Leavenworth
copyright 10/13 by Kirby's Cowgirl
This is fan fic and not for profit, no copyright infringement intended
Lieutenant McCall shivered and pulled his coat tighter around him. This was ridiculous. The damn army had to mess up everything. He should have been home last week. The only ride he could find had been in the back of a cargo plane.
The kitchen light finally came on and he stumbled to his feet. Just as he was fixing to knock, the back door burst open. "Danny McCall! Have you been out here all night?"
"Part of it." He enveloped his landlady in a bear hug. She was the closest thing he had to family, and reminded him of his late grandmother.
"Danny! You're freezing! Why didn't you wake me up?" Stella Whitaker demanded.
"I saw you had company. No sense in waking up the whole house." He took the handful of kindling from her, and frowned at the huge logs stacked near the stove. He had paid that infernal neighbor kid to maintain the wood supply for her. Well, they'd be having words about that later, Christmas or no.
"Danny, I got another lodger. You're gone all the time now, and I get lonely." Mrs. Whitaker twisted her apron. When he found out what she'd done - Well, she was a silly old lady and she'd lived alone before. But those two children were made for each other, if only they would see it.
"A guy from the base?" McCall asked, thinking, "Well, I'll chew his ass out too. Leaving a little old lady to wrestle these logs."
She said something about it taking the two of them to manage the big logs, but McCall, poking in the fire, was only halfway paying attention. "Disabled guy from the base." He corrected himself. Not a lard butt. He finally got the fire to catch.
"I have to go to the office this morning, but I'll be back after lunch. You want to go to mass tonight? Provided they can get my car running?" he added as an afterthought.
"That would be lovely, Danny."
She set the kettle on the stove, and he shrugged out of his heavy coat, hanging it on the back of a kitchen chair. And then he realized what was missing out of the living room. Sally had promised him.
"Where's the tree?"
"Sally stopped to apologize before she left. She said she was supposed to do a bunch of things for you but they weren't going to get done. She had to rush back to the States -"
"God! Had something happened to Alex?" McCall bit back the groan that threatened to come forth. She might live in the States and be married to one of his buddies, but if something happened to that woman, he couldn't -
"Her Uncle Bob had a heart attack." Mrs. Whitaker went on. "They thought he wasn't going to make it and Sally pretty much threatened her way on the first cargo plane that went out."
"Damn." McCall said. He hoped Sally's ride hadn't been as rough and miserable as his had. He liked her feisty little Uncle. "Is he gonna be ok?"
"He had to retire. Sally's got him settled in at Alex's and she'll be back after the first of the year."
McCall nodded. This wouldn't be the first slim Christmas he'd ever had, but he'd wanted to get something nice for Stella. "Well I know Alex will look after him."
"Two huge crates came for you." Stella said, eyes twinkling. "I've been eating out of the perishable one for a week. I was planning on a banana pudding for tea, whether you made it back or not."
"Alex still thinks I'm starving in France." Danny shook his head at the crates stacked in the corner. God only knows what the woman had sent him this time.
"I know, Danny." She sat a cup of tea in front of him and patted him on the shoulder. "You got a whole stack of mail too. There's another big package." She gestured to the dining room table.
"You should have opened it." He got up, and went to retrieve his mail. "It's from the Littlejohns." He said looking at the return address. Mavis was not quite as bad as Alex about sending him food, but she did send him desserts several times a year, and he figured this box was probably full of cookies.
He had a letter from Alex; that he would save to read alone in his room, in case he did something embarrassing like break down and start crying. He set the letters aside, and opened the package. It was full of cookies, just as he'd thought, and there was a letter on top.
"Danny McCall, don't you go spoiling your breakfast." Stella scolded, seeing him with a cookie.
"Chocolate chip, cinnamon, coconut." McCall said, grinning, and offering her one. Mavey's specialty. They had damn sure gone fast in France.
He looked at the photograph in his hand and his eyes filled with tears. He was just so damn tired, he told himself, swiping them away.
"Danny, have you had any sleep?"
He shook his head. "I'm okay."
