Chapter 2

Reaching the tree stump, Kinch lay the now unconscious Hogan down behind the emergency exit and looked at LeBeau.

"Louie, go below and then to barracks twelve. Get Wilson and have him meet us in the barracks. Tell him Colonel Hogan's been hurt, but that I need to speak with him before he examines the Colonel. Now go. We'll be right behind you."

"Oui. Right away," the Frenchman replied. Once the searchlight from the guard tower passed by them, LeBeau raised the lid of the tree stump and disappeared below, closing the lid behind him.

Kinch then looked at Carter and Newkirk. "I want both of you to go below next. I'll need both of you to handle the Colonel when I lower him down. Then wait for me." The searchlight passed by again. "Okay, go!"

Carter and Newkirk both hurried forward and disappeared below leaving Kinch with the Colonel. After they were gone, Kinch gazed at his commanding officer and gently brushed a loose strand of dark hair from his face. "Colonel, I am so sorry we didn't get there in time to stop them from hurting you. I'll never forgive myself, sir." Kinch bit his lower lip. "Never." He waited until the searchlight passed back in his direction again and went by. Then, he gently cradled Hogan in his arms and hurried forward. Being careful, he managed to raise the lid of the tree stump and ease the Colonel down holding onto one arm and into the waiting arms below of Carter and Newkirk. He quickly followed, closing the lid.

Once below, Kinch again took the Colonel in his arms and with the others behind him, hurried forward to the ladder leading up into the barracks above. Reaching it, he looked at Carter. "Go on up, Carter," he explained. "Then wait by the tunnel opening. We're gonna need your help getting the Colonel upstairs and into his quarters." Carter didn't hesitate to do as he was told. Once he was out of sight, Kinch and Newkirk exchanged knowing looks.

"Mate, do you really think those bastards who got away did what we think they did to the Colonel?"

"I'm praying we're wrong, Newkirk. But I have this nagging fear we're not." He saw Carter and LeBeau waiting up above. Glancing over his shoulder again, he kept his voice low. "And if we're not wrong. There's gonna be hell to pay."

"Bloody right there, mate. And I can guarantee you, a bullet in the head will look like an act of kindness."

"Okay, Newkirk. Take the Colonel's arm and start up the ladder. I'll be right behind holding onto him as well."

"Right." Newkirk tucked his weapon into his waistband and grabbing one of Hogan's arms, started up the ladder with Kinch close behind him. It took a few minutes, but they eventually got Hogan inside the barracks where Carter gently gripped him under his arms and Kinch and Carter held him by one leg each. As he climbed up into the barracks, Kinch saw Wilson who went to Hogan's side immediately.

"Take him into his quarters so I can examine him," he ordered grimly. As the men carefully carried Hogan to his quarters, Wilson approached Kinch. "LeBeau said you wanted to speak with me before I examine Colonel Hogan."

"Yeah, I do. And keep your voice down, Joe. What I have to ask you is serious." Glancing around, Kinch made sure nobody was within hearing range. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to Wilson. "Joe, when you examine the Colonel, I need you to check on something Newkirk and I suspect might have been done to him that's not obvious at first."

"Sure. What is it?" Wilson asked becoming alarmed now.

Kinch brought his mouth close to the medic's ear. "Newkirk and I suspect the Colonel may have been sexually assaulted."

"You mean…?" the medic asked with raised eyebrows. He couldn't finish the question.

"That's exactly what I mean. When we found him, his belt had been used to bind his wrists. But we also noticed the button on his trousers had been unfastened as well and he was in more pain than he should be for just having just a bullet wound to his leg and from being bound too tightly. So, could you please check?"

"I definitely will, Kinch. Thanks for telling me. Perhaps you'd better come with me and help. If what you and Newkirk suspect is true, I'm gonna need help examining him to determine if it was done."

"No problem. Let's go," Kinch replied seeing the other three men exiting Hogan's quarters. They headed directly towards them. "Carter, I want you and LeBeau to go below, clean up and change. Newkirk, I need you to wait here in case I need you."

