The Life of the Party

By: AliasCWN

Hitch and Troy were leading the way as the two jeeps entered the base. Tully, right behind Hitch, eased his jeep to a stop as Hitch hit his brakes. Troy glanced up as the vehicle lurched to a stop. A group of MPs were escorting a group of POWs across the road. The sergeant barely glanced at the MPs and their charges.

Both privates watched until the prisoners and their captors were clear of the road before starting out again. Having been in their boots on more than one occasion, both privates felt a little bit sorry for the prisoners. Still, the prisoners were soon forgotten as they dropped the sergeants off and went about preparing the jeeps for their next assignment. With the vehicles restocked, gassed up and ready to go, both privates started out for their quarters.

"Hey Pettigrew, Hitchcock!"

Both privates stopped and turned in response to the call. One of the mechanics was waving to get their attention. They waited as he ran out to talk to them.

"We weren't sure you guys were going to make it back in time."

"In time for what?" Hitch asked.

"The big party," the mechanic answered. "A couple of the guys got to talking and realized that their birthdays were on the same day, today. They're having a big party to celebrate. You guys are invited."

"A party?" Hitch grinned at the news. "We could use some fun to make up for all of the dull assignments we've been getting lately."

"Where's it at?" Tully asked.

"Remy reserved the back room of the bar just for the party."

"He did huh?" Tully drawled. "He must be expecting to make a lot of money tonight."

The mechanic shrugged. "Who cares, it's a party."

Hitch nudged Tully with his elbow. "Yeah Tully, it's a party. Lighten up."

"Sarge will be mad if we get drunk. You know we have to go out again tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know. But it can't hurt to go to the party. We can have a little fun and go home after one drink."

"I guess," Tully answered. "But we'll have to let Sarge or Doc know where we are going to be."

"No problem," Hitch answered, "We'll tell them after supper."

"You mean ask them, don't you?"

The blond grinned and shrugged. "Ask, tell, who cares as long as we get to go to the party."

"The party starts at nineteen hundred in the back room of the bar. Can I tell the guys you're going to be there?" The mechanic looked from one private to the other expectantly.

"Why not?" Tully shrugged and grinned. "Yeah, we'll be there, as long as Sarge doesn't have a problem with it."

"We'll be there," Hitch answered for both of them.

"Okay, see you there. I get off in an hour and I'm heading over for an early start." The mechanic waved and headed back to the motor pool.

"I wonder who has a birthday today?" Hitch asked as he accompanied Tully to their quarters.

"Who cares," Tully answered. "We should get showered and changed before Troy and Doc get back. Then we can head over to the mess hall for supper." He paused to rethink his decision. "On second thought, maybe we should wait for Sarge and Doc. We might get an opening to bring up the party on the way to the showers."

"Do you think the captain knows about the party?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Tully answered. "I just hope the MPs don't know about it."

"That sure would throw a damper on the festivities."

"That's the understatement of the year."

"We're still going, aren't we? We can leave early, before it gets too rowdy."

"It could be really early," Tully warned. "That depends on how many of the guys decided to get an early start."

"Maybe we should head over there right after supper, before they have a chance to get drunk and start fighting."

With that settled, the two privates put their plan into action. They showered and changed to go to the mess hall. Troy and Moffitt went along, Tully breached the subject with Moffitt along the way.

"I don't see a problem," the sergeant answered, "as long as you don't get drunk. We have another assignment tomorrow and we don't need you hungover."

Hitch mentioned the party to Troy after they returned to their quarters.

"Sure," the sergeant agreed, "but I want you back early. And I don't want you drunk."

"Understood Sarge. We won't get drunk and we'll leave the party early." The blond glanced over at the other private and grinned. "We planned on leaving early anyway, just in case it gets rowdy. We don't want to be there if the MPs show up."

Troy looked over at Moffitt. The Brit shrugged but didn't comment. Troy shook his head. "As long as we understand each other. Don't make me bail you out of the stockade," he warned.

"We'll stay out of trouble Sarge," the blond promised.

The party was going strong when the two privates arrived. They made their way through the crowd to pick up their first beers and found seats at a back table. Along the way, they greeted the men they knew. Someone had managed to find a cake, complete with candles. Either they had put enough candles on the cake for each man with a birthday, or they just added candles until they ran out of room.

"They'd better blow those things out before the Germans see the glow over on their base," Tully suggested.

"I'm not sure they can blow it out," Hitch shouted in Tully's ear. "They may have to call in the fire brigade. That thing reminds me of a forest fire."

Someone finally managed to blow the flames out, but not before spitting all over the cake. The teasing got louder and louder as the pieces were passed around.

