WOLFKAMMER - Chapters 10 & 11.
See Fic Masterpost for the header info.
Chapter 1.
Chapters 2 & 3.
Chapters 4 & 5.
Chapters 6 & 7.
Chapters 8 & 9.
Chapter 10
Ray had been holding his breath, and gulped, involuntarily breathing in more fumes. And then he heard screams and howls, howls like true wolves. More shots, more screams, then silence, and a long low shape dropped through the window, loping across the floor. He could smell blood on the animal’s breath as it tussled with the ropes, yipping as it tasted the petrol, but it never occurred to him to be afraid. This was their wolf; of that he was sure.
Soft fur brushed his hands; a damp tongue flicked his wrist. A growl, a noise like an interrogatory howl, in the direction of the window and another lupine shape joined the first. This one was limping, lurching across the cellar, determined to reach them. Teeth tore the ropes and brushed his skin but they were welcome. Better the brush of wolf teeth than the brush of flames any day, he thought. Eyes that were not human but were nevertheless intelligent stared momentarily into his and he felt that strange connection again; then the wolf dropped its gaze and growled softly, gently. Its partner or pack mate growled back and continued the business of releasing them. The knots were tight and the petrol had added to the problem. Both wolves whined and tore. The larger one growled deep in its throat, a sound, Ray thought, of complete exasperation. Perhaps the knots had been tied by someone less expert than the captor who left them at Eibach because eventually the ropes were loose, coiled around their feet, and both wolves leapt for the window, disappearing as quickly as they'd arrived. Ray thought he might have liked to have stroked the dense fur, said thank you somehow.
Within moments they heard the door being unlocked and Klaus was with them.
“So you were tied up again? And you did a Houdini act? But you didn’t escape so lightly this time. Ugh, what a stink!”
“The wolves...” Bodie began.
“...are all arrested, except for two who are out here with their throats torn out. Blood everywhere! Maybe they turned on each other? Goodness knows what weapons they were using! Or maybe there’s still one in hiding? He won’t get far. Officers are combing the countryside, farmers with pitchforks accompanying them.”
“I think the wolves who untied us...” said Ray, but Heike was coming downstairs, limping slightly but otherwise unharmed. There was no time to say that the men had not had time to turn on each other.
“More Greuelmärchen?” she said. “We have horrors enough in the real world.” Ray knew that Märchen were fairy tales - he could only assume that the ones she referred to were the horrific variety, though as he remembered them, most German legends had a dark undercurrent. “And now we need to get you to medical help. Klaus too; he took a bullet in his arm.”
“It’s a flesh wound; I’ll live,” said Klaus, ushering them all up the stairs and out into the waiting group of police officers and medical personnel who had gathered at the scene. “And you, Officer Brinkmann, you are also injured.” Heike shrugged as if it was of no consequence. Someone was wrapping the bodies of the Wolves and the flashing blue lights of ambulances added a strange brilliant glare to the scene. As they were taken in hand by determined medics Ray finally felt safe. He was glad not to see the torn throats and even gladder to have escaped the threat of fire.
They were all four bundled into the same ambulance and in the dim light of the interior it was hard to see what shape the others were in. Ray could smell the petrol infusing the space with its oily reek, reminding him of his fear. He could hear the siren telling other traffic to get out of the way, to let this cargo through to safety. They didn’t talk. It was all still too close and presumably others, such as Reinhard, were coordinating the mopping-up operation. There was nothing they could do.
One of the medics was talking rapidly into a RT and Ray caught a few words. The man was alerting the hospital to the need for immediate removal of their clothing, sluicing down of their bodies to remove all traces of petrol, and then treatment for possible burns. Petrol, he knew, as well as being toxic, could cause skin damage resembling the burns that were the least they might have suffered if the match had been thrown through the window gap. He didn’t think they’d been exposed to the fumes long enough for inhalation to be too much of a problem but the hospital would want to watch them overnight and check. And there was no Cowley to release them to the care of CI5. He didn't think the German top brass would 'spring' them and risk sending them home less than fit. Heike said something to the medic and he thought she was asking for some kind of showering for herself and Klaus too, but surely their injuries were from bullets?
“Your leg?” he asked her.
“No, no, I just sprained my ankle; it is nothing,” she said, and he sat back, puzzled by the urgency he’d sensed in her remarks to the medic compared with this dismissal of her obvious hurt. He determined to question her further once they were all treated and safe but sensed a reticence that might be hard to overcome.
The hospital was waiting with adequate facilities. They were whisked into canvas cubicles in the ambulance loading bay, their clothes stripped from them and tossed aside. He heard Bodie complain that that was another of his best jackets and that if it could be saved... But he thought that was a forlorn hope; the leather and lining would be saturated, would be a risk if they so much as walked past someone smoking, and it couldn’t be washed. His own wool jacket might fare better although it was a ‘dry clean only’ variety, but if the hospital disposed of it he wasn’t about to grumble. Better to lose clothes than skin or worse.
They were thoroughly showered and emerged dripping into huge towels and hospital robes. They were examined for possible burns but the worst of their injuries were from the tight ropes and, for Ray, deep gravel-filled scrapes from his fight in the road. As he’d suspected, they were ushered to hospital beds; they would be watched for breathing problems or for the appearance of skin damage. He was given some salve to put round his lips and a beaker of milk to drink. His protests that he hadn’t actually swallowed any petrol were ignored. What did patients know? In the haste and confusion of the medical activity he had lost sight of Heike and Klaus. But Bodie was by his side.
He and Bodie were in a room together and they lay quietly under the watchful eye of the night duty nurse. There were no other patients but she was not inclined to allow talking, even when Klaus was brought in, also in hospital robes, his arm bandaged and his face smeared in salve. So the three of them pretended to fall asleep though Ray thought they were all too full of questions and worries to manage the real thing.
They were woken, or rather, disturbed, at the crack of dawn with cups of something that might have been weak coffee and certainly wasn’t tea. Then they were encouraged to rest while an orderly swept the little ward and made encouraging noises about breakfast being on its way. Eventually, a breakfast trolley appeared with rolls and jam and a boiled egg each. More coffee, a little stronger, was poured and then they were left blessedly alone.
“So how did you find us so quickly, this time, Klaus? Ray said you were following me.” Bodie was finally at liberty to question his German partner.
