A Secret Kept

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 2

"The jeeps are ready Sarge. Do you want to eat before we go?"

Troy looked up in surprise at the call from below. His driver stood behind the jeeps holding a plate of rations. Folding the letter, he tucked it back into his pocket and got to his feet. Walking to the jeep, he dropped his rifle into the holder and climbed onto the radio.

"Aren't you going to eat Sarge?" Hitch tried to hand Troy the plate in his hands.

"Throw it out," Troy snapped. "Let's get moving."

"But Sarge…"

"Drive Hitch. We have a long way to go." Troy ignored the others as he waited for the jeeps to get moving.

Hitch buried the food and cleaned the plate. He tried not to stare at the sergeant as he packed the cooking gear. When he did look up Troy was staring off across the desert. Without a word he slid behind the wheel and started the jeep.

"Is everything all right Private?" Jerry asked when Hitch hadn't spoken to him for several miles.

"Fine," Hitch snapped, "why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know," Jerry answered. "It just seems as if something is bothering you."

"What did you say to Sarge?"

"Me? Nothing. Why?"

"He was in a pretty good mood until you went over and talked to him," Hitch growled.

"I thought so," Jerry agreed.

"So, what did you say to him to make him mad?"

"I told you, nothing," Jerry repeated.

"Well, somebody did," Hitch muttered. He turned back to his driving and ignored Jerry.

The miles sped by and Troy didn't speak to either Hitch or Jerry, even though Jerry tried to talk to him. Hitch kept his attention on the desert around them and his driving. Nothing disturbed the boredom until Tully pulled his jeep into a wadi.

"What's going on?" Troy demanded as soon as Hitch stopped behind Tully.

Moffitt looked over at the harsh tone and frowned. "What's wrong Troy?"

"That's what I want to know," Troy demanded. "Why did we stop?"

"Tully says he has a problem with the jeep. He thinks he can fix it but we needed to stop." Moffitt studied Troy's angry face. "What's going on with you Troy?"

"There's nothing wrong with me," Troy growled. "I'm fine. How long is this going to take?" Troy glared at Tully. "I thought I told you to check the jeeps before we left."

"I did," Tully answered. "This is something I couldn't have predicted."

"How long are we going to be stuck here?"

"I'll know once I get under the hood," Tully answered. He shifted the matchstick in his mouth and watched the sergeant from under half lidded eyes.

"Then get to it, we have a schedule to keep." Troy grabbed a rifle and went to stand guard.

Moffitt watched the other sergeant stalk away before turning to Hitch. "What's gotten into him?"

Hitch shrugged. "I thought Jerry said something to make him mad but he says he didn't say anything. He said Sarge seemed fine after their talk. I don't know Doc, I had about decided that I did something, but he seems to be mad at everybody. He about took my head off when I ask if he was ready to go."

"Did he say anything at all?"

"Nothing," Hitch answered. "He made me throw out his food and told me to drive."

"Just drive?"

"Just drive," Hitch repeated.

"Okay, I'll have a talk with him. See if Tully can use any help. Troy is right on one point; we do have a schedule to keep."

"Okay Doc." Hitch looked miserable as he shuffled off to offer his help to Tully.

"Does this happen often?"

The British sergeant looked over at Jerry, his mind still on Troy. "Just what do you think this is?"

"Look Sergeant, I'm not judging, but I heard that your team was tight. It doesn't look that way to me. You aren't having problems because of me, are you?"

"Please private, don't flatter yourself. Every team has disagreements. You can't put four different personalities together as much as we are together without having a few differences of opinion."

"I agree with everything you said," Jerry responded. "I just hope that I haven't caused any problems. I could try talking to Sergeant Troy if you think it would help."

"No, thank you. I'll talk to Troy. Just stay close to the jeeps in case we have to leave in a hurry."

"All right Sergeant, you know him best."

