Chapter 2

Catherine

I didn't know exactly where I was going, but in reality I didn't care. John had left me to join the Nazi party, and as an American I couldn't stand for that. He had changed. He had told me that I was a closed-minded American whore, and thrown his ring back at me. I wondered who was the female in our relationship sometimes. So I packed my bags and went to the tavern to get drunk and sleep there for a few nights. The Basterds couldn't have picked me up at a better time.

"So what's your name, Little Miss Sharp Shooter?" one of the basterds asked me as we walked back to what I assumed was their headquarters.

"Catherine Mayfield. American, moved to France a while back. Nurse for the French army," I responded. I was used to answering this question by now. It had been asked by each basterd that walked past me. This one, whose name was apparently Utivich, seemed to be Donny's little pet, and was always close by. Donny wasn't annoyed by him though; it was almost like Donny was Utivich's muscle and the little Private First Class was the eyes and ears.

"Donny?" I asked sweetly, "are we getting close?"

"Should be about a half mile that way if Aldo's coordinates are right. We're trying to find a house with a car we can snag this time, so keep your eyes peeled," he mocked Aldo's earlier words with a fake Tennessee accent. I giggled, Donny was cute. He could make me laugh, and after the year I'd had, that was a serious accomplishment.

"Our humble abode!" Aldo gestured to a very large, old stone house with overgrown hedges and grass and two decent looking cars parked in the side yard. "Jew who owned a big company scattered and left everything here. Hugo, can you hot-wire those later?" So the other German one was named Hugo? He was mighty attractive, but a little scary all the same.

Come to think of it, most of them were attractive. Both Wicki and Hugo spoke flawless German, which was a huge turn-on for me in itself. Obviously Donny was a huge, muscular hunk with his dark hair and thick accent giving me a little piece of home. Then there was Aldo. Aldo was a different kind of attractive. He had that southern drawl that made him seem relaxed all the time, even when you could tell he was frustrated, and his leadership was impeccable. There were a couple others like Utivich and Omar that could be cute, but those four were most definitely the ladies men.

"Alright, boys and Cathy!" Aldo bellowed as we entered the house, "Everybody should be able to have their own room here. I'll take the master bedroom, Donny in one guest suite, our lovely guest Cathy in the other, you're on your own to figure it out from there. Wicki and Hugo get first pick because'a their rank, otherwise do what you will. DISMISSED," he boomed.

Okay, he's hot. I know that I just had sex with Donny and all, but man oh man there's nothing like a good leader to make you feel all warm and fuzzy. "May I show you to your room?" Aldo asked, linking arms with me and interrupting my thoughts.

"Of course, Lieutenant."

Aldo and I walked up the long staircase arm and arm, acting as if we were in the 1800s and he was trying to court me. I could hear Donny stomping along behind us, obviously trying to hear our conversation.

When Aldo and I had arrived at my room, the second to last door on the left of a long hallway full of spare rooms and bedrooms, he slowly closed the door and sat down on the bed.

"Something on your mind, Lieutenant?" I asked.

"Yeah, Cathy, there is." I liked this new nickname he had adopted for me, it was cute. "Clearly, you're going to be Donowitz's girl. I know it, I walked in on ya guys doin' the dirty, but the other guys may not lay off so easily, especially not Wicki and Hugo. They're both used to getting what they want, they're good guys though. So just be careful and try not to set Donny off. He's got a short fuse, to say the least." So I've heard.

The hallway of bedrooms had been relatively easy to delegate: Zimmerman and Hagan together, then a few closets and then Omar, then Utivich, then my room and Aldo's were all on the left. The right consisted of Sakowitz, Hirschberg, Hugo, Wicki then Donny all the way at the end, across from Aldo with the bathroom across from me. There were only two bathrooms in the entire house, but luckily they were both enormous.

"Dinner's ready!" Omar called from downstairs. Donny emerged from the bathroom holding a small kit of what looked like barbers tools.

"Hey Lieutenant, look what I found in the bathroom!" Donny shouted in delight down the stairs to Aldo. I found out later that night that Donny used to work in his father's barber shop in Boston before he played baseball and could give a mean haircut and a shave. Most of the guys needed it. They were all dirty, scraggly from their lack of grooming and had dried blood in their hair from their last tussle with the Gestapo at the tavern.

Donny was so excited to find the barber kit that after dinner he insisted on giving every guy a haircut and a shave. After about the fourth guy, I figured he could use a break, and so I took over smoothing out Hugo's stubble.

"Sie besser nicht schneiden mich," (She better not cut me) he mumbled under his breath in German. Wicki chuckled. They were like two peas in a pod.

"Ich weiß, was ich tue," (I know what I'm doing.) I muttered back.

"Sie sprechen Deutsch? Ich bin beeindruckt," (You speak German? I'm impressed.) a smile curled up onto his lips.

"Français, aussi," (French, too.) I replied smugly.

"You know, you're pretty good with that razor," Hugo complemented, finally speaking English. I saw what Aldo was talking about.

"Yes, I am. You learn these sort of things over the years."

Hugo gave a smile, something that seemed rare for his personality. He had such a stern jawline; come to think of it that was probably part of his appeal.

I hadn't realized it, but while I was shaving Hugo the rest of the boys had cleared out, all except for Wicki. Hugo walked out wordlessly, as per usual. He was probably going to play cards with Aldo or smoke quietly in the corner.

"Sie sprechen Deutsch auch? Das hält Aldo glücklich er kann Ihnen erlauben, hier zu bleiben, nachdem alle. Er denkt, du bist ein Spion für die Alliierten Französisch. Das ist der einzige Grund, warum er Sie bei uns bleiben. Auch, weil du bist ein besserer Schütze als unserem Trainer Scharfschützen." (So you speak German too, huh? That'll keep Aldo pleased. He may keep you around after all. He thinks you're an Ally spy for the French. That's the only reason he even took you in, besides the fact that you're basically better than our trainer sniper.)

"So who else speak German?" I asked in English. I didn't want to let Hugo and Wicki think that we had a special bond because we all spoke German and French. I was Donny's girl, or at least that was my plan.

He sighed, "Just me, you and Hugo."

"Interesting. French too?"

"Oui," he smirked. He was trying to be cute. It may have been working.

"Would you like a shave, Corporal?"

"Yes, Private," he gave a smug grin and sat down. I lathered his scruffy chin and started to run the razor over his stubble.

"Since when am I a Private?"

He held his hand up, a signal for me to stop the razor so he could talk. "Well you're certainly not an officer," he joked. "Maybe you can be a Specialist. You and Utivich are probably the best snipers in the unit."

I finished my last stroke of the knife and washed it off in the sink. (Sie säubern gut, Wicki." (You don't clean up too bad, Wicki,) I said in German. Maybe I would play his game for a while. He fell right into my trap; his grin widened into a large smile at my use of his native tongue. Here we go