“I was.” Klaus didn't say anything about his mode of transport. “And I saw where you were taken but there were guards and it was hard to see just how many. Then they brought Ray and I was still just one against a number of them. Some left but there were at least two still there and I needed to wait for backup unless I wanted to join you! I knew you two were too tightly bound to help. I saw the guy they called Alpha, with his hosepipe and his petrol can. He sprayed me too.” So that explained his face and perhaps Heike’s urgency. “I let Heike know where I was and just hoped she would arrive in time.” Was that what Heike’s frantic conversation had been about in the ambulance? She wanted the medics to realise that Klaus had been doused with petrol too? And something about the numbers didn’t tally. “I know Reinhard and the officers with him arrested two on the road as they drew up,” Klaus went on, as if realising his story still had holes.
“Did you see the wolves?” Ray couldn’t imagine how he could have missed them if he was watching the mill house.
“The Wolves of Westphalia? Of course. And I could probably identify Alpha but I suspect he is long gone. I hope he hasn’t any of his cronies left.”
“You know what I mean. The wolves who rescued us.” There was an awkward silence then Klaus spoke haltingly.
“You know, there are a lot of stories in a country area like this, a lot of superstitions. The Wolves of Westphalia played on some of them. And maybe someone in the countryside thought to play them at their own game. But people don’t like monsters from fairy tales, even if they come to the rescue. You would be wise to say nothing about what happened, to accept that in your fear and fury you were able to unfasten your bonds and that anything else was imagination.”
“So you are saying you saw nothing?” Bodie was sceptical.
“I will tell everyone I saw nothing,” said Klaus. It wasn't quite the reply they expected.
“But the torn throats?” Ray was determined to get more information, more acknowledgement. “You said the men outside had torn throats, that that's how they died.”
“They turned on each other. Who knows what men like that will do? You've seen what they did on the farms.”
“And they shot at you?”
“In the darkness. I was behind the hedge. That’s why they only gave me a flesh wound. And Heike got her hand and her ankle hurt when she tripped on the way down the path.”
He was silent, even when Heike arrived, dressed and ready to leave, her ankle strapped up, one hand bandaged and salve smeared plentifully across blistered lips and cheeks. She ignored their questions about how she had come in contact with the petrol and it proved impossible to question her further because a doctor followed hard on her heels, ready to dismiss them to the ministrations of the police doctors if necessary or to their own devices. He had, he said, phoned Gummersbach and someone would collect them. Clothes appeared, an approximate fit, donated by the Red Cross, which amused Ray and irritated Bodie.
“We can always donate them to the British Red Cross when we get home,” said Ray. Home now seemed something that deserved a ‘when’ rather than an ‘if’ and that made him cheerful despite his tiredness and his general discomfort with sore muscles and skin.
Reinhard had brought the big grey Taunus and they all got into it, careful not to press against the bandages decorating Heike and Klaus. Ray winced as his various scrapes and bruises met the upholstery but he wouldn't need plasters. The scrapes had proved shallow and were already healing. On the way back to headquarters Reinhard brought them up to date. Apart from themselves, only one officer had been hurt, the man who had gone to deal with the bikes. In retrospect they should have sent two but as everyone knew, they were stretched quite thinly and another officer at the farm could have made all the difference. In any case, Koch was only knocked out, and had been returned home by the police doctor, with instructions for his wife to watch for signs of concussion. So far as was known, all the Wolves were accounted for apart from the leader. Questioning in the police station had gathered various numbers but the men in custody plus the two dead at the mill were, they thought, the total gang other than Alpha.
“One of them was the barman from that bar with the hare,” said Ray.
“Arrested,” said Reinhard. “He was a deputy, near to the leader. But he is telling much; he is not such a big man when he the police sees. He tells us about Alpha but he does not know his name. His true name. It is the bad luck that I believe him. So Alpha is free.”
“He can’t do much on his own,” Bodie said. “And if Klaus can identify him he won’t want to be around here much more.” Klaus muttered something about not being sure enough to make an official identification and Heike was glaring at him. Ray felt disappointed but shrugged. For an identification to stand up in court it would have to be unbreakable and the fitful moonlight plus the speed and confusion of all the action would be a defendant’s dream. Perhaps Klaus could identify the man to the police who could then look for other evidence.
The Taunus coupé was missing, presumed taken by Alpha. In Gummersbach the English agents were given a replacement car, a low-slung red Opel Manta that handled like a Capri and even looked similar. It made them feel almost at home. Everyone was briefly thanked by the officer in overall charge, Polizeikommissar Erhardt Schäfer. He said he wanted full reports later but for now urged them all to go and get some sleep. The following day, he said, would be soon enough, and other forces were on the lookout for the coupé and its occupant. Ray reflected that Cowley would have wanted reports before sleep and was glad they were not in London.
Most officers drafted into the investigation had been involved in the interrogations all night and the four from the hospital, not having slept much, were also grateful to be dismissed. Heike was instantly in her own little car, heading for home and family. Klaus and Reinhard vanished almost as quickly and Bodie and Doyle were left to drive home to Landhaus Bettin.
“More mysteries,” said Bodie. “Our wolves did us proud but again, they were only just before our friends. Of course, they would have to change back to open the cellar door...”
“So you think...?”
“Don't you?”
“It seems impossible. Something out of story books.”
“But you agree.” it was a statement, not a question.
“I suppose so. I wanted to stroke the wolf. Tell him I knew he was helping me, thank him. He was real, all right, and not wild, or not in the way of a racoon or a real wolf. I'm not sure what I mean.”
“At least we both saw them. I would have hated trying to convince you.”
“Likewise. And at least we can feel confused together!”
They reached the inn and stumbled upstairs, exhausted, falling into bed as soon as they had stripped off the Red Cross clothing. Ray didn’t even remember falling asleep.
*******
He thought he would always remember waking up, Bodie’s mouth hotly enclosing his throbbing cock, long fingers probing his arse. It seemed he had come out of a dreamless sleep into a waking dream. Bodie was all over him, all around him, clothing him in warmth and desire. Despite his cuts and bruises he felt comfortable and safe, floating in a sea of happiness.
