Chapter Four

"The black one's name is Scamp."

"Huh?" Carter looked up at his bunk mate with a confused look on his face.

"The one you are 'olding is named Scamp."

"Okay?" Carter shrugged and went back to feeding Scamp. "So, you named one after all."

"Andrew, if I 'ad waited for you to name 'im, the whole war would be over."

Carter shook his head, "No it wouldn't. I was thinking about naming him Smoky or Midnight or something like that."

"Well thank goodness I stepped in before 'e got stuck with a ruddy awful name like Midnight."

"Like Scamp is any better," LeBeau mumbled under his breath, secretly happy he had named Belle before one of the others could give her a plain and, to put it nicely, childish, name.

Carter let both remarks go over his head, as usual. "I wonder what we are going to do with them. It's not like we can walk around town asking if someone needs a kitten."

The friends fell silent for a minute before Newkirk's head snapped up, "We can't, but Schultz can."

The three of them looked at each other with sly grins on their faces. It just might work.

~HH~

Hogan liked the idea. Bothering the Underground with a small job like this wouldn't do, but Schultz would be perfect for the task. His big heart would get in the way of orders. It was only a matter of convincing him. And that shouldn't be too hard.

"Lights out in ten minutes!" Schultz barged in and was immediately bombarded by Scamp who ran meowing to his feet. "Back, back, Shnell!"

"'E's just doing 'is job!" Newkirk protested, grabbing Scamp from the floor. "Good boy! I'll make a guard dog out of you yet."

"Newkirk, that is a cat!" Schultz leaned forward and said in a lower voice, "Please, I do not want a cat that chases me like a dog! If you are up to monkey business-,"

"Schultz, leave the cat alone," Hogan stepped between them. "They're getting more daring as they get older. We're trying to discipline them, but, they are Germans, as you know."

"It has only been a day!" Schultz looked from Newkirk to Hogan and then at Scamp, who at the moment was doing his best to get out of Newkirk's hands. "How can they be older? You are up to something!"

"'Ow can you say that, Schultz? We're new at this."

"And you know the saying, 'turn your back and they're all grown up'." Hogan looked sadly at Scamp. "They sure are growing fast. A few more days, and we won't be able to keep them in the barracks anymore."

LeBeau took that moment to jump up from the edge of Carter's bunk, exclaiming dramatically, "Oh, Belle! You've grown another three inches! What am I going to do with you?! Now your box is too small!"

Schultz' eyes doubled in size, "Nien, they were just kittens!" He frantically marched over to the box, only to find them all crowded inside it, with hardly enough room to move around. "How? What? What have you been feeding them?!"

"Just powdered milk, Schultz," Carter shrugged his shoulders. "But, in America, if you want to grow really fast and get strong bones, you're supposed to drink milk. I never thought that it worked this quickly," Carter chuckled. "Of course, I never drank much milk either."

Schultz looked like he was on the verge of panicking, and sounded like he was about to lay an egg. "You must stop feeding them that! If they grow bigger, they will get out and Herr Kommandant will send me to the Russian Front!"

"And that's if the Gestapo doesn't come by first," Hogan crossed his arms over his chest. "Boys, I don't think we really thought this one through."

"Maybe Schultz could ask around town and see if anyone wants a kitten?" Kinch suggested. He scratched the top of his head, "That way Kommandant won't find out he was in on it all along."

"But Herr Kommandant doesn't know I was in on it!"

"No, Schultz, you mean Klink doesn't know you were in on it yet. Just because you know nothing doesn't mean Klink is the same way." Hogan quickly pointed out.

Schultz shifted in his boots, "What should I do, Colonel Hogan?"

"What can you do? It's either wait for the inevitable, or ask around town. It's not like you expect us to ask around for you?"

"Nien, of course not! You are prisoners!"

"Well?"

Schultz' shoulders slumped, "I will see what I can do." All the faces of the occupants of Barracks Two lit up and they looked at each other with large grins and smiles. "Lights out in five minutes!"

Once Schultz was gone, Carter pulled the real box out from under his bunk and started transferring the kittens into it. "You guys were great! Way to go looking pitiful!"

"And what about me and Scamp 'ere? What praise do we get?"

"Ya'll did okay too," Carter took Scamp from Newkirk's hands and gently nuzzled him in with the rest of his siblings. "Especially you, Scamp."

~HH~

"Colonel Hogan, I found an old man who wants a cat for his farm," Schultz whispered during morning roll call.

"Perfect! See, Schultz, that wasn't too bad, was it?"

"Ha, Jolly Joker! I still have four more to go!"

"Just pull your puppy dog eyes and no one will be able to resist you," Hogan quipped.

"Puppy dog eyes?" Schultz scrunched his eyebrows together. "But, what about the kittens?"

Hogan wrapped his arms around his chest, "I'll explain it to you some other war."

Satisfied, Schultz continued walking down the line of prisoners, counting heads in German.

~HH~

"Which one are we giving away, Colonel?" Carter asked, trying not to sound as sad as he was.

"Schultz didn't say," Hogan frowned. "It's up to us, Andrew."

"Boy," Carter looked down into the box of kittens, biting his lip as he looked into the sleepy blue eyes of each one. "This is going to be a hard choice."

The rest of the Heroes gathered around, each taking one of the kittens out of the box. LeBeau was the first to speak, "I will not allow him to take Belle away. She deserves so much more then living on a farm and eating rats. She should belong to a lovely mademoiselle, not an old boche farmer."

"Germany is going through a shortage of French mademoiselles these days, Louis," Kinch softly remarked, looking into the eyes of Princess. "And I just can't imagine a fussy cat like this living on a farm."

"You are right about that," Newkirk smirked. "She'd be too busy licking 'er paws to see the rats."

"And Sparky only likes me," Carter whispered softly, holding the kitten close.

Hogan looked around his group. Although Newkirk didn't say anything, he had a feeling that the Englander would want to keep Scamp a little longer.

Despite what they had all promised, it seemed like he was the only one who had gotten away with naming a cat and not getting attached to it. So, Hogan looked down at the sleeping Tom with a grin, "Well, Tom, it looks like you are the first of our children to be sent out into the world. You just seem like the kind of cat an older man needs."

~HH~

That night, only four kittens remained. Tom was on his way to the farmer. Carter lay in his bed silently dreading what would happen next. It was only just a matter of time before Sparky would be taken away from him. He turned over on his side and lifted the blanket from the kitten box, taking Sparky out and petting her behind her orange and black ears.

"Don't worry, girl. If anyone gets you, I'll make sure they're good people. I promise."

He closed his eyes and fell asleep with the calico kitten tucked safely in the crook of his elbow.