No infringement on the rights of the owners of "Combat!" is intended. This story is for the enjoyment of "Combat!" fans only, not for any monetary profit by the author.
Thanks to JML for proofreading and to Susan Rodriguez for beta reading.
The Haunting
by: Queen's Bishop
"KIRBY!"
Bill paused. He thought he had heard someone calling him, but when he looked at his four companions, they didn't seem to have noticed. So, he shrugged his shoulders and continued walking, the four others trailing behind him.
"KIRBY!...PVT. WILLIAM G. KIRBY!"
This time he stopped dead in his tracks. There were only five people in the whole world who would call him that and only one of them who would say it with a bit of a 'song' in his voice. He wheeled around and scanned the faces of the travelers hurrying this way and that in the crowded train station. Then he saw the source of the call, and a big lop-sided grin spread across his face and up into his eyes.
"Doc, ya old hound dog! You're the last person I expected to meet up with here. It's great to see ya. We just got in. Ya got time or do ya gotta train to catch?"
Doc suddenly turned and looked for his wife. She appeared out of the crowd, carrying her small overnight bag and dragging their matching suitcase as she tried to keep him in sight.
"Oh, I'm sorry, honey. I saw Kirby and…"
"…and you just took off." She gave him a smile. "Hello, Bill, it's good to see you. Is Beth with you?"
"No," Kirby said as he gave Connie a peck on the cheek. "She's holdin' down the fort in Chicago. I'm here for a bowlin' tournament with these four galoots." Kirby turned to his teammates and said, "This is an old army buddy of mine. Why don't you fellas go on ahead. Take a cab to the hotel. Ya got the address? I'll catch up with ya later. Just don't go tyin' one on. Remember, we gotta bowl at eight tomorrow mornin'."
"Okay, Bill, don't worry about us," one of the four replied.
Doc couldn't help but enjoy the brief exchange…Kirby giving orders to his own 'squad.'
"So, you're in Nashville for a bowling tournament!?" Connie asked.
"Yeah, we placed fourth in the state," Bill responded, a touch of pride in his voice. "Only the top three teams are supposed to compete in this national tournament, but when Illinois' second place team couldn't go, the state bowlin' association asked us. We'll probably get booted out in the first round. What about you two?"
"We're on our way home. Jim had a medical convention in Pittsburgh, and we decided to make a detour and visit Kathy and Chip to see the new baby (1)," Connie responded.
Kirby groaned and shook his head. "Ever since Beth held that baby she's been after me to have another kid." Then he smiled. "The Sarge is a lucky man. I'm glad things have worked out so good for him. He sure earned it."
Doc didn't let on that Saunders had gone through a really rough patch a few years ago (2).
"Jim, we've still got two hours before our train leaves. If Bill has the time, why don't you two go find someplace quiet to talk and have a beer. I'll stay with the luggage. It'll give me a chance to get some reading done," Connie offered.
"You sure?...Thanks, honey."
After the two men got Connie settled, they wandered through the large train station, finally ordering glasses of beer and sliding into a booth at the back of a cocktail lounge. They made small talk for a while, catching up on each other's lives and the latest news from the other members of the squad.
When there was a lull in the conversation, Doc said, "Kirby, Ah've been wondering about something for a while, but if it's none of mah business just say so."
Kirby took another sip of beer and waited expectantly.
The medic hesitated, but finally asked, "Why'd you name your boy after Lydecker (2)? Ah mean, Ah think it's great that you did, but Ah didn't think y'all were that close…"
Kirby sat quietly, not saying anything right away as he traveled back in time in his mind. Then he gave a wistful smile and said, "Do ya remember how it was when ya got home from the war?"
"Sure, Ah had to march in so many parades wearing new boots that mah feet ached," Doc replied with a grin. "Even though there was still fighting going on in the Pacific, everyone was giddy that the war in Europe was over…total strangers were buying me drinks…girls were walking right up to me and kissing me…"
"It was different for me. By the time I got discharged from the hospital in London an' made it home, VJ Day an' all of that post-war hoopla was a distant memory. People just wanted to get on with their lives an' you fellas an' everyone else was busy makin' up for lost time."
"But your ma and brother and sister…"
"Sure, they was happy to see me, but even they'd moved on. Ruthie," Kirby stopped, chuckled and corrected himself, "my sister Ruth wasn't a kid anymore an' George had been the man of the family for quite a while, so he wasn't all that anxious to just step aside."