He tried to say something but found he was incoherent and settled for threading his own fingers through the straight black hair, tightening his grasp as he neared a climax. Somewhere, somehow, Bodie had managed to buy lube, or perhaps he had simply grabbed a bottle of hand lotion, judging by the faint but pleasant aroma. His muscles remembered how to relax and he trusted Bodie completely. Ray had fantasised but had never been quite sure who would be first to penetrate the other if his dreams ever came true. Now he knew he wouldn’t have it any other way, his partner laying claim to him, stretching him, entering him, still holding his cock until he spilled into orgasm then stroking his hips, his thighs as he shuddered around his lover’s welcome invasion. Then he was aware of Bodie's orgasm, deep inside him, intimate and glorious. He felt suddenly bereft as his partner slipped out of him and rearranged them both to lie facing each other.
“O.K?” Bodie was smiling, smugly, but he clearly needed confirmation of his feelings.
“More than O.K.” Ray smiled back and moved even closer. He wanted Bodie back inside him and failing that he would touch him everywhere possible at once. He would never, he thought, let him go.
“You can... if you want...” The blue eyes were serious now, questioning.
“Later. Maybe tomorrow. And yes, I want...”
“Mmmm.” As endearments go it was less than flowery, but it was accompanied by a kiss on his ear. Ray realised it was probably the only place Bodie could reach without ending their close embrace and twisted so that their lips could touch. That worked well and it was a few minutes before they spoke again.
“Thought maybe you'd run a mile. When I said that about being jealous.”
“Ah, but I already had you in my sights, didn't I?”
“I didn't know.”
“You do now.” Bodie spoke with satisfaction and determination. Ray kissed him again and they fell silent. They both needed more sleep and soon they drifted off, securely tangled together.
********
Ray woke as evening fell and the street light outside the window reminded him they hadn’t closed the shutters. He was lying spooned up against Bodie, his partner’s arms firmly around him. Well, he would have to move soon. His bladder demanded a trip along the corridor and his stomach said it had to be dinner time. He turned and kissed Bodie’s nose, and then extricated himself quickly before his waking partner could take the kiss as any kind of invitation. By the time they were both up and dressed it was definitely time for dinner.
“D'you think we’ll sleep tonight?” Ray felt on top of the world and unlikely to sleep any time soon.
“If we don’t, we’ll have plenty to do.” Bodie’s reply was a lazy drawl, delivered with a grin.
“We ought to talk...” Ray felt sure they should but wasn't quite sure why.
“We've said most of it, haven't we?”
“But our partnership...”
“Intact. Improved, even.” How could Bodie sound so sure when he, Ray, had agonised so long and had never even meant to precipitate their union?
“But when we get home...”
“We’ve always lived in each others’ pockets. Who’s to know we’re sharing any more than before?”
“I won’t be able to stop smiling when I look at you!”
“So I’ll tell jokes to make it seem natural.” Bodie had an answer to everything, even the problem of Cowley.
“He'll guess,” said Ray. “He isn't the canniest Scot we know for nothing. And he knows us.”
“But why should he care? It isn't illegal and if he knows, we can't be blackmailed so it shouldn't matter. Have to be discreet, of course.” And as they went down to the dining room Bodie gave Ray an extremely indiscreet caress. Ray started to feel that it really was going to work, even when they got back to England. He didn’t need the soup or veal cutlets to make him feel warm inside.
Chapter 11
It was good to be back in their own clothes, even if it was his second best jacket, and Ray walked into the office the next day feeling in good form. The night had been as pleasurable as Bodie had promised and they had got enough sleep to refresh them for report writing. Reinhard greeted them with the news that Simone, the youngster who made coffee and brought it round the station, had broken down in tears and confessed her part in taking the map and notes, and in keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the agents. Her admission had been prompted by the news that her boyfriend, Stefan, was one of the dead men at the mill. Simone’s parents had come to the station with her to encourage her to make a clean breast of things and help the police with their enquiries.
“Simone knew very little,” said Heike. “Stefan asked her for information about the English officers and about the team so suddenly arrived in Gummersbach. He told her that he and his friends disliked the intervention of foreigners, and he included people from anywhere outside the immediate region. Simone did not think anything strange about what he said or asked. Somehow she got him the station code, too.” They had already noticed that she was a rather dim young woman whose obvious distress and equally obvious ignorance were of no help at all. Polizeikommissar Schäfer had sent her home again, telling her parents to keep a watchful eye on her, and of course dismissing her from her menial employment at the police station.
So everything was cleared up apart from the whereabouts and identity of Alpha. The officers wrote their reports, and Heike reiterated Klaus’s warning not to mention the wolves.
“We do not need legends muddying the waters of reality,” she said, stumbling over the metaphor so that Ray suspected she had learned it from Klaus. “You are free and well. That is what matters. And you helped us. That matters, I think, to our superiors and to yours.”
“What about Uli?” Ray thought Uli’s experience might lend weight to their story but he agreed that they should perhaps not broadcast it.
“Old Krause is a strange man.” This was Reinhard, and Heike was watching him approvingly, nodding as he spoke. “If he heard noises and saw men hurt his sheep perhaps he saved Uli from them or perhaps he at first thought Uli was one of them. And perhaps he had a dog with him. Or perhaps he was angry and Uli the rest imagined. Maybe Uli can be a story writer, yes? I do not know, me, myself, you are understanding, but that is what we shall be writing. We have agreement made.” So they had an answer to everything, or at least an answer that would satisfy both the authorities and the media. Uli would be officially discredited and Krause blamed for his scratches. Neither man would know about the rewritten story, in all probability. Doyle and Bodie didn’t feel satisfied at all but they would go along with the wishes of their colleagues. There wasn’t much option if nobody would talk.
They were glad to be told they had helped. At times it hadn’t much felt like it, held prisoner twice, and only released by assistants they must never mention for fear of disbelief. But Schäfer spoke to them personally and thanked them. They had been instrumental in organising the final surveillance which had proved successful and even their imprisonment had contributed to the eventual arrests.
“You helped by your presence here,” he said. “Having foreign agents, knowing the importance of the case was recognised at an international level, that made our own officers keen. You worked out which farms to protect. And you set them a good example. Particularly you, Herr Bodie, when you offered yourself in exchange for Frau Bauer. Herr Bauer wishes me to thank you, too. I shall be sending a good report to your Herr Cowley.”
