The Shell Game
By: AliasCWN
Saunders led the way into the clearing where he took a knee as his squad gathered around him. Rolling his shoulders to loosen the knotted muscles, he took a quick head count.
"Where's Braddock?"
The others glanced around, shrugging their shoulders.
"He was right behind me the last time I looked." Littlejohn answered.
"Well he's not there now!" Saunders growled. Wiping a hand across his face, he sighed tiredly. "Okay, you guys stay here; I'm going to go look for him. Caje, you're in charge."
Caje nodded, looking around the clearing. As Saunders disappeared back the way they'd come, Caje was positioning the squad around the perimeter.
Saunders moved quickly, it would be dark soon and he wanted to get his squad back to their own lines. The sun was low enough already that the shadows were overtaking the sunlight among the thick trees. With a slight breeze blowing the branches, the light played tricks on his eyes. He thought he saw movement where there was only sunlight and shadow. Several times he took shelter only to discover that the 'danger' he saw was only a tree stump or a branch blowing in the wind.
Following the path that they had taken, he searched for any sign of his missing man. A bit of color, out of place, caught his eye. Leary of a trap, he approached cautiously. Dropping to his stomach, he crawled the last twenty yards, straining his tired eyes for any sign of movement. Working his way around a clump of brush, he could see the object clearly; it was a canteen, an American canteen. Carefully, he approached the canteen. He picked it up. It didn't look like it had been lying around for very long. With a grunt of disappointment, he attached it to his belt and continued his search.
A twisted tree, the result of a lightning strike, marked the spot where they had paused to do a quick check of the area ahead. Saunders knew that Braddock had been with them up to that point. He remembered that Braddock had tried to get Littlejohn to carry part of his load but the big man had just laughed at him.
The sergeant searched the ground, looking for any sign that someone had gone off in a different direction. The hard packed ground gave up no clues that he could see. Resigned to a long search, he turned around to retrace his steps.
A flicker of movement caught his eye. Dropping to the ground he crawled behind some bushes. This time the movement was not the result of the sun and the breeze. This movement kept coming, moving closer, accompanied by soft grunting sounds on occasion.
Keeping his head low, he waited for the person trying to sneak through the trees to get even closer.
"Braddock!"
"Oh hey Sarge! Where'd you guys go? I've been looking for you."
The sergeant climbed to his feet and faced his missing private. "Where'd we go? You were supposed to stay with the squad. What happened?"
Braddock flushed and dropped his head. "I wasn't fooling around Sarge, honest. I only stepped away for a minute. I had to…you know, relieve myself. The squad was catching their breath while Caje scouted ahead. I was only gone a minute Sarge….only a minute. When I got back you guys were gone and I couldn't find you. I've been hunting for you ever since…I sure am glad I found you Sarge." Braddock beamed at his sergeant.
Saunders sighed as he looked at the private's goofy smile. Deciding that it didn't matter just who had found whom, he ignored the comment. "Okay Braddock, I left the squad in a clearing to wait for us. We'd better get back. I want to be back behind our lines before dark."
"Okay Sarge, lead the way, I'll follow you." The private agreed happily.
"You'd better." Saunders growled, retracing his steps again.
There was a different feel to the woods as the two men made their way to where the squad waited. Saunders kept stopping, thinking that he heard someone moving nearby. Each time, Braddock would almost run into him, he was following so close.
"Braddock, fall back a little." Saunders growled in a low voice.
"I don't want to lose you again Sarge." The private whined in a whisper almost in the sergeant's ear.
"Drop back a few feet or I'll leave you here." Saunders hissed angrily.
"Okay, okay Sarge. I was just trying to follow orders. You did say to stay close." Braddock retreated a few yards to be safe from the sergeant's retribution.
A twig snapping halted any further attempt at conversation. Saunders took cover behind a tree and was relieved to see that Braddock had also ducked soundlessly out of sight. He strained his eyes to spot the source of the sound to no avail.
The minutes dragged on and there were no more sounds of twigs snapping or anyone moving. Saunders waited, giving anyone out there plenty of time to move on. As the shadows deepened, he gave the signal to move out.
Braddock hurried to his side, forgetting that the sergeant had told him to fall back. The two men quietly slipped between the trees, glancing around every few steps. Whoever, or whatever, had been passing through, had kept going. They saw and heard nothing else as they approached the clearing where Saunders had left the rest of his squad.
Searching for a sentry, Saunders led the way, keeping low. There was a sense of emptiness that disturbed him. The lack of a lookout was his first indication that something was wrong.
Glancing back at Braddock, Saunders motioned for the private to stay down and wait.
Braddock nodded and slipped behind a tree, gripping his weapon nervously. Saunders could see his eyes rolling in his head as he tried to see in every direction at once. Satisfied that the man would stay put, Saunders moved forward.
He skirted the clearing slowly, searching for any of his men or for any hidden watchers. If his men had been taken, the Germans might be lying in wait for any others. The breeze moved a branch here and there but he couldn't detect any man made movement. Circling back, he stopped next to Braddock.
"I left them right here. Something must have happened. You wait here in case they come back." The sergeant was looking around the clearing, trying to decide which way Caje would have led the squad if they had been forced to move. Making a decision, he nodded to Braddock and with a whispered, "I'll be right back," he followed his instincts.
