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

Author's note: This is for churchlady63, who wanted a peek into the future. Creative license is wonderful thing.

Sponsorship

By Suzie2b

The war was over. POWs held in camps all over the United States were being released. Most were shipped back to their home countries, while others chose to find a way to stay in America. One such POW was Abel Schulze, ex-private in the German Afrika Korps.

It took time to process the many Germans by their ranks, highest to lowest. However, Abel was a patient man, and when his turn finally came to be released from the internment camp in Colorado that he'd spent nearly four years in, he told the soldier doing the paperwork that he wished to stay in America. It was explained to him that, since he wasn't a citizen of the United States, he would need a sponsor. Abel produced a worn and yellowed scrap of paper. "Private Tully Pettigrew. He promised me sponsorship."

After a bit of confusion and discussion, it was decided Abel would be transferred to a Displaced Person's Camp in Kentucky. The Red Cross there would be able to help Abel find Tully.

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

Charley held baby Michael as she answered the telephone. The female voice on the other end asked for Private Tully Pettigrew. She was a little surprised by this, since Tully was no longer in the army. "Can I tell him what this is concerning?"

The voice said, "A man by the name of Abel Schulze is trying to contact him."

Charley gasped. "Just a minute. I'll go get him." She hurried out to the barn where Tully was working on a tractor that morning. "There's a woman on the phone asking for Private Tully Pettigrew."

Tully smiled and lightly kissed Michael on top of his fuzzy head. "Did she say what she wanted?"

"It's about Abel Schulze."

Tully's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he quickly grabbed a rag to wipe his greasy hands as he ran to the house. When Charley joined him inside, she heard a one-sided conversation that ended with Tully saying, "I'll be there tomorrow."

Charley asked, "Well, what's going on?"

Tully turned to her with a smile. "That was the Red Cross. Abel hung onto that piece of paper I scribbled my name and address on. He's at the Displaced Persons Camp at Frankfort. If I agree, I'm going to sponsor him so he can stay in the United States."

Charley grinned. "How exciting! I'll go start packing your bag. How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"I have no idea. That Red Cross lady said there's paperwork that'll need to be done when I get there."

"I'll move Michael into our room and Abel can use that room while he's here. Beth and Katy can move into the downstairs parlor."

Tully said, "It's a good thing Mom and Dad are in Florida with my sisters checking out colleges for Beth. I'm gonna have to figure out how to tell them what's going on."

Charley said, "I'm sure they'll understand. They'll be calling to give us an update sometime tomorrow. I'll explain things to them then."

Tully kissed her. "Thank you, sweetheart."

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

Tully left at around midmorning the next day for the nearly three hour drive to Frankfort in their 1946 black pickup truck. He arrived at the Displaced Persons Camp just before noon. In the small Red Cross office he asked for Barbara Morin.

A few minutes later a middle-aged woman stepped out of another room wearing a crisp white Red Cross uniform and smiled. "Private Pettigrew?"

Tully turned and returned her smile. "It's Mr. Pettigrew now, ma'am. You can call me Tully though."

"Well then, I suppose you'd better call me Barbara. Please, let's go in here. I have everything ready for you."

Tully followed her back into the room she'd come out of. There was a table and several chairs. Paperwork was neatly laid out on the table. He waited for Barbara to sit down before he sat across from her.

She folded her hands on the tabletop and asked, "Since he was carrying your name and address, I must ask how you know Abel Schulze."

Tully explained, "My unit and I were captured by the Germans in North Africa. Abel decided he'd had enough of the war, helped us escape, and then gave himself up to us. He mentioned that he would like to stay in America and finish his studies after the war. I knew he'd need a sponsor so I gave him my information and told him to contact me when the time came."

Barbara nodded her satisfaction with the answer, then asked, "Did Mr. Schulze ever mention what he was studying for?"

Tully had to think for several seconds. "If I remember right, he said he wanted to be a CPA. He told us he liked working with numbers and such." He watched her shuffle through some of the papers in front of her. After a moment, he asked, "Is everything all right?"

Barbara looked up at him and smiled. "Everything is fine. It's just that it's highly unusual for a POW to be released with a sponsor already in place. We just need to make sure all is copasetic before we let him go out on his own."

Tully questioned, "Copasetic?"

"It means 'very satisfactory'. Now, do I understand that you have left the service?"

"Yes."

Barbara asked, "And what do you do now?"

