Just to remind you that the Beth character, which was introduced in the preceding chapter, will be known as Lilian from now on.J
The wings of Love
Chapter
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Cole was bending over a deep track in the field. This was only one of many, all seemingly following a parallel path in the same direction. He stood up and turned toward Clay with a hint of apprehension.
"Well, it would seem that the Germans have moved already…"
"Are you so certain that they are going toward Belgium?"
"I would think so… Of course, it would help if we knew from where they came from…"
"The road is down there, and I think that I saw what looked like a farm. If we follow that direction, we might be able to find a sign and even some supplies, even a vehicle maybe…"
Cole let out a sarcastic short laugh:
"And you think what? That they will hand it to us graciously?"
Clay gave him an annoyed look and without waiting for an answer, took the direction he had indicated.
Cole shrugged and started behind him.
They had found the road and all the tracks surrounding it about thirty minutes after leaving the others. More than once, Cole had looked back in worry. What if someone came to attack them, while they were gone? A few of them had guns, but that was about the extent of their defenses. Still, he knew that they had to establish where they were if they were to find their way back, so he had pushed on.
As they walked, Cole could now see the farm that Clay had mentioned. In the distance, the place seemed very quiet, but he still felt the need for caution. Cole was about to call Clay on this, when he felt something under his foot. Looking down, he saw the sign that they had been looking for. It was all twisted, and he could only vaguely read the word Frankfurt on it.
This confirmed his fears about the movement of troops. They were standing behind the front.
This alone told Cole what they would have to do, and he went after Clay faster, with his decision made.
When he reached him, they were halfway to the farm. The place still seemed very quiet. Cole was beginning to think that whoever lived there had probably deserted it after seeing the troops go by, when a strange shimmering appeared again before his eyes. Startled, he stopped. When he could see ahead again, he was surprised to find himself already in the courtyard. The place seemed just as quiet as he had seen from afar. That is, until the door to the house burst opened. Two men, hitting each other, fell through it, and rolled on the porch. Neither one seemed to see him, as they pursued the fight, screaming invectives at each other, amidst grunts of pain.
"I told you to stay away from her, Richard!" One of them exclaimed then.
The man named Richard pushed the other toward the stairs, and as the first one stumbled down, Richard jumped at him, pinning him down.
"And I told you," the other one practically growled, "that it was her choice, not yours."
The pinned man found the strength to push the other away, who fell hard to the ground and stayed there, apparently in a daze. The second man picked up a rock lying nearby, as he stood up. Lifting his arm in the air, he was preparing to hit, when a panicked voice came from the doorway:
"Clint! No!"
The man named Clint hesitated a moment longer, as Richard was slowly coming back to his feet.
The two men glared at each other. Then, Clint reluctantly brought his arm down, dropping the rock to the ground.
In the doorway, Cole could see a woman in a tattered military uniform, and right behind her, stood Leo.
That was all he saw, as the shimmering started again, and he soon was back in the field, looking at the farm in the distance.
Clay called to him:
"Hey, what's the matter with you?"
Cole could not answer just yet. The memories of the visions were already scrambling in his mind. The little he remembered almost convinced him to turn around. However, he still could not believe that it was real. His problem was that he thought he was going insane. He was certainly not about to tell Clay about this.
"What do you mean," he curtly asked instead.
"I lost you there for a minute," Clay answered, ignoring his tone of voice. "I was asking you what you thought of this place, but for all I knew you might have been on Mars…"
"What the hell are you talking about," Cole replied irritably.
Clay shrugged just as irritably:
"Never mind. So, do you think that we should still have a look? This place seems deserted."
Cole hesitated still. He felt confused, trying to remember what he had just seen. Nevertheless, there was the possibility that they would find supplies there, and even a compass, which would be of use to them.
"We go on, and reconnoiter the place, but cautiously. There still might be surprises."
As if on cue, they heard an engine in the farthest.
Cole saw the outline of the fighter plane coming their way and urged Clay ahead.
"Come on, let's get to the farm…"
Even as he started after him, Clay commented:
"You are not worried about what we will find there anymore?"
"I am more worried about being a sitting duck. Still, keep your eyes opened," he added, thinking back of the vision. They made it to the farm, but although they managed to take cover, they had not been fast enough to avoid detection. The fighter pilot made a few passes over the farm. Then, he opened fire. The bullets rained down toward them, missing their hiding place by very little.
Cole exclaimed:
"That's German pilots for you. Shoot first, ask questions never…"
Clay gave an impatient look at Cole but did not reply, as he saw the pilot coming around for another pass, firing his guns blindly but still too close to Clay and Cole for comfort.