Stella looked over his shoulder at the picture of Littlejohn, grinning ear to ear, holding his tiny wife and baby in his lap. "That is an adorable couple."
"Been together since first grade." McCall said huskily, swiping at his eyes again.
"Why don't you go lie down? I can cook a little later."
"I'm okay." McCall said stubbornly. If he laid down, he might not get up for a week.
The next thing he knew, she was tapping him on the shoulder, and he realized he'd fallen asleep with his head on the kitchen table. She sat a huge plate filled with grits, eggs, bacon, and biscuits in front of him.
"Eat up." She said, eyes twinkling, as she sat down with her own plate.
"You keep feeding me like this, I'm gonna have to go back to the gym."
"More?" Stella asked him, after he'd polished off two huge helpings of everything.
"I'll help you do the dishes." He said, pushing back his chair. "Then I need to grab a shower and head to the base."
"I'll do the dishes." She caught his hand. "I'm so glad you made it home."
"Me too." He hugged her. "But I am helping this afternoon, and tomorrow."
"I'll be glad for your company."
McCall grabbed his shower, wondering if he'd ever get used to the luxury of hot water again, and was glad to see his ride show up right on time.
Blue had heard Stella talking to a man, and not wanted to interfere. Then someone had taken a very long shower, and used up her hot water. The ogre must have come home for Christmas. Well, she'd figured she'd meet him sometime, but she'd wanted the holiday alone with Stella. If things got too unbearable, she'd treated herself to two new books, and she'd just retire to her room. Stella had told her he was hardly ever there, and she'd moved in almost six weeks ago, so she would make herself put up with him for a few days. She adored her landlady and this huge old house.
" I assume His Majesty is back." Blue said as she entered the kitchen. "The jerk used up all the hot water."
Stella, reaching to get Blue's breakfast out of the oven, was glad the child couldn't see her face. They were both going to be so mad at her. But from the second she'd seen Blue in the market, she'd decided that she was absolutely perfect for Danny.
"You know how men are with their showers, dear."
"Thanks, Stella." Blue dug into her breakfast. "Are you going to be home this morning? I've got some guys coming to drop some stuff off."
"We said no presents."
" I got us a tree. I haven't had one since my husband - " Blue bit her lip. "I just thought it was time I started living again."
"What a thoughtful thing to do." Knowing Danny, he'd probably go out and get one too. Stella turned back to the stove so Blue couldn't see her smiling. If they both got mad and left - She sighed.
"The holidays are rough for you too." Blue said, putting down her tea. "If you keep feeding me like this, I'm going to have to buy bigger clothes."
"Well, you said you were tired of men chasing you."
Blue looked at her in shock, then started laughing. That sounded exactly like something Alex would say. She hadn't let herself think about her friend in years. There was a good chance that she hadn't made it thru the War. And god, crazy, drunken, fun loving Kirby - who she was sure that Alex had been in love with, there was no way he could have survived.
"Blue, sweetie –" Stella touched her hand, and only then did Blue realize she was crying.
"I'm sorry, Stella. I told myself I had to be happy this year. "Blue got up, put her dishes in the sink. "I've got your list for the market. I'll be back before lunch, and we can start cooking for Mr. Ogre." She stopped, looked at her landlady. "He doesn't think he's going to sit on his ass and we're going to wait on him, does he?"
"The poor man fell asleep with his head on the kitchen table before I could get his breakfast."
"Well, ok, he can sit on his ass today, but tomorrow he better get on that wood pile." Blue declared.
Stella laughed at her, watched her head out to car in the driveway, and Chris, the neighbor boy struggle thru the drifts to talk to her. He'd fallen and broken his arm on his first ski trip ever, and was bitterly disappointed that he was missing out on sledding and skating.
McCall slowed down as he neared a car that had evidently slid off the road. The snow was really coming down now, and it was getting slick. The woman driver was beating her fists on the car hood and cussing. She reminded him of Alex. Except Alex would have already - the woman hauled off and kicked the car fender.
She lost her balance and fell in the snow, sitting down, crying and cussing. McCall thought it was hilarious. His wife had had a temper like that.
