A Wolf By Any Other Name
Chapter 2
Garrison was gathering his papers and putting them in his briefcase when the Sgt/Major yelled for him. Screamed was more like it. Now what, thought Craig. He didn't have time for this. He had to be in Major Richards' office in two hours. Briefcase in hand he made it to the door and was putting on his Ike jacket when Rawlins ran up with a laundry basket of uniforms. Not again, groaned Craig inwardly.
"What now, Sgt/Major?" he asked, shrugging into his jacket and taking his hat from the top of the coat tree.
"Leftenant, I don't know what they did, but me clothes are all stuck together." The man was beside himself.
"All of you down here now!" shouted the Lieutenant.
This explained why the men had been staying in the upstairs common room. Not moving too swiftly, the cons appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Yes, Lieutenant?" asked Actor innocently. The man had not been innocent a day in his life.
Garrison pointed at the uniforms. "Explain this, two words or less, immediately!"
There was dead silence.
"Uh – glue," said Goniff nervously.
Craig wasn't sure he had heard correctly. "Glue?"
Goniff nodded. "Glue."
"You ruined all me ruddy uniforms?" wailed Rawlins.
Garrison was about to explode. Casino decided he better diffuse the situation.
"They ain't ruined," said the cracksman. "Just wash 'em again and they'll be fine."
"Well you gentlemen had better get at it right now. If those uniforms aren't salvaged by the time I get back, you four will be spending time in the stockade. You hear me?"
"Loud and clear, Warden," replied Casino.
"Where you goin', Warden?" asked Chief.
"I have an appointment with Major Richards, for briefing. We have a mission."
Mission and stockade did not go together. "Not tonight I assume," said Actor.
"Tomorrow night." Craig put his hat on his head, picked up his briefcase and opened the door. He nodded toward the laundry basket. "Get at it."
GGG
It was well after dark by the time Garrison returned. He had driven slowly, despite the discomfort of the briefcase cuffed to his wrist. He wanted some quiet time away from the bickering and shouting and the pranks of the men. He did not blame them, but he could not condone their actions either. As he parked the Packard by the steps of the Mansion, he wondered if the cons were there or at the Doves. The jeep was still in the car park, so they had not ventured into Brandonshire and the Fox.
He got out and trotted up the steps to let himself into a dark common room. He didn't need light to see the way to his office, so he walked in, shut the door, and flipped that light on. The smell of tobacco smoke kept the figure lounged on his couch from startling him.
"Satisfactory trip?" asked Actor.
"I guess you could say that." Garrison went to his desk drawer, removed the key and uncuffed the briefcase from his wrist. Making no effort to hide his actions, he rubbed his wrist as he returned to his coat tree. His hat went on top and he shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it from one of the hooks.
"The uniforms have been taken care of," said Actor, not making any move to get up. "No damage was done, except to the Sgt/Major's peace of mind." His eyes followed the Lieutenant back to the man's desk. "Where to this time?" he asked.
"Italy." Garrison opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a bottle and two glasses. "You want to pour?" he asked, reaching for the phone.
Actor got up, clamped the pipe in his teeth and poured two double shots from the half empty bottle of bourbon. He took a seat in the chair and silently toasted Garrison before taking a sip.
Craig listened to the background noise of the pub.
"Blue Fox."
"Any idea where my sister is?" asked Craig.
"Standing right next to me," said Kit.
The phone was handed to the girl. "You rang, Brother?"
"We have a mission."
"Now?" asked the girl with dread.
"No, tomorrow night."
Terry sighed. "Black dress is there, green dress is here. Which one you want?"
"Neither," replied Craig. "Rough. Not that kind of mission. I don't know why Major Richards insisted you had to go."
He could almost see his sister frowning.
"I know you can't tell me where on the phone right now."
"Emilio."
"Ahhh," said the girl as understanding dawned. "That's all right. I know why. Okay. I'll see you in the morning. You need me to bring anything?" she asked.
"Bourbon would be nice." He looked questioningly at Actor."
"Courvoisier if she has any," the Italian replied.
"Was that Actor?" asked Terry, trying to hear over the din of the bar.
"Yes."
"Courvoisier?"
"Yes."
I'll bring it." She paused and answered a question from a patron. "Listen, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow. Give Actor a kiss for me."
"Not likely," objected Craig. "I'll tell him you sent one."
He heard Terry's laugh as she hung up. Actor was watching him with raised eyebrows.
