Chapter 1 – All Is Revealed

Garrison limped stiffly into his office at 10 am and was surprised to find Sergeant Major Drummond waiting for him, he stood to attention as the Lieutenant entered.

Garrison rested his ebony walking cane against his desk and sat down slowly with his plastered leg stretched out before him. The last time he'd seen Drummond was a week ago when he drove the team back to the mansion from the hospital. He and a small group of men had picked them in up Portsmouth after they fled France with a gravely injured Chief and rushed them to an army hospital just outside London, Garrison was also badly injured with a broken leg and cracked ribs. The Sergeant Major and his team had taken charge of watching over Chief and himself and sent Actor, Goniff and Casino back to the mansion to rest after their harrowing ordeal in Caen. Over the next few days Drummond and his men took the night shifts while Actor, Goniff and Casino came in during the day.

Garrison looked up at the large man. "Good to see you again Drummond, how can I help you?"

Drummond stood at ease. "It's about Chief, Sir."

Garrison smiled. "He's a lot better thanks. He's recuperating well now he's back home at the mansion."

Garrison thought about the care both he and Chief had been receiving, Goniff had gone into overdrive and was constantly hovering around offering 'a nice cuppa tea', breakfast in bed, books or magazines for them to read or just plain hovering in case anything else was needed. Garrison had called him a 'smother hen' and twice invited him to 'get the hell out of my room!' Chief had half-heartedly threatened him with his blade after he got fed up of having a constant, close shadow on his heels as he walked slowly around the mansion. They both knew that the thief's heart was in the right place and had been worried sick that Chief would die after the hours of torture he'd endured, but sometimes Goniff and the others were too much, always within earshot, constantly checking that everything was ok – that was why Garrison had retreated to the sanctuary of his office with orders not to be disturbed or he'd set Chief on them!

Drummond nodded. "That's good and how's your leg?"

Garrison looked down at the plaster cast and grimaced. "It's healing, but not fast enough, I just want this damn thing off!"

Drummond laughed. "Yes, I know how you feel, I've had one or two of those myself."

Garrison regarded the Sergeant Major and motioned for him to sit down. "I haven't had a real chance to thank you for looking after me and my men, why did you do that? When I asked you before you said it was a favour for a friend."

Drummond remained standing and looked Garrison in the eye. "We did it for Chief, that's why I've come to see you today. Now we know he's on the mend we can talk to you, we couldn't say anything before."

"We?" Garrison looked enquiringly at the commando, was he at last going to find out what had been going on? "Go on Sergeant Major."

Drummond waved at the door. "I think Major Richards had better fill you in on the details Sir, he's waiting for you in his office, I'll drive you there."

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Major Richards looked up from the paperwork on his desk when he heard the knock on his door, he'd been running through what he was going to say to Garrison and imagining what the Lieutenant's initial reaction would be. "Enter."

Garrison and Drummond walked into the office, Garrison saluted and looked at the Major. "Sergeant Major Drummond says you want to talk to me about Chief, Sir."

Richards nodded. "Yes, I do Lieutenant, I want to add him to my team."

Garrison shook his head vehemently. "Sir, with all due respect you can't have him, he's my scout and I won't give him up without a fight."

The Major smiled at the angry Lieutenant and motioned for him to sit down. "It's nothing like that Garrison, I'm not taking Chief away from you or your team, I doubt he'd let me do it anyway."

Garrison remained where he was and looked at the two men. "Then please explain to me what's going on, Sir."

Richards steepled his fingers and looked over them at the officer standing uncomfortably in front of him. "For goodness' sake, please sit down Lieutenant." He waited as Garrison relented, sat down and rested his cane by his side. "Thank you. I have to tell you that one of the reasons we are having this talk is because Chief threatened to walk out on this project if you weren't included."

Garrison nodded. "Yes Sir, he told me that."

Richards frowned. "Did he tell you anything else?"

The Lieutenant shook his head. "No Sir. Chief said he'd given you his word he wouldn't tell me anything, if you know him as well as I do you'll know he's kept it even though I've tried to get it out of him. I'd like to put it on record that I'm not happy you put him in that position, Chief's not army and it wasn't fair of you to expect him to do that." He glanced up at Drummond and saw the large commando smile at him, he looked back at the Major. "What's been going on between you, Drummond and Chief?"

Richards continued. "General Howard and I have been watching your activities closely since that mission in Italy and we think your original idea of using small teams of, uh, 'specialists' has merit but, as much as I would like to unleash the entire prison population on the enemy it would be the devil's own job to get them back behind bars. Couldn't give them all paroles!"

Garrison nodded warily. "I agree with that, Sir."

Richards indicated a pile of folders on his desk. "From now on I would prefer we use mainly army personnel. I've already started recruiting suitable men for covert training through the ranks and, in light of recent developments the General and I thought it would be better if you and your team were in my chain of command, not Fremont's."

