THE FÜHRER'S DAUGHTER

THE FÜHRER'S DAUGHTER (Episode 1) Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

HE WON’T HAVE ME KILLED. No, she must have misunderstood. After all, Father never actually said that Friedrich had been executed, only ‘dealt with’, right? What kind of father would have his own flesh and blood killed for simply stepping into a library?

Trying to take her mind off of it all, she opened the door, went down the hall and descended the stairs to the den near her parents’ master suite. Taking great pains to remain undetected, she opened the door.

“Everything okay, Miss Grace?”

She nearly jumped. “Miles!” she whispered. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“I’m sorry. Saw you walking all careful-like and thought something might be wrong.”

“Can’t talk right now.” Despite the scare, she felt the need to put her arms around him and give him a hug. “If anyone asks, you haven’t seen me.”

“Well, all right then.” He sauntered off quietly singing, “I haven’t seen Miss Grace, I haven’t seen Miss Grace, I haven’t seen Miss Grace, have you?”

She stepped into the den and shut the door. The familiar musty redolence welcomed her as she entered. So many old books, yet barely anyone else ever set foot in here to make use of der Familienbibliothek. Perhaps it was because as a “fiction” library, the only books allowed were those that glorified and extolled the virtues of war, Aryan ideals, Adolf Hitler, the Kaiser, and the Empire as a whole.

Dry and predictable.

She opened the window and took in the fresh spring air. With a strong tug on the handle, she opened the desk drawer and reached into the back, groping for a forbidden treasure.

There, just where I left you.

She pushed the drawer shut with her hip and stared at the book in her hands. The hardback cover was frayed and singed, but the title embossed in gold remained legible: The Hobbit. Someone had rescued it from the pyre of forbidden literature. She dared not mention its existence, lest the tome meet its intended fate.

Bilbo Baggins was a kindred spirit, though they couldn’t have come from more different worlds. He lived in a hole in the ground, she lived in luxury. He had to do everything for himself, while she had servants to wait on her, hand and foot, and lived in the warm glow of loving parents.

Was that all going to change now? She shuddered at the thought of remaining the innocent and compliant daughter of the Führer under the charade he and Mother had constructed.

How can things ever be the same?

She fingered the bookmark and opened to that page. The quote underlined by the previous owner drew her gaze unrelentingly.

There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.

Fun.

Right.

The sound of Father’s deliberate footsteps coming down the hall jarred her back to the gravity of her situation.

“Miles, where’s Grace?” he said outside, frightfully calm.

“I haven’t seen her, Sir.”

“Then find her.” If words could be barbed, Father’s would have torn through flesh, especially when delivered in that placid tone he reserved for when he was truly angry.

“Right away, Sir.”

Two sets of footfalls went in opposite directions.

One approached the den.