These two watched the plane moving away again, and fearing another attack, they tried to reach the house. However, the pilot took a different direction then, and they realized anxiously that he might have spotted the smoke from the wreckage. Barely hesitating, they began running back toward the forest…
Leo jumped at the noise, fearing for his friend, but also for all of them, as he caught sight of the still thick smoke emanating from the plane. He could now hear distinctly the sound of a plane engine and, turning toward the group, he ran to them.
Most of the wounded were already on the stretchers, fortunately, and in spite of his worry for some of them, he knew that they had to evacuate immediately.
"Hurry, get those stretchers and go further in the forest," he screamed around.
None of them needed to be told twice, as they had all heard the gun shots. Another round was fired, covering the noise of the engine, as they picked up the stretchers and hurried away. They were trying hard not to panic. Leo helped starting them on their way, but soon he came back to watch for his friend. He was worried sick and jumped at Phoebe's voice beside him:
"Do you think that they will be ok?"
His reaction was of irritation:
"You should be with the others, it's too dangerous here."
Phoebe did not let it influence her:
"So should you," she replied firmly.
Leo cast a curious look her way but kept silent, as he resumed his watch.
There had not been any more gunshots, but the plane was obviously circling close by. This did not do anything to reassure him. Even less so, when he realized that the engine suddenly revved up and he could hear it coming their way.
Nervously, he took Phoebe's arm and pulled her under cover, in spite of her protestations.
Not a second too soon, as looking up, he saw the plane coming over the smoking wreckage.
He pushed Phoebe to the ground at this point, to make absolutely sure, and she protested louder but still stayed down. He could feel her shaking now. However, it did not keep her from questioning again:
"You have not answered my question. Do you think that they will be ok?"
Leo looked away, biting his lips with concern. Still, he made himself sound reassuring:
"If I know Cole, and I think that I do, he would not be put down by a few gunshots. And neither would Clay," he added, although he was not certain who she was really worried about.
The plane circled the crash site many times, obviously looking for survivors. The pilot even shot a few rounds in the plane and the surroundings, giving Leo and Phoebe a scare. Nevertheless, after a few minutes, he seemed to give up and went back in the direction he had come from.
Leo did not breathe easier until he could not hear the engine anymore, and even then, he took a moment before getting up.
"Well, I hope that we won't have any more surprises…"
Phoebe brushed herself as she got up in turn, but she did not comment. In fact, she was wondering why she stayed there at all. All she knew was that she had to be there. Her and Leo watched anxiously, for what seemed like an eternity.
Phoebe was the first one to see the two pilots emerging from the trail, and she felt such relief as she had never known before. It took her everything not to run to them, but she was afraid to give away how she felt, whatever that really was. She was still very confused about it.
Leo noticed them before she could say a thing and he went toward them instead.
"Hey guys, glad to see you in one piece."
"Same about you," was Cole's relieved answer. " Where is everybody else?"
"I sent them further under cover. Luckily, the pilot did not see us."
Cole and Clay looked at each other.
"Well, he did see us, as you must have heard even from here. I hope that he is not going to send a search party," Cole added then.
"At any rate," he continued, "if you are ready, I don't think that we should stay around here any longer."
"Where are we and where are we going," Leo asked. However, his friend was no longer paying attention, as he spotted Phoebe, a little ways behind him.
He instinctively took one step toward her, only now realizing how much he had feared for her. However, seeing him moving toward her, she looked away and stepped back in the forest, to his utter disappointment. He almost went on after her but Clay's voice brought him back to the problem at hand.
"Cole, you have not told me either where we were supposed to go."
Reluctantly, he reported his attention toward the men:
"I am convinced that we are stuck between Frankfurt and the front. This makes it unlikely that we could go directly toward allied territory. I think that we should go south and try to find a way through the border."
"Hum," Clay uttered, "the battles are raging all along this border. It might be difficult to find a spot, particularly with such a large group. Maybe we should wait in the farm we saw earlier. At least until we can…I don't know, commandeer a vehicle, and give time for the wounded to heal."
Cole found that this idea seemed oddly familiar, but it also made him uncomfortable. Without knowing exactly why, he was convinced that this had been done and not with a very good result, whatever the unpleasant sensation was.
"Leo," Cole then asked, "do you think that your people can do this?"
"We won't be very fast," Leo said hesitantly.
Cole added then:
"It's ok. We will stick to the forest mostly and rest often… But we have to move soon."
Leo was uncomfortable at the idea of a long trek in the circumstances, but he deferred to his friend's judgement and simply nodded in acquiescence.
