The following evening, Sera decided to take the risk and call Riq. It had been five days since she'd arrived in Spain, and she hadn't dared make a phone call. But she couldn't go without hearing news any longer.
She found a pay phone not far from a fruit stand and dialed the number Riq had given her. She let it ring once, then hung up, then retrieved her coin and dialed again. It rang only once before someone picked up.
"Hello?" Riq asked.
Sera was so happy to hear a friendly voice, her words came out in an explosion of information. She told him about the postmortem examination, Clauss, and even Columbus's ship. Finally, she drew in a breath long enough to hear him telling her to stop talking. "Why?" she asked. "What's wrong? Is Dak okay? Are you?"
Now that she was listening, Riq's voice was clearly strained. "Do you still have the Infinity Ring?" he asked.
"Yes, of course. Why?"
"You need to leave Spain. Go anywhere. Get --" Then his words ended in a groan and the phone went silent.
"Riq!" Sera yelled. "Riq!"
Someone on the other end of the line picked up the phone. She heard breathing before any words were spoken. Then someone whispered, "Sera." The voice was like she imagined a snake would sound. "Sera, do you know who I am?"
"Tilda." Sera's hand began shaking so hard she almost dropped the phone.
"If you leave the country with that Infinity Ring, what do you think will happen to Riq?"
"Leave him alone!"
"Tomorrow, Riq and I will be in Madrid, the capital of Spain. If you want him back, then meet me in Retiro Park at noon with the Infinity Ring. Beside the lake is a large monument. Be there, or you will never see Riq again."
Sera started to answer but the line went dead. She hung up her phone and clutched the sack holding the Infinity Ring in her hands. What was she supposed to do now?
There wasn't time for her to answer her own question. Only seconds after she left the phone booth, Clauss appeared and gripped her arm so tightly it made her wince. He dug into her pocket and pulled out the money from the doctor.
"Who gave you this?"
"The doctor at the morgue."
"And who were you talking to just now?"
Sera tried to break free, but it did no good. "A friend of mine who's coming to Madrid. I have to go see him. Now let me go!"
"Madrid?" Clauss released her arm but stepped closer to her. "You don't have enough money to get there."
No, she didn't. And she couldn't use the Infinity Ring again, not so soon. There had to be another way.
"I'm trying to get you more information," Sera said. "You could pay me now, and then --"
"I have a better plan." Clauss withdrew an envelope from his suit jacket and held it out to her. "If you safely deliver this letter for me, I will help you get to Madrid."
"Deliver the letter to who?" Sera figured she was already in enough trouble, and so was Riq. Mincemeat Man would have to wait until she knew what to do about Tilda.
Clauss sighed. "I tried everything I could think of to get Major Martin's papers these past few days. No matter what I try, the officials here are protecting them far too well. So well, in fact, that I am sure they must contain some important information."
Very important, Sera thought. So important that it was driving her crazy. Spain was supposed to hand the papers over to the Nazis, not protect them!
Clauss continued, "Martin's briefcase is being sent to Madrid today. It is very embarrassing to me to lose access to it, and the Fuhrer will be disappointed in my failures. This letter is for my friend in Madrid. It explains why I could not get the briefcase and hopefully he can explain to the Fuhrer."
"Why not just mail it, or deliver it yourself?" Sera asked.
"Letters such as these do not go through the mail, and this town is my post. I'm not allowed to leave."
Sera folded her arms and stared up at him. "So you'll pay my way to Madrid, and then trust me to carry that letter there?"
Clauss shook his head. "I don't trust anyone. But I also know that if there's any trouble along the way, the Allies will never search a young girl. And if you fail to deliver this letter, or if you open it yourself, my friend in Madrid will find you, and please believe me when I say that he is more desperate and far less kind than I am."
Sera reached for the letter but saw nothing written for the address. "Who is it for?"