Tully and Hitch nursed their beers and joked around with the other party goers. They were enjoying themselves, and still on their first beers when a stranger asked if he could sit at their table. Tully pointed at an empty chair with the neck of his beer bottle.

Hitch looked over at the newcomer. "Don't I know you?"

"I don't think so," the other soldier answered. "I just got here yesterday."

"Oh, we were on patrol yesterday, just got back. I must have been thinking of someone else." Hitch shoved a hand out and offered his name. "Mark Hitchcock."

"Jeff Kinkaid."

"Is it your birthday?" Tully asked. He eyed the other solder, finding him vaguely familiar too.

"Not mine," Kinkaid laughed. "In fact, I wasn't really invited to this party at all. I just found out about it and decided that it sounded like fun."

"I don't blame you," Hitch laughed. "Fun is scarce around here."

"Then you aren't going to give me away?"

"Not us," the blond answered, "it's not our party either."

"I won't tell on you either," Kinkaid promised.

"We were invited," Tully explained, "but we aren't throwing the party."

"If we were, everybody would be invited," Hitch added. "It doesn't seem fair to exclude anyone."

Kinkaid smiled. "Do they have many parties like this around here?" He lifted his beer and drank deeply as he waited for an answer.

"First one that we've been invited to," Tully answered, "but then we're not on base much."

"Where are you?"

"On patrols," Tully answered without giving any details. On edge about being questioned, he glanced at Hitch with an unspoken warning.

The blond nodded and took a drink of his beer. The conversation sort of dried up after that and Kinkaid excused himself to make his way around the room. Tully and Hitch nursed their drinks and watched him accept drink after drink. Before long he was telling jokes and keeping everyone in stitches. He was the life of the party before he got halfway around the room.

"I guess we misjudged him," Tully drawled.

"Nobody who was here to gather information would allow himself to get that drunk," Hitch agreed.

An alarm went off on the base and everyone froze in place. They listened for a minute, not sure what was happening. Hitch and Tully, two of the few soldiers still sober, headed for the door to check it out. Two MPS met them at the door.

"What's going on?" Someone yelled.

"Some of the German prisoners escaped," one of the MPs explained. "We're searching the base right now. The colonel has ordered everyone to stay where they are. We don't want a lot of people moving around the base during the search."

"Did you hear that fellas?" A soldier called after the MPs left. "We have to stay at the party, they don't want us to leave."

"Enjoy it," another soldier yelled, "it will probably never happen again."

"You can say that again," a third added.

A cheer went up, proving that the order was not an unpopular one.

"Sarge is going to be wondering where we are," Tully stated as they returned to their seats.

"He probably got the same orders, wherever he is," Hitch reasoned.

"We'd better hope so. He told us to be back early and we don't know how long we're going to be stuck here."

The two friends leaned their chairs against the wall and watched as the other guests continued to drink. The few men still sober seemed inclined to stay that way but the others accepted their confinement gleefully.

Kinkaid was one of those who partied hard. He seemed to be everywhere, laughing and joking and spreading cheer wherever he went,

Hitch was watching him when Tully tapped him on the shoulder. "What are you staring at Hitch?"

"That guy," Hitch answered. "I know I saw him somewhere before. Maybe at some other base. I don't know...he seems so familiar."

"He does look familiar," Tully agreed, "but I can't place him either."

"But where did I see him?" Hitch turned back to the table and emptied the last of his beer. He stared at the bottle for a minute before shaking his head. "One more beer can't hurt? How about it Tully?"

"I'll get them." Tully got to his feet and went for the next beers.

By the time the MPs returned and told them they could leave, Hitch and Tully were both yawning. Their second drinks were gone and they were ready to call it a night.

"Did you catch all of your runaway krauts?" Someone called to the MP.

"All but two," the MP answered. "We think they may have slipped off the base. Just keep your eyes open and let us know if you see anything suspicious."

The MPs were just leaving when Tully and Hitch reached the door.

"Do you know how they got off the base?" Tully asked.

"Not exactly," the MP answered, "but we caught two of them at the motor pool." The MP walked away with his partner, leaving Tully and Hitch looking at each other.

"You don't think they bothered our jeeps, do you?" Hitch asked.

"We'd better go check," Tully answered.

They were going over the jeeps when the sergeants found them.

"I thought I told you to be back early."

Tully and Hitch looked up from their jeeps so see Troy and Moffitt and two MPs.

"I thought something happened to you."

"We were getting ready to go when we were told we weren't allowed to leave the building," Hitch explained.