"Ma'am, can I help you?" he asked as he carefully got out of the car. She probably had a husband and kids to get home to. It was Christmas Eve after all.
"Oh, damn!" she said. "I can't get in your car, I'm soaking wet."
"That's alright." McCall said, "You can't stay out here. It's too cold."
She got up slowly, holding unto the side of the car, and eased around toward him. Suddenly her feet shot out from under her, and McCall grabbed her before she fell. He swore he saw blue lightning flash between them and he felt a shock.
"I'm not usually this clumsy." she apologized. "And I know you have somewhere to go -"
"No, ma'am. That's fine." She was really pretty. And she felt right in his arms, like she belonged there. But he'd seen the wedding ring on her finger.
She brushed the snow off the hood of her coat, looked up at him, and froze. "Danny?"
No one except Alex and Stella had called him that in years.
"Danny! I thought you were dead!" she had turned white as a sheet.
"I think you've got me confused with someone else." McCall said gently. "Did you hit your head?"
"Your name is Danny McCall, and you're my husband." she looked at him. "You don't even know me!"
"Come on, I'll take you home." McCall said uneasily. He had on his big heavy coat over his uniform. She could not have seen his name tag. And he didn't go by "Danny". He was just "D. McCall". Most of the guys called him "Mac" which somehow wasn't right, but it was what Saunders had called him. If Kirby were around, he would think somebody was trying to play a very bad joke on him.
"Where have you been?" she was looking at him with those beautiful eyes, and he felt terrible. Like a man would ever willingly leave a woman like her.
Then it felt like his head split open. "Leavenworth." he said.
"Leavenworth! Danny, what did you do?" she started crying. "Did you think I wouldn't wait for you?"
"Oh, god." McCall said. Not today. Absolutely not today. He could not have one of those damn headaches - he sank down in the snow and threw up.
"Danny!' Blue said frantically, patting the side of his face. "Open your mouth."
He did, and she put a handful of snow in it. "Just swish it around and spit it out sweetie."
He did, vaguely remembering doing something similar for Alex, a long, long time ago, even down to popping a peppermint candy in her mouth.
"Danny! What's wrong?" She was terrified. He was sick. If she had found him only to lose him again - She wrapped her arms around him. "Honey, you have to get up! You have to help me! It's too cold out here!"
She ran her fingers thru his hair, and gasped when she saw the ugly jagged scar across his temple. "Oh, Danny, what did they do to you?"
Africa 1942
"That is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life." Corporal Danny McCall said, then gulped. He had just said another lady was prettier than his CO's wife.
Patrick just laughed at him. His wife Cass and the new woman headed up to the bar.
Trish O'Brien, ever the troublemaker, plopped herself down on her husband Ian's lap, and kissed the heck out of him. "Ooh! A fine big laddie like you, I do believe I'll spend the night with you!"
The guy at the next table turned his beer over and all the patrons sitting with him cussed.
"My wife does love to make an entrance." Ian said, laughing, as he kissed her back. "I missed you too, sweetie."
Ian McDougall, known as "Mac", dangled a wad of money in Danny's face. "Go kiss her."
"I think I'd spend the rest of my life in Leavenworth for a kiss from that woman." When everybody at the table roared with laughter, he realized he'd said it out loud.
Trish popped Mac in the head. "Leave the kid alone, you big baboon! No wonder you can't get a woman!"
One of the few kind nurses there were, was patting his face. He'd been in the hospital for so damn long.
"Danny, honey, PLEASE! You've got to get up!" Blue knew she wasn't going to leave him. They were both going to freeze to death. Then she heard a car coming, and eased Danny back into the snow. Scampering up the bank, she flagged the oncoming motorist down, and was very relieved to see it was a guy from the base, Ron Easley.
"Blue? You alright?"
"He's hurt!" Blue realized she was babbling. "Please help me get him in the car so I can get him to the hospital."
"Are you hurt?" Ron grabbed her as she slid back down the bank.
Danny slowly sat up, realizing his head hurt like hell, he was sick, he was soaking wet, half frozen, and he'd thought Blue was there.
