August 30
Outside the Cooler – 1430 Hours

It has been five days and there has been no word from London about anything. There have been no missions, no assignments and no sign of Marie. The Underground has been quiet, the camp is at a standstill and Klink is still fuming about the late-night party from earlier this week. There isn't anything new about this, but when Schultz also knows nothing and tells the actual truth for once, then the place is dead. He has no information about what Hochstetter was talking about previously and he seriously has no clue about those spies Carter and I uncovered. Not even apple strudel and chocolate bars from the Red Cross packages, which came in two days ago, can change his mind. Although the bumbling guard ate his fill, we didn't receive anything in return.

Otherwise, there has been no new news (no news is good news?) lately, other than Newkirk being sent to the cooler. He was caught outside the fence three nights ago (just about to head out for another date with another woman in Hammelburg) by Schultz (thank G-d) and was dutifully sentenced to ten days in the cooler, but Rob reduced it to three. So here I am, waiting for that girl-crazed soldier who was already warned not to misuse the tunnels as a way to meet other woman.

Klink was reluctant in sending Newkirk off his merry way, but Rob persuaded him, if not bewildered him further. I remember something in their conversation this morning as they fought again about poker games, spinning a wheel and a helpless family in England. Mostly, I heard about a poor, starving family, but I think Rob was exaggerating again. Newkirk, from what I've heard, had been roaming the streets of London since he was a child (his family seemed nonexistent, from what I've heard) and recruited when the war started, assigned to the Royal Corps, then to Berlin. I believe he was caught there, explaining why he was shadowing Hitler. I know, for sure, that Newkirk's excuse was that he was trying to pickpocket Germany's Führer!

But there is enough of chaos and confusion nowadays and even enough of me not recalling exact details of the dealings of the camp and what lies we have to tell Klink when we're up to no good. My mind is still blank, but full of contemplations of Marie and her crises. I still need to know that she is safe (in good hands even!) and that she will be well-provided for.

And so it goes.

September 2
The Colonel's Quarters – 0315 Hours

Marie has arrived here safely and alive. The little girl has been battered, beaten, misused and mistreated, but she is alive and well. She has been treated medically, but she is afraid of her future and the people around her because of what she has been through.

My heart broke when I saw this thin little girl with her large blue eyes and tangled black hair. The agents, codenames Merlin and Arthur (again, I think it goes back to her earlier child stories and her love of the fairy tales), had brought the little girl, through their journey from Poland to here, and already they have gained some trust of her. She is still suspicious of those around her, especially in this new environment called the tunnels of Stalag 13. Hence, as she came down the ladder of the emergency tunnels with the two agents in Gestapo uniforms, that she started screaming in fear (harder for us, she only speaks German). Apparently, her time in England has not taught her the English that everyone here communicates with. Therefore, I felt responsibility for her. I know her fright, her pain and even her visions of disaster and condition.

Games without frontiers, war without tears…

As the five men and I covered our ears and wished the guards above us not to hear this menacing scream, Merlin calmed Marie down to a whimper. Arthur, I could tell, was not sure how to comfort the child (I figured, as the six of us lowered our hands from our ears, that he only came for the ride because an extra pair of eyes was needed). The child clung to Merlin's legs, not allowing herself to let go of safety and this person who she considers to be some good guy who took her away from something bad.

This was when Rob had to face the dangerous truth, the truth about the radio call from a week before: we had to keep the child here for a few days, before the Krauts find her missing, and then another agent could pick her up and given to relatives in England. Her parents are of no use to her anymore (indeed, they have to stand trial and are sure to forfeit their custody of Marie) and have condemned her as undesirable anyhow.

"So," Arthur began as the child hid behind him and Merlin, "we'll be leaving her here until the next agents –"

"Wait a minute here!" Rob said panicking and almost ready to sock the person. "I had thought that we were keeping you here overnight and heading you out in the morning." His thoughts, by his feelings his face was betraying, were saying something to the affect of I didn't expect a child as the prisoner being rescued! We're a prison camp, not a babysitter service!

"Colonel," Merlin said as Marie almost toppled him over by means of his legs, "there is no way. The Germans are behind us and have suspected that we stole the child for rescue purposes. The Gestapo has been following us for five days through the countryside and they have been shooting at us from behind when we're spotted. They have not seen us here. But the orders were this: we have to keep her here for a few days and the next agents will pick her up. Our mission is over."