"Let's go back to the others, then." He finally said.
Leo turned back, vaguely searching for Phoebe. He wondered why she had left after staying there even through the danger, but now was not the time for conjectures.
It had been almost two days, and they had not gone very far. First, Clay had convinced them to return to the farm, where they had indeed found some supplies. They also found out that, as Clay and Cole had assumed, the place had been abandoned in a hurry. As they were gathering all they could find of use, Cole kept looking around, half expecting to see someone coming out of one or another room. He had no idea why, but could not help it. In the end however, he realized that no one was there.
Then, the effort of carrying the more severely wounded had not helped them doing good time. However, they had not either met any enemies on their way and they were grateful for this. Cole did not like the idea of following a vague direction, so he made the decision to find a sure sign that they were going the right way. He had to admit to himself that he felt the need to be by himself as well, although he truly believed it to be the right thing to do. Their finding an abandoned cottage on the way gave him the opportunity. The place was not large, but it would provide a better shelter for the wounded than the vague cover of trees and the thin blankets. In addition, Leo told him that if they could stay there a couple days, the rest would benefit everyone greatly.
The idea that he would go away alone provoked some protestations, however.
Leo and even Clay disagreed with letting him go by himself:
"This is insane. What if you were discovered," Leo asked somewhat anxiously.
"Come on, we have been walking as a group and have met no one. I am sure that I will be safe by myself. In fact, it should be easier to stay unseen…"
"I still don't think that this is wise," Clay added. "We have a good idea of the direction. You do not need to go off your own like this."
"I disagree," Cole replied. "For all we know, we might be going further into enemy territory. What good would it do to us…"
Clay shrugged, unable to find an argument against that. However, the protest that surprised him the most came from Phoebe, who had obviously been listening in to their exchange.
"This is insane. We are much better off sticking together…"
Cole turned in surprise at her voice. He thought that he could hear some fear in it and wondered if she worried about him, or simply for the safety of all.
Ever since they had returned from the reconnaissance, he had tried to talk to her many times, but she had stayed aloof, mostly avoiding him. His only consolation was that she was not talking to Clay either.
She had apparently found some replacement for the glasses, but the one she wore now did not hide her features. They were only small round spectacles, probably taken from one of the men's packages.
"Nice of you to worry about me," he replied with a grin.
"I am only worried about the fact that we have very few able combatants, and we will need each of you if we meet an enemy."
The grin vanished from his lips then:
"As I told Leo and Clay, I believe it necessary."
"Hum." She uttered, as she turned away from them.
He frowned, wondering what she was not saying.
"Hey, if you have something else to ad, feel free," he called back irritably.
She looked back reluctantly, but firmly replied:
"I think that you find it hard to take charge of other people. In your fighter plane, you do not have to…"
He did not like the way this was going, particularly that he had himself reflected about it earlier, but could not help insisting:
"What are you insinuating?"
"Simply that maybe you prefer working on your own because this is too much pressure on you."
"The nerve of you," he almost screamed. Nevertheless, she sustained his stare, pursuing:
"You asked me for my opinion, you have it." She said then.
After a moment longer, where they both glared at each other angrily, she moved away decisively, leaving him utterly frustrated.
For a while, he had thought that he had seen a softer side of her. However, at this point, he understood that it had been wishful thinking on his part. He did not even know why it bothered him so much.
Clay's mocking comment did not do anything for his mood:
"Well, she told you, didn't she?"
Cole fought to regain his countenance and even managed a sarcastic grin, as he faced Clay again.
"Huh, she is just a brat. Your brat…"
Clay answered with the same tone of voice:
"Suits me just fine…"
Leo watched the two men in puzzlement. He thought that he saw something unusual in his friend's attitude and he wondered about it, even as they returned toward the cottage, and Cole prepared to leave.
At last, he could not stand it anymore, and even as Cole was about to walk away, he came to him and questioned:
"Hey, is everything all right?"
"You mean besides the fact that we are stranded on enemy ground?"
Leo shrugged the sarcastic comment aside:
"I mean that you are acting a little out of character lately…"
"What on earth makes you say that?"
"I don't know, it's an impression. Like the way you treat that girl…"
"Please, let's not talk about that nurse. She is insufferable…"
Leo looked at him even more questioningly:
"See, that is what I mean. Besides Clay, I have never known you to dislike another person so much. And of course, I know very well why you do not get along with that one."
This picked Cole's interest:
"And why would that be?"
Leo smiled frankly at this:
"I am not sure that you want me to tell you this…"
"Oh come on, now that you have started…"
"Well, I have this feeling that you are competing in the same areas, and that you are way too alike for comfort."