They were almost sad to say goodbye to their German colleagues. Klaus, Reinhard and Heike asked them to join them for an evening meal before flying home early the next day. Heike brought her husband, Karl, and had clearly spoken well of them for he was all smiles, commending their bravery, just as if they hadn’t allowed themselves to be captured and almost killed. They ate at an expensive restaurant in Gummersbach, an establishment that to Bodie's delight offered more than one delicious Nachtisch; then they parted company early and Bodie and Doyle drove back to their Landhaus for the last time. They would drive to Gummersbach again round about dawn and hand back the Opel; Heike would drive them to the station for an early train to Köln.
Meanwhile, they had one more night in the huge bed and they made the most of it. In England their lovemaking would be confined to one or the other of their flats and single beds would not be the same.
“Although at least I’ll have a reason to keep you very close to me,” said Bodie, laughing when Ray pointed out that he didn’t need a reason.
They slept for a while but woke before the alarm sounded. They would breakfast in Köln and the German police would settle with the Bettins. Ray left a note in schoolboy German thanking them for their hospitality and they crept down the broad stairs, hoping not to wake anyone and taking great care not to let their cases scrape the wood. The Opel took them swiftly to the office, where Heike took over and drove them to the railway terminal in the grey Taunus. When they got out and took their bags from the boot she handed them a large but not particularly heavy parcel.
“It is a gift from your colleagues,” she said. “We chose it carefully to remind you of your experiences here. Please do not open it before you get to England. We have put a notice on it so that the customs officers will not worry about what is in it.”
“Diplomatic bag?” Bodie joked as they finished thanking her. But he took the parcel and they shook Heike’s outstretched hand then went into the station.
Köln was heaving with rush hour commuters and they had a quick breakfast at a coffee bar, then with a bare half hour to spare Doyle persuaded Bodie to forego a second Danish pastry in favour of a brief visit to the cathedral. Its glorious spires, so close to the main station, were hard to resist for anyone with any interest in art or architecture and Ray was glad Bodie gave way. He felt honoured, too; Bodie and breakfast were not easily parted.
They checked in at the airport, assuring the security people that yes, they had packed everything themselves, blatantly ignoring the big box with the police stamp on it. Afterwards they managed to grab another coffee and a sandwich in a small airside café and Bodie grinned.
“See how much I care?” he said, and Ray nodded, grinning back. But really, he thought, it had been better to postpone the second round of breakfast; it gave them something to do while waiting for the plane. Airport shopping wasn’t something that was likely to appeal to either of them.
They chatted idly about the wolves, their very own wolves, not the Wolves of Westphalia.
“Do you reckon just Klaus plus a mate, or Klaus and Heike, or what?” Ray knew instantly what Bodie meant.
“Klaus and Heike,” he said. “Look at their injuries. And how determined they were that we should at least stay silent about it. I think the others were just guided by them; that's if anyone other than Reinhard even knew or suspected. I think Reinhard must have known.”
“But there must be some kind of local knowledge. They can't be completely unseen, not all the time.”
“Maybe it all just happens when it's really necessary, like the fighting dogs Klaus told us about. And we saw them.” Ray remembered the lovely fur and the wolf's warm breath. He felt confused and honoured and unsure.
“Yes, we saw them. And even if we can't tell anyone, we won't forget.” Bodie smiled and Ray smiled back at him. Then a voice told them to go to their boarding gate and they were back in a world of modern marvels instead of ancient ones.
The flight was uneventful and they didn't talk though they allowed their hands to touch. Ray thought with amusement how long he had worried about wanting Bodie and how prosaic his partner was about it all. He could learn to be laid back and casual about it too, he thought, now that he was certain of Bodie’s regard. It was more than lust. That he knew for sure. Yes, there was an element of lust; of course there was. But there was also the deep partnership, the relationship built up over the years they had been together, the passionate involvement in all aspects of each other’s lives. It had taken a trip abroad and a strange German bed to bring it all out into the open but now that it was clear between them there were no doubts. The wolves had drawn them even closer together. He gave a small sigh of contentment.
They were picked up at Heathrow and driven to CI5 Headquarters where they presented Cowley with their reports, glad they had already written them in Germany. Their boss, who had been speaking to Schäfer by phone, already knew about the limited success of the operation.
“And not so limited,” he said. “You’ve helped stop a nasty group of terrorists, pleased our European friends and arrived home safe and sound. You can be proud of yourselves, lads.”
“And Alpha?” Ray had to ask.
“No doubt he’ll try to whip up interest in his ideas again but I’m thinking he won’t have as much success. The German papers are full of the atrocities and the majority of the population will look askance at any attempt to start the same kind of group again. Also, I believe the Germans now know who they’re looking for or rather, looking at. Thanks to that colleague of yours, that Wolperding chap, they’ve identified a local man, mayor of somewhere near Wolfkammer, I think. He has hidden behind quite liberal politics to date. Your man said he recognised him in the car headlights near that mill. Funny name, Wolperding. Isn’t that some kind of mythical beastie?”
Ray gave a brief explanation, but neither of them mentioned the wolves. Their boss would never believe them, would think it was some kind of joke, and in any case, it was over.
They were dismissed with instructions to report for duty in the morning and they drove to Ray’s flat, glad to be back on the right, or rather the left, side of the road. They picked up some milk on the way and enjoyed a cup of tea as soon as they got in. Then Bodie looked at the mystery package.
“We should open it now,” he said. “I wonder what they’ve chosen for us.” He slit the tape with a knife and they uncovered a thin-walled wooden box filled with shredded paper packaging. “Something fragile, by the looks of it.”
He shook the remains of the paper away from their gift. It was a small stuffed head, a hare with horns, looking smug and mysterious in the afternoon sunshine. They stared at it without speaking then Ray pulled a note from the bottom of the box.
“ ‘From your colleagues’,” he read, “ ‘with gratitude, both for your help and for your silence. In case you didn’t already know, petrol tastes foul. But it was all worth it. This gift should remind you that things are not always what they seem, and that legend can be inextricably intertwined with fact.’ It’s typed but it's signed by Klaus, and Heike has added her signature too.” They stared at the head in fascination.
“The only thing now,” said Bodie eventually, “is to decide where to keep it. Your place or mine?”
“Does it matter?” said Ray. “We’ll be together anyway.” And he rested the hare's head on the mantelpiece, from where it watched them, not in the least shocked or surprised by their sudden and passionate embrace.