He found a small animal path and followed that. If the squad had to leave the clearing, they would have needed to move fast and quiet. Even a narrow trail made moving quietly easier since there were fewer branches to catch on clothing and gear. The sergeant slipped along the trail, alert for a trap.
After covering nearly half a mile, Saunders was beginning to doubt his own instincts. There had been no sign of his squad and he doubted that Caje would have traveled so far unless he was being chased. Taking a knee, the sergeant paused to consider is next move.
"Sarge?"
The whispered call came from the side of the trail. Saunders spun to see Kirby hidden in a growth of underbrush.
"Kirby, where are the others?"
"Back there Sarge." The BAR man pointed over his shoulder, waving behind him.
"Show me."
Kirby nodded and wiggled out of his concealment. Keeping low, he led the way to where the others waited. Saunders knew they were close because Kirby called to identify himself and the sergeant but there was no one in sight. At the call from Kirby, the squad began to emerge from hiding.
"Where's Caje?"
"He went to look for you Sarge." Kirby explained. "After a kraut patrol chased us out of the clearing, Caje was worried that you might come back and run right into them."
Saunders nodded. "Okay, stay here. I'll go back and find Caje and pick up Braddock."
"So you found the big gold brick?"
Saunders nodded, ignoring the rest of Kirby's comment. "Keep your eyes open. That kraut patrol might still be around." The sergeant waited until his squad had acknowledged the order before he hefted his machine gun and again started back for Braddock.
The private was gone when he returned. Saunders searched the area carefully, looking for any signs of a struggle. It was as if the man had never been there. Not wanting to fall into a trap, Saunders left the clearing after only a few minutes. He made a hurried circle around the area hoping that the other man had just wandered off, but he found no trace of him. Frustrated and tired, he decided to return to the squad.
This time he was expecting it when the sentry appeared from behind a tree. The bulk of Littlejohn slipped out from behind an old tree that was big enough to hide even his large frame. Jerking his head at the big man to follow, Saunders led the way to where the squad waited.
The first man to come out of hiding was Braddock.
"How did you get here?" Saunders asked in surprise. "I told you to stay put."
"Caje came along and told me to come with him." Braddock frowned at his sergeant. "I thought you sent him Sarge; I didn't know that you were going to come back for me yourself."
"Never mind." Saunders sighed heavily. Looking at the men standing in a circle around him, Saunders frowned. "Where's Caje?"
"He went back to find you Sarge." Braddock answered. "He said that you wouldn't know where to find us."
Saunders let his shoulders drop as he wiped a hand across his face. Putting a hand out toward his men, he took a deep breath and released it. "Nobody move. I don't care if the whole German army walks through here, nobody move." He looked around at the faces watching him. "I'm not kidding, stay here!"
They all nodded, none of them offering any objections.
"Kirby, you're in charge. Hide if you have to; climb the trees or dig a hole and crawl in, I don't care. Just be here when I get back."
Kirby nodded, glancing around at the others. "We'll be here Sarge."
"Okay," the sergeant sighed, "I'll be back soon." Groaning softly to himself, the sergeant began another return trip to the clearing. If Caje thought he would come back for Braddock, then that was where Caje would wait for him.
As he approached the clearing, Saunders increased his caution. Kirby said that a kraut patrol had chased them from the clearing. Remembering the cracking twig and the unknown source, the sergeant suspected that the German patrol might still be in the area.
He spotted the sentry before the sentry spotted him. The German soldier stood in almost the same spot where he had left Braddock. Saunders smiled to himself to think that despite the German being half the size of the American private, Braddock had been harder to spot in the same position. Now Caje, Caje would be even harder to spot if he were hiding somewhere around the clearing.
Mindful of the possibility of other sentries, Saunders was very careful as he skirted the clearing. He made a complete circle, hoping to spot his scout; the Cajun was nowhere to be found.
The woods were dark now that the sun had set. Saunders paused to consider his options. The squad was hiding in an area that he knew they were sharing with the krauts. If there was one patrol, there could be more. Caje was good in the woods and could find his own way home. The sergeant decided to return to his squad and get them back behind their own lines before someone else got lost. With one last glance at the woods around him, and still no sign of his missing man, he again retraced his path.
Braddock was the man on guard when he called softly on his approach. The private fell in behind him as he led the way to where he had told the others to wait.
"Everything all right?"
"Fine Sarge." Braddock answered. "Where's Caje?"
The rest of the squad gathered around as Braddock asked about the scout.
Saunders sighed, his exhaustion evident in his every move. "I don't know. The clearing was full of krauts when I got there. I circled around but I didn't see any sign of him."
"What are we going to do Sarge?" Braddock asked, looking around at the others.
"We're heading home, back to our lines."
"Without Caje?"
"Caje will find his own way back. There are too many krauts in these woods to go stumbling around looking for him. Saddle up, we're moving out."
Saunders counted his men, making sure that no one else had wandered off. He double checked to make sure that Braddock was still with them. He was ready to leave when Littlejohn hissed a warning.
"Somebody's coming Sarge!"
Again the squad made themselves invisible among the trees.
"Kirby, it's me; did Sarge find you?"
Saunders dropped his head and smiled into the dark. "Yeah Caje, Sarge found them." He answered gruffly. "Let's move out."