"She sends a kiss," said Garrison.
The con man laughed. "I doubt that is exactly the way she said it." At the grin and shaking of the lieutenant's head, Actor added, "That's okay, Warden. You are very nice and almost as good looking as I am, but you are not my type."
"That makes me feel so relieved, Actor," said Garrison with a touch of friendly sarcasm. He leaned back and took a sip from his glass. "So when is this business with Rawlins going to stop?"
"He stops, we will stop," said the Italian. "We will not hurt him and hopefully do nothing that will get you into trouble." He blew a smoke ring with his pipe smoke. "Still no word on when he will be leaving?"
"None," said Garrison. "It takes the Brass a while to admit when one of their ideas doesn't work. I ran into Randy at G-2. He said he's having the same problem." Garrison smiled. "Only Carter doesn't give their British non-com the problems you do."
"Carter is not experienced," scoffed Actor.
"I hate to tell you this, but Carter's good," said Garrison, enjoying playing games with his second's ego. "Ask Terry. She worked well with him."
Actor seemed unfazed. "Teresa can work well with anyone, except Rawlins."
"Well, we'll see how she does working with Frazini's group." Craig frowned. "Guess she has worked with him before."
"We shall see," said Actor, taking another sip of bourbon.
GGG
Terry arrived at the Mansion a little after lunch. Garrison looked disgustedly at her from his office.
"Did you brief yet," asked the girl, ignoring the look.
"No," he replied. "I was waiting for you to show up."
"That was nice of you," she baited him. "You want to brief now or after I cook supper and we eat?"
The Sgt/Major's head peered around the door from his seat at the conference table. "You are going to cook supper? Why?"
"Yes, I'm going to cook supper," said Terry firmly. "We may not get much to eat for several days. I want them to have a good meal before we leave. By the way, do you have any extra cases of rations hid somewhere?"
"I have ration boxes," he answered, wondering why she wanted to know.
Garrison was curious too. "What do you want with ration cases?"
"Think we can get a couple extra parachutes?" Terry asked. "Emilio could use the food. I think he's running about 200 men in a couple different groups. They aren't too keen on Spam and pork and beans, but I think about now they would welcome something other than bread and cheese. And the cigarettes and chocolate make good bargaining tools."
"You can't give army supplies to civilians," objected Rawlins.
Did the man never quit? "As a matter of fact, I can. I can also give them money, guns, ammunition and explosives. And I have before." She stepped up to the door and glared at him. "Any other objections?"
"Settle down," warned Craig.
Terry gave something that sounded like an unlady-like snort, turned and strode to the kitchen to see if there was any meat that hadn't disappeared. The cons exchanged looks.
"She's gonna kill him, one of these days," said Casino in a low voice.
"I'll help," said Chief, brandishing one of the blades he was cleaning and oiling.
"Goniff."
The blond pickpocket looked at Actor. The con man motioned for him to go to the kitchen with Terry. The gamin Limey had a way of making the girl laugh that the military Limey did not have. Goniff nodded and followed Terry.
The girl was just closing the freezer door when he entered. She placed a wrapped bundle on the table and untied the string around it. Goniff peered over her shoulder to see what it was. A while back, Terry had diced up some ham and packaged it up for later use. Now would be the later use. It was salty and would make them thirsty, but they would probably need the salt.
"Wot you gonna make with that?" he asked.
"Potato soup?" she questioned to see his reaction.
"Thick?"
"Of course."
"Wot can I do?" he asked with a grin.
Terry liked to tease him too. "Craig says you're really good at peeling potatoes . . . ."
"Aw 'ere now," he groaned. "You know I 'ate to peel potatoes."
Terry laughed. "How about you go out to the garden and see what you can find? Carrots, onion, peas or beans, whatever sounds good to you. I'll peel the potatoes."
GGG
After supper, which even the Sgt/Major had to admit to himself was good and filling, Garrison took the men and his sister into his office. He spread a map out on the table.
"We are parachuting into this area." He pointed a finger at a place north of Bologna. "We've been here before. Allied Command wants us to work with Frazini's group, teach them what they don't know and work on our own besides. The Allies are planning a push from the south. They want us to create as much mayhem and destruction in the north as we can to draw the German and Italian troops in that direction. Besides working on the ground, the British and American air forces will be increasing their bombing raids, mainly from Milan north and east. Our job is to blow up bridges, supply lines, train lines, and anything else that strikes our fancy."
