Riverdale 1942 - Part 3 by Archie Fan - betty_cooper72@yahoo.ca Archie and the others are joined by another prisoners of the Nazi Women ******************************************************************** Chapter 3 Jughead had managed to get Reggie to snap out of the stupor he had been in. However Reggie had just climbed onto the small cot in the cell and lay down facing the wall. Just then two guards returned lead by Cheryl and Veronika dragging Archie between them. Veronika opened the cell and the guards tossed Archie in. Jughead ran over to his friend and looked him over. Archie was sweaty but otherwise he seemed physically alright. Jughead noticed that Archie's eyes were rolled back and his tongue was lolling out the side of his mouth, it was different than what had happened to Reggie. "What did you do to him and what did you do to Reggie?" Jughead asked frightened and angry. "I showed your Reggie the true meaning off terror," Veronika replied with a smirk. "While we showed your red-headed friend here pleasure beyond what his mind could comprehend," Cheryl said. "We are gifted in the arts of both pleasure and pain," Veronika added. "Which one will be your choosing?" Cheryl asked Jughead. Jughead gulped not sure how to reply. Just then there was the sound of a horn from up above. A look of disappoint crossed both Cheryl and Veronika's faces. "Ich wollte mit der dritten amerikanischen spielen," Veronika said. "Wir k�nnen Spa� mit ihm sp�ter," Cheryl said. "Vielleicht Elizabeth m�chte sich uns anzuschlie�en." "Was f�r eine gute Idee. Dann k�nnen wir mit allen drei Amerikaner gleichzeitig zu spielen," Veronika said. The two of them then looked at Jughead. "We'll be back to play with you later," Cheryl said with a wink that left Jughead utterly terrified. He watched as the two women along with the two guards left the dungeon. Jughead turned around and looked at his two friends, the women had broken them mentally. He was worried about what they might do to him. ******************************************************************** Lieutenant Kevin Keller sat in the loft of a barn looking out with his binoculars. Keller was a Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent who had parachuted into France about two months ago. In that time he'd gradually made his way towards the French-German border a little ways south of Strasbourg. Kevin hadn't exactly volunteered for this task, rather the decision had more or less been forced upon him. His father was General James Keller, who was involved in the founding of the SOE. A month or so prior to his leaving for France, somehow one of Kevin's father's rivals had learned that Kevin was a homosexual. He had threatened to expose Kevin which would have seen him discharged from the army and Kevin's father would likely have been forced to resign in disgrace as he had helped Kevin enlist as an officer. After talking with his father, Kevin had decided to deploy to France as an SOE agent, that way it would be impossible for him to be brought up on charge of homosexual misconduct and anyone bring up such charges against somebody risking their life in such a manner would likely not succeed and his father would maintain his position. Amongst his many tasks since landing Kevin did what he could to report on the damage done by the British and American air raids on Germany, hence why he was so close to the French-German border. Since landing Kevin had made numerous allies amongst the French who had been instrumental in helping him navigate his way towards Germany and avoid German patrols. He'd also formed a small squad of French citizens that helped him take the fight to the Germans. There were Adele Tasses, Margaux Touffe and Henri Argiletonne. Adele and Margaux were young women in their early twenties looking to prove themselves, and Kevin was more than willing to use them as the Germans never seemed to look at women as anything more than homemakers. Adele had been the first one he had met not long after he had landed. Her father had been killed in the German attack in 1940 and her mother had died during the winter after falling ill and not being able to get medical treatment. Margaux had only joined up about a week ago. She was from Strasbourg and had fled when the Germans had taken over the town, she wasn't sure what had become of her parents as she had left them behind in Strasbourg. Henri was a former French Soldier who had served in the Great War, and although he was now in his fifties he knew the land well was still an excellent shot. The farm they were on had previously been owned by a Jewish family, the locals had suspected