Garrison frowned at the Major. "What is all this about Sir?"

Richards looked at Drummond. "Would you like to start?"

The large commando breathed in deeply. "If you remember Sir, I was in charge of training your men in close combat fighting when they first got here."

"Yes, you really had your hands full with that lot didn't you? As I recall from the reports Chief beat you every time you fought him." Garrison smiled to himself at the large Sergeant Major's expression, considering his scout's experience as a cage fighter he hadn't been at all surprised at Chief's prowess. He paused as he recalled something. "I saw you and Chief talking in the Mess Hall a few weeks back." The conversation had seemed intense, both men looked as if they were planning something, in the end Chief nodded, Drummond clapped him on the shoulder and both men disappeared before Garrison could get over to them.

Drummond looked uncomfortable. "I didn't know you were there and saw us Sir."

"Chief did," commented Garrison. "Carry on Sergeant Major."

"Well, it's like this. A few months ago I was holding an outdoor close combat training session with some trainee commandos and Chief was watching. After we'd finished Chief walked up to me and told me I was training the men all wrong, he said what I was teaching them and how I was teaching them would get them killed and he knew a better way to do it."

Garrison stared at him, that didn't sound like Chief, he wouldn't put himself out like that, would he? What the hell was going on? He shifted on the seat trying to make himself more comfortable and winced at the pain from his broken leg. "Go on Sergeant Major."

"I said he was a bloody idiot Sir, or words to that effect and invited him down to the indoor training area to give him a change of mind in private, so to speak."

Garrison smiled to himself. "And?"

Drummond seemed embarrassed as he related what had happened.

GG-GG-GG

The big training hall was empty and echoed to the sound of Drummond's army boots as the two men walked in.

Drummond glared at the slim figure in front of him. "Right Laddie so you think you can fight better than a Commando do you?"

Chief regarded him calmly and nodded his head. "Uh huh."

Drummond took off his jacket and shirt. "Want to change your mind before I change it for you?"

Chief did the same. "Uh uh."

Drummond flexed his muscles. "Alright Sonny Boy, don't say I didn't warn you, this is not a training exercise," he launched his attack. The next thing he knew he was on his back with Chief standing over him, holding out a hand.

"Wanna try again?" smiled Chief as he hauled a winded Drummond to his feet.

GG-GG-GG

"He 'killed' me a dozen times before I gave up, Sir. I swear he hadn't even broken into a sweat. Then he said he had a whole load more different ways to kill me with his blade!"

Garrison smiled, now that did sound like Chief! "What happened after that?"

"Well Sir, I took him off to the Mess Hall and had a good long talk with him, after that I had a word with Major Richards. Two months ago I finally got permission to invite Chief to take part in our training sessions."

Garrison looked quizzically at the Sergeant Major. "So Chief is learning how to fight like a Commando is he?"

Drummond looked aghast. "Good God no, Sir. He's teaching the Commandos how to fight like him!"

Garrison looked at Drummond and Richards in disbelief, he was stunned. "You mean Chief, my Chief, my scout is teaching your Commandos how to fight?"

Richards took up the story. "The initial idea was to let him train four squads of four men as an experiment, if it worked out then we would carry on. Chief came up with a really good training plan and he's been instructing squads for about eight weeks now. New groups come here every two weeks or so for a few days' close combat sessions after they've been through covert training. The teams are based and operate out of here in Colchester as it's handy for the airbase at Mildenhall and the sub pens at the naval base in Harwich. Chief's first squad passed out six weeks ago, the second last month and the third a fortnight ago, he managed to fit in a couple of sessions with the fourth team before going out on that mission to Caen with you and they passed out yesterday. The first three teams are now fully operational, so far there have been no casualties. He's also passed on a lot of things he says he's learned from you."

Garrison was alarmed. "Like what Sir?"

The Major nodded at Drummond who took continued the story. "Well, he noticed things like the men would stand to attention and salute whenever an officer approached them even if they were out of uniform, so he asked if they were out on a mission disguised as French peasants would they do the same thing? Because if they did they'd be arrested and shot as spies immediately. He said they had to think more like criminals rather than soldiers and 'believe in the con', whatever that means."

Garrison smiled to himself as he thought that Actor had rubbed off on Chief more than he'd realised.

Drummond continued. "He told them they had a lot to unlearn in order to operate behind enemy lines successfully and, after talking to him, I'm afraid to say that I agree with him wholeheartedly. He said he could only run the sessions if he wasn't on a mission, that would always come first, but he would try his best to help out when he was here. He only needs to train each group two or three sessions, but they're benefiting from all the other things he has to teach them as well."

Garrison thought about 'all the other things' he knew his scout was now capable of doing thanks to his team mates' lessons. "What else has Chief been teaching your men Drummond?"

"Oh, things like how to live off the land, how to hot-wire and steal cars." Drummond looked slightly embarrassed at the last one, he hurried on. "Target practice with a blade. Supplies has been inundated with requests for leather sheaths and knives – they all want to be like him!"

