Chapter 15

Carter had been following Colonel Hogan through the woods of Germany for about an hour – but his mind was in another place. Ever since he had awakened, he had been silently fretting about his dream.

Carter thought back to the many conversations he had with Grandfather growing up. He had never paid much heed to the many native legends that Grandfather would tell him about – with the exception of dreams. Grandfather had told him that many native peoples believed that dreams were important and some even felt that they were a sign of what was to come. From a very early age, dreams had fascinated him.

He remembered the legends of the Dream Catchers – of both his Lakota heritage and the neighboring Chippewa tribe. He could still recite the poem Grandfather had taught him…

An ancient Chippewa tradition
The dream net has been made
For many generations
Where spirit dreams have played

Hung above the cradle board
Or in the lodge up high
The dream net catches bad dreams
While good dreams slip on by

Bad dreams become entangled
Among the sinew thread
Good dreams slip through the center hole
While you dream upon your bed

This is an ancient legend
Since dreams will never cease
Hang this dream net above your bed
Dream on and be at Peace

He had been so enchanted by these legends that he had begged Grandfather to show him how to make a Dream Catcher. Ever since that point, he had always had one above his bed. He had even made a small one to place on the underside of Newkirk's bunk above him when he came to Stalag 13. He was convinced that the Dream Catcher was the reason that he never had any nightmares … until today.

Now he struggled to find the meaning of his dream – and he knew that he would keep fretting about it until he did. Every dream had a meaning, Grandfather had told him. Sometimes the meaning was clear and sometimes the meaning was hidden – and it was up to the dreamer to discover that hidden meaning.

Why did Baker appear in his dream? The obvious reason was to prevent Hochstetter from capturing him. But why Baker? Why not Newkirk or Kinch? And what was the meaning of Hochstetter turning against them? Wasn't he supposed to be helping the escape? Wasn't he supposed to be the leader of the Underground?

Carter was so lost in thought that when Hogan stopped quickly, he almost ran over the Colonel. "Oh, sorry sir," he whispered.

"Pay attention, Carter," Hogan admonished softly.

"Sorry sir," Carter repeated. "I was just thinking about something." He didn't want to tell the Colonel about his worries.

Hogan smiled at his young charge. "Worried?" he asked.

Carter smiled back. "I'll feel better when this is over and we're back in camp," he replied.

"So will I," Hogan admitted. "But we first have to get to the rendezvous point, and we seem to have a decision to make here. We need to cross this ravine."

Carter looked up and saw for the first time that the ravine was blanketed in a dense fog. "We have to go through that?" he asked.

"I'd prefer not to," Hogan replied. "I'd hate to have one of us fall and get hurt because we can't see what we're walking into."

At that moment, they heard a sharp crack and a thud on the tree beside them. Both men fell flat to the ground as another crack rang through the woods.

"Damn," Hogan cursed, looking through the thin, leafless underbrush. "A patrol."

Carter peered towards the source of the shots. "Looks like guards from the camp," he said.

Hogan looked around quickly. "Looks like we have no choice now," he said. "We've got to get into this fog. They won't be able to see us if they follow." More shots rang out and bits of tree bark rained down on the two men. "And we'd better go now, or else they're liable to get lucky and hit us," Hogan added.

At the sound of the first shot, Carter's fears intensified. Could this be what his dream was trying to tell him? Were they about to be captured – or worse, shot? Hogan's voice interrupted Carter's thoughts.

"When I say go, follow me down into the ravine," Hogan instructed. "Try to move as fast as you can, but be careful. And whatever happens, let's not lose sight of each other."

Carter nodded silently.

Hogan gave a quick look back at the patrol as more shots rang out. The Germans had moved closer. Hogan made his decision. "Now, Carter. Let's go!" he said.

Carter followed his Colonel onto the down slope of the ravine as more shots thudded into the tree trunks around them. He barely heard the noise over the thumping of his heart. Oh God, please don't let them hit us, he silently prayed.

-

Newkirk left the Kommandant's office with the Gestapo guard and Schultz trailing behind him. Hochstetter obviously was trying to keep his hold on the camp by having his own guards in place. Normally, Schultz would have escorted him to the barracks by himself. But the big guard had been sitting in the Kommandant's outer office all day, waiting for Newkirk – under orders from Captain Gruber.

He would have felt like laughing at the obvious power struggle between the two men if he weren't stuck in the middle of it. As he walked across the compound, he thought of everything at stake – this was not simply a game. This was deadly serious business.