"But mon ami…" LeBeau protested.

Kinch gave him a stern look. "LeBeau, don't argue with me. Go!" His face immediately softened. "I'm sorry. I know you're worried about the Colonel. So am I. Now, please do what I ask you. I've got to help Wilson."

"I am sorry too. Carter and I will be back as soon as we do what you ask." Waving to Carter to follow, the two disappeared below while Newkirk poured a cup of coffee and sat down; he then lit a cigarette and prepared to wait. If anything, his rage was increasing and it was a struggle to keep a tight lid on it. He saw the door to Hogan's quarters close after Kinch and Wilson went inside. He took a drag on his cigarette as he fought to control the anger he felt.

Kinch turned on the lamp on the Colonel's desk as Wilson sat his medical bag on the footlocker. A low moan from the Colonel told them Hogan was beginning to regain consciousness. Wilson knelt down beside the bed. Putting a hand on the Colonel's arm, it didn't surprise him when the Colonel flinched at the touch. It was typical of those who had been assaulted as Hogan supposedly had been.

"Colonel, it's Wilson. Kinch is here with me. Can you hear me, sir?" He put his hand on the Colonel's waist. Hogan began trying to move away from the touch.

"Stop!" he said. "Don't!" He tried to get away from Wilson's touch but stopped because of the agony the action caused.

"What's he talking about?" asked Kinch, frightened.

"He's reliving the assault," the medic explained gently. "Unfortunately, it's common with those who are attacked such as the Colonel may have been." He licked his lips and tried again. "Colonel, you're safe now. You're back in your barracks in your quarters. Nobody can hurt you anymore. But I need to examine you as I understand you were injured. Kinch is with me. He's here to make sure you stay safe. But I must examine you now." Removing a pair of scissors from his medical bag, Wilson cut the leg of Hogan's trousers to enable himself to get to the bullet wound. After examining it, he breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Kinch. "The bullet went clean through which is good. After I clean and stitch it closed, I'll wrap it and give him an antibiotic in case of infection. Then I'll look at his wrists."

It took Wilson several minutes to clean and stitch closed the bullet wound. Once that was done, the medic gave Hogan an injection of penicillin and then wrapped the leg. Then, he turned his attention to the Colonel's wrists which, after they'd been cleaned didn't appear as bad as originally believed. Wilson applied an antiseptic salve to both wrists and wrapped them in gauze, applying tape to the end of the wrapping to keep the gauze in place. He looked at Kinch. "Now comes the difficult part. I may need your help Kinch, so stand by."

"Right."

Wilson leaned close to a semi-conscious Hogan. "Colonel, I have to examine you to see if you have other injuries. Just remember, sir, you are back at Stalag 13 and in your barracks in your quarters. Nobody can hurt you anymore. But I do need to examine you. It's important that I do. I promise I won't hurt you." He carefully moved his hands to the waistband of the Colonel's trousers.

"No! I'll kill you!" Hogan muttered as he tried fighting off Wilson. He began struggling with the medic as he felt Wilson's hands on the waistband. Hogan wasn't going to let them assault him again. Not a second time.

Wilson looked at the radioman. "Kinch, pin his arms down! I'll have to sedate him before I can examine him further." He rummaged through his medical bag for what he was looking for while Kinch gently but firmly pinned Hogan's arms against his body. His heart ached seeing the Colonel thrashing about despite the intense pain he was in to try and get away while pleading with his now imaginary assailants to stop and not attack him.

"Joe, hurry up! I don't know how long I can hold him down!"

Wilson, finding the vial and a syringe, quickly filled it. He tore the Colonel's turtleneck at the shoulder and inserted the syringe into his arm injecting the sedative. After a few moments Hogan quieted down and his thrashing stopped. Once he had quieted down and Kinch thought it safe to do so, he released Hogan's arms. He and Wilson looked at each other grimly.

"Okay, Kinch. I'm gonna need your help again," Wilson explained as he reached for the waistband of Hogan's trousers.