END
That's it! And now, if you haven't already, go and look at smirra 's lovely art!
Chapter 1.
Chapters 2 & 3.
Chapters 4 & 5.
Chapters 6 & 7.
Chapters 8 & 9.
Chapter 10
Ray had been holding his breath, and gulped, involuntarily breathing in more fumes. And then he heard screams and howls, howls like true wolves. More shots, more screams, then silence, and a long low shape dropped through the window, loping across the floor. He could smell blood on the animal’s breath as it tussled with the ropes, yipping as it tasted the petrol, but it never occurred to him to be afraid. This was their wolf; of that he was sure.
Soft fur brushed his hands; a damp tongue flicked his wrist. A growl, a noise like an interrogatory howl, in the direction of the window and another lupine shape joined the first. This one was limping, lurching across the cellar, determined to reach them. Teeth tore the ropes and brushed his skin but they were welcome. Better the brush of wolf teeth than the brush of flames any day, he thought. Eyes that were not human but were nevertheless intelligent stared momentarily into his and he felt that strange connection again; then the wolf dropped its gaze and growled softly, gently. Its partner or pack mate growled back and continued the business of releasing them. The knots were tight and the petrol had added to the problem. Both wolves whined and tore. The larger one growled deep in its throat, a sound, Ray thought, of complete exasperation. Perhaps the knots had been tied by someone less expert than the captor who left them at Eibach because eventually the ropes were loose, coiled around their feet, and both wolves leapt for the window, disappearing as quickly as they'd arrived. Ray thought he might have liked to have stroked the dense fur, said thank you somehow.
Within moments they heard the door being unlocked and Klaus was with them.
“So you were tied up again? And you did a Houdini act? But you didn’t escape so lightly this time. Ugh, what a stink!”
“The wolves...” Bodie began.
“...are all arrested, except for two who are out here with their throats torn out. Blood everywhere! Maybe they turned on each other? Goodness knows what weapons they were using! Or maybe there’s still one in hiding? He won’t get far. Officers are combing the countryside, farmers with pitchforks accompanying them.”
“I think the wolves who untied us...” said Ray, but Heike was coming downstairs, limping slightly but otherwise unharmed. There was no time to say that the men had not had time to turn on each other.
“More Greuelmärchen?” she said. “We have horrors enough in the real world.” Ray knew that Märchen were fairy tales - he could only assume that the ones she referred to were the horrific variety, though as he remembered them, most German legends had a dark undercurrent. “And now we need to get you to medical help. Klaus too; he took a bullet in his arm.”
“It’s a flesh wound; I’ll live,” said Klaus, ushering them all up the stairs and out into the waiting group of police officers and medical personnel who had gathered at the scene. “And you, Officer Brinkmann, you are also injured.” Heike shrugged as if it was of no consequence. Someone was wrapping the bodies of the Wolves and the flashing blue lights of ambulances added a strange brilliant glare to the scene. As they were taken in hand by determined medics Ray finally felt safe. He was glad not to see the torn throats and even gladder to have escaped the threat of fire.
They were all four bundled into the same ambulance and in the dim light of the interior it was hard to see what shape the others were in. Ray could smell the petrol infusing the space with its oily reek, reminding him of his fear. He could hear the siren telling other traffic to get out of the way, to let this cargo through to safety. They didn’t talk. It was all still too close and presumably others, such as Reinhard, were coordinating the mopping-up operation. There was nothing they could do.
One of the medics was talking rapidly into a RT and Ray caught a few words. The man was alerting the hospital to the need for immediate removal of their clothing, sluicing down of their bodies to remove all traces of petrol, and then treatment for possible burns. Petrol, he knew, as well as being toxic, could cause skin damage resembling the burns that were the least they might have suffered if the match had been thrown through the window gap. He didn’t think they’d been exposed to the fumes long enough for inhalation to be too much of a problem but the hospital would want to watch them overnight and check. And there was no Cowley to release them to the care of CI5. He didn't think the German top brass would 'spring' them and risk sending them home less than fit. Heike said something to the medic and he thought she was asking for some kind of showering for herself and Klaus too, but surely their injuries were from bullets?
“Your leg?” he asked her.
“No, no, I just sprained my ankle; it is nothing,” she said, and he sat back, puzzled by the urgency he’d sensed in her remarks to the medic compared with this dismissal of her obvious hurt. He determined to question her further once they were all treated and safe but sensed a reticence that might be hard to overcome.
The hospital was waiting with adequate facilities. They were whisked into canvas cubicles in the ambulance loading bay, their clothes stripped from them and tossed aside. He heard Bodie complain that that was another of his best jackets and that if it could be saved... But he thought that was a forlorn hope; the leather and lining would be saturated, would be a risk if they so much as walked past someone smoking, and it couldn’t be washed. His own wool jacket might fare better although it was a ‘dry clean only’ variety, but if the hospital disposed of it he wasn’t about to grumble. Better to lose clothes than skin or worse.
They were thoroughly showered and emerged dripping into huge towels and hospital robes. They were examined for possible burns but the worst of their injuries were from the tight ropes and, for Ray, deep gravel-filled scrapes from his fight in the road. As he’d suspected, they were ushered to hospital beds; they would be watched for breathing problems or for the appearance of skin damage. He was given some salve to put round his lips and a beaker of milk to drink. His protests that he hadn’t actually swallowed any petrol were ignored. What did patients know? In the haste and confusion of the medical activity he had lost sight of Heike and Klaus. But Bodie was by his side.
He and Bodie were in a room together and they lay quietly under the watchful eye of the night duty nurse. There were no other patients but she was not inclined to allow talking, even when Klaus was brought in, also in hospital robes, his arm bandaged and his face smeared in salve. So the three of them pretended to fall asleep though Ray thought they were all too full of questions and worries to manage the real thing.
They were woken, or rather, disturbed, at the crack of dawn with cups of something that might have been weak coffee and certainly wasn’t tea. Then they were encouraged to rest while an orderly swept the little ward and made encouraging noises about breakfast being on its way. Eventually, a breakfast trolley appeared with rolls and jam and a boiled egg each. More coffee, a little stronger, was poured and then they were left blessedly alone.
“So how did you find us so quickly, this time, Klaus? Ray said you were following me.” Bodie was finally at liberty to question his German partner.