"Let me go!" Blue said, trying to shrug loose from Ron's grasp. "I've got to get him to the -"
"Get your damn hands off my wife!" Danny roared, lurching to his feet. The whole world was spinning, he was going to be sick again, but nobody put their hands on his Blue.
"Danny!" Blue shrieked, throwing her arms around him, nearly knocking him over. "You know who I am!"
"Of course I –" Danny struggled. He was going to black out again.
"McCall, take it easy. I don't know what's goin' on here, but you know me, remember?" Ron said, "We work together. I'm not going to hurt the lady." He eased an arm around Danny's waist. "We've got to get you out of the cold."
They struggled up the bank with Ron and Blue supporting most of McCall's weight. "No hospital." Danny managed to get out. "Medicine in my pocket. Have to get home - landlady -"
Blue rummaged thru his coat pockets until she found the bottle. "Danny, I don't have any water. Can you swallow these?" she shook out two of the pills, and put them in his mouth.
He managed to choke them down, and tried to grin at her. "Sorry, sweetheart."
"DAMN!" she said, "I've got to get the bananas! The ogre has to have his pudding!"
"Wait!" Ron caught her arm carefully. "I'll get your groceries out of the car for you. You need anything else?"
"My purse." She said, remembering a long ago time when forgetting her purse had cost her the only photo of Danny she had.
"Who besides me is lucky enough to get a pudding?" McCall muttered.
"What sweetheart? What did you say?" Blue turned back to him, but he was out again.
"Do you know where he lives?" Ron asked, struggling back up the hill with the groceries and Blue's purse.
"He's going home with me! I am not ever letting that man out of my sight again." Blue declared, stomping her foot. "When I think of all the damn army cost me -" She stopped, horrified. There was no way she could ever tell Danny that.
"I'll follow you. Drive slowly, ok?" Ron said, as he stowed the groceries in the front passenger seat. McCall was stretched out in the back where they'd put him. "Once I get you settled, I'll go tell his landlady what happened."
When Blue pulled into the driveway, Ron stopped his car at the curb. "Blue, do you live here too?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" she opened the back door of the car.
"Stella Whitaker is McCall's landlady."
"My darling Danny is an ogre!" Blue stood there with her mouth open. Then she realized what Stella had been trying to do.
"Tell Stella we're coming in." Ron said, easing McCall out of the car. "I brought him home once before when he had a bad spell. He probably doesn't remember it though."
"Stella, I brought Danny home, and he's sick." Blue yelled. "I need to get his wet clothes off and get him warm!"
Stella ran out of the kitchen, twisting her apron when she saw Ron supporting McCall. "How bad is he?" she asked.
"Let's get his clothes off in the kitchen." Blue said to Ron, "It's easier to mop in there. Stella, can we put him on the couch in the living room?"
"I'll get some of his pajamas for you." Stella said, trying not to laugh out loud. She had hoped the two of them would at least like each other. She only hoped poor Danny wouldn't be mortified later.
"I don't think he's as bad as he was the time I brought him home." Ron said, when Stella returned with the pjs. "He took his pills, and they stayed down."
"Can you get a fire started in the living room?" Stella asked him.
"Sure."
The three of them got McCall settled on the couch. He tried to smile at Blue and Stella and muttered something incomprehensible.
Stella went into the kitchen and came back with a dark wet cloth, which she carefully draped over Danny's eyes, motioning Blue to be quiet. When Ron had the fire going, they all retreated to the kitchen.
"Just let him sleep." Stella said. "He'll be alright in a couple hours." Then she looked at Blue. "Where did you find him?"
"In Africa." Blue said grinning, pointing to her wedding ring.
"What?"
"Danny McCall is my husband. And I don't know what the damn army has done to him, or where he's been, but somebody is going to get their ass kicked."
"Blue, that might not be such a good idea." Ron said quietly.
"I'll get General Taggart to do it for me." She declared.
"I think he's stationed at the Pentagon now."
"He has very big feet."
Ron looked at her, then chuckled. "Do you even know the man?"