Newkirk still sat at the table smoking when Carter and LeBeau emerged from the tunnel after having changed and cleaned up. They glanced at the closed door of Hogan's quarters and then at the Englander who, having finished his coffee, was now smoking his second cigarette, staring at the table top. They slowly sat down to wait with him.

"Any word yet?" asked a still frightened LeBeau.

Newkirk, not raising his head or speaking, just shook it.

Carter looked from Newkirk to LeBeau and back to Newkirk. "Look, I have a feeling that something's going on here that you guys aren't telling me. And I have a feeling you aren't telling me because you think I can't handle knowing. But where Colonel Hogan's concerned I think I have a right to know. He's my commanding officer and friend too, y'know." He again noticed the Frenchman who had been looking at him while he spoke suddenly turn away. He also noticed his best friend, Peter Newkirk, couldn't look at him; he just continued puffing on his cigarette. "C'mon guys. I'm not a kid. I may not be familiar with a lot of things like you guys and Kinch, but I'm not that naive. I know as well as anybody what some Germans are capable of. I mean, I wasn't born yesterday. I know…" he didn't get to finish as Newkirk raised his eyes and stared at him.

"You're right, Andrew," he replied softly. "You do know as well as the rest of us what some Germans are capable of. And Colonel Hogan is your commanding officer and friend as well."

"And we don't mean to treat you like a child either," LeBeau added gently. "But there are some things that defy even logic as to the cruelty of some people, and this is one of them."

Newkirk, putting out his cigarette, promptly lit a third. Carter stared at him. "Newkirk, that's at least your second cigarette, maybe even your third. You never chain smoke like that unless it's something really bad. That's how I know whatever happened to Colonel Hogan must be really bad." He paused. "I just wish you guys would just tell me what happened. 'Cause if you don't I'll just ask Wilson."

LeBeau and Newkirk looked at each other. Finally, LeBeau let out a deep breath.

"He's right, mon ami," he said to Newkirk motioning with his head towards Carter. "He has a right to know. I think we should tell him what you, Kinch, and I suspect and Sergeant Wilson will either confirm or deny."

"I don't even know if I can say it, LeBeau," Newkirk replied sadly, pain evident in his eyes.

"Then I will tell him," LeBeau replied.

"No. It's all right, Louie. I'll tell him." Newkirk took a drag on his cigarette and then looked Carter directly in the eyes. "You want to know, Andrew? Then I'll tell you. Just keep in mind that Wilson hasn't confirmed anything yet so we could be wrong, but I don't think so. So here goes."

Carter gave Newkirk his complete attention, eyes narrowing as he listened.

Newkirk cleared his throat before continuing. "Remember when we found the Colonel out there in the woods earlier?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Kinch and I saw those bastards had used the Colonel's belt to bind his arms behind him."

"I know that."

"Well, what you don't know is that after Kinch turned the Colonel onto his back, I noticed the button on the Colonel's waistband had been undone."

Carter appeared puzzled. "I don't get it," he said.

Newkirk sighed. "What I'm tryin' to say, mate, is that there was no bloody reason for the button on the Colonel's trousers to be undone if his belt was all that was used, so to speak." He could see that Carter still looked confused. "Carter, Kinch and I suspect that something else happened to the Colonel before we got to 'im because he was in more pain than he shoulda been for just havin' only a bullet wound to his leg and injured wrists from being tied too tight."

Carter began to feel like perhaps he was slow, because he couldn't seem to grasp what Newkirk was trying to say. His confusion was apparent to Newkirk who rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Blimey, I wish I had never started this; but you wanted to know. And I was hopin' to get you to figure it out without me havin' to say it. But I guess not. So here it is, Carter. Kinch, LeBeau, and I suspect those four guards we saw perhaps raped the Gov'nor before we got to 'im. There, I said it."

Carter's jaw dropped in shock and his eyes widened. "Rape?" he repeated a bit louder than he should have.

"Keep your bloody voice down, will you?" Newkirk instructed him looking around to see if anyone overheard. It didn't look as if anybody was paying any attention to them. "You want the whole bleedin' barracks to hear you!?"