Garrison shook his head, now he knew why Chief had occasionally disappeared for hours and would return later to head out with the rest of the team to The Doves before any questions could be asked. The one time Garrison had managed to query what he was doing he'd said it was his own business and wasn't illegal, this had been reluctantly accepted.

Garrison shifted so he was putting more weight on his uninjured right side. God, how long before this damn plaster could come off? He would give anything for a long knitting needle to give his leg a good scratch. He crossed his arms and stared at Drummond. "Why were you talking to Chief the other day?"

Drummond glanced at the Major. "When you saw us in the Mess Hall I was asking Chief if he was willing to carry on training the men. The experiment has been a complete success and Major Richards wants to carry it on. I did originally ask Chief if he had your permission to come over and he said that, as he wasn't a real soldier and it was his own personal time, he could do what he wanted as long as it didn't compromise your operations. Major Richards was all for it when I asked him for permission to keep on using Chief's services to train the men."

Garrison was all too aware of the Major's initial attitude to his team of 'two-bit cons and hoods' when they'd first started going on missions. They'd certainly given him a change of mind after they'd survived the suicide mission he'd sent them on in Italy. He'd been surprised when Richards informed him during the last mission briefing before Caen that General Fremont had been persuaded to transfer him and his team over to his command, he now understood Richard's remarks about 'recent developments', he'd been talking about Chief training his men.

Richards looked at Garrison. "Chief is a damn good man, for a con. I've seen him in action along with the rest of your team and, although your methods are unconventional, you get the job done. General Howard agrees with me, that's why we pulled so many strings to get you and your men under our command. We not only need Chief, we need all of you, something Fremont didn't appreciate, we had to keep all this secret in case he found out and disbanded the team."

Garrison was stunned, by keeping quiet his scout had been protecting not only him but the rest of his comrades, he regretted what he'd put his friend through. "What does Chief say about training more of your men?"

Richards regarded the Lieutenant. "He said it was alright with him but only if it was alright with you. So, Lieutenant I'd like to request, not order, your permission to keep on borrowing Chief's expertise."

Garrison leaned back in his chair and let out a deep breath as he considered what had happened. "You have my permission Sir. I have no objection to Chief carrying on if he's willing to volunteer his services."

Drummond grinned. "Chief is getting something in return for training the men."

Garrison's head shot up. "What? Are you paying him?"

The big commando held up his hands and shook his head. "Nothing like that Sir. Chief requested extra firearms training in exchange for his time, he's just completed a sniper course, it normally takes four months, but Chief passed in five weeks with flying colours. We're giving him his own personal sniper rifle, tailored to his requirements, as a thank you for his help. It's a special lightweight one that can be broken down and carried in a case, handy for missions."

Garrison was totally bemused, he looked questioningly at Drummond. "Do you know why Chief requested sniper training?"

The Sergeant Major shook his head. "I did ask him and he said, 'Just in case'."

Garrison was dumbstruck, that explained the improvement in Chief's already excellent scores on the long range targets recently. This was a whole new side to the young man that was totally unexpected even by him, when had Chief decided to help other people rather than just look out for himself and his team? Perhaps all Chief had ever needed was the chance to show what he was capable of and was seizing the opportunity with both hands. He looked at Drummond. "When's Chief due to teach next?"

The Sergeant Major glanced at his watch. "He's due to start with Navajo 5 at noon Sir."

Garrison stared at the large commando. "Navajo 5?"

Drummond smiled. "Yes Sir. The first squad was so impressed they asked if they could be named for their mentor, we've decided to carry on the tradition with all the teams Chief trains."

Garrison looked at him incredulously. "Noon, today? Chief's in no condition to get out of bed let alone teach combat training!"

The Sergeant Major nodded in agreement. "That's what I said when he phoned me earlier this morning, but he said he was fine and he needed to get away from his nursemaid before he went 'Geronimo' on him!"

Garrison sighed in exasperation at his scout's stubbornness. "Alright Sergeant Major, let's go and watch Chief in action, I want to see what he's been up to."

Drummond nodded. "Of course Sir, we've got an hour so I'll take you to the Mess Hall, we can have a cup of coffee and a chat."

"Damn right we will." Garrison grabbed his cane, retrieved his cap, saluted Major Richards and followed Drummond out of the office. Richards smiled to himself as he watched the Lieutenant limp out of his office, he was confident once Garrison had seen what was going on he would support it wholeheartedly.

Garrison and Drummond walked to the Mess Hall where they lined up and got two cups of coffee, Garrison pointed to the table in the far corner where he'd seen Chief and Drummond talking before. "Now I'm in on the Major's little scheme you can tell me everything right from the beginning." They sat, talked and drank coffee until it was time to go to the Training Hall.

As they stood up to go Drummond held out a large hand. "By the way Sir, all my friends call me Drum."