Newkirk deloused and showered first. Hogan and Carter waited patiently. "I'll check on Perrin," LeBeau said.

Hogan grabbed his arm. "Leave him alone," he ordered.

"But what if the Boche go in?"

"I'll get her, sir," Carter volunteered.

"No one is getting anyone," Hogan snapped. He looked at the showers. The water stopped. "Newkirk?" he called.

"I'm fine but we forgot something. Can someone bring me another towel?"

"I will," Kinch said. He grabbed a towel and darted in.

"Thanks, Kinch."

"My p-p-pleasure," Kinch's voice stammered.

"I can dress myself."

Hogan peered into the shower. Newkirk stood draped in a threadbare towel, the edge skimming his upper thighs and dangerously low on his breasts. He rubbed his hair as Hogan stared. "Problem, gov?"

"You're..." Hogan felt his mouth dry. "You're..."

"really a woman," Kinch finished.

"Wow," came an astonished whisper. Hogan looked. LeBeau gazed at Newkirk with rapt attention while a beet red Carter stared at Newkirk then his feet then Newkirk again.

"Get dressed," Hogan ordered. "Out, guys. Kinch, you, too."

He leaned against the shower door. When Newkirk called out he was done, Hogan jumped into the shower and switched it to cold. From the looks on his command crew, he wasn't the only one. We must be mad. Newkirk can't be a woman. Men can not become women. There are no such things as fairies. And Newkirk couldn't become such a lovely woman.

He hurried to the barracks with his men. Newkirk sat at the table in Hogan's quarters, clipping the ends of his hair. "'Ey, mates. Sorry about invading, gov. I don't want the others to notice. I think this should be kept between us."

"It's all right." Hogan sat, gestured to the others to do the same. Carter shut the door.

"You can not cut your own hair!" LeBeau shook his head. "Let me, mademoiselle."

"I'm not a mademoiselle! And what do you know of hair?"

"I am French!"

"Enough." Hogan yawned. "Tell me how this could happen, Newkirk."

As LeBeau fussed with Newkirk's hair, Newkirk told of the fey and fairy circles, how the good ladies and lords lived side by side with mortals but beyond the veil. Hogan listened raptly as Newkirk fell into the patter of a master storyteller.

When he finished, all the men exchanged looks. "But it's impossible!" Carter protested.

"There are more things betwixt Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Newkirk grinned. Hogan's eyebrows raised.

"Shakespeare? I'm impressed, Peter."

"Thanks, gov."

"So what do we do?' Kinch asked calmly.

"We 'ave to find out what the fey want. This," Newkirk gestured to himself. "Is some kind of curse. I just don't know why. I know we stepped in their circle but usually this is for some kind of great offense. I must 'ave caught the edge of the spell."

"Are you saying everyone in the circle became girls?" Carter asked.

"I'm saying they became the opposite of what they were. That's why the bomber crew became women and me."

"Then why didn't we?" Kinch asked.

"Because Newkirk shoved us out," Hogan said. "I know I tripped over a stone."

"We would have become girls?" Carter's eyes grew huge.

"Easy, Carter," Newkirk said. "It's all right."

"We simply would have called you Andrea," Kinch said.

LeBeau chuckled, handing Newkirk a mirror. "There, mon ami."

Hogan smiled. Newkirk's short hair waved in a page boy cut and he looked incredibly exquisite. "Whew," Carter said. "Boy, you're really pretty."

"Enough with the pretty. Louie, I look like a ruddy woman!"

"Because you are!"

"I'm not a woman!" Newkirk's voice became a shout and he stood up. "This is just a facade, a sick masquerade. I'm a man!"

Hogan grabbed Newkirk. "Calm down," he ordered. "We'll figure this out, all right?"

Newkirk nodded. Hogan inhaled. "Sorry, Louie," Newkirk said. "You did a great job."

LeBeau smiled. "Carter is right. You are tres belle."

Newkirk rolled his eyes. "Get some sleep," Hogan said. "Newkirk, try to be inconspicuous."

"Good luck," Kinch muttered. He caught Hogan's eye and curved his hands in the air.

"I know makeup and disguises. I'll be fine."

"You're feminine," Kinch said.

"I am not a ruddy girl!" Newkirk rubbed his eyes. "I'll be fine."

Hogan fell asleep, dreaming of fairies and lovely women.

----

He woke around noon. He left his quarters, looked around. Most of Barracks Two was empty save for Carter, LeBeau, and Kinch still sleeping. Hogan yawned. Newkirk was probably taunting the guards. He vaguely remembered his dreams, Newkirk being a woman. He chuckled. LeBeau blinked at him. "What's going on?" the Frenchman asked.

"Weird dreams." Hogan poured a cup of coffee. "Hey, it's fresh."

"Where's Newkirk?" Carter mumbled.

"Probably teasing the guards." Hogan yawned again.

"I dreamed he was a woman," Carter said.