"I'm not sure that anyone really knows Troy," Moffitt muttered under his breath as he went to talk to the other sergeant.

Tully pulled his head out from under his hood as Moffitt walked past. "Hey Doc, you can tell Sarge we should be ready to go in about fifteen minutes. The fan belt broke, but I have a spare. I'll switch it out and be ready to go."

"Thank you, Tully, I'll tell him."

"Sarge is in a bad mood," Hitch announced after Moffitt walked off.

"I heard," Tully answered. "Doc will find out what's bothering him."

"I hope so," Hitch answered miserably. "I hate it when he's in a bad mood. I always feel like I did something wrong, even when I didn't."

Tully shook his head. "We'd better get this belt replaced or Sarge will have a reason to be mad at us."

The blond nodded and leaned over the fender of the jeep. The only sound in the wadi was the sound of the wrench banging against the metal of the engine.

"All done," Tully announced ten minutes later. He straightened up and began to collect his tools. Looking over at Hitch, he paused, "Do you want to go tell Sarge we're ready?"

"I'll tell him," Hitch answered. "I just hope Doc was able to find out what's bothering him." The blond went to tell Troy they were ready while Tully packed his tools away. He was waiting in his jeep when Hitch returned with the sergeants.

"Let's shake it!" Troy growled. He slid into his jeep before anyone could react. No one spoke as they climbed into the vehicles and continued their journey.

"Doc?"

"Yes Tully?"

"Did you find out what is bothering Sarge?"

"I'm afraid not. He continues to claim that there is nothing wrong. Since he won't open up to us, we'll just have to wait for him to work it out for himself."

"Hitch thought that Jerry might have said something to upset him."

"No," Moffitt replied, I asked him about Jerry; he doesn't seem upset with him, or about him. He got agitated when I pushed him, so I let it drop, but something is definitely bothering him. I suppose he could just be having a bad day."

"Sarge doesn't have bad days."

"Everyone has bad days, some of us more than others."

"Yeah, but Sarge doesn't take it out on anybody else. I can't remember the last time Sarge got mad for no reason."

Moffitt glanced back at the other jeep. Troy was sitting on the radio staring off across the desert. "Perhaps he has a reason."

"What?" Troy demanded.

"I don't know, he wouldn't share; but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have a reason. Whatever it is, it could be that it's personal. Troy is not exactly an open book."

"But he doesn't usually shut us out. He won't talk to Hitch either," Tully continued. "Do you know what this reminds me of?"

"No, what?"

"That time the krauts kidnapped his brother. He got real quiet then too."

"He was worried."

"Yeah," Tully agreed.

"He did eventually allow us to help him then."

"Yeah, because we wouldn't take no for an answer. He tried to shut us out then too."

"Because he didn't want to put us in danger for something that he considered his personal problem."

"His problem was our problem," Tully insisted. "That's what friends do. They help one another, no matter what."

"Give him time Tully, perhaps he'll decide to share in time."

"I hope so Doc. He doesn't need to face any problem alone, we're all here and ready to help."

"I'll be sure to let him know how you feel."

"You'd think he'd already know how we feel," Tully replied. "Sarge always has our backs."

"Yes, he does," Moffitt agreed. "And we have his back now too. I think he realizes that. Whatever is bothering him will come out sooner or later. Perhaps he just needs a little more time."

"If you say so Doc," Tully answered, "but I hate to see him hurting."

"We all do Tully, but he's a very private person. He won't appreciate our prying."

Tully bit down on is matchstick and nodded.

"Give it a few more hours and we'll stop for the night. Perhaps Troy will be ready to talk by then," the Brit urged. Like Tully, he wanted to help his fellow sergeant, but, for the present, it was obvious that Troy didn't want their help. And, like the privates, all he could do was be prepared to offer help when the other sergeant was willing to accept it. Until then, they would just take orders and steer clear until Troy was ready. It was going to be a long mission and they would have plenty of time to worry about what was bothering their leader.