immediately cancelled her plans for a day in the salon, left Josef in the care of his tutor and insisted on coming with him to find the treasure.
‘My darling, I’m not talking jewellery, or precious stones. Not that kind of treasure. No, this is something plainer. Legend calls it
die Glanz.’
‘Treasure is treasure,’ Roderika had replied. ‘If it is important enough to have come halfway around the world to this wretched wet place, then it will be a triumph for us to share in.’
‘Our new Chancellor would be very excited if we could bring this back,’ conceded Tomas. ‘I was contacted by the Party—’
‘Did they fund this then? Save my poor
Papi
from doing so?’
Tomas shook his head. ‘But hopefully they may pay us something if we take
die Glanz
back to them.’
‘What is it, then? Why would the Party be so interested?’
‘They are rumoured to be interested in the occult and—’
Roderika had just let out a long, slightly cruel, laugh. ‘You believe that? You believe that the Chancellor really believes in that nonsense?’
‘Your father does,’ Tomas replied. ‘That’s why we are here. He could see this coming, all those months ago, when we set off on this trip. He was getting us, getting you and Josef out of Dachau, just in case.’
‘In case what?’
Tomas sighed. If only Roderika had half the political savvy of her father. ‘Your father, me, you – we’re just
Parteigenosse
, but if Von Hindenburg goes, and your father believes that will happen very soon, there is no telling what the Party will do. This way, we can keep on the right side of the
Reichsleitung
by giving them something they can examine, keep, lock away, and do whatever it is they do with objects such as this. I don’t know. But your father wanted us safely over here, that’s why he put me on to this mystery.’
Roderika was going to laugh again, but she could see there was something in Tomas’s urgent delivery,something in his eyes, that said he might be right.
‘Papi
was concerned for the
Sturmabteilung
– he said that we needed to protect Strasser. I thought he meant politically but…’
‘Strasser, Rohm, they could fall if Von Hindenburg goes. We are safe here; Josef is safe here. For now. We should find this treasure and decide afterwards if we let the Party have it.’
‘If the Party want it, the Party will get it,’ Roderika said. ‘How could you do a deal with them if you knew how unstable home is?’
Tomas’s rage flared up. ‘I did it to save us all. It will be better to have them on side than to become a victim.’
‘
Papi
…?’
Tomas took a deep breath. ‘By now he should be safe in Denmark or Sweden. A lot of the old families are heading there, hoping to find a haven.’
Roderika closed her eyes, and then smiled. ‘Darling, you are talking nonsense. You make it sound as if people like my father have something to fear from the Party. We should go find this ridiculous treasure of yours and carry it back victorious to the Chancellor and his
Reichsleitung
, and we shall be rewarded handsomely. Come on, I won’t have you fill Josef’s head with your paranoid ramblings.’
And Roderika had yelled for Tomas’s
Diener
to prepare her aforementioned shoes, coat and hat, as she escorted Josef to his tutor.
Thus it was that the Schneidter party was pushing its way through the wind and rain to the base of Echo Point,directly below the Three Sisters in the Jamieson Valley.
Tomas had to acknowledge just how impressive the area was. It was like a massive horseshoe-shaped enclave, enclosed on three edges by incredibly high rock walls packed with trees, waterfalls and other amazing sights. To the ‘front’, the open part of the horseshoe, the valley spread out as a massive rainforest, as far as the eye could see. They had started at the top of Echo Point, come down the treacherous Giant Stairway, pausing at the top to take in the breathtaking vista ahead of them. Even Roderika had commented on
‘My darling, I’m not talking jewellery, or precious stones. Not that kind of treasure. No, this is something plainer. Legend calls it
die Glanz.’
‘Treasure is treasure,’ Roderika had replied. ‘If it is important enough to have come halfway around the world to this wretched wet place, then it will be a triumph for us to share in.’
‘Our new Chancellor would be very excited if we could bring this back,’ conceded Tomas. ‘I was contacted by the Party—’
‘Did they fund this then? Save my poor
Papi
from doing so?’
Tomas shook his head. ‘But hopefully they may pay us something if we take
die Glanz
back to them.’
‘What is it, then? Why would the Party be so interested?’
‘They are rumoured to be interested in the occult and—’
Roderika had just let out a long, slightly cruel, laugh. ‘You believe that? You believe that the Chancellor really believes in that nonsense?’
‘Your father does,’ Tomas replied. ‘That’s why we are here. He could see this coming, all those months ago, when we set off on this trip. He was getting us, getting you and Josef out of Dachau, just in case.’
‘In case what?’
Tomas sighed. If only Roderika had half the political savvy of her father. ‘Your father, me, you – we’re just
Parteigenosse
, but if Von Hindenburg goes, and your father believes that will happen very soon, there is no telling what the Party will do. This way, we can keep on the right side of the
Reichsleitung
by giving them something they can examine, keep, lock away, and do whatever it is they do with objects such as this. I don’t know. But your father wanted us safely over here, that’s why he put me on to this mystery.’
Roderika was going to laugh again, but she could see there was something in Tomas’s urgent delivery,something in his eyes, that said he might be right.
‘Papi
was concerned for the
Sturmabteilung
– he said that we needed to protect Strasser. I thought he meant politically but…’
‘Strasser, Rohm, they could fall if Von Hindenburg goes. We are safe here; Josef is safe here. For now. We should find this treasure and decide afterwards if we let the Party have it.’
‘If the Party want it, the Party will get it,’ Roderika said. ‘How could you do a deal with them if you knew how unstable home is?’
Tomas’s rage flared up. ‘I did it to save us all. It will be better to have them on side than to become a victim.’
‘
Papi
…?’
Tomas took a deep breath. ‘By now he should be safe in Denmark or Sweden. A lot of the old families are heading there, hoping to find a haven.’
Roderika closed her eyes, and then smiled. ‘Darling, you are talking nonsense. You make it sound as if people like my father have something to fear from the Party. We should go find this ridiculous treasure of yours and carry it back victorious to the Chancellor and his
Reichsleitung
, and we shall be rewarded handsomely. Come on, I won’t have you fill Josef’s head with your paranoid ramblings.’
And Roderika had yelled for Tomas’s
Diener
to prepare her aforementioned shoes, coat and hat, as she escorted Josef to his tutor.
Thus it was that the Schneidter party was pushing its way through the wind and rain to the base of Echo Point,directly below the Three Sisters in the Jamieson Valley.
Tomas had to acknowledge just how impressive the area was. It was like a massive horseshoe-shaped enclave, enclosed on three edges by incredibly high rock walls packed with trees, waterfalls and other amazing sights. To the ‘front’, the open part of the horseshoe, the valley spread out as a massive rainforest, as far as the eye could see. They had started at the top of Echo Point, come down the treacherous Giant Stairway, pausing at the top to take in the breathtaking vista ahead of them. Even Roderika had commented on
Similar Books
