The Need To Know Raid
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 9
"You can't be seriously considering this!" Troy stared at the other sergeant.
"I don't like it any better than you Troy! He's one of mine for this mission; do you really think I want to leave him behind?"
"Saunders is right Troy." Moffitt's quiet tone interrupted the charged conversation. "And Hitch is also correct. The mission comes first; others are counting on us to do our jobs. We'll do what we can for him and hide him as well as possible. We'll come back for him."
Troy studied the wounded private, knowing that the others were right. He tried to burn the features of his injured driver into his brain, afraid it might be the last time he saw him.
"Serge! Someone's coming!"
Tully dropped next to Hitch and covered his body with his own as the camp once again dove for cover. This time there were two figures approaching, and they were following the path that Hitch and Caje had used.
"Americans? Americans?"
The soft voice of the girl called to them as she and her companion neared their camp. With a growl, Saunders showed himself, frustration making his moves stiff and angry.
Stopping at his sudden appearance, the girls' companion pushed her behind him and protected her with his own body.
"Cajeā¦find out who he is and ask her why she's here."
The others rose and surrounded the pair as Saunders sent Tully to check for anyone else.
The girl talked rapidly to Caje, waving her hands about as she spoke. The Cajun listened as she pointed at her companion, at Hitchcock, who was now unconscious, and toward the others. Tully returned to say that the woods were clear before the girl finished her explanations. Impatient, Saunders ordered Caje to begin translating before ''he shot someone' just on principle.
The scout smiled and nodded at the girl and her companion. He asked her some questions before he turned to the sergeant.
"This is her father." Caje indicated the man standing next to the girl. "She says that she told him how we saved her from the 'bad' German. She blames herself for Mark getting hurt. She asked how he was doing." Caje looked toward Doc and his patient. "I explained that he had chosen to die to save our mission. She was very upset. She says her father and mother are willing to hide him until we can return for him." Caje saw the hope flare in the eyes of the sergeants. "She says they will nurse him until he is well if we wish."
The three sergeants exchanged grins, the situation was looking better by the minute.
"Doc, how is he?"
"Unconscious, he's lost a lot of blood; but I think I have the bleeding stopped." The medic looked up at Saunders. "We can maybe move him for a short distance but any prolonged moving will open the wound again."
"Can we take him to their farmhouse?"
Doc nodded cautiously. "We should be able to, we'll have to go slow and careful."
"Okay." Saunders ordered, to the relief of all his men, "find a blanket we can use as a stretcher. We'll get him settled before we move out."
It was a quiet group that moved through the dark path in the still of the night. Only an occasional grunt disturbed the silence as they carried their burden toward the farmhouse.
"He'll be okay until we get back, won't he Serge?" Billy asked as he watched Doc help the Frenchman settle Hitchcock into a hidden room under their chicken pen.
"We built it to hide our daughter." The man explained to Caje as they lowered the blond down the ladder. "She comes here whenever we know that the Germans are near."
"He'll be okay Billy." Littlejohn told the smaller man. "We'll be back soon and he'll be ready to travel. We'll take him home and he'll be good as new, you'll see."
"Sure Littlejohn," Kirby growled quietly, "and I bet you believe in Santa Claus too."
"He'll be okay," Littlejohn insisted, "you'll see. Serge wouldn't leave him if he didn't think he'd be alright."
"Littlejohn, you big dummy, Serge doesn't have a choice." Kirby grumbled as he walked away.
"Hey Serge!"
Saunders turned from his inspection of the trees around the farmhouse when Caje yelled. "What is it now?"
The scout hurried to where the three sergeants were standing together. "The girl's father, he has a truck that he uses to haul firewood."
"So?"
"So he says he can fit all of us in there. It might be a tight but he says we will all fit."
"So?"
"He's willing to drive us anywhere we want to go as long as it doesn't go beyond where his pass allows him to go." The Cajun smiled. "He hauls wood to the villages and the Germans anywhere within twenty miles of here."
Moffitt smiled. "That would save us twenty miles of walking."
"But can we trust him?" The sergeant wondered aloud.
"We're trusting him to take care of Hitch. I don't see where we have a great many options at this point." The British sergeant answered with a grim face.
"Does he know where we're going?" Saunders asked the Cajun.
"No Serge, and he hasn't asked. He just said he would drive us anywhere we want to go."
"Okay, find out when he can leave. Tomorrow morning at first light would be good. We'll tell him where we want to go just before we leave."
Caje nodded and returned to the farmer. The man nodded his agreement, motioning toward his barn. Caje nodded again and smiled as he headed for his sergeants.
"He'll be ready at first light." Saunders acknowledged the confirmation. "He says we can sleep in the barn until then. He suggests that we sleep light though because the Germans will come looking for their man. There is a tunnel leading out of the barn if we need it." Saunders looked surprised so Caje hurried to explain. "He uses it to get his daughter out of sight before the Germans find her."
"Tell him thank you, and we'll be ready at first light."
The Americans bedded down in the loose straw and were soon fast asleep.
Tully, on first watch, made sure he kept an eye on the chicken coop as well as the barn. His sleep, when it was his turn, was restless and plagued by bad dreams.
