Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 16:23:47 -0500 Reply-To: LGreeneyes@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Laura Schomberg Subject: New: First Time Out part 2 Okay, here's the second part. I wasn't planning on sending it out so soon but since I had to borrow a friend's computer (mine is currently possessed by Gremlins, I can send very short stuff out but that's it) to get this out I decided that I better get part two out while I could. Let me know what you think. Send all replies to LGreeneyes@aol.com ***************************************************************** *********** First Time Out Part 2 By Laura Schomberg Duncan's Loft 10:30 am Richie sat on Duncan's sofa trying to think of something that he hadn't done. He had put a sign on the dojo door saying that it was closed. He had found some of his clothes for Ellie to wear since Duncan's would be too big. After that incident with Kristen Duncan had let him keep a change of clothes at the loft. He had called Adam. Now that conversation was almost as strange as the one he had with Ellie. "Hi Adam." "Do you know what time it is?" "About 6:30." "This had better be good." Obviously Adam wasn't an early riser. "Look, I need a favor. Duncan's plane comes in at 10:00. Could you pick him up?" "Why can't you?" "We've got company." "Who?" "Ellianna. She's sleeping now. If you don't want to go to get Duncan, will you come here?" "Does Anna know that you're calling me?" "Anna? Um, she's going by Ellie now. Yeah, she knows." There was a pause on the other end. "Did she say anything?" "Just that you were an old friend." "How did she sound?" "I don't know how to explain it really. I know I'd hate to be an old friend like that." The pause this time was so long that Richie was beginning to think that Adam had hung up. "I knew she wouldn't forget but I did hope she'd forgive." "What?" "Nothing. I'll pick up Duncan. What flight?" Richie told him. No, there wasn't anything left for him to do until Duncan and Adam arrived. He had even cleaned Duncan's loft. Not that it was that dirty in the first place. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The snowstorm had let up but it was still bitterly cold. Ellie trudged on with her head bent down. She could no longer feel her hands so she turned her head to the left to make sure she still held Danka's hand. She did. Danka had refused to wear Ellie's coat. It wasn't much but it was better than Danka's coat. And it didn't have that damn yellow star patched onto it. Ellie's coat had a patch but it was a green triangle not a yellow Star of David. Danka didn't look like she'd last much longer. The past few years had been hard on the child. She was fourteen but was no taller than a ten year old. And she was so painfully thin. They had been marching for about an hour. They weren't the only ones. Several thousand people, mostly women, were also marching. Only the guards on their motorcycles were warm enough. The guards had orders to shoot all stragglers. They were doing a good job. Ellie looked around to see where the guards were. If only there was a big enough opening they could take off toward the trees. If she had to she would carry Danka. The guards were just too close. Hamann especially. He seemed to be keeping an eye on them in particular. Ellie felt herself being pulled to the ground. She turned back just in time to see Danka drop to her knees on the cold road. "Danka, get up!" "I can't. It's so cold." Ellie looked up in time to see Hamann raise his rifle and point it at Danka. "NO!! I'll carry her. You don't have to shoot her!" Ellie stood in front of Danka, trying to shield the child with her body. Hamann grinned and adjusted his aim. The rifle was now pointing at Ellie's head. She closed her eyes. Her head snapped back and her body twisted and then slammed into the road. She never heard the shoot. was her last thought. Ellie flung her hands to her head, screaming. Awakenings were always so painful for Ellie. And so confusing. Ellie looked around, trying to get her bearings and remember what had happened. She saw what looked like bundles of clothes scattered throughout the snow. A closer look at the nearest bundle showed that they were really bodies. The march! "Danka! Danka!" Ellie looked around her. None of the bodies that she saw could be the child's, they were all too big. Danka had to be nearby. Ellie didn't believe that Hamann would let her live. Slowly she got up and started examining every bundle carefully. The motorcycle tracks caught her eye. These were too far from the road and headed towards the trees. Ellie followed the tracks and then the boot tracks toward a clump of bushes. She stopped just before the bushes. "Please, no," she whispered. Slowly she walked around the bushes. Danka's almost nude body lay on the other side. She had been brutally raped and then strangled. Ellie fell to the ground beside the girl. