Free Hidden Depths by Ally Rose Page B

“death by misadventure” and the truth remains hidden. Agreed?’
    They all nodded in a tacit acceptance that sealed their collaboration.

Chapter Nine : A New Dawn
    C HRISTMAS WAS A SOBER affair. Susanne’s funeral a few weeks earlier meant they weren’t in the mood for festive merriment. Grandmother – Oma  – Gisela was disappointed that Klaus would not be in Rugen for Weihnachten (Christmas) but understood their family reunion would have to wait. Bernd and his family travelled to the Baltic for the festivities with his mother and sister Maria, whilst Klaus, Ingrid and Felix adjusted to life in Motzen without Susanne – yet with an intrinsic part of her: baby Axel.
    The cottage was now filled with nappies and with a baby waking everyone up most nights Felix found it all too much and would run off into the woods. Alone, his thoughts usually turned to Susi. The lucid, nightmare visions of his last conversation with his sister and her flight through the air ending her short and tragic life at his feet had not abated. He felt her blood on his hands and no amount of scrubbing would make him clean. He was now free to integrate back into society but he’d become self-conscious about many things, especially his raw hands, and was summoning all his inner strength to curb his obsessions.
    In the world outside Motzen, retribution was in the air. In January 1990, thousands of protestors stormed the Stasi Secret Police headquarters in East Berlin and managed to get inside. The files full of secrets and lies, stealthily gathered and assembled, were thrown out of the windows, to the delight of the crowds below. There was snow on the ground and the floating paper gave the effect of a sudden snowstorm. Those who had used their position of power and authority unwisely were challenged and motions set in place to bring them to justice.
    A few months later, in March, elections were held and Lothar de Maziere became the only democratically elected Prime Minister of East Germany. As Premier, he signed the ‘two plus four treaty’ which ended the rights and responsibilities of the four wartime Allies – France, USA, Great Britain and Russia – in Berlin. For the two Germany’s, East and West, it was vital for unification. Things were changing rapidly. East Germans had more money and access to Western consumerism. They threw away their outdated goods and bought into the modern world. No longer could Ossies be defined by their clothes.
    In the spring of 1990, Felix started school again. He’d avoided it as long as possible by helping out Klaus in the boatyard. Felix only had to read a manual to give a project a go but at school he felt as if he’d learn more by being at home and experiencing life rather than sitting in a boring classroom. But he soon made friends and settled in, to his surprise discovering he was good at debating in class and could manipulate situations to his own advantage.
    His maths master, Herr Janowicz, a tall, spindly man with a dowager’s hump, was soon to retire. A teacher of the old school, he adhered to the motto ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ and his arrogance was well known. In class one morning he cleared his throat and began a monologue. ‘The implications of substituting one Ostmark for one Deutschmark is paramount for parity between the two Germanys. Of course it will affect the economy, the budget and the national debt for years to come,’ pronounced Janowicz. ‘Changing to a capitalist system will mean the days of full employment under the socialist era are over. Unemployment will grow steadily and so will crime.’
    Janowicz stopped. He had noticed a yawn from Felix and mistook it for a sign of boredom whereas in truth, Felix had been up early to help Ingrid take a delivery at the café. Determined to put the new boy in his place he shouted, ‘Waltz!’
    Felix heard his name bellowed across the room and