“I was.” Klaus didn't say anything about his mode of transport. “And I saw where you were taken but there were guards and it was hard to see just how many. Then they brought Ray and I was still just one against a number of them. Some left but there were at least two still there and I needed to wait for backup unless I wanted to join you! I knew you two were too tightly bound to help. I saw the guy they called Alpha, with his hosepipe and his petrol can. He sprayed me too.” So that explained his face and perhaps Heike’s urgency. “I let Heike know where I was and just hoped she would arrive in time.” Was that what Heike’s frantic conversation had been about in the ambulance? She wanted the medics to realise that Klaus had been doused with petrol too? And something about the numbers didn’t tally. “I know Reinhard and the officers with him arrested two on the road as they drew up,” Klaus went on, as if realising his story still had holes.
“Did you see the wolves?” Ray couldn’t imagine how he could have missed them if he was watching the mill house.
“The Wolves of Westphalia? Of course. And I could probably identify Alpha but I suspect he is long gone. I hope he hasn’t any of his cronies left.”
“You know what I mean. The wolves who rescued us.” There was an awkward silence then Klaus spoke haltingly.
“You know, there are a lot of stories in a country area like this, a lot of superstitions. The Wolves of Westphalia played on some of them. And maybe someone in the countryside thought to play them at their own game. But people don’t like monsters from fairy tales, even if they come to the rescue. You would be wise to say nothing about what happened, to accept that in your fear and fury you were able to unfasten your bonds and that anything else was imagination.”
“So you are saying you saw nothing?” Bodie was sceptical.
“I will tell everyone I saw nothing,” said Klaus. It wasn't quite the reply they expected.
“But the torn throats?” Ray was determined to get more information, more acknowledgement. “You said the men outside had torn throats, that that's how they died.”
“They turned on each other. Who knows what men like that will do? You've seen what they did on the farms.”
“And they shot at you?”
“In the darkness. I was behind the hedge. That’s why they only gave me a flesh wound. And Heike got her hand and her ankle hurt when she tripped on the way down the path.”
He was silent, even when Heike arrived, dressed and ready to leave, her ankle strapped up, one hand bandaged and salve smeared plentifully across blistered lips and cheeks. She ignored their questions about how she had come in contact with the petrol and it proved impossible to question her further because a doctor followed hard on her heels, ready to dismiss them to the ministrations of the police doctors if necessary or to their own devices. He had, he said, phoned Gummersbach and someone would collect them. Clothes appeared, an approximate fit, donated by the Red Cross, which amused Ray and irritated Bodie.
“We can always donate them to the British Red Cross when we get home,” said Ray. Home now seemed something that deserved a ‘when’ rather than an ‘if’ and that made him cheerful despite his tiredness and his general discomfort with sore muscles and skin.
Reinhard had brought the big grey Taunus and they all got into it, careful not to press against the bandages decorating Heike and Klaus. Ray winced as his various scrapes and bruises met the upholstery but he wouldn't need plasters. The scrapes had proved shallow and were already healing. On the way back to headquarters Reinhard brought them up to date. Apart from themselves, only one officer had been hurt, the man who had gone to deal with the bikes. In retrospect they should have sent two but as everyone knew, they were stretched quite thinly and another officer at the farm could have made all the difference. In any case, Koch was only knocked out, and had been returned home by the police doctor, with instructions for his wife to watch for signs of concussion. So far as was known, all the Wolves were accounted for apart from the leader. Questioning in the police station had gathered various numbers but the men in custody plus the two dead at the mill were, they thought, the total gang other than Alpha.
“One of them was the barman from that bar with the hare,” said Ray.
“Arrested,” said Reinhard. “He was a deputy, near to the leader. But he is telling much; he is not such a big man when he the police sees. He tells us about Alpha but he does not know his name. His true name. It is the bad luck that I believe him. So Alpha is free.”
“He can’t do much on his own,” Bodie said. “And if Klaus can identify him he won’t want to be around here much more.” Klaus muttered something about not being sure enough to make an official identification and Heike was glaring at him. Ray felt disappointed but shrugged. For an identification to stand up in court it would have to be unbreakable and the fitful moonlight plus the speed and confusion of all the action would be a defendant’s dream. Perhaps Klaus could identify the man to the police who could then look for other evidence.
The Taunus coupé was missing, presumed taken by Alpha. In Gummersbach the English agents were given a replacement car, a low-slung red Opel Manta that handled like a Capri and even looked similar. It made them feel almost at home. Everyone was briefly thanked by the officer in overall charge, Polizeikommissar Erhardt Schäfer. He said he wanted full reports later but for now urged them all to go and get some sleep. The following day, he said, would be soon enough, and other forces were on the lookout for the coupé and its occupant. Ray reflected that Cowley would have wanted reports before sleep and was glad they were not in London.
Most officers drafted into the investigation had been involved in the interrogations all night and the four from the hospital, not having slept much, were also grateful to be dismissed. Heike was instantly in her own little car, heading for home and family. Klaus and Reinhard vanished almost as quickly and Bodie and Doyle were left to drive home to Landhaus Bettin.
“More mysteries,” said Bodie. “Our wolves did us proud but again, they were only just before our friends. Of course, they would have to change back to open the cellar door...”
“So you think...?”
“Don't you?”
“It seems impossible. Something out of story books.”
“But you agree.” it was a statement, not a question.
“I suppose so. I wanted to stroke the wolf. Tell him I knew he was helping me, thank him. He was real, all right, and not wild, or not in the way of a racoon or a real wolf. I'm not sure what I mean.”
“At least we both saw them. I would have hated trying to convince you.”
“Likewise. And at least we can feel confused together!”
They reached the inn and stumbled upstairs, exhausted, falling into bed as soon as they had stripped off the Red Cross clothing. Ray didn’t even remember falling asleep.
*******
He thought he would always remember waking up, Bodie’s mouth hotly enclosing his throbbing cock, long fingers probing his arse. It seemed he had come out of a dreamless sleep into a waking dream. Bodie was all over him, all around him, clothing him in warmth and desire. Despite his cuts and bruises he felt comfortable and safe, floating in a sea of happiness.
