Read Online the Valhalla Exchange (v5) by Jack Higgins - Free Book Online
Authors: Jack Higgins
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vaudeville act all night, but I've had it,' Canning said and started up the dark stone stairway.
Birr followed him and the door clanged shut behind them. They were now in the north tower, the central keep of the castle, that portion to which in the old days the defenders had always retreated in the last resort. It was completely isolated from the rest of Schloss Arlberg, the lowest window fifty feet from the ground and heavily barred. It made a relatively secure prisoners' section under most circumstances and meant that Hesser was able to allow the inmates a certain freedom, at least within the confines of the walls.
Madame Chevalier was playing the piano, they could hear her clearly - a Bach prelude, crisp and ice-cold, all technique, no heart. The kind of thing she liked to play to combat the arthritis in her fingers. Canning opened the door of the dining hall.
It was a magnificent room, a high arched ceiling festooned with battle standards from other times, a magnificent selection of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century armour on the walls. The fireplace was of baronial proportions. Gaillard and Claire de Beauville sat beside the log fire, smoking and talking quietly. Madame Chevalier was at the Bechstein.
At the sight of Canning and Birr, she stopped playing, gave a howl of laughter and started into the 'Dead March' from Saul.
'Very, very humorous,' Canning told her. 'I'm splitting my sides laughing.'
Claire and Paul Gaillard stood up. 'But what happened?' Gaillard said. 'The first I knew that there was anything amiss was when men arrived to lock the upper tower door. I'd just come down after securing the rope.'
'They were waiting for us, that's what happened,' Birr said. 'Dear old Schneider and Magda panting eagerly over Hamilton as usual. He's become the great love of her life.'
'But how could they have known?' Claire demanded.
'That's what I'd like to know,' Canning said.
'I should have thought it obvious.' Birr crossed to the sideboard and helped himself to a brandy. 'That gardener, Schmidt. The one you got the information about the drainage system from. Maybe a hundred cigarettes wasn't enough.'
'The bastard,' Canning said. 'I'll kill him.'
'But after you've had a bath, Hamilton -please.' Claire waved a hand delicately in front of her nose. 'You really do smell a little high.'
'Camembert - out of season,' said Gaillard.
There was general laughter. Canning said grimly, 'The crackling of thorns under a pot, isn't that what the Good Book says? I hope you're still laughing, all of you, when the Reichsfuhrer's thugs march you out to the nearest wall.' He walked out angrily during the silence that followed. Birr emptied his glass. 'Strange, but I can't think of a single funny thing to say, so, if you'll excuse me ...'
After he'd gone, Gaillard said, 'He's right, of course. It isn't good. Now if Hamilton or Lord Dundrum had got away and reached American or British troops, they could have brought help.'
'Nonsense, this whole business.' Claire sat down again. 'Hesser would never stand by and see us treated like that. It isn't in his nature.'
'I'm afraid Colonel Hesser would have very little to do with it,' Gaillard said. 'He's a soldier and soldiers have a terrible habit of doing what they're told, my dear.'
There was a knock at the door, it opened and Hesser came in. He smiled, his slight half-bow extending to the three of them, then turned to Madame Chevalier.
'Chess?'
'Why not?' She was playing a Schubert nocturne now, full of passion and meaning. 'But first settle an argument for us, Max. Paul here believes that if the SS come to shoot us you'll let them. Claire doesn't believe you could stand by and do nothing. What do you think?'
'I have the strangest of feelings that I will beat you in seven moves tonight.'
'A soldier's answer, I see. Ah, well.'
She stood up, came round the piano and moved to the chess table. Hesser sat opposite her. She made the first move. Claire picked up a book and started to
Birr followed him and the door clanged shut behind them. They were now in the north tower, the central keep of the castle, that portion to which in the old days the defenders had always retreated in the last resort. It was completely isolated from the rest of Schloss Arlberg, the lowest window fifty feet from the ground and heavily barred. It made a relatively secure prisoners' section under most circumstances and meant that Hesser was able to allow the inmates a certain freedom, at least within the confines of the walls.
Madame Chevalier was playing the piano, they could hear her clearly - a Bach prelude, crisp and ice-cold, all technique, no heart. The kind of thing she liked to play to combat the arthritis in her fingers. Canning opened the door of the dining hall.
It was a magnificent room, a high arched ceiling festooned with battle standards from other times, a magnificent selection of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century armour on the walls. The fireplace was of baronial proportions. Gaillard and Claire de Beauville sat beside the log fire, smoking and talking quietly. Madame Chevalier was at the Bechstein.
At the sight of Canning and Birr, she stopped playing, gave a howl of laughter and started into the 'Dead March' from Saul.
'Very, very humorous,' Canning told her. 'I'm splitting my sides laughing.'
Claire and Paul Gaillard stood up. 'But what happened?' Gaillard said. 'The first I knew that there was anything amiss was when men arrived to lock the upper tower door. I'd just come down after securing the rope.'
'They were waiting for us, that's what happened,' Birr said. 'Dear old Schneider and Magda panting eagerly over Hamilton as usual. He's become the great love of her life.'
'But how could they have known?' Claire demanded.
'That's what I'd like to know,' Canning said.
'I should have thought it obvious.' Birr crossed to the sideboard and helped himself to a brandy. 'That gardener, Schmidt. The one you got the information about the drainage system from. Maybe a hundred cigarettes wasn't enough.'
'The bastard,' Canning said. 'I'll kill him.'
'But after you've had a bath, Hamilton -please.' Claire waved a hand delicately in front of her nose. 'You really do smell a little high.'
'Camembert - out of season,' said Gaillard.
There was general laughter. Canning said grimly, 'The crackling of thorns under a pot, isn't that what the Good Book says? I hope you're still laughing, all of you, when the Reichsfuhrer's thugs march you out to the nearest wall.' He walked out angrily during the silence that followed. Birr emptied his glass. 'Strange, but I can't think of a single funny thing to say, so, if you'll excuse me ...'
After he'd gone, Gaillard said, 'He's right, of course. It isn't good. Now if Hamilton or Lord Dundrum had got away and reached American or British troops, they could have brought help.'
'Nonsense, this whole business.' Claire sat down again. 'Hesser would never stand by and see us treated like that. It isn't in his nature.'
'I'm afraid Colonel Hesser would have very little to do with it,' Gaillard said. 'He's a soldier and soldiers have a terrible habit of doing what they're told, my dear.'
There was a knock at the door, it opened and Hesser came in. He smiled, his slight half-bow extending to the three of them, then turned to Madame Chevalier.
'Chess?'
'Why not?' She was playing a Schubert nocturne now, full of passion and meaning. 'But first settle an argument for us, Max. Paul here believes that if the SS come to shoot us you'll let them. Claire doesn't believe you could stand by and do nothing. What do you think?'
'I have the strangest of feelings that I will beat you in seven moves tonight.'
'A soldier's answer, I see. Ah, well.'
She stood up, came round the piano and moved to the chess table. Hesser sat opposite her. She made the first move. Claire picked up a book and started to
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