Chapter Twenty-One

Back on Track

Hogan had instantly pulled himself upright, pistol drawn. He quickly dropped flat onto his stomach, eyes scanning, forgetting the tiredness that was burning his eyes. A glance to his right told him Newkirk was ready to move in case of trouble, and, still looking around, Hogan awkwardly dragged his now almost useless leg behind him as he scrambled to join the Englishman behind the tree stump.

With his left hand, the Newkirk pulled off his side cap and stuffed it into his coat pocket, then gave a quick, but pointed look at Hogan's cap with its polished emblem shining in the moonlight. Hogan understood and immediately took his cap off. Newkirk then turned his attention back to the woods, watching and listening intently as he tried to identify the source of the sounds he'd heard.

Hogan tilted his head as he heard a familiar cooing. He nudged Newkirk's arm and gestured to the right. Whoever was here, was nearby. Newkirk nodded and softly answered what he hoped was a signal with his two-toned whistle. He slowly brought his pistol up, ready to fire, and waited for a reply.

The bird call sounded again, and the Englishman gave his three-toned answer before turning to Hogan with a smile. "That's me little mate there, gov'nor. He does great bird calls."

As Newkirk put away his pistol, Le Beau stepped into the clearing and grinned. "Out a bit late, aren't you, Pierre?" He stopped and looked down at Newkirk, who had come around to sit on the ground with his back against the stump. "Or did you just get lost?"

Then came Carter's bubbly voice. "Yeah, we were expecting you an hour ago! So we thought we'd come and make sure you were okay."

Hogan listened to this conversation with interest as he struggled to the front of his hiding place, sitting on the tree stump and looking from one man to the other. "We're fine; we just got… tied up for awhile," he said, glancing at Newkirk. "We thought you were a Kraut patrol."

"That's a fine thing to say, Colonel," Kinch commented as he, too, stepped into the clearing. "I can see how you'd take Carter, and maybe even Le Beau, for Germans, but me?" The black Sergeant stuck his hands into his jacket pockets and shook his head.

"Blame it on the moon," Hogan replied. "At night all cats are grey."

Kinch grinned. "We were wondering what held you up-you guys planning to spend any time in camp during World War Two?"

Newkirk laughed quietly. "As little time as I possibly can, Kinch. I was thinking of coming out here and building myself a summer house so I have a place to go on weekends."

"Come on; we had better get moving," Le Beau urged. "We can talk about your building plans back in camp. The Krauts will be on night patrol; we do not want to get caught having a midnight picnic."

"Hey, you know something, once the weather warms up some, a picnic would be real nice! Colonel, do you think-" Carter caught the look on Hogan's face and shook his head. "No, I guess not. The Germans would be like ants; once they learned we were here, there'd be way too many of them around, and we'd never get rid of them."

"Give me strength," Kinch murmured under his breath.

"Right. Let's go before Andrew turns this place into Hyde Park East." Newkirk pushed himself to his feet and gave Hogan a look of pure sympathy. "You all right to go on now, Colonel?"

"Fine," Hogan said determinedly. He struggled to his feet and headed toward his men. But it only took two steps for him to realize that his knee had stiffened during his rest, and he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth, clutching his knee and trying not to cave in to the pain. He took a couple of gasping breaths, then straightened. "Okay, let's go."

Newkirk started toward Hogan, but was beaten to it by Kinch, who stepped in and got an arm around the Colonel's waist before anyone could say a word. "Looks like you either lean on me, or we spend a lot of time picking you up off the ground. It's up to you, sir, which way it goes."

Bathed in the sweat of pain and exertion, Hogan knew he was being given no real choice but to comply with Kinch's offer of help. And he was beginning to feel a real tiredness that made him less anxious to fight it. But there was one thing he could control, and he was determined to: "Okay, Kinch. I'll lean on you." He looked at Newkirk with an expression of command. "But Carter and Le Beau are going on ahead with Newkirk. He's overdone it tonight already, and he needs to get inside. I expect him to be in bed by the time we make it back. Got it?"

Feeling the eyes of the others on him, Newkirk looked at each of the men in turn, noting that they were all in agreement with Hogan. When his eyes met Kinch's, the Sergeant gave him a brief nod of reassurance, removing the Corporal's last reason to protest. Neatly done, gov'nor. If I kick up a fuss now, it says I don't trust Kinch to see you back safely. He turned to his escorts. "Don't hang about then, mates. You heard the Colonel: let's get back to camp." With that, he headed into the woods, leaving Carter and Le Beau staring after him in amazement.

Hogan lowered his head in relief, and let Kinch help lead him back home.