He tried to say something but found he was incoherent and settled for threading his own fingers through the straight black hair, tightening his grasp as he neared a climax. Somewhere, somehow, Bodie had managed to buy lube, or perhaps he had simply grabbed a bottle of hand lotion, judging by the faint but pleasant aroma. His muscles remembered how to relax and he trusted Bodie completely. Ray had fantasised but had never been quite sure who would be first to penetrate the other if his dreams ever came true. Now he knew he wouldn’t have it any other way, his partner laying claim to him, stretching him, entering him, still holding his cock until he spilled into orgasm then stroking his hips, his thighs as he shuddered around his lover’s welcome invasion. Then he was aware of Bodie's orgasm, deep inside him, intimate and glorious. He felt suddenly bereft as his partner slipped out of him and rearranged them both to lie facing each other.
“O.K?” Bodie was smiling, smugly, but he clearly needed confirmation of his feelings.
“More than O.K.” Ray smiled back and moved even closer. He wanted Bodie back inside him and failing that he would touch him everywhere possible at once. He would never, he thought, let him go.
“You can... if you want...” The blue eyes were serious now, questioning.
“Later. Maybe tomorrow. And yes, I want...”
“Mmmm.” As endearments go it was less than flowery, but it was accompanied by a kiss on his ear. Ray realised it was probably the only place Bodie could reach without ending their close embrace and twisted so that their lips could touch. That worked well and it was a few minutes before they spoke again.
“Thought maybe you'd run a mile. When I said that about being jealous.”
“Ah, but I already had you in my sights, didn't I?”
“I didn't know.”
“You do now.” Bodie spoke with satisfaction and determination. Ray kissed him again and they fell silent. They both needed more sleep and soon they drifted off, securely tangled together.
********
Ray woke as evening fell and the street light outside the window reminded him they hadn’t closed the shutters. He was lying spooned up against Bodie, his partner’s arms firmly around him. Well, he would have to move soon. His bladder demanded a trip along the corridor and his stomach said it had to be dinner time. He turned and kissed Bodie’s nose, and then extricated himself quickly before his waking partner could take the kiss as any kind of invitation. By the time they were both up and dressed it was definitely time for dinner.
“D'you think we’ll sleep tonight?” Ray felt on top of the world and unlikely to sleep any time soon.
“If we don’t, we’ll have plenty to do.” Bodie’s reply was a lazy drawl, delivered with a grin.
“We ought to talk...” Ray felt sure they should but wasn't quite sure why.
“We've said most of it, haven't we?”
“But our partnership...”
“Intact. Improved, even.” How could Bodie sound so sure when he, Ray, had agonised so long and had never even meant to precipitate their union?
“But when we get home...”
“We’ve always lived in each others’ pockets. Who’s to know we’re sharing any more than before?”
“I won’t be able to stop smiling when I look at you!”
“So I’ll tell jokes to make it seem natural.” Bodie had an answer to everything, even the problem of Cowley.
“He'll guess,” said Ray. “He isn't the canniest Scot we know for nothing. And he knows us.”
“But why should he care? It isn't illegal and if he knows, we can't be blackmailed so it shouldn't matter. Have to be discreet, of course.” And as they went down to the dining room Bodie gave Ray an extremely indiscreet caress. Ray started to feel that it really was going to work, even when they got back to England. He didn’t need the soup or veal cutlets to make him feel warm inside.
Chapter 11
It was good to be back in their own clothes, even if it was his second best jacket, and Ray walked into the office the next day feeling in good form. The night had been as pleasurable as Bodie had promised and they had got enough sleep to refresh them for report writing. Reinhard greeted them with the news that Simone, the youngster who made coffee and brought it round the station, had broken down in tears and confessed her part in taking the map and notes, and in keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the agents. Her admission had been prompted by the news that her boyfriend, Stefan, was one of the dead men at the mill. Simone’s parents had come to the station with her to encourage her to make a clean breast of things and help the police with their enquiries.
“Simone knew very little,” said Heike. “Stefan asked her for information about the English officers and about the team so suddenly arrived in Gummersbach. He told her that he and his friends disliked the intervention of foreigners, and he included people from anywhere outside the immediate region. Simone did not think anything strange about what he said or asked. Somehow she got him the station code, too.” They had already noticed that she was a rather dim young woman whose obvious distress and equally obvious ignorance were of no help at all. Polizeikommissar Schäfer had sent her home again, telling her parents to keep a watchful eye on her, and of course dismissing her from her menial employment at the police station.
So everything was cleared up apart from the whereabouts and identity of Alpha. The officers wrote their reports, and Heike reiterated Klaus’s warning not to mention the wolves.
“We do not need legends muddying the waters of reality,” she said, stumbling over the metaphor so that Ray suspected she had learned it from Klaus. “You are free and well. That is what matters. And you helped us. That matters, I think, to our superiors and to yours.”
“What about Uli?” Ray thought Uli’s experience might lend weight to their story but he agreed that they should perhaps not broadcast it.
“Old Krause is a strange man.” This was Reinhard, and Heike was watching him approvingly, nodding as he spoke. “If he heard noises and saw men hurt his sheep perhaps he saved Uli from them or perhaps he at first thought Uli was one of them. And perhaps he had a dog with him. Or perhaps he was angry and Uli the rest imagined. Maybe Uli can be a story writer, yes? I do not know, me, myself, you are understanding, but that is what we shall be writing. We have agreement made.” So they had an answer to everything, or at least an answer that would satisfy both the authorities and the media. Uli would be officially discredited and Krause blamed for his scratches. Neither man would know about the rewritten story, in all probability. Doyle and Bodie didn’t feel satisfied at all but they would go along with the wishes of their colleagues. There wasn’t much option if nobody would talk.
They were glad to be told they had helped. At times it hadn’t much felt like it, held prisoner twice, and only released by assistants they must never mention for fear of disbelief. But Schäfer spoke to them personally and thanked them. They had been instrumental in organising the final surveillance which had proved successful and even their imprisonment had contributed to the eventual arrests.
“You helped by your presence here,” he said. “Having foreign agents, knowing the importance of the case was recognised at an international level, that made our own officers keen. You worked out which farms to protect. And you set them a good example. Particularly you, Herr Bodie, when you offered yourself in exchange for Frau Bauer. Herr Bauer wishes me to thank you, too. I shall be sending a good report to your Herr Cowley.”