that they had been killed by the Germans but didn't know for sure. A group of three German soldiers on leave had been squatting on the farm when Kevin and his allies had ambushed them. They'd killed the soldiers and buried their bodies to avoid detection. Adele and Margaux were working to set up a radio while Henri was taking a nap. Kevin was keeping watch. He wasn't expecting any German patrols but the locals had talked about recent patrols of German unit composed entirely of women. Kevin wasn't sure what to make of the reports. As far as he was aware the Germans didn't permit women to serve in the military in anything other than a minor administrative position or as a nurse, but he also had no reason to disbelieve the reports either. He set his binoculars down for a moment and lay back against the some hay. He had been under constant fear of death since coming to France but now was the safest he had felt. However that feeling quickly vanished as he heard the distance noise of a diesel engine. Worriedly Kevin picked up his binoculars and scanned for the source of the noise. He soon found it in four German half-tracks accompanied by a K�belwagen. It looked like they were all fully laden with German troops. "Bollocks," Kevin cursed. He reached over and grabbed the Kar98k rifle he'd taken off a German soldier a few weeks ago. He'd long since run out of ammunition for the weapons he'd landed in France with and had taken to using German weapons. The Kar98 was quite similar to his Lee-Enfield, perhaps a bit more accurate. Kevin slid down the ladder to the barn's loft and ran over to the farm house and burst through the door. Adele and Margaux both looked at him in surprise while Henri was sleeping in a chair. "We've got company!" Kevin shouted in French. "Mon Dieu!" Adele exclaimed. "How many?" Margaux asked. "About 50, maybe a little less," Kevin replied. "Then this is where we shall make our stand!" Henri declared. "Are you crazy? They out numbers more than twelve to one!" Adele exclaimed. "That just means more Germans to kill," Henri retorted. He grabbed his own Fusil Automatique Mod�le 1917, the gun he had used back in first world war. "They did not kill me in the last war they will not kill me now!" he said. He stepped past Kevin and out the door. Kevin considered stopping him but decided against it, he turned back to face Adele and Margaux. "You two can run," he said. "Henri and I will buy you time to escape." "Au revoir," Margaux said giving Kevin a hug before she ran out the farmhouse's back door. Adele however didn't move. Instead she picked up a capture MP-40 and checked that it was loaded. "You don't have to do this," Kevin told her. "Yes I do," Adele said. "These people are invaders in my homeland; it's my duty to drive them out." "Well if we don't make it through this, it's been an honour to work alongside you," Kevin said. "You as well," Adele responded. The two of them then exited the farmhouse. They saw that Henri had taken up a defensive position behind a woodpile. "I'm going to go back up to the loft in the barn," Kevin said. "Adele I'd recommend taking up a spot near the barn as well." "Where's Margaux?" Henri asked. "She decided to retreat," Kevin replied. "L�che," Henri muttered. Kevin just shook his head but ignored the comment. "We don't have a lot of ammunition so we need to make every shot count," Kevin said. "So wait until they're well within range before opening fire." "Yes sir," Adele responded with a salute. Henri just gave grunt to acknowledge the order. Kevin and Adele then ran to the barn and took up their positions. As Kevin peered down the sights of his gun he saw the column of troops approach. However as they were about half-way up the dirt driveway to the farm the half-tracks came to a stop and the troops began to disembark. That was when he noticed something unusual about them. "My god, they're all women!" he muttered in surprise. Before he could get over his surprise they women all opened fire. Kevin saw Henri pop up out of his position to return fire only to be killed by a shot to the head before he could even get a shot off. "How did they know we were here?" Kevin wondered to himself. Bullets soon whistled close to Kevin, striking the barn or passing over his head. He fired off a few wild shots but he didn't think he hit anything. He then crawled over to the ladder and climbed down. He saw Adele was hiding behind the barn door crouched and down and terrified holding onto her weapon as bullets hammered into the wooden barn. "Adele we need to retreat," Kevin said. Adele looked at him and suddenly her eyes went wide. "M..." she