"Major Karl-Erich Kuhlenthal. He is one of Hitler's most trusted men in Spain, or he once was. If he doesn't get Martin's papers, then his career is finished."
"What does he think about Major Martin?"
Clauss shrugged. "If Kuhlenthal can get the papers, and if they're real, then he will save his career. So for his sake, I hope they are real."
For safekeeping, Sera stuffed the letter in the bag holding the Infinity Ring. Before dropping her off at the train station, Clauss even bought her a small suitcase to help her look more like a traveler, then put her on a train to Madrid.
"Major Kuhlenthal should meet you at the train station, but if he doesn't, then you can always find him at the Spanish Ministry. Give him this letter, and then stay out of his way if you want to be safe."
Sera nodded, and ran his words through her mind as the train pulled away from the station. She would give Kuhlenthal the letter, and she definitely wanted to be safe. But if Mincemeat Man was going to succeed, the last thing she could do was stay out of his way.
SERA ARRIVED at the Madrid train station early the next morning. The air was cool, but the skies were clear. Hopefully, it would warm up before she turned into a PopSQicle.
She had the letter for Major Kuhlenthal clutched in her hand. For most of the train ride, that's where it had been, so she would be sure not to lose it. The ride here had been crowded and miserable, with people speaking so many languages that it drove the translator in her ear nuts. At one point she had been pushed into a small kitchen area where she was nearly burned by a hot coffeepot. For a few moments she stared at it as she considered using it to steam open the envelope. Then she could know what the letter said. However, Dak had once told her about an old spy trick of leaving something inconspicuous in the seal of an envelope, such as an eyelash or hair, to test whether someone else had opened it. She wondered if Clauss had done that to the letter for Major Kuhlenthal, or for that matter, whether the British had done that with Major Martin's sealed letters.
Clauss hadn't been clear on where she was supposed to meet Kuhlenthal, only that he would meet her at the train station. And that question was answered the instant she stepped off the train.
The tall man standing on the train platform immediately reminded her of a hawk. His sharp blue eyes were on her the moment she emerged, and the weight of his glare made her feet drag as she shuffled forward. He looked her over like he was examining a moldy piece of bread.
"You're the child sent by Clauss?" he asked.
Sera tried not to let her irritation show. "Yes."
"What does it say about the Nazis that we need the help of a young girl?"
Sera had more than a few ideas of what she'd say about the Nazis, but she only straightened up tall and said, "I saw the postmortem and the papers inside the briefcase. Nobody would suspect someone like me."
"I hope he didn't pay you too much for that useless information," Kuhlenthal said. "Those papers are probably fakes anyway. We are suspicious."
"It's good that you are," Sera said. "Because I think Captain Clauss believes they're real. You should let him write to the Fuhrer about the papers. If he's wrong, he'll get the blame."
"And if he's right, he'll get the credit!" Kuhlenthal shook his head sharply. "No. If the Fuhrer is going to reward one of his officers, it must be me."
Sera glanced at a clock on the wall of the station. She wasn't sure how long it would take for her to get to Retiro Park from here, but she didn't see the point of sticking around just to get insulted again.
"Listen, I've got to go," Sera said. "If you don't need my help --"
/> "I don't," Kuhlenthal said. "Not unless you can read English well. I speak the language, but once I get those papers, it might help to have another set of eyes on them."
Sera smiled. "I read it as well as if I'd grown up with it." She eyed the clock again. "I'd really better go, but I'll try to stay close to the Ministry. If you need to find me, that's where I'll be."
Kuhlenthal dismissed her, but she felt his attention still on her as she ran off. Hopefully, she could shake off his eyes in time to take care of some quick business at the train station and then make the exchange with Tilda.
With so many other passengers getting off in Madrid, it took Sera some time to locate a taxi to take her to the park, and it cost her all the money the doctor had given her a few days earlier. She was getting hungry, and the food from the markets she passed only made the hunger worse, but nothing could be done about that.