They were almost sad to say goodbye to their German colleagues. Klaus, Reinhard and Heike asked them to join them for an evening meal before flying home early the next day. Heike brought her husband, Karl, and had clearly spoken well of them for he was all smiles, commending their bravery, just as if they hadn’t allowed themselves to be captured and almost killed. They ate at an expensive restaurant in Gummersbach, an establishment that to Bodie's delight offered more than one delicious Nachtisch; then they parted company early and Bodie and Doyle drove back to their Landhaus for the last time. They would drive to Gummersbach again round about dawn and hand back the Opel; Heike would drive them to the station for an early train to Köln.
Meanwhile, they had one more night in the huge bed and they made the most of it. In England their lovemaking would be confined to one or the other of their flats and single beds would not be the same.
“Although at least I’ll have a reason to keep you very close to me,” said Bodie, laughing when Ray pointed out that he didn’t need a reason.
They slept for a while but woke before the alarm sounded. They would breakfast in Köln and the German police would settle with the Bettins. Ray left a note in schoolboy German thanking them for their hospitality and they crept down the broad stairs, hoping not to wake anyone and taking great care not to let their cases scrape the wood. The Opel took them swiftly to the office, where Heike took over and drove them to the railway terminal in the grey Taunus. When they got out and took their bags from the boot she handed them a large but not particularly heavy parcel.
“It is a gift from your colleagues,” she said. “We chose it carefully to remind you of your experiences here. Please do not open it before you get to England. We have put a notice on it so that the customs officers will not worry about what is in it.”
“Diplomatic bag?” Bodie joked as they finished thanking her. But he took the parcel and they shook Heike’s outstretched hand then went into the station.
Köln was heaving with rush hour commuters and they had a quick breakfast at a coffee bar, then with a bare half hour to spare Doyle persuaded Bodie to forego a second Danish pastry in favour of a brief visit to the cathedral. Its glorious spires, so close to the main station, were hard to resist for anyone with any interest in art or architecture and Ray was glad Bodie gave way. He felt honoured, too; Bodie and breakfast were not easily parted.
They checked in at the airport, assuring the security people that yes, they had packed everything themselves, blatantly ignoring the big box with the police stamp on it. Afterwards they managed to grab another coffee and a sandwich in a small airside café and Bodie grinned.
“See how much I care?” he said, and Ray nodded, grinning back. But really, he thought, it had been better to postpone the second round of breakfast; it gave them something to do while waiting for the plane. Airport shopping wasn’t something that was likely to appeal to either of them.
They chatted idly about the wolves, their very own wolves, not the Wolves of Westphalia.
“Do you reckon just Klaus plus a mate, or Klaus and Heike, or what?” Ray knew instantly what Bodie meant.
“Klaus and Heike,” he said. “Look at their injuries. And how determined they were that we should at least stay silent about it. I think the others were just guided by them; that's if anyone other than Reinhard even knew or suspected. I think Reinhard must have known.”
“But there must be some kind of local knowledge. They can't be completely unseen, not all the time.”
“Maybe it all just happens when it's really necessary, like the fighting dogs Klaus told us about. And we saw them.” Ray remembered the lovely fur and the wolf's warm breath. He felt confused and honoured and unsure.
“Yes, we saw them. And even if we can't tell anyone, we won't forget.” Bodie smiled and Ray smiled back at him. Then a voice told them to go to their boarding gate and they were back in a world of modern marvels instead of ancient ones.
The flight was uneventful and they didn't talk though they allowed their hands to touch. Ray thought with amusement how long he had worried about wanting Bodie and how prosaic his partner was about it all. He could learn to be laid back and casual about it too, he thought, now that he was certain of Bodie’s regard. It was more than lust. That he knew for sure. Yes, there was an element of lust; of course there was. But there was also the deep partnership, the relationship built up over the years they had been together, the passionate involvement in all aspects of each other’s lives. It had taken a trip abroad and a strange German bed to bring it all out into the open but now that it was clear between them there were no doubts. The wolves had drawn them even closer together. He gave a small sigh of contentment.
They were picked up at Heathrow and driven to CI5 Headquarters where they presented Cowley with their reports, glad they had already written them in Germany. Their boss, who had been speaking to Schäfer by phone, already knew about the limited success of the operation.
“And not so limited,” he said. “You’ve helped stop a nasty group of terrorists, pleased our European friends and arrived home safe and sound. You can be proud of yourselves, lads.”
“And Alpha?” Ray had to ask.
“No doubt he’ll try to whip up interest in his ideas again but I’m thinking he won’t have as much success. The German papers are full of the atrocities and the majority of the population will look askance at any attempt to start the same kind of group again. Also, I believe the Germans now know who they’re looking for or rather, looking at. Thanks to that colleague of yours, that Wolperding chap, they’ve identified a local man, mayor of somewhere near Wolfkammer, I think. He has hidden behind quite liberal politics to date. Your man said he recognised him in the car headlights near that mill. Funny name, Wolperding. Isn’t that some kind of mythical beastie?”
Ray gave a brief explanation, but neither of them mentioned the wolves. Their boss would never believe them, would think it was some kind of joke, and in any case, it was over.
They were dismissed with instructions to report for duty in the morning and they drove to Ray’s flat, glad to be back on the right, or rather the left, side of the road. They picked up some milk on the way and enjoyed a cup of tea as soon as they got in. Then Bodie looked at the mystery package.
“We should open it now,” he said. “I wonder what they’ve chosen for us.” He slit the tape with a knife and they uncovered a thin-walled wooden box filled with shredded paper packaging. “Something fragile, by the looks of it.”
He shook the remains of the paper away from their gift. It was a small stuffed head, a hare with horns, looking smug and mysterious in the afternoon sunshine. They stared at it without speaking then Ray pulled a note from the bottom of the box.
“ ‘From your colleagues’,” he read, “ ‘with gratitude, both for your help and for your silence. In case you didn’t already know, petrol tastes foul. But it was all worth it. This gift should remind you that things are not always what they seem, and that legend can be inextricably intertwined with fact.’ It’s typed but it's signed by Klaus, and Heike has added her signature too.” They stared at the head in fascination.
“The only thing now,” said Bodie eventually, “is to decide where to keep it. Your place or mine?”
“Does it matter?” said Ray. “We’ll be together anyway.” And he rested the hare's head on the mantelpiece, from where it watched them, not in the least shocked or surprised by their sudden and passionate embrace.
END
That's it! And now, if you haven't already, go and look at smirra 's lovely art!