Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

Henry

By Suzie2b

The Rat Patrol had run into a German column and were chased to a bombed out village. They took cover in the ruins of one of the houses and managed to get one of the 50 caliber machine guns set up inside. The battle raged for hours and neither side appeared willing to give up.

It was starting to get dark when Tully said, "We're running low on ammo, sarge."

Troy nodded. "Yeah, that means they are too. Let's try to wait 'em out. Conserve the ammo."

It was close to 2300 hours when they heard the engines start up. Hitch stated the obvious, "Sounds like they're pulling out."

The four soldiers carefully peered out into the darkness. In the moonlight they watched the Germans abandon their positions and drive off into the desert.

Moffitt said, "They must have decided we weren't worth it tonight."

Troy said, "Well, it could be a trick to try to get us out into the open. We'll spend the night here and make sure they really are gone in the morning."

##################

When daylight came, Troy said, "Okay, Hitch, check the jeeps over. Tully go take a look around while Moffitt and I get things ready to roll."

Tully cautiously walked among the ruins of the small village. He checked a couple of Germans that had died that night. There were no signs of life. Then Tully heard a quiet cry. He followed the sound to a pile of rubble where he found a small wounded dog. Tully knelt as the animal looked up at him and whined. He gently stroked the short-haired mixed breed's head as he examined the shrapnel wounds that peppered the dog's right side and front leg. "Hey, little fella. Looks like you had a rough night." The dog licked Tully's hand. "Okay, let's see if I can get ya some help."

He carefully scooped up the limp body and headed back to the jeeps. When he came into view, Hitch quickly spotted him. He walked out to meet Tully and asked, "What's that? A dog?"

Tully kept walking as Hitch fell into step next to him. "He must've got in the way of one of those grenades that those Germans were lobbing at us."

Hitch gave the dog's ear a scratch. "Poor guy."

Tully stopped at the jeeps and looked around. "Where's Moffitt?"

The sergeant stepped out of the house they'd spent the night in. "I'm right here." Moffitt looked at Tully curiously. "What have you there?"

"Can you help him, sarge?"

Moffitt looked at the wounded animal with sympathy. "I'm not a veterinarian, Tully."

The dog whined as Tully said, "You're not a medical doctor either, but you patch us up all the time. Can't we at least try to help him?"

Troy joined them. "What's going on?"

Hitch replied, "Tully found a wounded dog."

Troy looked at Tully, and then at the dog. "What are you planning to do?"

Tully sighed. "I was just asking Moffitt if he'd help fix him up."

Troy put his hands on his hips and looked at Moffitt. "Can you help him?"

Moffitt said, "The wounds don't look too severe. I'm willing to try."

Troy asked Hitch, "How are the jeeps?"

"Bullets took out a tire on each."

"Okay, you and Tully change the tires while Moffitt takes care of Tully's new friend."

##################

After changing the tires, Hitch went to relieve Troy on watch and Tully went inside to see how Moffitt was doing. He knelt next to the sergeant and stroked the dog's head. "How's it going?"

Moffitt continued to work as he said, "I used a little procaine to numb the wounded areas. He's been quite content to lie quietly and let me remove the bits of shrapnel. Luckily, none of the pieces are very big or very deep." He withdrew another piece of metal and dropped it on floor with the others. "Why don't you start cleaning up the wounds I've finished with? Just use a little alcohol. With the procaine he shouldn't feel too much."

By the time they had their little friend bandaged up, Troy walked in. "How's he doing?"

Tully said, "He handled it real well, sarge."

Moffitt smiled. "Now I just have to find a way to get some aspirin into him."

Troy questioned, "Is aspirin safe for a dog?"

"When I was younger I remember my mother giving our dog aspirin after he'd tangled with a fox. She would give it to him in his food. Unfortunately, we don't have any dog food with us."

Troy smiled slightly. "We've got just the thing." He hurried out to the jeep and returned with a boxed K-ration. He handed it to Moffitt and said, "Crush the tablet up and mix it with some of the cheese and put it on a cracker."

Moffitt grinned. "Excellent idea!"