Once she arrived at Retiro Park, Sera took time to become familiar with the area and gather a few things in preparation for meeting Tilda. Then she found a quiet hiding place by the lake where she could see everyone who came and went. While she waited, it was hard not to get distracted by the majesty of the park. A series of Roman columns arched around an open gathering place. In the center of it, overlooking the lake, was a huge marble monument with several statues surrounding it. The largest statue on top was done in bronze, and was a tribute to a former Spanish king astride his horse.
At exactly twelve o'clock, Tilda whisked right past Sera's hiding place, strode through the marble columns, and stood impatiently beside the monument. Sera watched her for a few minutes, checking whether she was there alone, and whether enough people were around that she could call for help if needed. But where was Riq? Did Tilda really expect to get the Infinity Ring without Riq there to trade?
Of course she did. Tilda was controlling this exchange. To save Riq, Tilda expected Sera to do anything Tilda demanded.
Sera emerged from her hiding place with the suitcase Clauss had given her in both hands. She passed through the marble columns and caught Tilda's eye.
Tilda didn't smile, didn't even flinch a muscle. She simply stood as expressionless as the statue above her.
"There's no point in you taking the Infinity Ring," Sera said. "I'm the only one who can operate it because it works off my DNA."
"Let me worry about that."
Tilda reached for the suitcase, but Sera clutched it to her chest and locked her arms around it.
Tilda reached out a spiny hand and plucked a hair from Sera's head, then folded it into her palm. "Problem solved."
Sera gritted her teeth. She should've seen that one coming. "You still don't get the Ring until I get Riq back."
"And you don't get to set the terms here!" Tilda's eyes darted around as other people took notice of their conversation. Lowering her voice, she said, "Hand that over, and I'll tell you where to find your friend."
"Maybe I've changed my mind." Sera back stepped away from Tilda. "You just want the Ring so you can control time, but that doesn't work! The fabric of reality can't take that kind of abuse. All you can do is make your own place in history."
Tilda grabbed the suitcase. "Oh, that's exactly what I plan to do. Trust me."
Sera tugged back, but Tilda had a strong hold on it. "You won't be able to figure it out!" Sera said.
"Then maybe you should come and help me." By then Tilda had the suitcase handle in one hand, and the other locked around Sera's arm. Sera tried pulling away, but Tilda wasn't giving in. And for Sera's plan to work, she had to give this creep the slip.
She had come to save Riq, but now it looked as if she was going to be captured right along with him!
RIQ AWOKE in darkness with the back of his head feeling like someone was hitting it with a mallet. He raised his hands to calm the headache, then realized they were tied in front of him. His legs were tied, too, and he must have been this way for some time because his lower leg had fallen asleep and was tingling with pain.
Riq tried to shake it out, but the jostling only made his arm brush along something beneath him that was sharp and left small cuts in his skin. Where was he anyway?
Wiggling his body around, Riq felt a low metal roof over his head, an uneven floor, and metal sides. Then he groaned. This was the trunk of a car. An early model SQuautomobile, no doubt.
The last thing he remembered was being on the phone with Sera, trying to warn her about Tilda. Then someone clunked him on the head and now he was in here. The car was stopped, which might mean they had already arrived wherever they were going. Probably Spain, where Sera and the Infinity Ring were.
Riq rolled again, hoping to find a way out of the trunk. He couldn't kick his way free; even feeling the thick metal with his hands he could tell it was far more solid than the cars of his era. Maybe it was true what his grandmother had always told him. Maybe things were made better back in the day.
So he moved to his back again, but this time he landed directly on that sharp edge of metal. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it was hard to avoid and would have him in slices by the time someone came for him. He tried shifting, but the ropes around his wrists got caught on the metal piece.
Riq rolled his eyes -- it was one of his biggest "duh" moments ever. Immediately, he started scraping the rope against the metal, letting the sharp edge dig deeper and deeper into the fibers. It took him longer than he wanted, but finally there was a snap and the rope loosened. He shook it off, then crouched forward and began untying the rope around his feet.
