It was the beginning of April, and after a false spring and one more snowstorm, it looked like the weather was finally changing for the better. Two children, who should have been in school, were instead, walking home and arguing the entire way. "I don't want to talk about Johnny. If you know what's good for you, you will knock it off," said Hank menacingly.

Suzie Guarnere stopped. Putting both hands on her hips and as loud as she could, asked her brother if he was threatening her. "He was my brother too, Hank, and I will talk about Johnny anytime I want to you big stinky britches." That was as close to swearing that Suzie had ever come. She looked around to make sure there were no grownups around and continued following her brother.

Hank walked on ahead of her with his hands jammed down into his coat pocket. Stupid old girl, he thought. I know he was her brother too, but that does not mean I want to hear her talk about how she misses him too. She can't miss him more than I do because we were brothers. It's different between guys, he thought.

The reason the Guarnere siblings were walking home from school early was because Hank sassed Thea after taking a swing at Lewis on the playground. She immediately sent Hank home. Then Suzie tried to explain that Hank was upset lately because their brother's birthday was coming up. That's when Hank told her to shut up. Not one to back down from her brother, Suzie retorted make me. Thea decided they both could use a day off and sent them home. It was 1:00, and the weather was clear and the sky, clear and blue, but there was still some snow on the ground. Climbing up the snow packed walls that had been created in February, Susie thought it was getting too high so she jumped down.

"You are getting too big for your britches mister," retorted Suzie. She just learned that line from Aunt Fran who lately was beyond exasperated with her nephew.

"I warned you," said Hank as he jumped down right in front of her. "Shut up, you silly cow." Then he pulled her braids and swung her around until she fell, screaming the whole time.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Wild Bill, Babe, and Johnny Martin just finished having a smoke behind the barracks when they spotted the two siblings. "Aren't you going to stop them," said Johnny. "He's bigger than she is and in two weeks, they are going to be your responsibility."

Bill held his hand up and said, "Trust me, I am well aware of what I am getting myself into when I marry Fran. Just wait, Suzie has spunk. She's not going to take that lying down."

Sure enough, after Suzie took a hard landing, she felt dizzy, but that did not stop her from jumping back up and smacking her brother in the back as he walked away. "If I am a cow then you are a big, humongous pile of bull poo," she said. Tossing what was left of her braids, she went to gather her books.

The guys chuckled, but not for long.

Hank reached down and made a ball out of the ice that had melted, frozen, melted, and frozen so many times since it first fell that it was long since prudent to throw it at anyone without risking injuring someone, but Hank was furious. Before Bill could shout no, Hank threw the projectile with lightening speed, and it hit his sister in the back of her head.

Stunned, Suzie let out a howl then rubbed the back of her head. Still in shock she looked up to see Bill running towards her just as she discovered her own blood on her mitten. Staring at it, she held up her bloody hand and began screaming, "Wild Bill, Wild Bill, Hank tried to kill me. Am I dying?" By this time, Hank knew his ass was grass and he made tracks. By the time Bill scooped up Suzie and took her inside the barracks, the boy was more than half-way home.

"Help me Wild Bill, help me," cried Suzie.

"It's all right sweetheart. Bill is here. You are going to be fine. Where's Doc Roe?"

"You yelled Sergeant Guarnere?" Roe came down from the latrine area quickly. He saw Bill holding a cloth to the back of Suzie's head who was certain her death was eminent.

"Oh, Wild Bill, will you kill Hank for me after I am gone?"

"Sweetheart, I don't think that will be necessary. You are going to be okay. The Doc here is going to fix you up then binga, banga; you will be as good as new."

"Not if Hank knocked all my brains out," she wailed. She bent over and pressed her forehead on the table so Bill could see the back of her head, she asked, "Are my brains falling out?"

Suppressing the urge to laugh, Bill said, "No, darling, not yet. Here's the Doc." Bill pulled her onto his lap.

"Let's see, what have we got here?"

"I should have stopped it" said Bill guiltily. "I never thought the boy would actually hurt his own sister."

"It's not your fault, Wild Bill," sniffed Suzie. "Hank is turning into a gigantic, humongous, enormous..." Stopping to catch her breathe, Suzie searched for the right word to describe how she felt about her brother and blurted out, "butt-hole." Then she covered her mouth because that word was definitely a no-no.