started to say. There was a bang and suddenly Adele dropped to the ground a bullet wound in right in the middle of her forehead. She fell backwards and hit the dirt floor of the barn kicking up some dust as she lay completely still. It took Kevin a moment to realize that the shot that had killed Adele hadn't come from the Nazis outside but from inside the barn. He turned around to see Margaux standing behind him pointing a Luger P08 pistol at him, a smug smirk on her face. "Margaux, what are you doing?" Kevin asked in disbelief. "Isn't it obvious? I'm betraying you to the Germans," Margaux responded arrogantly. "But why?" Kevin asked. "Because I'm half-German myself," Margaux replied. "Both of my parents have German ancestry, many people in Strasbourg do. And have you read Mein Kampf? Hitler is amazing!" Kevin was disgusted. However he knew that he wasn't in any position to do anything, he had seen Margaux in action and she was quite proficient with a gun and in the brief time he'd known her he had seen her kill three Nazi soldiers. That was part of why her betrayal was so confusing. Just then Kevin noticed that the gun fire from outside the barn had stopped and everything had gone silent. "Why didn't you just turn me over when we first met?" Kevin asked. "Well I wasn't going to do it for nothing," Margaux replied. "Plus most of the soldiers we encountered would have just killed you on sight. But I know you're far more valuable, especially given who your father is." Kevin understood what she meant. He could be used as a bargaining chip by the Nazi's against his father. Just then the barns door was kicked in and women dressed in SS uniforms filed in quickly and pointed their weapons at him. They were followed by a tall blonde woman with her hair in a long braid dressed in an SS officer's uniform, her rank identifying her as an Untersturmf�hrer, about the equivalent rank of a Lieutenant. "Untersturmf�hrer K�fer, Hier ist der Spion, wie versprochen," Margaux said in excellent German. Kevin was fuming inwardly. Since they had met, Margaux had claimed to know very little German, yet she spoke it proficiently. "Wunderbar, den bringe zu mir," the woman, Untersturmf�hrer K�fer if Kevin was understanding in his limited German correctly, said. Margaux prodded Kevin roughly in the back with her pistol forced him to walk over to the woman. Kevin was surprised at how tall she was, just a little under six feet. "Hmm, you are English, yes?" the woman asked in impressively good English. Kevin didn't say anything but just stared back. "Margaux here says your father is General James Keller, is she telling the truth?" the woman asked. Again Kevin didn't reply and just stared back at the woman. Suddenly the woman drew her pistol and shot Margaux in the chest twice. Margaux fell backwards clutching at the wounds which were bleeding profusely her eyes wide with surprise. "What did you shoot her for?" Kevin shouted in anger and shock. "She is a traitor to Germany," the woman replied. "The punishment for treason is death." The woman then stepped forward and fired one last shot into Margaux's skull finishing her off. "Betrachten sie ihre schnellen tod zahlung f�r ihre unterst�tzung," she said before spitting on Margaux's corpse. She then looked back up at Kevin. "So do you have anything you wish to tell me?" she asked. "Or would you prefer to remain silent?" Kevin just stared back at her his jaw clenched, his face as impassive as he could make it. He wasn't about to give her any information. The woman just smiled back at him undeterred. "Very well," she said before turning to her female troops. "Nehmen sie den spion in die gefangenschaft. Wir werden auf Festung Bl�hen zur�ckzukehren." Several of her troops stepped towards Kevin pointing their weapons at him. Kevin raised his arms in surrender and allowed them to lead him back towards their half-tracks. His hands were bound with rope and then he was shoved on board. As the other troops squeezed in, Kevin wondered just where he was being taken and what would happen to him. They travelled quite a distance heading deep into the south of Germany. Eventually they reached a small village at the foot of a mountain. As they passed through the village Kevin noticed that women had come out from the houses and given the Nazi salute to the convoy as it passed. He noted that he didn't see any men however it was possible that the majority of the men from this village had been conscripted into the army and pressed into service on the Eastern front against the Soviets. But he also hadn't seen any elderly men or young boys and that he found rather strange. The