Cole frowned unhappily at this:
"You are not saying what I think you are saying…You cannot tell me that I am anything like this asshole."
"See, I told you that you would not want to hear it…"
"You are crazy, you know that," Cole asked irritably.
"I don't think so," Leo replied confidently.
Cole was unwilling to let his friend analyze him any further:
"I have to go, but work on this insanity of yours. I am nothing like Clay, and that's that…"
He turned around before Leo could ad anything and was on his way shortly.
The night was falling rapidly. Cole had chosen to use the cover of darkness for his reconnaissance, but that also slowed down his advance in the thick forest. He had been walking for over an hour, when he heard a branch cracking behind him. Immediately alerted, he pulled the gun from his belt and looked back anxiously. When seeing nothing, he berated himself, thinking that it must have been an animal. He still kept the gun in hands as he resumed his walk. He took only a few more steps however, before he distinctly heard another noise, closer this time.
Crazy or not, he did not want to take the chance, and he took cover in the underbrush, watching the direction he had come from.
After only a few minutes, he saw a vague shape coming toward him, one that definitely did not belong to any animal. Poised for a fight, he tensed and waited. As the intruder came closer, he seemed to hesitate, looking around, as if searching for something or someone. Cole got the distinct impression that he had followed him and this did not reassure him in the least, although it puzzled him. If an enemy had spotted him, then why did he not attack right away?
The man was of an oddly short stature, which did nothing to enlighten Cole. It was only when he came close enough and Cole jumped out of his hiding place, gun at the ready, that he understood his mistake. The distinctly feminine scream of fright surprised him.
"What the hell," he exclaimed, as he strained to look closer at her face. She had a cap on her head that made her difficult to recognize in the darkness, but he noticed the glasses and knew right away who that must be.
"Miss Halliwell?" He asked in astonishment and irritation.
Phoebe had gone after him on an impulse, not even knowing why. She had rationalized that if no one was going to, she might as well.
"Are you insane," he was asking a little too loud.
"No more than you," she replied defiantly.
"What air head idea got into you? Don't you know how dangerous these parts are?"
"I figured that they were just as dangerous for you…"
"And," he asked, still incredulous.
"There are enough people to take care of the wounded at the camp. I thought that if you were crazy enough to risk your life like this, I might as well follow you and possibly help if you get hurt."
A vague smile began playing on his lips.
"So… You were worried about me after all. How sweet of you," he added mockingly.
She bit her lips before answering:
"I am only worried that you won't come back and do what you are supposed to. Which is lead us out of this country…"
"Right," he replied, obviously unconvinced.
Even her knew how weak this excuse was, but she stuck to it nevertheless, and she replied disdainfully:
"Think what you want…"
"Well," he said then, barely keeping the irritation from his voice, "I can't say that I had counted on anyone tagging along. I would have much preferred if you would have stayed put."
Moving ahead of him, she gave him no other choice:
"I am coming with you and that's that."
He watched her going for a moment, and then with a sigh, he followed her.
Leo was not sleepy and offered to take the first watch that night. They were not too worried at the moment, but it was still a sound precaution. The quiet of the night gave him time to think, and he could not help turning in his mind what he had felt about his friend.
He still wondered about this intense reaction of his to the nurse. After all the disrespectful comments that he had made about her, Leo had to wonder what she had done to him to warrant them. An idea was starting to form in his mind about it, when he heard the worried call of Piper coming out of the cabin:
"Phoebe?"
He turned curiously, but was still glad to see her. They had very little time in the last two days, but he had used every opportunity to spend time with the young nurse. However, now she seemed upset as he went to her:
"What is it?"
"It's my cousin Phoebe. She went out almost an hour ago, and never came back… Then, I found this on her pillow," she said, extending a piece of folded paper toward Leo.
Leo frowned:
"What," he questioned hesitantly. He picked up the paper and after reading what it said, he gave an astounded look at Piper.
"What was she thinking?"
Piper grew more anxious as she replied:
"I have no idea, it's so unlike her."
"Unlike whom," Clay interrupted, as he came out of the cottage in turn.
Piper turned nervously toward Clay:
"Phoebe…She went after the pilot…"
"What?"
Clay was flabbergasted. The way she had ignored him in the last few days disappointed him, but would never have believed that she would go after Cole. Not after the way they treated each other.
"What on earth for?" He asked.
"I don't know either. She told me that she despised the man…"
Leo was listening to this and the idea that had been forming became clearer by the moment.
The other two noticed his silence.
"What do you think," Piper asked Leo.