Rob groaned with disgust, but I agreed with this plan. The Krauts were surely behind them and perhaps, they have found them coming here (contrary to what Merlin said), which Hochstetter suspects as the center of espionage activities. But the counter argument, Rob's of course, was that this wasn't a place for a child. This was a prison camp and not a daycare for kids. The next was this: where are we going to put a skittish child who's bound to have us discovered as she leaves the tunnels? There has to be someone that he can trust other than the Underground agents. The five men had no idea what to do, but I had some vague plans in my mind. And I knew that Rob and I were going to argue about it later.

There was silence after the revelation. Thoughts were unspoken, but the most prominent one was that these two had to be going, and leaving soon. Marie had to be left here and someone had to watch her. And I knew exactly what to do to achieve her trust.

"May I try?" I asked Merlin as he tried to step aside and reveal the child in the awkward silence. He shrugged his shoulders at me and moved forward, putting the light on Marie.

Scared that her shield was gone, she cowered in the corner of the entrance. This is perfect, I thought sarcastically as the men behind me watched me as I walked towards Marie. Trembling, Marie tried clawing me as I came over. I stroked her mused hair and gently picked her up. But she was having none of it, and she succeed in scratching me (and it was a good job, I might add) in the arm. I dropped her, but she was unhurt.

However, instead of trying to hide in her corner, Marie sat forward and stared at me. Obviously, I was someone different and I didn't give up. I didn't beat her for tearing me apart or bring her someplace and reassure her of an unhurt ordeal, when it wasn't to be. I'm winning her over.

I then had another thought. If she knew where I came from too, then maybe she'll know that I also know of this horror. So, as the five imprisoned men behind me protested and asked that I leave her alone (like they knew anything about children), I kneeled down and started to strip off my shirt. The chill in the tunnels gave me goosebumps, but I didn't mind. All that mattered is that Marie saw my tattoo and acknowledged that I was there too.

She did. I stripped down to my uniform's undershirt and rolled up the sleeve, showing a faded tattoo. Not only did Marie stare at the blue form, but she showed me a light in her saucer eyes that said, I can't believe it. You know this, too? Immediately, she jumped for my arms and from then on, she has not left my side (I didn't even bother to grab the clothes I left in the tunnels, which I did later). Arthur and Merlin escaped as fast as they could without Marie seeing them and thanked me for taking her out of their hands.

Carter, Newkirk, Baker and LeBeau saw the significance of this and asked me, in loud voices, what they can do to take care of Marie. Rob began another headache and followed the six of us up the barracks. I knew Marie was my charge. She'll be a little troublesome for the next few days, as she is a child, but at least I know that she's safe.

For the next few hours, as I blocked the crowding men from the Colonel's quarters, I washed Marie's face, body and hair, gave her some of my smaller clothing, dressed her and brushed her long black hair. I even told her some fairy tale stories (I ruined a few of them, but I think she understood) and sang her to sleep. As I tucked her into my bunk, I felt a feeling of security and warmth for her, a motherly feeling that I have never felt in years. I know that I couldn't adapt her, but this was another step in taking her to a saner life. She never had that great start much as I had, but having her recognize me as someone who cares can change her perspective of the world.

Right now, I'm watching her sleeping form toss and turn. I sigh, hoping she won't be caught by the Krauts. But in my heart of hearts, I know that she'll lead a happier life after flying away from the Stalag 13 nest. And it will be an empty nest indeed when she leaves.

Oops, here's Rob. He's ready for bed and has had enough of the excitement this night. He hasn't bothered me about Marie ever since he protested, as senior officer here, that he has right over who comes here and who gets to stay here. I know, too, that he held back his opinion that Marie should bunk elsewhere and not in these quarters. It's all about the operation, really. I know it and Rob has always reminded me of it on a daily basis. I care about it as much as the next person here, but there has to be some rule in there that says, under all caution, that children can be sent here and be housed here before heading to England. They have had their innocence taken away and now it's our responsibility to make their lives saner again.

Damn, I'm asked to blow out the candle by a crabby Rob. I can cuddle next to Marie and try to sleep off the nightmare that I have experienced these past few weeks. In all possibility, I can stay up and consider what has happened this past night to a little girl in a fairy tale life, deprived of her parents and of a reasonable life. This is what a day in a life of a prisoner there is still like.