The men tried not to smile, but Suzie's dramatic expressions bordered on comical. However, Bill felt he should do some parenting here. "Now, now, darling, let's not use that kind of talk. What were you two fighting about?"

"How can you take his side when I am about to die," wailed Suzie. By now, she was bending over while Eugene checked out her wound.

"Miss Suzie," drawled Eugene. "You are not going to die anytime soon."

"I'm not?" Her surprise was evident. "Are you sure?"

"Well, at least not from this injury. I am going to clean it up and use this laser to slowly close the wound then you will be good to go as soon as I make sure you don't have a concussion. Do you feel dizzy or nauseous?"

"No, just mad," she said calmly. "I am going to clobber Hank next time I see him. He acts like he is the only one that has a right to be upset just because Johnny's birthday is in a few days." Sitting up, her eyes blazing, Suzie said, "He was my big brother too."

Realizing Suzie meant her brother who died last year. Bill hugged her tight. He knew how Hank felt. "I think I know how Hank and you feel. You know I lost my brother in the war?"

"Yes, that's who Hank is named after," said Suzie, crinkling her nose as the Eugene ran the laser over her wound. "Did you ever hit your sister?"

"No, they woulda clobbered me, but when I jumped into Normandy, I'd just heard about my brother and I was so mad, I was ready for a fight." Bill left out that what he wanted to do was kill every German he saw, and he had too. Now that was behind him, Bill did not think about killing so much as a bug, but he still missed Henry.

Meanwhile, Hank spied on the house from the barn. He tried to figure out a way to get some supplies and make tracks for somewhere else until everyone headed south. I guess I won't be going to Carolina now that I murdered my sister. He wiped his nose. He went up to the cows and petted one, "I didn't mean to kill her," he said. "I am just so gosh darn mad." The cow being just a cow gazed forlornly at Hank and returned to chewing her cud.

Hank heard a door slam and figured it was Aunt Fran looking for him so she could murder him. She always did like Suzie better than me. I bet she won't even miss me when I run away. He heard her calling for him. She did not sound angry, more worried than anything else.

"Hank, you can come out from wherever you are hiding. It is going to be all right. Suzie is fine. Come on out sweetie, I want to talk to you."

I just bet you do, thought Hank. Nope, I am going to sit tight. That's when Wild Bill pulled up on a mini-transporter with Suzie sitting right behind him. Fran lifted her off of the transport and hugged her tight. Hank looked on while Fran spoke to Bill who took Suzie from Fran and carried her into the house. Eying the transport, Hank decided to make his move. By the time they discovered it was gone, he could put some distance between him and them. All transports carried rations and water, he thought. He dashed across the yard faster than he ever thought he could, jumped onto the transport, and he was off. Hank thought he heard Wild Bill yelling after him, but he didn't look back.

They were going up the stairs to Suzie's room and Bill looked out the window and saw Hank on the transport. Putting two and two together, he gave Suzie to Fran and ran back down the steps. While laying Suzie down on her bed, she looked out the window. In the distance, she could see Hank riding off with Bill chasing after him, but it was too late. The boy was gone. Bill ran back and met Fran on the porch. "Oh, Bill," said Fran. Overcome with emotion, Fran burst into tears and fell into his arms.

Bill knew he needed help, but right now all he could see was Fran crying. "It's going to be all right sweetheart." Wild Bill embraced her and held her tight until she stopped shaking. "You go inside darling. Try and think about where he might go. I'm going to round up the guys. We'll find him in no time. You'll see." Bill helped Fran inside and told a startled Bettye what happened. Stepping back onto the porch, Bill saw the bell. If there was ever an emergency, this sure as hell fits the bill, he thought. Grabbing the rope, Bill began pulling it as hard and fast as he could. It wasn't long before he saw Joe Toye and Amon zoomed down from the latter's glass workshop. Soon "E" company men along with their sweethearts came running or flying in from every direction. Only the school children and their teachers remained inside until they heard the all's clear bell then they came down too.

"What's the situation, Bill," asked Lip?