convoy made its way up to a castle located at the top of the mountain. Kevin could tell it had originally been built years ago but had recently been upgraded with modern fortifications. He could see the powerful German 88mm anti-aircraft guns mounted on the recently thickened walls that surrounded the castle. The convoy pulled into the courtyard and came to a stop. As the soldiers were disembarking Kevin saw a very tall red headed woman making her way towards the convoy from the castle's main entrance. All of the women soldiers gave the Nazi salute as the woman approach. "Untersturmf�hrer K�fer, ich sehe, sie einen anderen gefangenen gebracht haben," the woman said. Kevin looked the woman over studying her. She was incredibly tall for a woman well over six feet. She wore a black dress that appeared to be made from silk and wore the red arm band with a swastika on it of the Nazi Party on her left arm. She had bright red hair that was hung slightly below her shoulders in carefully styled curls. "Dieser spion wurde in Frankreich in betrieb. Er ist der sohn eines hochrangigen milit�rsprecher, oder so mein gew�hrsmann sagte mir, Baronin Bl�hen," Untersturmf�hrer K�fer reported. "Er ist ein Engl�nder, ja?" the woman asked. "Ja," Untersturmf�hrer K�fer replied. The woman stepped towards Kevin and looked him up and down haughtily. "So, what is your name?" the woman asked him in perfect English, surprising Kevin. "Tell me yours first," Kevin retorted. The woman chuckled. "Of course where are my manners," she apologized. "I am Baroness Penelope Bl�hen. And who are you?" Kevin wasn't aware that there were German aristocrats left as the aristocracy had been abolished following the last Great War, and he wasn't aware of Hitler reviving it either. He had also never heard of the House of Bl�hen, but then he wasn't exactly schooled on old German nobility lines. "I wasn't aware that the Nazis had brought back the aristocracy," Kevin said. "They have not... yet," Baroness Bl�hen replied. "Now tell me your name please." "So then how come you are called Baroness?" Kevin inquired ignoring her request. Without warning she smacked Kevin across the face with the back of her hand. Kevin dropped to one knee and raised his bound hands to his face. He could feel that at least one of his teeth had been jarred loose by the force of the blow. "Your name," Baroness Bl�hen insisted her tone now distinctly filled with anger. "Lieutenant Kevin Keller," Kevin said as he slowly got to his feet. "Ah, the son of General James Keller," Baroness Bl�hen said her tone becoming jovial. "I recall meeting him when I attended Cambridge. Although he was only a Captain back then." Kevin did his best to hide his surprise that she knew his father. Just then he saw two more women approaching from a nearby stairwell that led down somewhere, both of them wearing SS officer uniforms. One had long black hair that hung down nearly to her waist, while the other had red hair like the Baroness that was tied into a pair of curled braids. "Veronika, Cheryl, bitte nehmen sie dies gefangenen zu den kerker zum verh�r," the Baroness said. "Baronin, Ich m�chte die Ehre der Abfragens des Spion," Untersturmf�hrer K�fer requested. "Sehr gut. Sie und Veronika k�nnen den spion zusammen zu verh�ren," Baroness Bl�hen replied. "Danke Baronin!" Untersturmf�hrer K�fer said. She and a pair of her soldiers then forced towards the stairwell that the other two SS officer women had emerged from. They were accompanied by the black haired one. Kevin soon found himself at a small prison. There was a cell that had what looked like three American airmen in it. Two of them seemed to be in some sort of stare of shock, while the third was attending to his friends. Kevin was forced into an adjacent cell and his bindings were removed before the cell was locked behind him. "We'll be back for you shortly," Untersturmf�hrer K�fer said. She and the black haired woman then disappeared through a nearby door. Kevin turned to the prisoners in the other cell. "Do you gents know what's going on here?" Kevin asked. The one who was attending to his friends stopped. "I'm not sure," he said. "But whatever it is they've messed up my friends here." Kevin looked at the other two Americans, one was lying on one of the cots facing the wall curled up in the fetal position and not moving. The other one was lying on the ground his eyes rolled back his mouth hanging open. Kevin wasn't sure what had been done to them, but they both looked physically fine. But that didn't rule out psychological torture. Kevin worriedly wondered what was going to happen to him. To be continued...