----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Hogan raised his eyebrows toward the ceiling of the tunnel, a sign to his men that he was getting static on the other end of the line. "Yeah, that's right, we need a plane. Yes, a courier plane… Yes, tomorrow night!" The Colonel straightened and let out an exasperated breath as he listened to the response on the headsets. Kinch glanced up at the others from his place in front of the radio at the desk, then threw a quick, almost secret glance at Hogan, who was practically dancing with impatience.

"Look, how many times do we have to go through this?" Hogan asked. He opened his mouth, clearly ready to launch into another round of arguments, when he cut himself off and said, "Look, just ask Aesop. He's already approved what we need." He waited. "That's right, Aesop." A nod. "Yeah, I'll wait. I'm already waiting!" he added, shaking his head.

Hogan closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to squeeze out some of the tension. Suddenly he dropped his hand and opened his eyes. "Great. I thought so. Twenty-two hundred at area D-23. Got it. Be on time; we've got an early start the next day." Hogan's men grinned, and he shrugged his shoulders at them. "Tell Aesop thanks… for everything. Papa Bear over and out."

Hogan handed the headsets back to Kinch and watched as the Sergeant turned everything off. "There we go-one mention of Aesop and everything falls into place. Townsend was true to his word. Things are going to be a bit easier from now on, now that he's on our side back in London. Just remind me he's not allowed to go on leave until the end of the war!"

Le Beau looked up from his work and nodded. "Oui, Colonel. And I am already planning the wonderful gourmet dinner I'm going to cook for him when we get back to London." The Frenchman grinned and went back to sorting the various packets of spices that had been sent on the last supply drop.

"Hold still, Carter. I want to see if this is going to look right on you or not." Newkirk took a firm grip on the young Sergeant's chin as he carefully applied a false moustache to Carter's face. "You did all right combing your hair differently, mate, but there's a lot more that can be done to change what you look like."

Kinch grinned as he picked up the new camera Carter had left lying on the radio desk. After checking the settings, he aimed it across the tunnel and snapped a picture of the ongoing hair and makeup session. Everyone jumped a bit as the flash went off, and the look of surprised indignation on Carter's face was enough to make Newkirk burst out laughing.

Hogan nodded, satisfied. Three weeks into the new arrangement and things were already looking better than they had in months. Then he got back to business. He turned to the Englishman. "Okay. Newkirk-we need that microfilm. Your contact will be waiting at the Hauserhoff at twenty-three hundred tonight. Get it, and get back. No pussyfooting around. The Krauts are nervous enough about these plans; they're bound to have more patrols floating around to keep any Resistance members scared enough to stay home. Of course, we don't scare easy, do we?" he asked.

"'Scare,' mate? I don't know the meanin' of the word." Newkirk glanced at his watch and nodded. "Righto, gov'nor. I'll be at the Hauserhoff at twenty-two hundred sharp."

Hogan frowned. "That's a bit early; your contact isn't due until twenty-three hundred. How much carousing do you plan to fit in before he shows up?" He paused, then said, "It's really a bit too early to do safely, Peter. What's the deal?"

The Englishman sighed and laid down his makeup brushes. "Well, Colonel, it's like you said, there might be some extra Kraut patrols out tonight. Now, which looks a lot more natural: a fellow that's been sitting in the pub for an hour when a friend drops by to chat for a few minutes, or a fellow walking in, having a five minute meeting with a bloke then slipping back out before he's even had time to taste his pint?"

Hogan nodded. "And I agree-but an hour is too long. That's why I expect you to get there at twenty-two thirty, and to make sure you stay for a few minutes after he's gone. Staying too long will attract as much attention as leaving right away."

"Righto, gov'nor. Piece of cake." Newkirk nodded, satisfied that he'd had a chance to have his say. It's easier now that I know the Colonel understands I don't play Devil's Advocate just to raise a row. It's never been that I didn't trust him, just that I've never had anyone to be in charge that I could listen to without questioning their reasoning or their motives. Until now. I'll keep asking the hard questions-partly to keep him on his toes, but mostly because that's who I am… and I can't change that for anyone, not even the gov'nor. And thankfully, I don't think he wants me to.

Hogan sighed, relieved that Newkirk hadn't fought him on the point. Looks like sometimes I'm just going to have to explain my reasoning to you to get you to trust my judgment, Newkirk. I can live with that… as long as you understand that I can only budge so far… since I'm the one who has to live with the consequences of my orders. And those orders have to take the safety of my men and the mission's objective into account, something I never want you to have to decide.

"You'll have enough time for two pieces of cake," Hogan said, smiling. "Just make sure you don't leave a trail of crumbs for anyone to follow you home!"