At that moment, he felt a sudden chill crawl down his spine. He stopped so abruptly that Schultz and the Gestapo guard stumbled into each other trying to avoid running into him.

"Newkirk, why did you stop?" Schultz asked crossly.

"I don't know, Schultz … Sergeant Schultz, I mean," Newkirk replied. "I just felt a chill for a second."

Schultz let out a big sigh. "Of course you felt a chill," he replied. "It's winter time and it's cold out here. Now get moving."

"It wasn't that kind of a chill," Newkirk replied distantly. He couldn't place the feeling, but it had a kind of foreboding sense to it. He immediately thought of Colonel Hogan and Carter and hoped that nothing had happened to them.

Newkirk heard a slam and looked over to see Captain Gruber running from his quarters towards the Kommandant's office. Schultz also noticed this and turned around to head towards the Kommandant's office as well.

"This can't be good," Newkirk mumbled to himself. He felt a small push as the Gestapo guard indicated that he wanted Newkirk to continue towards the barracks. "Keep your pants on, mate," he responded. "I'm going!"

-

Hochstetter was putting on his coat when Gruber came bursting into the office.

"We found them!" Gruber exclaimed excitedly.

Hochstetter froze momentarily – his right arm straight out with the coat dangling from it. "Found who?" he asked.

"Colonel Hogan and the other escaped prisoner," Gruber replied.

Hochstetter's blood ran cold. No, he thought. This was not supposed to happen like this. That idiot Gruber was not supposed to recapture Hogan. "Where are they?" he asked.

Gruber ran over to the map on the wall and began to point to the area where his patrol had encountered the prisoners. "Here," he replied. "I just spoke to the patrol that I left in the area by radio. They said they saw the two prisoners. They fired several shots at them, but they got away by going into the ravine right here." Gruber pointed again at the map. "The ravine is covered in a dense fog, and my men lost sight of them – but we now know where they are!"

Schultz entered the office and stood by the open door.

Hochstetter looked at the map for a second. Gruber had pointed to the area from which he had ordered the Captain to remove his patrols. "You had a patrol in that area?" he asked calmly.

Gruber nodded. "Ja," he replied. "And it's a good thing …"

"And your men fired upon the prisoners?" Hochstetter asked, cutting the Captain off.

"Of course," Gruber replied. "They are escaped prisoners."

Hochstetter erupted. "You fool!" he screamed. "You ignorant fool!"

"But Major," Gruber started.

"Silence!" Hochstetter bellowed. "Not only did you disobey my direct order by not removing your patrol from that area, but you also took a chance of killing the prisoners before they could be captured!"

Gruber swallowed nervously. "What's the difference?" he asked. "At least they wouldn't have gotten away."

"Bah!" screamed Hochstetter. "This is why General Burkhalter ordered you to take direction from me. What's the difference? Don't you realize that by capturing them alive we could possibly learn how and why the Underground had helped them escape?"

Gruber stared back at Hochstetter, his mouth agape. He had not thought of that possibility. He had only thought about what an achievement it would have been to recapture the escaped prisoners – dead or alive didn't matter to him. "Major, I…" he sputtered.

"Captain Gruber, if you have jeopardized this operation, I assure you that heads will roll," Hochstetter growled. "Starting with yours."

Hochstetter turned to see his guard returning from escorting Newkirk to the barracks. "Corporal, escort the Captain to the cooler," Hochstetter told his man. "He is to be placed under arrest until I return to camp."

Gruber paled. "But Major, I was only …" he started.

"Silence!" Hochstetter screamed. He glared at Gruber, daring him to say another word. Gruber was silent.

Hochstetter turned back to his guard. "I want a truck with eight men brought around," he ordered. "I want to get out there before these Luftwaffe idiots kill our chance to get any information from these prisoners."

The guard acknowledged the order and motioned for Gruber to come with him. The Captain hesitated for a second until the guard pointed his weapon at him.

Hochstetter turned to Schultz. "Sergeant, you are in charge of this camp until Colonel Weingarten arrives," he said.

"Me, sir?" a surprised Schultz asked.

"Yes, you," Hochstetter replied. "And see to it that you do nothing without checking with me first."

"Jawohl, Major Hochstetter," Schultz replied, snapping to attention. "I will do nothing, nothing!"