"I used to cook his breakfast for him." When Blue saw the shocked look on his face, she realized he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion. "His niece was my CO. He's a very nice man." She stopped, perplexed. "Why would they send Danny to Leavenworth? He would never - To spy on somebody?"
"Is that what he told you?" Ron shrugged. "He's confused. Mostly he's a cartographer, and a damn good one. He works in S2 when they need him, or when he wants to. Sally Tavish could tell you all about him, but she's not here right now."
"Ron, would you like to come to dinner tomorrow?" Stella asked him.
"I've got plans."
"Ron -" Blue started, not believing him.
"I bought the food for the Browns, on the condition that I get to come eat too." He grinned. "It was a hard sell, but I managed. Poor starving serviceman away from home on the holidays, and all that."
"She'll come around." Stella said, patting his shoulder, and sitting a cup of coffee in front of him.
"Maybe not." Ron shrugged. "But I damn sure am giving it my best shot. At least I get to open presents with the kids tomorrow."
Women's soft laughter woke him up. And he smelled banana pudding. He knew he'd had another one of those damn headaches, but there was something different about this one. He'd had a dream. His beautiful Blue had come back to him.
Danny sighed and sat up, holding the cloth over his eyes. Ok. Maybe if he was slow and careful, he could make it to the kitchen, apologize to Stella, and crawl upstairs to his bed. He took the cloth off his face, opened his eyes carefully, and realized the pills had worked. Sometimes they didn't.
The two women working in the kitchen took his breath away. He caught hold of the doorframe, afraid he was going to fall and embarrass himself again.
"Blue?" he said hesitantly. "Stella, is she really here?"
"I'm here, sweetheart. And I am not ever letting you out of my sight again." Blue said fiercely.
"Do you think you can eat something, Danny?" Stella asked, as she pulled out a chair. "I can make you some toast?"
"I'm alright." McCall said, sinking into the chair gratefully. "As long as I take it slow."
They both sat down with him, and he reached out a hand to each of them, and they all clasped hands and held on.
"Well," Stella said, "This turned out better than I had hoped."
"You are a rascal." Blue declared. "Calling my sweet Danny an ogre."
"I don't understand." McCall said, wondering what he had missed.
"You used up all my hot water this morning." Blue said.
"You're the other lodger?" when she nodded, "Well no wonder, it took both of you to manage the logs! I paid that damn Chris -"
Blue started laughing. "He broke his arm skiing. That is the most miserable boy I have ever seen."
"He gave the money back, Danny. His Dad has come over a couple times and tried to help." Stella added.
"How's he doin'?" McCall asked. The man had been seriously wounded in the War, and would probably never fully recover.
"I think he's better." Stella said. "Or at least he acts like it when he sees Blue."
Danny grinned at her. "I'm sorry I messed up everything."
"As long as you're okay?" Blue said. "We've got a lot of catching up to do, when you feel like it."
"Think you can eat tomorrow?" Stella asked him.
"We're having goose." Blue said.
Danny bit back a groan. Goose! He hated goose. He'd had his heart set on Stella's turkey. "That's fine, sweetheart." He said. He missed the grin that Blue gave Stella.
"Oh." Stella thought. "She was teasing him."
"You want some tea, and a little bit of puddin'?" Blue asked.
"Sounds good." He said.
"How do you two know about puddin' anyway?" Blue asked, as she dished up a bowl. Looking at Danny, and not paying attention, she tripped over the crate sitting in the corner, and skidded over it. The return address practically screamed at her.
" Alex Kirby
West Ranch
Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri
USA"
"Oh my god!" she said, starting to cry. Those huge crates had been sitting in the kitchen floor for almost two weeks. If she had even bothered to look at them, she might have had Danny back sooner. "You know Alex and Kirby!"
"Blue, are you hurt?" Danny caught her arm and gently pulled her to her feet.
"I was so afraid. I was so afraid they were dead. I couldn't lose anybody else -"
"It's okay, sweetheart." Danny folded her in his arms. "They got married in France before the War was even over. They are the two most mismatched people I have ever seen in my life, but they damn sure love each other."
Stella mopped up the pudding Blue had spilled. "You two have a lot of catching up to do."
