"Mail!" Came the cry of the great sergeant early the next morning, just after Roll Call. "Mail and Red Cross packages! Mail!"
The prisoners' cries were heard across camp as Barracks 3 was administered their Red Cross packages as well as packages, parcels and letters from home.
The initial frenzy was soon over, allowing Schultz to give Hogan and Meyers their mail and packages. Hogan took his stack of letters and two packages quite happily, but then stopped and watched as Meyers received a large parcel and a huge stack of letters, all bound in rubber ties.
"What in the world is all this, Schultz?" The young American demanded.
"Your post from the hospital was forwarded at last, Colonel Meyers. It was delivered with all the mail you were sent while you were here." The explanation came, just before Schultz turned to try and trade for some candy bars.
Charlie shrugged, carrying his mail and packages into the two colonels' shared quartered, followed by Hogan, who sat at his desk to read his letters.
"Hey, Aunt Diana sent me a letter!" Hogan exclaimed, going through the stack of mail. Charlie sat up at the mention of his mother, ready to listen.
Hogan scanned the lines of writing and broke into a smile. "Cousin Maggie is doing well after having her baby and sends her love. You're an uncle, Chuck!"
Charlie grinned. "Does it say the kid's name?"
"Yeah. Anthony Daniel Martinez, after Dave's grandfather. Apparently, Dave is ecstatic over being a father and ran around the hospital for three hours with poor Anthony showing everyone he could find that he had a son." Hogan laughed. "Sounds like something Dave would do, the great idiot he is. Who'd you get letters from?"
"Mostly Mom and Dad, a few from Maggie and… Hey! Frank sent me a letter!"
"You're kidding." Hogan cried. "What does it say?"
"Woof." Meyers laughed. Frank was the old family dog. "They got him to sign it, too!"
Hogan took the letter, looking over the page. Sure enough, below the singular word was a clear pawprint, made in black ink, stamped on the page.
They laughed about it for a few minutes more, then continued to read their letters separately, sometimes snorting at the antics of their family or cursing softly when the censoring cut out an important part of the letter.
Eventually, Meyers had shuffled through his letters, saving a few to read later, but finding one of particular interest. The address was written in pretty cursive, a little heart in the place of the full stop and the entire envelope smelling of perfume. He quickly put this letter in the centre of the stack, not wanting Hogan to tease him into opening it. It seemed to be one of those letters that you opened in private.
Finally, it was the turn of the large parcel, which sat at the foot of his bed, sticking out like a sore thumb.
Hogan even looked up as Charlie dragged it closer to him, rather interested in what the parcel held.
Breathing deeply, Charlie ran his pocketknife along the tape, then prised the box open carefully, but was rather stunned by the contents. Books, along with another, oddly shaped parcel covered in brown paper filled the box.
Hogan reached over and pulled out one of the books. "The complete adventures of Robin Hood. Huh, it's in English. Who sent it?"
"I don't know. It doesn't say." His younger cousin stated, picking up the other parcel and pulling the string off, allowing the paper to fall away. Inside was his white scarf, freshly washed, wrapped around a pair of knitting needles, a pair of small scissors and two balls of plain white wool. A small note fluttered in the air, landing softly on his hand. He picked it up, finding it was written in the same cursive from before.
"Thank you. Love, a friend." He read aloud, realisation dawning on him. "Myra!"
Hogan cocked his head on a slight angle. "Who's Myra?"
"A girl in Hammelburg, Myra Hauser. I rescued her mom during the day raid yesterday and left her my scarf. She must have made all this up last night and left it at the gate with the mail this morning." Meyers explained, looking at the knitting supplies with a rather confused expression. "Why does she think I knit, though?"
Hogan shook his head softly, taking out another book. "It's something to do. This book is titled 'How to knit,' you idiot."
Charlie glared up at him and snatched the book. "Go and stuff your head in the sand, Rob. You're just jealous that a girl likes me and not you."
Hogan snorted. "Charlie, you'd be surprised how many girls like me. How many girlfriends have you ever had, anyhow?"
"Two…" Meyer murmured, embarrassed as Hogan started laughing at his downgrading. Just because he was related to Hogan, didn't mean he had the same charm and abilities loved by those of the opposite sex.
Hi! Sorry this update took so long. My old laptop, may its loyal soul rest, decided to finally throw in the rag. I lost a large chunk of the story, so had to re-type it :\ (it took so long!)
Anyway, I'm back! Missed you guys so much. Big shout out to new friend GrrraceUnderfire! Grace writes great stories for the German-dubbed version of Hogan's Heroes, but in English! Seriously, check them out.
Stay safe!
Love, NS. xxx