Craig looked at his sister. "You say Frazini has about 200 men now?"
"Probably more than that," said Terry. She decided telling her brother was no longer a breach of clearance. "I've been going in every little bit with supplies; food, ammo, radios, guns. I started out learning the ropes with Emilio. Then he put me with one of his lieutenants, Il Lupo, I spent three weeks with them. I know where his bases are in Italy and Austria. He moves around a lot. Sometimes Frazini can't find him."
"Il Lupo?" asked Actor. "I believe I have read intelligence from him."
"Possibly a little, but I'm usually given the intelligence on his group. You see there are two Il Lupos, one on each side of northern Italy. The one to the west gets blamed for a lot of the stuff the one to the east does. The east one I was with doesn't have too much of an ego problem. He would rather the other Il Lupo took the blame for what his group does. It keeps the Germans from going after him. Most of the partisan groups to the north don't get along with each other. That might be a problem for us, but if we stick with Emilio's troops it should be all right."
Until now, Garrison had not known about his sister's little forays with the partisans. "So you think Major Richards is sending you in with us because you know this Il Lupo?"
"Maybe in part," replied the girl. "I have become pretty familiar with Lago di Garda up into the Dolomiti. That could be a reason too."
"So how long we gonna be gone this time, Warden?" asked Chief.
"Only a week," replied Garrison. "The real push starts a couple days after that. Allied Command is hoping between the increase in ground attacks and the air strikes, the Germans will think the push is going to be from the north."
It was Casino's turn. "So wadda we do for explosives?"
Terry answered before Craig could even begin. "I don't know how much Frazini has left after the last batch I brought in. There was dynamite, grenades, fuses, detonators, and plastique."
"You have been bringing all that into Italy?" asked Garrison in surprise.
"Italy and France," replied the girl off-handedly.
"That ain't a girl's job," objected Casino.
Terry gave him a hard look. "And why isn't it? Would you expect a woman to be doing it?"
"You have a point there, Teresa," said Actor, wondering why it bothered him as much as it seemed to be bothering the Warden.
"Okay," said Garrison, "get your gear together and meet at the car. We're going out of Archbury."
As they all got up to leave, the phone rang. Garrison answered it and called out to his sister. The men stopped and watched the girl move back to the desk.
"Yes, Sir," said Garrison. "I understand, Sir. Here's Terry." He handed the phone to her.
"Major Richards?" she asked puzzled. She listened. "Yes, I know where that is . . . . . I should have another couple cases of rations from here, I hope. . . . . Have you ever eaten that stuff? It's awful. . . . ." She listened for a minute and laughed. "Obviously not for another week. Make me a list and I'll take care of that when I get back. . . . . Him too? What do I look like, your own personal delivery service?" Something was said and the girl laughed again. "As soon as I get back. Make me a couple lists. I'll see you when we get back." She hung up.
"And what was all that?" asked Garrison, arms crossed in front of him.
"Top secret," said Terry. "You don't have enough clearance." She pushed through the cluster of cons and bounced up the stairs.
GGG
A half hour later, a troop truck was packed with the men and woman, their gear, and three cases of rations. They headed for Archbury, leaving behind a disgruntled Rawlins standing in the car park. He had grumbled the entire time he had loaded the truck with his precious rations.
"Warden, you did not say," broached Actor. "I trust Major Richards had a change in plans?"
"Yeah," answered Garrison. "We're not jumping. We're being flown to Cairo and from there we'll go in with a plane and land at a strip that is supposed to be hidden in the foothills. Besides us there will be supplies. Casino, there will be some nitro in case you need it for anything."
"We're landing on that strip at night with nitro onboard?" asked Terry in disbelief.
"So says Maj. Richards," replied Craig. He wasn't too keen on that himself.
"Well," said Casino sarcastically. "At least if we get shot down we'll go out with a bang."
"Oh, funny, Mate, really funny."
Terry thought of something and looked at her brother. "Hey Craig? How long will we be in Cairo?"
"We'll leave tomorrow night," said Garrison.
"Do we have time to . . . ?"
Garrison leaned forward and shot a look at his second. "Actor, would you take her to see those darned pyramids? Then maybe we won't have to listen to it."
Terry smiled pleadingly at the Italian. He gave an overdone put-upon sigh.
"Yes, Warden, I will take her to see the pyramids and perhaps a camel." Actor leaned forward and looked around Terry. "And Warden, rest assured, you will owe me for this."
"I have no doubt of that."