Honesty and Trust

Chapter 1

Garrison was tired. They had come back from a very stressful mission just four days ago. He knew the men were tired as well but it could not be helped. The Colonel had told him there were no other teams available and the agent had been taken into custody. It was not known if he had been the target or caught in a sweep. It was up to the team to find him, rescue him and return him to England. When he arrived at the Estate where he and his men were billeted the sky was still covered with dark clouds. At least it had stopped raining but the wind was still strong. He hurried from the jeep into the building and once he had removed his coat he headed upstairs to the room the cons shared. Actor was reading and Casino and Goniff were playing poker.

"Where's Chief?" he asked.

"Outside, as usual," was Casino snarled reply.

"Go get him. We have a mission." That went over like a lead balloon, both the order to get Chief and the news there was a mission. Casino left muttering something about a leash. When the two returned he began the briefing. Because of the fear that the agent had been singled out it was decided by the brass that they were to have no contact with the Resistance. This was only a precaution but it made the mission so much harder and riskier. There were a lot of complaints about the timing of the mission and the weather and the lack of help, and, and, and …. Finally Garrison told them that was all and to get ready. They grumbled but did as they were required.

The trip to the airfield was quiet. The wind had persisted so the flight over the channel was bumpy. They were all tossed around quite a bit. Finally the pilot announced the drop zone and they prepare to jump. Garrison told them because of the wind they were to all jump one right after the other so they hopefully would land fairly close together.

Actor was the first out and the first one down. He had a hard time with the chute so by the time he had it collapsed he had seen Goniff land and be dragged about twenty feet through the wet grass of the meadow by the high winds. Actor ran to help the smaller man who was now wet and bruised.

Casino landed about five hundred yards away. Fortunately he hit the ground just as the chute hit the trees surrounding the field, thus stopping it. He struggled out of the harness then spent about twenty minutes trying to get the chute untangled from the branches.

Chief was blown further down the field out of sight of the others. As he wrestled with the chute a branch that had been weakened by the wind finally gave way. Chief, still in the harness could not get out of the way in time. All he could do was use his arms to try to protect his head and to duck. The limb that was six inches thick struck his left forearm. The weight of the limb shoved him to the ground pinning him there. The pain lit his arm on fire, fire that raced up his arm, past his shoulder and right up to his head. He blacked out .

When he could think again he forced himself to shove the branch far enough away with his other hand that he could struggle to his feet. The pain was still intense but he had a job to do. He cut the straps to the chutes and let it drop. He tried to cut the chute free but the motion only increased the pain in his arm. Very carefully he placed his left hand inside his coat pocket. That helped enough so that he could finish the job on the chute. He had just managed to stuff it under a rock when Casino arrived. Together they headed back towards the others. Garrison had landed east of Chief and with his experience had had less trouble with the wind. He was angry. He had managed to get his bearings by the time he reached Actor and Goniff. They were about fifty miles off target and there were no roads. They would have to walk.

Walking over the rough ground jarred Chief's arm so he took to supporting it with his right. Fortunately it was dark so no one noticed. There was nothing to be done but put up with it. Just before dawn Chief noticed a shepherd's hut where they could sleep. He offered to take the first watch. Four hours later when Casino arrived to relive him the pain had subsided to a dull ache. He had found a stream and had laid down beside it and soaked his arm. That had helped. Unfortunately it had also chilled the rest of him. He was glad to get in to the shelter and next to the fire. Garrison was asleep so he carefully crawled into Casino's recently abandoned blanket and curled up. He pulled the blanket over his head to conserve his body heat but with the pain and the cold he could not get to sleep.

By late afternoon Goniff had opened the rations and made some coffee. Chief passed on the food but took the coffee and went outside. By staying under the blanket he had finally managed to get warm but now he wanted to see if he could get to the stream and soak his arm again. He found Garrison and told him to go in. He would keep watch until they were ready to leave. Once he knew he was alone he headed for the stream. When the others emerged Chief was back at his post the pain once again manageable. By the end of the second night they reached the place where they should have landed. Garrison sent Chief to get a car.

Chief had his doubts how he would manage with only one arm but he was successful. Driving at night with one arm was do-able. He just hoped he would not have to drive while being chased. High speeds while trying to elude bullets and capture was a two handed job.

They were less than a mile from town when Chief noticed the cars stopped ahead. He pulled to the side of the road. The five men sat and watched for a moment. Casino leaned forward and said, "If it's a check point, why not just takem out?"

Silence for a time then Garrison said quietly, "I don't want any dead bodies to call suspicion to the area."

"Why not? We ditch the bodies and while they're out looking for the sentries, we could be in and out with the agent. "

Casino's idea made sense except for one thing. They did not know where the agent was being held. "Casino," said their leader, "you're on me. We'll go see what's ahead. If there's gunfire, wait two minutes then take off." Fortunately he did not wait for a reply. The two men left the car and walked ahead. They were back in two minutes. "It's a check point", said Garrison. "We're almost there so we'll walk. Keep your eyes open for an abandoned building we can work out of." It did not take them long to find an old barn. Once they were settled Garrison decided he and Actor would go into town after dawn and ask a few questions.

"Make sure you bring back some real food," demanded Goniff.

Fortunately for Chief there were two days of idle waiting until Actor finally found the information they needed. The agent was not there. He had been moved just hours before but no one knew where. Garrison cursed their luck. If the pilot had been on course they could have had the job completed. Instead it would take them another day or so to find him and affect a rescue. Actor, ever sensible, reminded Garrison that the winds had been strong and the pilot had had difficulty keeping the plane in the air much less on course. Garrison knew he was right but it still did not improve his mood.

The team spent the next four days chasing shadows. Finally they had taken matters into their own hands. After kidnapping and drugging a high ranking German officer, they finally had their answer. The agent had been killed before the team had arrived. The Germans had hoped by keeping that fact quiet, they might capture his rescuers. If the gorillas had tried to bluff their way in, they would have been caught up in the trap. Their caution had saved them. Rather than being glad of that, Garrison was furious that they had been traipsing all over France for nothing. They would wait until after dark then make their way to the coast for pick up.

Actor had arrived back from town and had brought some bread and cheese. He began tossing the hunks of bread to the cons. Chief saw one coming his way and shifted slightly to catch it in his right hand. At the same time Casino, who had been slightly behind him saw the same piece. He decided he wanted it so stepped up to reach over and get it. In doing so he bumped Chief's left elbow quite hard. This sent a shock of pain down the Indian's arm enough that he dropped his right hand instinctively grabbing his injured arm. Garrison saw the move and knew there was trouble. The nudge did not look hard enough to have caused the reaction. He moved over to Chief and demanded to see the arm. Chief, still in a lot of pain, wanted to refuse but Garrison grabbed the front of his jacket as he tried to back up.

"Let's see it. Pull up your sleeve."