Hogan choked on his coffee. "What?"

"I dreamed Newkirk was a woman."

LeBeau stared at Hogan. "Moi, aussi."

"Hell!" Hogan put down his coffee and rushed outside. He spotted Olson raking the beds near Klink's office. "Olson! Where's Newkirk?"

"Wood cutting detail."

"What?" Carter exclaimed.

"Wood cutting." Olson looked confused. "Why?"

Hogan walked towards the fence. He spotted the prisoner detail not far from the gate. "Come on, Schultzie, I can't get to the truck if you're in the ruddy way," came Newkirk's voice.

"You can get it around me, Newkirk."

"Not with that girth." Wood clattered into the truck. "Face it, Schultz, you've been nipping at Louis' strudel a bit too much."

"The cockroach knows how to cook," Schultz sighed happily. "Get back to work, Englander."

"Yeah, yeah," Newkirk's voice said.

"Schultz!"

Schultz appeared. "What is it, Colonel Hogan?"

"Let me out with my men."

"Nein, Colonel Hogan. They're fine and almost done."

"Schultz!" Hogan snapped.

Parker appeared. "Hey, Colonel." He dumped an armful of wood in the truck. "Schultz is right. We're almost done."

"Everyone all right?"

"Sure."

Trenton appeared and dumped an armful in the truck. He nodded to Hogan. "Newkirk's got the last load."

Hogan nodded. Newkirk appeared, tossed in an armful, and wiped his face. His short hair, no longer waved, looked normal. Hogan stared. Was he shorter, more frail? Or was Hogan simply remembering his dream? Newkirk looked over and grinned. "Afternoon, gov."

"Afternoon. You all right?"

"Course. Why wouldn't I be?" Newkirk rolled his eyes as Schultz pushed his shoulder.

"Back to camp," Schultz ordered.

The men followed the wood laden truck into camp. Hogan tried to casually sidle up to Newkirk but his thief cocked an eyebrow at him, telling him silently he was aware of Hogan's concern. "You all right?" Hogan murmured.

"Fine. Why are you all here?" Newkirk jerked his head at Carter, LeBeau, and Kinch, all slowly approaching. The gates closed and the work detail dispersed. Newkirk lit a cigarette and inhaled. Carter stared at him.

"You are a girl!" he blurted.

"Andre!" LeBeau snapped.

"I'm not telling you again, Carter! I'm not a bleedin' woman!" Newkirk glared at his friend.

"Have you eaten?" Kinch asked.

"Grabbed some breakfast before Schultz took out work detail." Newkirk rubbed his reddened hands. "Hope there's coffee left."

"Oui. I'll make some lunch."

"How are you passing?" Kinch demanded once they were inside the barracks. "Look at you."

"Kinch, they're not looking for a bird because I'm not one."

"You shouldn't be doing wood cutting," Carter said.

"Why not?" Newkirk finished his cigarette and looked at Carter.

Carter looked uncomfortable. "Because--because--well, I guess you're right."

"We'll go back to the circle tonight," Hogan said. "I hope we can find some answers."

"Right. I'll go looking for a gift." Newkirk sipped his coffee.

"Gift?" Kinch asked.

"The lords and ladies need a gift if you visit," Newkirk explained. "Cor, you Yanks didn't learn anything, did you?"

"LeBeau doesn't know, either," Hogan said.

"I know a little." LeBeau's fingers deftly spiced a few handfuls of meat. "What will you bring, Perrin?"

"It's Newkirk, Louie."

"Enough," Hogan said.

"Perrin?" Kinch inquired.

"Feminine version of Pierre," Hogan absently said.

Newkirk nodded and headed outside, Carter at his heels. "Carter, I can't go shopping with you right at my back. Step away a few feet."

"What if something happens?" Carter said.

"Like what?" Newkirk pushed Carter's hat down playfully. "It's me, all right? Think of it as make up."

He walked outside, pulling his cap low. Hogan sighed. "Maybe it's me."

"What about the bomber crew?" Kinch asked.

"I want to talk to them." Hogan finished his tepid coffee. "LeBeau, yell when lunch is ready, huh?"

"Sure, mon Colonel."

"And keep an eye on Newkirk. This insanity has got to affect him and I don't want anyone else knowing he's--he's female. Especially the Krauts. This is between us five and Wilson and that's it." His gaze lingered on Carter. "No one slips up. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Oui, mon Colonel."

"Yes, sir." Carter glanced at Hogan. "Sir, how should we watch her? And should she really be cutting wood? I mean, she's kind of frail."

"Newkirk will kill you if you say that." Kinch looked at Hogan. "I think we should just treat him like normal."

"Agreed," LeBeau said. "He's very touchy."

"Just what they said, Carter. Treat him as Newkirk, not Perrin or Betty."

"That'll be hard," Carter muttered.

"Just do it," Hogan said. He headed down.