Hochstetter was relieved. From what Gruber said, the Luftwaffe patrol did not hit Hogan nor capture him. So with any luck, Hogan was on his way to the rendezvous point. Hochstetter would leave the camp with his men and leave them to make sure that the Luftwaffe patrol was not a threat to his plans. He would then go and meet with Hogan and tell him the good news – everything was working beautifully.

-

"The fog is lifting," Hogan said to Carter as they made their way out of the ravine. "And I didn't hear anyone following us."

"Do you think they went around to try to meet us on this side?" Carter asked breathlessly.

"Maybe, but it will take them a while to get here," Hogan responded. "And we will be long gone. Let's get going."

Carter nodded and followed Hogan as he started out into the woods. In what seemed like no time at all, they had reached their meeting point. They crouched in the brush by the edge of the clearing and looked at the barn. Carter could see a small ribbon of light flickering through the gap at the bottom of the door.

Hogan scanned the clearing, listening for any sounds. When he was satisfied the coast was clear, he started towards the barn cautiously, motioning for Carter to follow.

As Carter followed Hogan through the clearing towards the barn, he had to force himself to take each step. He was nervous, and could think of nothing but the dream he had had earlier in the day. He kept watching the corner of the barn, expecting trouble to appear at any moment.

As the approached the barn door, Hogan stopped. "Stay outside and keep watch," he said to Carter. Carter nodded and crouched next to a haystack by the door.

When Hogan entered the barn, he saw Erika sitting on a crate in the middle of the open area in front of the stalls. After being outside in the darkness, he had to stop and let his eyes adjust to the light from the lantern that Erika had brought. Blinking, he looked around.

Erika rose and walked towards him. "I was wondering when you would get here, Colonel," she said, smiling at Hogan. "You are a little late."

"I know," Hogan replied. "There was a little fog out there that made it hard to see and it slowed us down."

"Fog?" Erika asked. "This is not the time of year for fog."

Hogan shrugged. "I know, but it was there," he replied. "Is Hochstetter here yet?"

Erika's eyes went wide. "Hochstetter?" she gasped. "Why would he be here?"

Hogan stared at her. "What do you mean?" he asked. "That was the plan, wasn't it?"

Before Erika could reply, Carter burst into the barn. "Someone's coming, Colonel," he said breathlessly.

"That must be Hochstetter," Hogan replied.

Erika began to panic. "Hochstetter is coming here?" she cried. "We must get out of here, Colonel!"

"We came here to meet Hochstetter," he replied.

"Are you crazy?" she asked. They heard a vehicle approaching the barn. "Colonel Hogan, you must get out of here now!"

Hogan stared at the woman – she was in a serious panic. She grabbed Hogan by the hand and began to pull him towards the door.

"Colonel?" Carter asked. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know, Carter," Hogan replied. "But maybe we should go and wait outside to make sure this really is Hochstetter. We wouldn't want to be surprised by that Luftwaffe patrol again."

Hogan led the way out of the barn and the trio ran to the edge of the clearing, disappearing from sight as a truck pulled to a stop in front of the barn. They watched as Hochstetter jumped from the truck and ordered his guards to check behind the building.

"Colonel, it looks like they are trying to capture someone," Carter whispered.

"Of course they are," Erika whispered back. "They are trying to capture you."

Hogan was silent as he watched Hochstetter enter the building. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "Come on, let's go," he said.

"Go where?" Carter asked.

"Back to camp," Hogan replied, starting to move away from the clearing. "And bring Erika with us."

-

Author's Notes

Native American Dream Catchers

The poem that Carter remembers in this story is that of the Native America Dream Catcher legend of the Chippewa, or Ojibway tribe. The Chippewa would typically make a small Dream Catcher and present it as a gift to newborn children, to protect them from the bad dreams.

The Dream Catcher legend was also adopted and slightly modified by the Lakota Sioux people. The Lakota legend is a bit different from the Chippewa legend in that the Dream Catcher will catch the good dreams and keep them with you, while the bad dreams will find the hole in the middle and slip away.

In the series, of course, we learn of Carter's Native American heritage from the episode Drums Along the Düsseldorf – in which Sergeant Little Deer Who Goes Swift and Sure Through Forest demonstrates his prowess with a bow and arrow … sort of. Carter mentions that he is from Sioux heritage, which would mean that he could have been familiar with the Lakota legend. But since the Chippewa as well as the Lakota Sioux were natives of the area of North and South Dakota, I am assuming that Carter's Grandfather would be familiar with both versions of the legend.