found his ideal temperature once again, he heard something he recognized as not so peaceful. The sound of quick footsteps, followed by impatient mutters of the feminine kind, quickly approaching. When he heard her footsteps making their way onto the gravel of his driveway, he turned around to see who it was. “Oh, it’s Julie…wonder what
she
wants.”

The light given off from the fire made her look bigger than she was. Her shadow on the wall of the toolshed behind her was enormous.

He muttered again, “Thank God Halloween only comes once a year.”

She scuffled into a short-stepping hurry, heading directly for the door to his house. Somewhere in between, she spotted Eddie beside the fire, but didn’t have anything to say to him. If her look were any indication, she was about as angry as a puffed-up old hen missing her chicks.

Eddie turned away as if he wished to ignore what he was seeing. In a worn-out fashion, he blew into his cheeks. “Wow, haven’t seen that since my mother gave me a whipping.” He paused, “Wait a minute…Al, that rat…he probably said I sunk a ship, killed a crew, then stole all the babies…
hmmm
, I’m a pirate….yeah…Eddie the pirate.”

As Julie kept walking, she never stopped glaring at him for one second. She held her sweater up tight around her neck with one hand, while she carried her baby, Arlis, in the other arm.

Eddie looked back again just as she opened the front door to his house. Then without knocking, she stormed inside. Even the porch light flickered in surprise as the screen door slammed behind her.

While Eddie stayed close to the fire, he shook his head, tapping the angst down through his cane. He appeared as though he was going to let the chips fall where they may. One thing seemed to be going his way, however. He didn’t have to
go inside because he could hear Julie talking loudly, “Al told me you’re taking a child. Is that true?”

Julie, with her surprising entry, caught Chantain by surprise. Quickly, she covered up the baby and his gleaming medallion, but before Chantain could turn around, Julie was already there, looking over her shoulder. “What’s that? Did you take a child or not?”

Chantain patted her chest. “No! Why, no, I didn’t take a child. Why didn’t you knock? Criminy, you scared me.”

Julie stepped back, giving herself space as she started bouncing her baby on her hip, nervously. She then looked at the crib of what looked like nothing but blankets again. “If you didn’t take him, then who did?”

“Slow down. Wait right there, my lady…Eddie found him in an abandoned boat this morning at Port Rock.”

Julie pointed at the crib. “Well? You goin’ to show him or not?”

Chantain hesitated. “Why, sure. You can’t hold him, though…let me see here…there’s his face.”