"Ah didn't realize…"
"Well, like I said, everyone was busy rebuildin' their lives; you an' the Sarge goin' to college, Caje gettin' his restaurant up an' runnin', even Billy an' Littlejohn despite their disabilities. But for me, there was no life to rebuild. In no time at all I was back to hangin' out on the same street corners with the same deadbeats as before the war. It was like nothin' had changed. I didn't have much of a future before I got drafted an' I didn't have any when I got back."
Kirby paused, gathering his courage before going on. Doc knew enough not to interrupt him.
"I started drinkin' a lot an' gettin' into fights." He paused again and sighed before continuing. "Then one night, as I was stumblin' home, I heard that song…ya remember, the Irish one Lydecker played on the piano before he got killed?"
"Ah remember him playing one, but Ah don't remember the melody. Ah don't think Ah'd ever heard it before."
"Me neither, but I heard it that night, just as clear as when we was in that French bar. Well, it spooked me to hear it…but then I was drunk. For a couple more months, things was the same, me drinkin' an' brawlin'. Then one night I heard it again. After that, I began to hear it more often…until one day I heard it when I wasn't drunk…That's when I knew that Lydecker was hauntin' me."
Doc's mouth dropped open. "WHAT!?"
Kirby chuckled. "I wasn't exactly thinkin' straight back then, but ya know how Lydecker said his sergeant from Basic was gonna rise up outa his grave an' yank him up outa his? I figured it musta been true an' ol' Lydecker was loose an' was hauntin' me. Anyway, ya remember Billy an' Evelyn's weddin'?"
"Sure I remember. You made a real ass of yourself at the reception. Littlejohn had to practically drag you outa the hotel ballroom."
"Yeah. That's when I really hit rock bottom. Once we was outside, I started blubberin' to Littlejohn, tellin' him how it was my fault that Lydecker got killed an' that was the reason he was hauntin' me."
"Your fault!?"
"Yeah. I thought you guys blamed me even though nobody never said nothin'. I shoulda killed that little Kraut bastard before he ever got a shot off."
"Kirby, nobody ever blamed you!"
"That's what Littlejohn said, an' he said that if I had shot any quicker, I'da hit you or that worthless replacement."
Doc nodded in agreement.
"An' then do ya know what that big moose said…He said that if Lydecker was hauntin' me it was 'cause I was wastin' my life when he didn't have no life to live.
"I thought a lot about what he said an' I tell ya, Doc, that sobered me up 'cause it was true. I'd been waitin' for somebody or somethin' to fall into my lap, not like the resta you fellas who got home an' set to work makin' up for lost time.
"So, I decided to build me a future. I'd mostly drunk up all of my musterin' out pay, but Ma had saved some of the money I sent her for when I got home. I used it to buy into my uncle's bowlin' alley, moved into the little apartment over it an' pretty soon I met Beth. Well, ya know the rest."
"And now Beth keeps you on the straight and narrow!?"
Kirby laughed. "More than the Sarge ever could. But now I wanna be on the straight an' narrow 'cause I got a family an' a good business. So, that's why I named my boy after Lydecker 'cause I figure he saved my life an' I don't wanna ever forget what he done for me. Every time I look at Joe, I remember that."
The two men were silent for a moment, each lost in his own thoughts.
Finally, Doc asked, "Have you heard the song since then?"
"Once in a while. At first I tried to find out where it was comin' from, but it would just fade away. Now, if I hear it, I just listen an' enjoy it…like that night back in the French bar. It makes me feel good, like he's checkin' in on me. Ya know what I mean?"
Doc nodded and said, "Yes, Ah think Ah do." Then he looked at his watch. "Oh, we'd better head back. Connie's gonna to be wondering what happened to us."
The two men walked back to where Doc's wife was patiently waiting. They talked for a few more minutes, then Kirby saw them off before he headed outside to find a taxi stand.
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Connie slipped her hand under Jim's arm and nestled her head into his shoulder. Doc closed his eyes, already feeling drowsy from the rhythmic sway of the train.
"Did you and Bill have a nice talk?" she asked.
Doc smiled. "Yes, we did. Kirby's an interesting fella. Did you get much reading done?"
"No, not a single page; people watching is much more fun." She nestled a little closer. "You know what Bill said about Beth wanting to have another baby after holding Madeleine?"
Doc's eyelids popped open. He was suddenly wide awake.
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(1) Reference to "Trials and Tribulations, Part 4, Chapter 7 – Epilogue."
(2) Reference to "Pvt. Joey Lydecker, Part 6, Chapter 2 – Epilogue."