"I'm sorry, Stella, I'll get it." Blue said, patting Danny, and sliding out of his arms.
"Sit down. You can help me with the goose tomorrow." Stella said, eyes twinkling.
"They told me you were dead." Blue said to Danny. "They said all of you -" she bit her lip as she remembered that terrible day.
"I was in the hospital for months." Danny squeezed her hand. "I was wounded really badly." He sighed. "I'm not pretty anymore, sweetheart."
"You are to me."
"I knew I had been married, but I lost almost a year of my life. One of the Doctors said I tried too hard, and that my memory would come back eventually." He tried to shrug, but couldn't hide the tears in his eyes. "Sally and I took a couple months and went back and tried to find you, but I didn't remember enough to help, and it had been so long."
Blue smiled at him. "Well I'm never letting you out of my sight again."
"Alex thinks you're dead." He said, confused.
"It's a long story, and we're not going to talk about that today." Blue said, blinking back her own tears.
"We should call her and old Kirby tomorrow. They should be around the ranch house since it's Christmas Day."
Blue nodded. "That would be great."
The three of them sat there together, and suddenly McCall burst out laughing. "Blue, you really thought I went to prison, and you -" he stopped, tears filling his eyes. "You waited on me. You waited on me, and you didn't have to."
"Danny, I will never love anybody but you." Blue said, squeezing his hand. Then she grinned at Stella. "My charming husband told me he'd been in Leavenworth."
Stella chuckled. "Do spill it, Danny."
"That's a long story for another day too."
Kirby looked at the enormous pile of opened presents under the tree, and then at Alex standing impatiently, looking at the telephone. She'd been polite, and thanked him for everything he'd bought her, but nothing had brought that shriek of sheer happiness that had come from her when the operator had called earlier and told her that she had an overseas phone call coming thru in a few hours.
Ruthie cuffed him in the ear. "Bill, how in the world can you be so jealous of a man who sends her postcards and calls her on Christmas Day?"
Caje grinned. "Well McCall's better looking than he is."
The look of sheer murder that Kirby sent him had him laughing.
"I wanted everything to be right." Kirby said. "I went to a lot of trouble to find that saddle for her, and I had Candace make sure it fit -"
"Bill, Alex doesn't like presents." Ruthie said gently. "I don't know why you can't understand that. Her first husband bought her stuff every time he acted like an ass. A gift to her is just like another slap in the face."
"Well damn, Caje, why didn't you tell me that?"
The phone rang then, and Alex grabbed it.
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart." McCall's gravelly voice came thru the line.
"Merry Christmas to you, Danny! How are you?"
"I'm wonderful, Alex. How are you?"
God, he sounded drunk, and it sounded like there was someone with him. She could hear rustling. And then giggling?
"I'm fine. Everything's good at the ranch." What the heck was she supposed to say to him?
"How's your Uncle Bob?"
"Much better, thank you."
"My wife would like to talk to you." He was laughing, or crying, she couldn't tell which.
"You got MARRIED?"
"In Africa, in 1942." She thought he was laughing. "Here she is."
" You found your wife?" What was she supposed to say to a woman that she didn't even know?
"Hey, Alex, sweetie."
Kirby, listening from the hall, saw Alex turn white as a sheet, and she nearly missed the chair she collapsed into. "BLUE! Is this some kind of joke - Oh, god -"
"It's me. I'm not dead. I should've tried to find you, but I was afraid -" and then she started crying too.
Danny took the phone back, to hear Alex crying, and Kirby's voice. "McCall? This ain't funny. I will come over there and kick your ass -"
Alex caught his arm and shook her head. "She's ALIVE! It's her! Kirby, give me the damn phone!"
He handed it back to her, sat down in the chair and pulled her on his lap, and she turned the receiver so he could hear most of the conversation too. They laughed, they all cried, and suddenly Alex said, "Oh god, this is costing you a fortune! Tell the operator to reverse the charges! Kirby's rich, he can pay for it!"
"Yeah." Kirby said, looking at his happy wife. "Let me pay for it. I've got more money than I know what to do with. Want me to send you a couple buckets full?"