Tully said, "I run my family's farm in Hartford."

Barbara noticed the ring on his finger. "You're married?"

"Yes."

"Is your wife all right with this situation?"

Tully nodded. "She's very supportive."

Barbara said, "Good. Now, do you understand what is expected of you as a sponsor?"

"We'll help Abel get settled. He can stay with us at first. We'll help him find a job and see about getting him into community college. We'll see to it he works on his citizenship. And when he's ready we'll help him get a place of his own."

"Are you financially able to support him until he gets a job?"

Tully said assuredly, "We'll make it work."

Barbara pushed a set of forms over in front of him along with a pen. "All right, Tully. If you're sure about taking on this responsibility, read and sign each page."

Tully read each page carefully, asked questions when he didn't understand something, and signed on the dotted lines. Barbara examined each signature and made sure everything was correctly dated. Tully then asked, "Is everything copasetic, Barbara?"

She smiled. "Very satisfactory, Tully. I'll go get Abel now."

When he walked in, Tully stood up with a grin. He'd recognize him anywhere. He put his hand out and said, "You look well, Abel."

He took Tully's hand happily. "As do you. I am so happy to see you. I was afraid you might have forgotten me."

"I made a promise. I always keep my promises. Are you ready to go? Do you have a suitcase?"

Abel held up a paper bag. "Everything I have is in here. Just a few things the Red Cross people gave me to get by."

Tully said, "Well, I guess we're going to be doing some shopping before we head for home."

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

The next afternoon Charley heard the truck pull into the driveway and watched through the kitchen window as it came to a stop. She smiled as she picked up Michael and went out to meet them.

Abel got out of the truck with a nervous smile as Charley shifted Michael to one arm as she approached. She smiled brightly as she put her hand out and said, "Welcome, Abel. It's so good to finally meet you."

He shook her hand carefully, as if he might break it. "It is a pleasure to meet you too, Mrs. Pettigrew."

"Please, call me Charley. We're all friends here."

Tully took Michael in his arms with a grin. "This is our son, Michael."

The boy reached out and Abel let the child grasp his finger. He chuckled and said, "He is a strong boy."

Charley smiled as she took the boy and said, "Just like his daddy." She looked at Abel. "Why don't you get your suitcase and we'll show you your room."

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

Over the next few months Abel filed an application for citizenship and found a job at the local hospital as an orderly, which had been his job at the internment camp in Colorado. Then, after settling into his new job, Charley took him to the community college to enroll.

Abel was assigned a counselor and the three of them worked out what classes he needed to get a degree in accounting, what he should take when, and worked out a schedule that worked around his job. Then they worked in the classes that would help him get his citizenship. He would be a very busy young man in the coming years, but he was looking forward to it.

Tully went to the bank and was able to take out a loan to cover Abel's education. When Abel discovered this he vowed, "I will pay you back every cent for what you are doing for me."

Abel loved living with the Pettigrew's. They made him feel a part of their family. Tully's mother fussed over him like a second son. Beth and Katy thought Abel was fascinating and he was treated like a brother. Tully's father liked him so much he wasn't afraid to put him to work around the farm when he wasn't studying, and Abel willingly pitched in.

However, after nearly a year of saving every penny he could, Abel went to Tully and Charley one evening and said, "As much as I love living here, I am ready to get out on my own. Would you help find a place to live?"

Tully and Charley went over Abel's finances, which he had kept track of meticulously, to see what he could afford. Then, over a week's time, Charley made phone calls and set up appointments. Tully took the time to go with Charley and Abel to look at the apartments that were within his price range.

After looking at and rejecting five places for one reason or another, they came across "the one". It wasn't even on the list Charley had made up. They just happened across the "Apartment for Rent" sign in a window and found out the unit had just been vacated.

It was small. One room with a kitchenette, completely furnished with a bathroom. It was close to a bus stop so he could get to work and within walking distance of the college. And best of all was that the rent was lower than he was expecting to have to pay. Abel grinned as he declared, "It is perfect."

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

The move wasn't difficult. While the grandparents babysat Michael, Tully and Charley took Abel shopping for some necessities. Soon his tiny kitchen was stocked and he had everything he needed to make the apartment his home. Tully's mother even presented him with a quilt she'd made as a "house warming" gift.

Abel worked hard at his job and studies. He spent every Sunday at the farm and would forever be a welcomed part of the Pettigrew family.