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Richie jumped off the sofa and ran toward the bed. Ellie was sitting up in the bed screaming. Richie sat on the bed next to her and grabbed her shoulders. He started to shake her. "Ellie! Ellie! It's alright! Wake up!" Ellie's eyes snapped open and locked onto Richie's. Her hands came up and grabbed his arms as she looked wildly around the room. "It's okay. You're safe here. I won't let anything happen to you." Ellie turned back to Richie. He could see the panic leaving her eyes to be replaced by tears. Richie wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against his chest. "I'm sorry." "Why? Everyone has bad dreams." "It wasn't a dream. I mean," she sighed, "it was a memory." "Do you want to tell me about it." When Ellie hesitated Richie added, "It might help." "What do you know about the holocaust?" "I know that 6 million Jews died during the holocaust. Most in concentration camps." "Not all. I was in a camp called Stutthof for about 2 1/2 years at the end of the war. It was outside Danzig, Poland. I wasn't sent there because I was a Jew but because I was a criminal." "What did you do?" "I tried to help Jews. That was considered a crime. In January of '45 the Germans decided to close the camp and marched most of us west ward. I don't know where we were heading. I never got there." Ellie preceded to tell Richie about her dream. Richie released his hold on her and moved back a little. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had heard about the atrocities and he had seen a few movies about that era but what Ellie was telling him was worse than anything he had heard before. "Hamann killed Danka?" Richie asked when Ellie finished her tale. "Yes. But not for long." Richie gasped, "You mean she was one of us?" Ellie dropped her head with a small shake. "I failed her." Richie reached under Ellie's chin and turned her head back up to look at him. "You did your best. What else could you do?" "I don't know." "Where is Danka now?" Ellie pointed toward her chest. Her eyes were brimming with tears. "You took her head?" "About twenty years later. At first I took her to a convent that I could trust. But she wasn't happy. I would have taken her to be with her own people but there were so few left and there weren't any left that I trusted. At least none who lived on holy ground." "What happened?" "She wasn't happy," Ellie repeated. "Every year when I went to see how she was doing she would ask me to take her head. I would refuse. I was sure that given time she would get over what happened to her. But the nuns told me that she had the same horrible nightmare every night. One year when I went to see her she told me that if I didn't take her head she would find someone who would. I knew she meant it." "So you took her head." Ellie just nodded. A sobbed escaped her as her tears started to flow down her face. Richie pulled her back into his arms. He slowly started to rock her back in forth all the while telling Ellie that everything would be okay. The buzz stopped them both. "That must be Duncan and Adam," Richie said. Ellie pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. "No offense, but you're filthy. Why don't you take a shower and I'll fix you something to eat. I don't think that the guys are going to mind." Ellie nodded and stood up. She looked around for the bathroom and then walked toward the door. "I left some clothes in there for you. Their mine. I hope you don't mind." Ellie had reached the door and turned back to Richie smiling. Richie noticed that the smile never reached her eyes. "I love men's clothes. Thank you." She closed the door the at the same time that the elevator reached the loft. Richie turned toward the elevator and saw three men getting off. One of them, Joe Dawson, was carrying a long package. "Where is she?" Duncan was the first to ask. "Taking a shower." "Did she say anything?" That question came from Joe. "Up until a few minutes ago she was sleeping. She had a bad nightmare." "The march," Adam said. "How did you know?" "That's what she's been dreaming about for the last 51 years." Richie thought. "Then you know about Danka." Adam nodded. "You know she was one of us." Adam looked shocked. The other two men just looked confused. "She never told you?" Adam just shook his head. "Will one of you please tell me what you two are talking about, " Joe said as he moved over to the sofa and sat down. Duncan was still standing. He looked from Adam to Richie. "Well?" "I promised Ellie I'd fix her something to eat." "I'll do that," Adam said. "I know what she likes anyway." Duncan turned back to Richie and motioned him over to the sofa. He sat in a chair across from Richie and Joe. Richie took a deep breath and then started to tell them about Ellie's dream and what happened to Danka. End of Part two Author's note: The march from Stutthof occurred on January 25, 1945. 33.000 women and 18,000 men were marched out of the camp. 91% of the women and 17% of the men were Jews. They headed most west (the route I decided to take) and some east. There is an excellent book called The Holocaust which tells about both marches (among other things). If you want to find out why I didn't chose the march east drop me a line. =========================================================================