"I really don't know," he said nevertheless. He had a pretty good idea, but did not want to get into this.
"All I know is that if she is with Cole, you should not worry about her. He will not let anything happen to her…"
"Speak for yourself," Clay uttered, already moving toward the forest.
Leo called to him:
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going after them, and I will bring her back here, what do you think?"
"This is not wise, we are already spread thin enough as it is. Besides, they have over an hour on you. I assure you, Cole will not let her get hurt."
Clay hesitated. He knew instinctively that her going after him was not good for him. He had become quite fond of the young woman, but now she was showing interest in his rival. How could this have happened, he questioned himself. Still, he had to admit that Leo was right. He might just be searching for hours and still not find them anyway. Reluctantly, he backed down.
Piper still insisted however:
"Are you sure that she will be ok?"
Leo could not be certain, but he did not let her see this. Phoebe had chosen to take that risk. They could not expose themselves because of her recklessness, even if he was also worried.
"I'm sure," he answered firmly.
"I hope that you are right."
Leo added to himself:
"I hope so too…"
After a few hours, Cole and Phoebe arrived in front of a large field. The sun would be coming up soon and Cole stopped Phoebe, as she was about to step in the open.
"I think that we should stay put until tonight…"
"Why?"
"Don't you see," he replied impatiently, "if we are into this field in broad day light, there won't be anywhere to hide if we are spotted. The sun will be coming up soon… Besides, Leo has assured me that they would be fine for a few days. We could both use the rest anyway."
"I guess," she answered reluctantly.
Until now, they had walked mostly in silence, and there had not been any more discussion about her motivations. This had suited her just fine… However, the idea of spending the day with nothing else to do but sleep and talk made her uncomfortable.
"What if someone comes?"
"Don't worry, I'll watch for you…"
She had to admit that she was very tired, and without another word, she went to lean against a tree nearby, pulling the heavy coat she was wearing around her.
Cole hesitated. Then he came toward her.
"May I," he asked, indicating the ground beside her.
She frowned, looking away.
"I guess… But don't get any ideas…"
"Far from me," he answered mockingly, as he sat beside her and extended his legs, grateful for the respite.
Phoebe was already confused enough by her impulse of coming after him. Now, she felt scared by the one she was having right this moment. She wanted only to lean against him and feel his arms around her. Berating herself for this sudden weakness, she resolutely took off the glasses, and closed her eyes, determined to find relief in sleep.
He would not let her right away, however:
"You know that you are really pretty," he said, surprising her. "Now that these ugly spectacles were lost, I really think that you should find some that are more suited to you."
"You really are rude, you know that? You managed to compliment me and insult me at the same time…"
"It wasn't meant…"
"Please let me get some sleep," she said again curtly, as she turned resolutely away.
Cole did not understand what was his problem with her. He had never had any trouble charming his way into any girl's heart. Yet, now, he could not find a single witty thing to say. He watched her for a long time, even after she fell asleep. His puzzlement only deepened as strange feelings invaded him. After a while however, the fatigue took over. Without realizing it, he also fell asleep.
The guttural voices woke him up with a start, as he tried to remember where he was. It was obviously early morning, although still too dark for him to distinguish who was there, and the spotlight in his face almost blinded him. He felt the weight of Phoebe's head lifting from his shoulder, where she had apparently ended up during their sleep, and he heard her scream of fright. He was angry with himself for falling asleep. Nevertheless, he had no time to dwell on this, as he realized how frightened she must have been.
He found her arm blindly and squeezed it gently, in an attempt to reassure her, even though he was not at all reassured himself. Then he tried again to get a good look at the intruders, even as they spoke in German.
"Aufstehen (get up)," one of the voices was saying imperatively.
Cole did not understand, but it did not take long for him to get the gist of it when a man in German uniform bent toward him and rudely pulled him to his feet, pointing a gun toward his chest. Another had done the same for Phoebe, and her protestations made him look back. He tried to go after her, but the man that was holding him shoved the gun practically in his mouth.
"Aufenthalt hier (Stay here),"the soldier screamed.
Cole did not need any translation there, but he glared at him even under the threat.
"Cole," Phoebe called nervously.
"Stay calm," he uttered, as confidently as he could muster, under the circumstances.
He could now see that there were only three of them, and he evaluated his chances, even as the first man dragged him off.
When he heard Phoebe grunt in pain, he did not hesitate anymore. Grabbing the man, who had dropped the gun slightly in order to pull him away, he hit him hard in the face, grabbing the weapon in doing so, and then turned resolutely toward the one holding Phoebe. This one leveled his own gun toward Cole and began pulling the trigger…