"Let's wait until the Major gets here so I don't have to repeat myself, but to make a long story short, Hank ran away or more like flew away on one of those scooters."

Meanwhile Major Winters and Nixon were across the field, combing the hillside where the entrance to the cave used to be prior to the explosion. Except, for some scorched trees here and there, there was little evidence that anything horrific had ever happen at this site. They woke up that morning, itching for some action. Dick suggested they explore where their last battle took place to take the edge off. Staring through his binoculars, Nix said, "We came in somewhere along that ridge." He pointed upward. "It looks as if the entrance is sealed with dirt and rocks now."

Jumping down from a large boulder, Dick ambled over to Nix who handed the binoculars. "You're right Nix," he said. "I can even see some vegetation poking through the snow. They cleaned this area thoroughly."

"Yeah, well, it's just good to get outside. I am getting really tired of snow," said Nix. "In fact, I would be happy if I never saw snow again."

Before Dick could respond to Nix, he heard the bell ring and stopped, so did Nixon. They waited and by the fourth ring, the two men were halfway down the hill. Leaping over the fence that separated this section of land from the rest of the community, the two men quickly discovered they had to run the length of the snow wall to get around to the other side. By they time, they reached the men, Nix and Dick were breathing hard.

Catching his breathe, Dick asked what the situation was, and Guarnere explained as best he could. Listening carefully, Winters decided the best thing to do for now was to send out a patrol in the general direction that Hank took. He sent Shifty along with Amon, Malarkey and Popeye to see if they could pick up a trail. Then he started quizzing Fran and the children as to where he might go. Everyone gave the same location, the site of the Penn colony where the massacre took place, over a year ago.

"It's my fault Major," said Lewis. "Hank and I kind of got into an argument about whose fault it was that Johnny died. I said it was mine, and Hank believes it was his. Then he just went nuts and started swinging at me. He's never done that before.

"It's all right son," said Dick. "When things like that happen to your buddy, you want to blame someone. In this case, it is nobody's fault, except the coward who shot Johnny. It is not your's or Hank's. Try and remember that in the future." Shifty reported back that they found fresh broken branches, but not much else.

Winters and Nixon examined the maps of the area and with Amon and Sarah's help selected the easiest route. With luck, they might make it there before sunset. Finally, the Major lifted his head and gave his orders. "First Sergeant Talbert, pick a squad and take Shifty to rendezvous with Malarkey and Popeye. Captain Nixon and I will be right behind you."

"Major Winters," said Guarnere. "I would like to volunteer to come along."

Dick eyed the young man from South Philly. Bill was calm despite his own personal interest in finding Hank. "Fine, there's your first man. Do any of you others wish to volunteer?"

In no time, Bill, Joe, Lip, Babe, Johnny Martin, Bull, Perconte, and George Luz were loading their gear onto a larger transport. Doc Roe volunteered to go in case he was needed. Amon offered to drive since he had the most experience at driving the transport at a high rate of speed. Vern volunteered to transport Major Winters and Captain Nixon. Sarah, Joy, and some of the other women brought provisions in case they were gone over night. Everyone hoped that the men would find Hank quickly. No one wanted to think of what could happen to a little boy, alone in the New Penn wilderness.

Fran walked up to Bill and pulled him by his shirt until they were facing each other. "Please be careful, Bill."

"I will darling," said Bill as he removed his helmet to kiss her goodbye. "Now stop your worrying. We will find Hank and bring him back before you can say Bob's your uncle. You take care of Suzie and try not to fret too much."

Fran wrapped her arms around Bill and whispered in his ear, "Ti amo."

Bill looked her straight in the eyes with all the passion of a young man in love, and whispered back, "Ti amo Francella."

Joe and Bettye pressed their foreheads together and talked softly to one another. "Make sure the kids stay put," said Joe. "We don't need to be chasing over half of Pennsylvania for angry young men."

"I understand," said Bettye. They both knew that Billy might take it in his head to go after Hank himself.

"Move them out Carwood," ordered Winters.

"All right, everyone who volunteered get on board." Then he reached down, and kissed Joy in front of everyone. "We will be back soon."

Taking his hand, Joy smiled and kissed it. "Just be careful."