Power of the Sword - Smith Wilbur - Страница 141
- Предыдущая
- 141/191
- Следующая
Now Heidi will arrange for your baggage to be collected and will get you all seated in the limousines. From now on if there is anything you need, ask Heidi! She is your big sister and your stepmother. They laughed and whistled and cheered and Heidi, smiling and charming but quick and efficient, took over. Within minutes their baggage had been whisked away by a band of uniformed porters and she led them down the long glassdomed platform to the magnificent entrance portals of the railway station where a line of black Mercedes limousines was waiting for them.
Manfred, Uncle Tromp and Roelf Stander climbed into the back seat of one of them, and the driver was just about to pull away when Heidi waved to him and came running back along the kerb. She wore high heels and they threw tension on her calf muscles, emphasizing their lovely lines and the fine delicacy of her ankles. Neither Sarah nor any of the girls Manfred knew at home wore high heels.
Heidi opened the front passenger door and stuck her head into the Mercedes. You gentlemen will object if I ride with you, yes? she asked with that radiant smile, and they all protested vigorously, even Uncle Tromp joining in.
No! No! Please come in. She slipped into the seat beside the driver, slammed the door, and immediately wriggled round so that she was facing them, with her arms folded along the back of her seat.
I am so excited to meet you, she told them in her accented English. I have read so much about Africa, the animals and the Zulus, and one day I will travel there. You must promise to tell me all about your beautiful country, and I will tell you all about my beautiful Germany. They agreed enthusiastically, and she looked directly at Uncle Tromp.
Now, let me guess. You will be the Reverend Tromp Bierman, the team boxing coach? she asked, and Uncle Tromp beamed.
How clever of you. I have seen your photograph, she admitted. 'How could I forget such a magnificent beard? Uncle Tromp looked highly gratified. But you must tell me who the others are. This is Roelf Stander, our heavyweight boxer, Uncle Tromp introduced them. 'And this is Manfred De La Rey, our light heavyweight. Manfred was certain that she reacted to his name, a lift to one corner of her mouth and slight narrowing of the eyes; then she was smiling again. We will all be good friends, she said, and Manfred replied in German.
My people, the Afrikaners, have always been the loyal friends of the German people. Oh, your German is perfect, she exclaimed with delight in the same language. Where did you learn to speak like a true German? My paternal grandmother and my mother were both pureblooded Germans. Then you will find much to interest you in our country. She switched back to English and began to lecture, pointing out the sights of the city as the line of black Mercedes, Olympic pennants fluttering on the bonnets, sped through the streets.
This is the famous Unter den Linden, the street we Berliners love so dearly. It was broad and magnificent with linden trees growing down the promenade that divided the double carriageway. The street is a mile long. That is the royal palace behind us, and there ahead of us is the Brandenburg Tor. The tall colonnades of the monument were decked with enormous banners that hung from the quadriga charioteer group of figures on the summit to the ground far below; the crimson and black swastika flanked by the multi-coloured rings of the Olympic symbol billowed and heaved in the light breeze.
That is the state opera house, Heidi turned to point through the side window. It was built in 1741 She was entertaining and informative.
See how the people of Berlin welcome you, she cried, with that gay brittle enthusiasm which seemed to characterize all the citizens of National Socialist Germany. Look!
Look! Berlin was a city of flags and banners. From every public building, department store, apartment block and private dwelling the flags fluttered and waved, swastikas and the Olympic rings, thousands upon tens of thousands.
When they came at last to the apartment block in the Olympic village that had been set aside for them, an honour guard of the Hitler Youth with burning torches waited to welcome them, and another band drawn up on the sidewalk broke into The Voice of South Africa', the national anthem.
Inside the building Heidi issued each of them with a booklet filled with coloured coupons by which every last detail of their personal arrangements were organized, from their room and the bed on which they would sleep, and the buses that would carry them to and from the Olympic complex, to the chanong rooms and the numbers of the lockers that they had been allocated at the stadium.
Here in this house you will have your own chef and dining-hall. Food will be prepared to your own preference, with due regard to any special diets or tastes. There is a doctor and a dentist available at any hour. Dry-cleaning and laundry, radios and telephones, a private masseur for the team, a secretary with a typewriter, It had all been arranged, and they were amazed by the precise, meticulous planning.
Please find your rooms, your luggage is already there waiting for you. Unpack and relax. Tomorrow morning I will take you on the bus for a tour of the Reichssportfeld, the Olympic complex. It is ten miles from here, so we will leave immediately after breakfast at eight-thirty am. In the meantime, if there is anything, anything at all, that you want, you have only to ask me. I know what I'd like to ask her for, one of the weightlifters whispered, rolling his eyes, and Manfred clenched his fists with anger at the impertinence, even though Heidi had not heard it.
Until tomorrow, she called gaily, and went through to the kitchens to talk to the chef.
Now that is what I call a woman Uncle Tromp growled.
I give thanks that I am a man of the cloth, old and happily married, and beyond all the temptations of Eve., There were cries of mock commiserations for Uncle Tromp was by this time everybody's uncle.
All right! He was suddenly stern.
Running shoes, all you lazy young dogs. A quick ten miles before supper, please! Heidi was waiting for them when they came down to breakfast, gay and bright and smiling, answering their questions, distributing mail from home, sorting out a dozen small problems quickly and without fuss, and then when they had eaten, taking them off in a group to the bus station.
Most of the athletes from the other countries were in residence, and the village was bustling and full of tense excitement, men and women in sporting attire running through the streets, calling to each other in a multiplicity of tongues, their superb physical condition showing in their bright young faces and in every movement that they made.
When they came to the stadium, the size of it awed them all. A huge complex of halls, gymnasiums and covered swirnMing-pools surrounded the oval track and field theatre. The banks of seating seemed to reach away for ever, and the Olympic altar at the far end with the unlit tripod torch gave a sense of religious solemnity to this temple devoted to the worship of the human body.
It took the morning for them to see it all, and they had a hundred questions between them. Heidi answered them all, but more than once Manfred found her walking beside him, and when they spoke German together it gave them a sense of intimacy, even in the crowd. it was not his imagination alone, for Roelf had noticed the special attention Manfred was receiving.
How are you enjoying your German lessons? he asked innocently at lunch, and when Manfred snarled at him he grinned unrepentantly.
Their hosts had arranged sparring partners from the local boxing clubs, and over the days that followed, Uncle Tromp drove them hard towards the pinnacle of their training.
Manfred tore at his opponents, slamming punches into the thick padding that covered their midriffs and heads, so that even with that protection none of them lasted more than a round or two before calling for quarter; and when Manfred went back to his corner and looked around it was usually to find Heidi Kramer watching from somewhere near at hand, a flush on her flawless neck, a strange intent look in those impossibly blue eyes, her lips slightly parted and the tip of her pink tongue held between sharp white teeth.
- Предыдущая
- 141/191
- Следующая
