The Quest for Valhalla (Order of the Black Sun Book 4) by P. W. Child

Author:P. W. Child [Child, P. W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-12-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

In the smoky room no bigger than a public toilet in the slums of Germany, the old man sat crouched over on his bed. It was a misty morning outside his window where his small apartment room overlooked the outskirts of Glasgow. For a man with his heritage and an affluent family who funded his prosperous career as a literary genius and teacher in World War II Germany, his accommodations were dreadfully modest.

He was not here in Scotland for keeps, but he loved the culture and the antiquity of the castles of the country. Its history was rich and bloody, riddled with battles and cries of freedom, something he was intimately familiar with. Although at a ripe age, he was astute in his dealings, opting for an obscure life far removed from the splendor of his younger years. Still he got to utilize his studies, his decades of knowledge in fields that interested him. For all this, he was grateful, not having to slave in front of some thankless group of arrogant mites in some University lecture hall until he keels over in a high back chair with a glass of brandy at the age of 86 or something.

His feet ached, deformed tarsal claws, plagued by bunions leading into brittle, yellow toenails that he placed gently into the porcelain bowl of steaming water, infused with Epsom Salts and lavender. A crooked groan escaped him as he sank his aged feet in and immersed them both. Painful bolts of nerve twitches shot through his ankles and lower calves, evoking a moan of agony from him. On his withered frame, his white vest folded like a half mast flag, only touching him where the bones protruded under malnourished skin. On his scalp, there was nothing but grey fluff forming a halo when the morning light hit him from behind, but his body showed its old age with the longish white hair on his back, shoulders and chest.

He sighed deeply, his scowl proof of his conscience.

Helping to set Nina up for her abduction by the Order left him feeling empty and sullen, but he had to comply or there would have been consequences. As this thought passed through his mind, he could hear his mother’s voice as his own reason, “This is what you get for getting involved with them, Hermann. It is your own doing when you allow yourself to be a puppet for that caliber of company.” A sad smile of defeat crept across his thin lips as he twitched his toes in the comfort of the water.

It had been raining so much lately, even for Scotland, and he wondered if there was some design which wished to deter him from meeting with Lita Røderic today, to receive his financial rewards for the successful capture of The Brotherhood’s pet, Dr. Nina Gould. For years, Herman Lockhart had been conducting business in this way, regardless of the client involved. He did own a bank account, but only used it for utilities and bills.

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