"We would have come right back to our quarters," Tully added, "but we heard they caught a couple of those escaped prisoners here. We wanted to check the jeeps."

"It's a good thing they didn't find these jeeps," Hitch continued. "They could have done a lot of damage with these 50's."

"We thought of that," Sergeant Collins answered. "That's why I had men watching them. Nobody got near them."

"We heard two of them are still missing," Tully mentioned.

"Only one," Sergeant Collins corrected. "We caught the other one a few minutes ago. Apparently they split up, hoping one of them would get away."

"Only one." Hitch repeated slowly. "These wouldn't be the same prisoners who crossed the street in front of our jeeps this morning, would they?"

"I wasn't there, so I wouldn't know," Collins answered. "But we only have one group of prisoners. They were brought in yesterday and were supposed to be shipped out tomorrow."

"Yesterday," Tully repeated, locking eyes with Hitch.

Troy peered closely at his drivers. "How many beers did you two drink? You're acting strange."

Hitch looked at Tully again before answering. "Two beers Sarge, only two." The blond still seemed distracted.

"Then what's wrong with you?"

Tully bit his lip and nodded. He pulled a matchstick from his pocket and shoved it into his mouth.

"I think we know where you can find that last prisoner," Hitch answered slowly. "We're not sure, but it could be him."

"Who could be him?" Troy demanded. "Who are you talking about?"

"Maybe you had better explain." Sergeant Collins added his own demand to Troy's.

"There's this guy at the party," Hitch began. "We both thought he looked familiar, but we couldn't place him. He said he got here yesterday, and we weren't here yesterday."

"And you think he could be our escaped prisoner?" Sergeant Collins asked.

Both privates nodded.

"What kind of prisoner escapes and stops to go to a party? Are you sure?"

"I only got a quick look at the prisoners as they crossed the road," the blond answered, "but I think he was one of them. And this guy, he says his name is Kinkaid, he was dressed in an American uniform with the name Kinkaid on the pocket. He wasn't hiding or anything. Just the opposite actually, he was laughing and joking with everyone there."

"He was the life of the party," Tully added. "He was drunk as a polecat, singing and telling jokes, and generally having a great time."

"But you thought he looked familiar?" Collins persisted.

"Yeah," Tully and Hitch answered together.

"Come on," Collins ordered the other MPs. "We'd better check this out." They took a few steps before Collins turned back to the privates. "Maybe you two had better come along and point this guy out to us. We don't want him slipping away while we're trying to pick him out of the crowd."

"It I was you," Tully drawled, "I'd start looking on the floor and work your way up."

"We'll keep that in mind, but you can still help us look," Collins answered.

Tully shrugged. "No problem."

Moffitt and Troy tagged along out of curiosity. When they got back to the party, they found it had thinned out. They looked around, not expecting to find Kinkaid still there.

"There he is," Hitch pointed to a figure slouched in a chair in the corner of the room.

"Wearing German boots," Collins noted.

"We weren't looking at his feet," Tully answered. "It was too crowded to see them anyway."

Collins was already moving his men into position to prevent an escape. It proved unnecessary. Kinkaid was taken into custody without a fight.

"I knew you'd find me." Kinkaid slurred his words as he stood unsteadily between the MPs. "I knew I couldn't escape. I just wanted to have a little fun before I got shipped off to a POW camp for the rest of the war. This party has to last me until this stinking war ends."

"You speak pretty good English," Collins responded.

Kinkaid shrugged. "I grew up in Cleveland. My grandparents moved their family there after the first world war. I was born there. My parents moved us back to Germany in 1939 after my great-uncle told us what was happening there. I was of age so I was drafted into the army. I'm not sorry to be going to a POW camp, my heart isn't in this war."

"Where did you get the American uniform?"

"I took it from a room in the barracks," the prisoner admitted. "I went in there to hide for a little while. While I was changing into the spare uniform I found, I heard some guys in the hall talking about this party. It sounded like fun." He looked over and Hitch and Tully and smiled. "I thought you recognized me from this afternoon. Especially after my reception got so chilly all of a sudden."

Tully shrugged. "You started asking questions that made us uncomfortable."

"Oh," the prisoner nodded. "I always did ask too many questions. Next time I'll just drink my beer."

"Next time is going to have to wait until after the war," Sergeant Collins warned. "Let's go." The MPs escorted their prisoner out the door.

"How many beers did you say you had?" Troy asked the privates.

"Just two," Hitch answered.

"Only two," Tully confirmed.

"Then I guess just one more wouldn't hurt. Then we can return to our quarters together." He smiled at the surprised looks on the faces of his drivers.

"I'll buy," Moffitt volunteered.