Forward Gunner Asch by Hans Hellmut Kirst

Author:Hans Hellmut Kirst [Kirst, Hans Hellmut]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780859973519
Publisher: C.Chivers
Published: 1956-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

"How?"

"How? By staying here, locking the door of your room and writing to your mother."

"And what do I get for doing that?"

"No premature lines on your face. A virgin body and a clear conscience."

Lisa Ebner slowly sank back onto the pillows until she was lying full length again. She relaxed and took a deep breath. Her firm little breasts rose and sank regularly. Asch stared at her as if hypnotized. When she noticed this her smile grew wider.

There was a loud knocking at the door and Kowalski came gaily into the room. Charlotte, the girl who acted as "matron" to the little troupe, was standing just behind him. Lisa didn't alter her position at all. Asch looked rather confused.

"We're off!" cried Kowalski. "I've taken the liberty of engaging a chaperon." And he winked roguishly at Charlotte.

"I don't think it would be a very good thing if you went alone," said Charlotte to Lisa.

"It's never a good thing for a human being to be alone," cried Kowalski, who was in the best of moods.

"Fraulein Ebner isn't going at all," explained Asch.

"What's that?" cried Kowalski. "Is she not only a singer of respectable songs but a spoilsport as well?"

"Aren't you really coming?" Charlotte asked her colleague curiously.

"She doesn't want to," said Asch. "And I can well understand it."

Lisa Ebner didn't move. She kept on looking straight at Asch and her pretty, rather hungry eyes seemed to grow larger and larger. And still she said nothing.

"To hell with it!" cried Kowalski. "What's going on here? Has the lady lost the power of speech?"

"I've said what she's got to say, for her, Kowalski."

"That's just like you, Asch! So you want to spoil an old soldier's fun, eh?"

"Herr Kowalski," said Charlotte smiling, "what do you mean by fun exactly? I hope it hasn't got anything to do with me by any chance?"

"What an idea!" cried Kowalski innocently.

Then he went over to Asch, who was still standing by the window, and began to try to persuade him. "You can't leave me in the lurch like this, old man. You've no idea how long it took to talk her round. Angels' tongues weren't in it. And I've made a pretty powerful impression, man! I've become quite a cavalier. And now you want to mess the whole thing up? Asch, if you really were a friend of mine..."

"How much longer is this little business going on, I'd like to know," said Charlotte firmly. "Aren't you really coming then, Lisa?"

Lisa still kept on looking at Asch, but this time she said quite clearly: "No."

"Right," said Charlotte. "Then neither am I."

"Damnation!" cried Kowalski, in a fury, pulling his cap off and throwing it to the ground. "It's pure sabotage! You're sabotaging Captain Witterer's orders, Asch. I hope you realize that. Normally I wouldn't care a damn, but this time I must say it's a bit too much. For the last time I'm asking you..."

"Is he always like this?" asked Charlotte ironically.

"Only when he's in love," said Asch.

* * *

Lieutenant Wedelmann turned his back on the uneasy atmosphere that was developing in his sector and went to see Natasha.

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