Once he was free, he felt around the trunk for any way to release the latch, but nothing he pressed on did any good, and there didn't seem to be anything with him in this trunk that could be used to escape. His only choice was to wait until someone opened the trunk from the outside. Maybe if he jumped up at just the right time . . .
Maybe not. Tilda's two SQ thugs were big guys, and unless they were half asleep they'd catch him before he even got to a sitting position.
And it might already be too late. The car had been parked for some time. Tilda might have the Ring now. She was desperate to get it; she had talked about nothing else while she had him captured, waiting each night for Sera to call. She kept asking Riq about it until he convinced her that only Sera knew how to operate it or how it worked.
But then he heard the car doors open and shut, and voices outside the trunk -- the two SQ men. They were arguing about something, though he couldn't catch any of the words. Then one man yelled to the other to stop talking so loudly or Tilda would be furious with them, and Riq couldn't help but smile. No matter how big and brutal those guys were, they were still afraid of Tilda.
When the trunk lid opened, Riq was lying on his side in the same position as when he'd first awoken. The ropes were over his wrists and ankles as if he was still tied up, and his eyes were closed.
"How hard did you hit him anyway?" one of the men asked.
"I dunno. Is he still alive?"
The first guy reached down and felt for the pulse at his neck. "Of course he is. And what do we care if he's hurt anyway? Once we have the Infinity Ring, it doesn't matter if he lives."
Riq resented that. It mattered a great deal to him whether he lived.
"All I care about is the money she promised us. Nothing else."
"What does money matter?" The man speaking now lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "If we stay close to Tilda until she has the Ring, we could take it for ourselves and sell it for all the money in the world."
They both laughed greedily. Then one of them asked, "Do you think that girl is at the lake yet?"
"How would I know? But Tilda left a long time ago. We need to make room in this trunk. When she gets the Ring, she'll bring the girl back here. Then we'll take them both for a long ride. Maybe Tilda, too."
"A long, one-way ride," the other man said, chuckling. He reached forward to scoot Riq's body deeper into the trunk. When he did, Riq shot out his legs and kicked the man backward. Soccer practice had been usefu
l for something other than making goals. It also built excellent leg muscles.
The man stumbled back, knocking the other to the ground with him, and Riq leapt from the trunk like a cannon had shot him out of there. Both men got to their feet and began chasing him down the street.
The car had been parked in a sort of alley but across from a large park - probably the park where Sera was supposed to meet Tilda. The thugs said they weren't sure if that meeting had happened yet, only that it would happen near a lake.
But it couldn't be just anywhere at the lake. There would have to be some sort of landmark. Someplace easy for both of them to find. He had to look for something like that.
He ran across the street with the two SQ men not far behind him. But again, soccer was paying off. Riq could run fast, and he was sure they would get tired before he did. The park was busy today, and Riq did his best to not get tangled in the crowds. He passed a small fountain and paused to look back, but saw the SQ men just on the opposite side. One lunged for him and ended up splashing into the fountain.
Up ahead was a group of children, probably on a school trip. Riq weaved among them effortlessly and then darted off the trail at an intersection, onto a small path between tall rows of thick green shrubs. He squeezed between two shrubs and used a tiny hole in the greenery to peek through.
The men caught up to the schoolchildren, which slowed them down considerably. They came to the intersection and looked in all directions, then continued down the main park trail. Riq exhaled in relief. At least for now, he was safe.
But he couldn't stay hidden. He had to find Sera, and fast.
Riq emerged from his hiding place and saw a man and his wife not far from him. He tapped the man's shoulder, then in Spanish asked him if there were any landmarks near the lake. The man rolled his eyes as if Riq had just asked the most obvious question in the world, right up there with which direction he should look to find the sky. But he told him to look for the great monument, jerked a finger in that direction, and Riq went running, tossing a gracias behind him.