Getting Back to Normal

Chapter 4

Chief watched Garrison get out of the Packard with the briefcase cuffed to his wrist. Finally! He was going nuts without a mission. Sitting around doing nothing was not something he liked, as opposed to a couple of the other men. He did not mention the locked cuff to the others. Let them find out when the Warden came in.

Casino was the first to notice the briefcase when Garrison entered.

"Great! We're back to missions," complained the safecracker loudly.

The others looked at him in disgust. Terry set the sock she was darning back in the laundry basket.

"Casino, you're not happy when we don't have a mission, and you're not happy when we do have a mission," remarked the woman. "Is there anything that makes you happy?"

The grumpy man looked at her with a slightly lecherous grin. "Yeah, Babe, a nice warm female body."

Before her brother or the others could respond Terry shot back, "Well you're not going to find that here . . . Babe." She looked at Craig. "Me too?"

Garrison decided to ignore the byplay he had just witnessed. His sister was perfectly capable of taking care of the problem herself. "Yes, you too." His attention switched to the entire group arranged around the common room at various activities. "My office, Gentlemen. Now!" Not waiting for a response, he strode into his office, putting his cap on the coat tree and taking the briefcase to his desk to unlock the cuff.

In no great hurry, all of them arose from their seats and turned to the open office door.

"Did he just refer to me as a gentleman?" asked the woman, to nobody in particular.

"Teresa," warned Actor, placing his hand on her back to move her ahead of him.

Garrison waited until they had all taken their usual chairs around the conference table before taking a handful of papers and a photo to his usual seat.

"They gave us an 'easy one'," he said arraying the papers on the table in front of him.

Terry shook her head. "We're in trouble."

"Perhaps, perhaps not," said Actor quietly. "Let's find out what we are doing before we jump to conclusions."

"Yeah," grinned Goniff. "You know it i'n't the main mission wot gives us problems, it's what the Warden tacks on."

"All right, that's enough," said Garrison, gesturing at them with an open hand. "Be quiet and listen up." He looked around the table. "The Germans have stopped production of the Panther II tank. They are redesigning the original Panther. It will have a more heavily armored turret and a narrower gun mantlet. Naturally, the Allies want to know the specifications of the tank changes to see what they will be up against. That is where we come in." He passed a photo down the table with a jut of his chin toward Actor.

Terry looked at it briefly before handing it to the confidence man. She turned her head sideways to see more of the photo. It was a Wehrmacht general with dark hair and a well-trimmed mustache. "Wehrmacht?" she asked her brother.

Craig nodded. "Tanks fall under the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht."

"And the SS has not been involved yet for any reason?" asked Actor.

"Not yet," replied Garrison. He gave Actor a second to study the picture. "This is General Karl Meier. He is one of the officers in charge of the plans for the new tank design. He resides in Munich. In two days, he is taking the plans, currently in his safe, to Berlin for Hitler's approval before production begins."

"And he's having a party to celebrate what he thinks is a real feather in his cap," predicted Terry.

Craig nodded.

"Very good, Little One," said Actor.

Terry smiled. "I've been with you guys a little over a year now," she said. "I should be learning something." The girl looked at the Lieutenant. "Sorry. Please tell us the rest of it."

"Thank you," said Garrison with a hint of sarcasm. It drew stifled grins from the others. "Actor will be going in as a Wehrmacht general assigned by Feldmarshal Wilhelm Keitel to meet with General Meier as he will be placed in charge of production by Maybach in Friedrichshafen, if Hitler agrees with the plans."

"And just how are we being invited to this little party?" asked Actor.

"You will be introduced by Keitel via a messenger tomorrow, and you will have papers to verify. As it is a party, you have brought your 'girlfriend'," outlined Craig. Your name is General Leon Wagner. You can make up a name for Terry."

Actor smiled, "Ella Schmidt. I haven't used that one yet."

Terry just looked at him.

GGGGG

Actor rose to a sitting position, the lines and part of the canopy draped over him. The ground was hard and stony, to say the least. He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed his humiliating splat of a landing. Garrison was about ten yards away, in the same predicament Actor was. The two men exchanged somewhat sheepish looks.

Casino had made the landing on his feet and was gathering his chute to hide it. Chief and Goniff were doing the same. The safecracker stuffed the parachute under a bush and turned to look for the others. He could not suppress a grin and silent laugh of amusement at seeing the two leaders trying to get to their feet and untangled. He sauntered over to the con man.

"Need a little help?" he asked.

The tall Italian made it upright and began gathering his chute. "I am fine, thank you," he replied with a touch of sarcasm to cover his embarrassment.

In the meantime, Chief had gone over to the Warden to see if he needed help. That too was denied.

"Hey," said Goniff in a low voice. "Where's Terry?"

The men's eyes scanned the area for the girl. Chief looked up and spotted a figure with arms crossed, hair in her face, dangling from partway up a nearby tree. The scout lifted his left hand and pointed his first finger up. The remaining four pair of eyes looked up the tree.

"Would one of you . . . gentlemen . . . get me down from here?" she hissed.

Goniff, chuckling silently, scampered up the trunk to her level. He grinned at her as she blew a sharp breath upwards to move a strand of hair out of her face.

"Arm not up to handling a parachute yet, Love?" the gamin man asked sympathetically as he pulled her over to where she could grab a sturdy branch.

"Apparently not," Terry admitted.

"Blade," said Goniff.

