Night Tale - Chapter 2
Gretchen fell asleep almost immediately. She pushed her nose into the plush dog. Black one, with white circles around the eyes.
She stepped out into the corridor, walking quietly, not to wake the baby and Christoph. She got dressed and took the bag.
Already at the entrance door she felt that he was standing in the doorway of the bedroom.
"Why are you awake?"
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Insomnia. I always have a bad sleep during the full moon. I heard you telling this terrible tale again. I have shivers on the skin from it. Can you think of something else?"
"Our child likes this story. Darling, can we talk in the morning? I have an urgent call. The car is at the entrance."
"That doesn’t stop surprising me," Christoph spread his arms. "I'm lying, hearing your voice, I hear the snuffle of Gretchen. Then you become silent and there is complete silence. I cannot hear how you walk and how you're leaving. How do getting the bag. Nothing. Then from below I hear the sound of engine - they came for you. And you're already opening the door. Can you explain to me how this happens? And how do you know about an urgent call without a phone call?"
"Darling, don’t be silly." She went over and pressed her lips to his cheek. Smooching, she inhaled native smell. The smell of the house. "You fell asleep for a few minutes and even snored. You probably was awaken after a call from the hospital."
"Erika…"
"That's all, it's time for me to go. Go quickly to the bed. I will arrive in two hours, so it is properly heated."
With difficulty tearing herself away from Christoph, such a close, reliable, and beloved person, she opened the door.
She thought with regret that she would have to start giving him sleeping pills again.
Rudolph persuaded Erica to accompany her on her way to grandmother.
"You have a forest here, after all," he said. "You can encounter a dangerous beast."
Erica laughed.
"The most dangerous beast here is Nina. She is shepherd of my grandmother. She's already quite old."
The girl thought for a minute.
"Nina is very absolutely old. And my grandmother is still very young. Mom says that she will outlive us all. She says so when my grandmother is away."
She thought that Rudolph is smiling. All the adults were smiling when she told it. But her companion was very sad. He just shook his head, as if doubting that grandmother Gretchen would outlive everyone.
They walked a little further, and Erica decided to ask why he wears such glasses.
"I need them to fly on the airplane," Rudolph explained.
Erica became very interested. She wanted to ask about the plane. But instead she asked about the scars. She tried not to ask this question, but wasn’t successful in this. She was quiet a curious girl.
She blushed and pressed her palm to the mouth.
Rudolph didn’t notice her embarrassment. He raised his hand to the face. He touched the scars. His eyes looked far away.
"This is the memory of one very bad person. If you can call him a person. Old story."
Erica became even more interested. She approached Rudolph closer. A sharp smell of his jacket hit her nose. His jacket was far from new, but it smelled as if it had just been bought from a leather tanner.
"Can you tell me?" She asked, touching Rudolph’s sleeve. "I just love all kinds of stories."
All the way, Erica looked out the window at Dresden asleep. There were no one on the streets. The yellow circle of moon in puddles.
A couple of times she caught the curious look of the driver. Van Richten mastered his men perfectly. For the whole journey the guy didn’t say a word, except "good evening". And he drove perfectly. The black Opel responded to every movement of the hands in lacquer gloves.
Gloves. And the smell of a new leather interior. Today she more than always thought of a gray-eyed man in a shabby pilot's jacket and face with white scars.