Tully grabbed the med kit to get the aspirin. "You're in for a treat, Henry."

"Henry? I should've known you'd have a name for him."

Tully shrugged. "He deserves a name. Henry is better than 'dog' or 'hey you'."

Troy shook his head and couldn't help but smile. "As soon as you're finished, we'll get going."

"Where are we taking Henry?"

"I'm going to check on that right now."

##################

Dar-es-Salaam was a half day's drive from where they were. Moffitt drove the jeep while Tully held a blanket wrapped Henry on his lap. The little dog seemed happy enough to sleep and they only had to stop once for more "aspircheese" when Tully noticed him whining quietly when they hit a few bumps.

They stopped in front of headquarters. Troy and Moffitt went inside while Hitch and Tully waited with Henry. About ten minutes later the sergeants returned and Moffitt smiled as he said, "All right, let's go meet Henry's new owners."

They first went to the motor pool to drop off the jeeps for gas, water, and new spare tires. Then they walked to a large fenced in area and Hitch said, "Wow! Look at all the horses."

Tully grinned. "Beautiful aren't they?"

A captain exited a tent to meet them. "You must be Sergeant Troy and company."

Troy nodded as he saluted. "Yes, sir. Sounds like Major Kelly got through to you."

"Yes he did. I'm Captain Morel. Welcome to the 2nd Calvary. I was told you had an addition for us."

Tully set the little dog down. "This is Henry, sir. Found him after a gunfight in some ruins. He took some shrapnel. Sergeant Moffitt here fixed him up."

With a smile Captain Morel knelt down. "Well, look at you, Henry. Come on over here and say hello."

Henry was a little unsteady on his feet, but he managed to waddle and limp over to the captain with his tail wagging hard enough to nearly knock himself over.

Morel carefully picked Henry up. "We'll have our vet take a look at his war wounds … though I'm sure the sergeant took good care of him."

Moffitt smiled. "I did my best, but it would be best if Henry saw a professional."

Just then four other dogs arrived on the scene to inspect the new arrival. Henry yipped and tried to hide in the captain's big arms at the sight of the larger dogs. Captain Morel admonished them, "Here, here! Be polite." All four immediately sat down. "Little Henry isn't quite up to meeting you rambunctious lot just now."

The dogs went to meet the human newcomers instead and were greeted with much scratching and petting. Hitch grinned and said, "You've got quite a menagerie, captain."

Morel chuckled. "That we do, private. The dogs help keep the horses calm when they aren't working and for some reason the mixed breeds work out the best." He gave Henry a scratch behind the ears. "Well, I suppose I'd better get him to the vet for a checkup."

Troy nodded. "We need to get back to work too. Thanks for taking Henry in, captain."

"Not a problem, sergeant. He'll have a good home here."

Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully each said good-bye to Henry and received a lick on the hand in return.

##################

The jeeps weren't ready yet and it was getting late, so the four men of the Rat Patrol were assigned quarters and spent the night.

The next morning Troy slapped Hitch lightly on the shoulder to wake him up. He rolled out of bed with a yawn and started pulling his clothes on. Troy and Moffitt were both up and dressed, but Tully was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Tully?"

Moffitt said, "He was gone when we woke up … but I've a feeling I know where he is."

Tully had in fact awoken early and couldn't get back to sleep. He laid there listening to Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch snore softly for a few minutes. Then gave up, got dressed, and quietly left.

Tully found the mess tent, which was virtually empty that early in the morning. The cook and his crew had just finished setting out the breakfast food for the coming rush. Tully got a tray and loaded up with eggs, bacon, and a few slices of buttered bread. After getting his coffee, he sat down to eat.

He really wasn't thinking about anything particular—just letting his mind wander as he ate. Tully finished the eggs and bread, then picked up the last slice of bacon. He looked at it for a second, then grinned from ear-to-ear.

When Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch found him, Tully was sitting in the vet's tent. Henry was sitting on his lap as Tully fed him bits of bacon as the happy little dog's tail continually slapped his knee.

The veterinarian looked up from his paperwork with a smile. "He just wanted to say good-bye one last time."