Terry dropped her right hand, released the switchblade from its sheath, and handed it to him. He cut the lines to free her.

"Can you make it down?" he asked.

"One way or another," replied the girl in disgust.

She slithered down the tree trunk with almost her usual agility while Goniff went farther upward and yanked on the white nylon until it tore more and floated down to the ground. Unfortunately, it did not land where he wanted it to, but settled over the girl as she stepped away from the tree.

Casino lifted the edge and looked under it, into snapping green eyes. "I'll get rid of this for you," he offered, with a big grin.

"Hurry up," warned Garrison quietly. "We have to get out of here. Move it."

With the chutes stowed away and everyone together, Chief took his usual place at the front, followed by Garrison, Terry, Actor, Goniff and Casino. Actor carried the duffle bag with his and Teresa's clothing and the makeup kit. Casino had the other duffle. With as long as it had taken them to get out of there, the Lieutenant was surprised the Germans had not caught up with them yet. Even though it was late afternoon, he, and the others, did not in the least like jumping in daylight.

They had traversed about 300 yards when a bird call sounded up ahead. The team split and dove into the underbrush on either side of the trail. They hid and waited. It wasn't long before footsteps quietly approached and stopped.

"Lightning?"

"Thunder," whispered Garrison.

"Please hurry," said the heavily German accented voice. "Come with me."

Chief showed up behind the man in farm clothing and nodded. This told them it was safe to show themselves. Craig stepped forward to meet the resistance man as the others gathered a few steps behind the three men.

"I am Werner," said the resistance man. "I will take you to a safe house and give you your papers."

He turned and moved past Chief to walk up the path toward the road. The others followed in a single line. A farm truck awaited them, hidden off the road in the trees. Garrison and his people climbed in the back and covered themselves with hay. The farmer climbed in the front and cautiously drove onto the road.

"I'm ruddy allergic to 'ay," complained Goniff is a quiet voice.

"Yeah, well just don't sneeze," said Casino just as quietly.

"No talking," warned Garrison.

Their uncomfortable, prickly ride lasted twenty minutes. They were stopped once and everyone in the back held their breath. They asked if Werner had seen parachutes or men on the road. He denied seeing anyone and explained he had just picked up a load of hay for his animals and they were welcome to check it if they wished. As open as he was about it, the soldiers let him go on without sticking their bayonets in the hay.

The safe house was a cottage hidden back in some trees. Werner parked the truck behind the building and next to a German staff car with a Nazi flag on each front fender. He climbed down from the cab and patted the wooden slat side of the truck.

"You may get out," he said.

The six people in the back emerged from the hay pile, picking straw from their hair and clothing as they rose and jumped down to the ground. Garrison glanced at the large black car and figured it would work, but a second car would be better.

Werner stepped up to him and whispered, "I have a man down at the road, watching. Come inside. I will give you your papers and show you a map of the house you will be going to."

They all followed him into a back door that took them through a small kitchen and into the main downstairs room. The drapes were pulled closed by Werner, Goniff and Casino. Chief exchanged a look with Garrison and slipped out the front door to scout around and keep his own watch on things.

Garrison lit an oil lamp atop a scarred wooden table. Goniff and Casino sprawled on a ratty sofa to watch from a slight distance. Terry took a chair next to Actor, across from Werner and her brother. Reaching inside his jacket, the resistance man extracted a map, a drawing, and some identification cards. The map was smoothed out on the table first. Beside it the floorplan of the house where the party would take place was also smoothed out. Werner began to explain the route and the layout of the house. Casino joined for that.

When Werner was done, Terry asked what was upstairs of this house.

"Bedrooms," replied Werner, "but not very comfortable I am afraid."

Terry smiled. "I'm not looking for comfort, I'm looking for privacy to change clothes."

"Ahh," said the German man with understanding and a nod.

Terry walked over to where the duffle bags were on the floor and picked up the heavy one of her and Actor's belongings. Garrison was the only one to see her switch the bag from her dominant right hand to the left one.

"Want some help with that?" he asked.

"No," said Terry, "I've got it."

Actor turned to see what was going on. He looked back at Garrison and started to follow the girl.

"No," said Craig quietly. "Let her do it."

Actor shot a look back at the Lieutenant, but turned back to the table. The men looked at the identification papers and Garrison read the papers for Actor to get him in if there was any question. Everything seemed to be in order. When he and the resistance man were satisfied, Werner assured them he would have more than one man guarding their safe house. With no more questions, he let himself out the door and took the truck away.

Garrison exchanged a look with the con man. Everything seemed all right, but both men knew how very wrong things could go in a heartbeat.

"Casino," said Craig. "We're about a half mile from the city. Do you think you can get us another car?"

"Sure, Warden," said the safecracker. He wasted no time slipping outside.

Garrison's attention turned to Goniff. "Would you go relieve Chief and send him in. I want to go over the routes with him too."

Goniff made a show of getting off the sofa and slipping outside too. Actor chewed on the inside of his cheek, contemplating the plan and what Garrison had up his sleeve.

"If Casino comes back with a second car, who is going to drive it?" asked the Italian.

"Chief will drive the staff car," replied the Lieutenant. His mind was ever running through different scenarios. "We'll leave the second car here. Return for our kits and leave the staff car behind."

Actor nodded. "Teresa should be done with our kit by now," he said. "I will change into my uniform and see what kind of makeup job I need to do to cover any of her scars."

Garrison nodded absently as he studied the floorplan and waited for the scout.

6