"Of course not. But, but, to rape a man, doesn't that mean someone would have to…" he couldn't finish as the words stuck in his throat.

"Yes, Andrew, they would," Newkirk said. He then looked at his close friend with sympathy. "Are you still glad we told you?"

Carter shook his head. His lower lip trembled and his eyes became bright. "I kinda wish now that you hadn't. How could somebody, anybody, do that to Colonel Hogan? He doesn't deserve that. Nobody does. But especially not the Colonel." He looked at LeBeau. "Is that why he was in so much pain when we found him?"

"Oui. That is why, mon ami," the Frenchman paused. "We suspect the four SS Bosche we saw all took part in attacking him."

Carter wiped at his eyes. "That means the one Kinch killed is one of the four that assaulted the Colonel."

"That's right, mate," Newkirk said putting out his cigarette. He noticed Carter looked horrified. "You all right? Maybe we shouldn't have told you."

"No, I'm glad you did," Carter answered, swallowing hard. He nodded his head. "So Kinch killed one of 'em." His eyes looked into Newkirk's face. "Are we gonna search for the other three?" he asked.

Newkirk and LeBeau looked at each other, uncomfortably. "That's what we intend to do, Andrew," Newkirk explained. "One by one. But killin' 'em outright just doesn't seem fair somehow, y'know?" He let a smirk appear.

"You're right, of course," LeBeau added. "First, the filthy Bosche should be made to suffer as they made Colonel Hogan suffer. But in different ways of course."

"I thought about that, Louie, old man. But if we're gonna kill 'em, I don't think we should torture 'em as well. I mean, if we torture 'em first, then that doesn't make us any better than them now does it?"

LeBeau shrugged. "I suppose you're right. But it was just a thought."

"Of course the Gov'nor doesn't approve of cold-blooded murder, y'know," the Englander remarked. "He's not gonna like it."

"But do we have to kill them?" Carter asked. "I mean, can't we just send them to London or something?"

Newkirk sighed. "Andrew, this is payback. And somebody once said that payback's a bitch. But that's okay. These bloody bastards have to pay for what they did to the Colonel."

"Oui. They must be taught that nobody does what they did to Colonel Hogan and expect to get away with it. But we will have to get them one by one."

"I agree," said Newkirk. "And I'm sure Kinch will agree." He sighed wearily. "We don't have much to go on though. All we know for sure are two things. One, they were SS, and two, we have their first names courtesy of the Gov'nor before he passed out." He looked at Carter. "Andrew, we're not gonna make you go along with us on this. And we won't hold it against you if you decide no. It's your decision. But with or without you, we're gonna find those bastards and punish 'em."

Carter sat quietly for a long while as he thought over what he'd been told about what happened. Then, he glanced at his friends with a serious and determined look. "You can count on me," he said finally.

Wilson wiped his hands on a towel after he finished his examination and treating Hogan's additional injuries. Then he and Kinch had managed to get Hogan undressed and into his pajamas. That's when they saw what looked like fingerprint bruises forming on the Colonel's shoulders. Shaking his head sadly, Wilson proceeded to treat them with an ointment before buttoning up Hogan's pajama top. Watching Wilson, Kinch could see the anger building in the medic's face, same as him.

"Then we were right in our suspicions, Joe," he said trying to remain calm.

"You were. The Colonel was definitely assaulted by more than one man from what I can tell." He slammed the towel onto the floor. "Bastards! How could anybody do such a barbaric thing to such a fine man?!"

"I don't know, Joe. I really don't. But they won't get away with it I promise you."

"Well, I've done everything I can for him," Wilson explained. "The rest is up to him now. But with the sedative I gave him he will hopefully sleep through the night."

Kinch rested a hand on Wilson's shoulder. "I think we should let the others know. Then I'll have somebody sit with the Colonel and keep an eye on him just in case."

I think that's wise." Wilson gazed at the injured man in the bed and sadly shook his head. Grabbing his medical bag, he switched off the lamp on the desk, then followed Kinch out into the common area, quietly closing the door behind him.