Chapter Two: The Next Morning
Lebeau woke with a start as someone shook his shoulder. "What?" he asked.
"Come on! Roll call time!" Newkirk stated.
"What about Chantel?" he asked, being dragged out.
"She'll be fine for a few minutes, don't worry!" Carter exclaimed.
"Yeah Lebeau, she will be fine," Kinch said, and they literally dragged him outside.
When roll call was finished, Lebeau ran back inside while the others took there time. While they had been out at roll call, Chantel had woken up. "Louis?" she asked.
"I'm here Little One! I was at roll call, which you will join when you are well again," Lebeau explained.
"Oh," she muttered, and sat up slowly with some diffuculty.
She winced in pain and leaned against the post of the bunk. "I'm so tired of having to be around Germans!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry Little One, but this is a P.O.W. camp, and it is time for me to make broth!" Lebeau stated.
Chantel sighed and put a hand on her forehead. "Food for the second day in a row! I am being spoiled!" she exclaimed.
"That's not funny!" Lebeau exclaimed.
"We 'ave no idea about what you two just said!" Newkirk exclaimed.
"Well, Lebeau explained where everyone was, then I said something about not wanting to be around Germans, and then I made a joke about how I was being spoiled because I had two days with food here," Chantel explained.
"Oui, now, can you help yourself today?" he asked.
"Yes Louis, I can," she muttered.
She carefully took the mug of broth and slowly drank it, her hands shaking. She breathed heavily and rested her hands with the mug on her lap. "Don't go too fast Little One!" Lebeau exclaimed.
"I won't Louis," she whispered.
She handed Lebeau the mug back empty, and closed her eyes. "Do you think I would be able to stand today?" she asked.
"No, I think that would be a bad idea Chantel! Very bad, since you're still sick and all," Newkirk stated.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Newkirk is actually right on this Chantel!" Lebeau stated.
She laughed, then stopped with a gasp of pain. "Forgot about those injuries," she muttered.
"Why don't you go back to sleep?" Carter asked.
'He's so naive,' she thought to herself. "I'm not tiered Carter, but thanks for suggesting it. Forget this, I'm getting up," she stated, and sat up so her feet touched the floor.
She grabbed the post, and stood up, holding onto the post for support. "Is that a good idea?" Kinch asked.
"Probably not, but staying silent wasn't either since being in pain is something I don't really like," she answered.
She let the go of the post and fell, having Newkirk catch her. "I told you to take it slow!" he stated, sitting her back on the bed.
"Thanks Newkirk. Hey, where's Col. Hogan?" she asked.
"Well, we can show her," Kinch said.
"But someone 'as to carry 'er," Newkirk stated.
Chantel glared at him and then looked around. "So, who is going to carry me?" she asked.
"'Ow about we pull straws and see," Newkirk suggested.
"How did I know he was going suggest something like that?" she asked.
"He's got girls on the brain most of the time," Lebeau explained.
"Let Carter cut and sort the straws Newkirk," she suggested.
"Alright. Carter, break the straws then give the illusion that they are NOT their real length," Newkirk explained.
As Carter broke the straws, he arranged them so they didn't have their height. "Short, medium, or long straw?" she asked.
"Short one," Newkirk said.
"He better not have suggested that to make fun of our heights!" Lebeau stated.
"I don't think he did," she said.
Newkirk got the 2nd smallest, Kinch got the medium one, and Lebeau got the shortest one, leaving Carter with the long one. Lebeau had smiled when he had gotten the small straw, and he picked her up. "Now, Lebeau, you can't carry 'er down the ladder by yourself, so I'll 'elp you out," Newkirk suggested.
"Just let him Louis," she said.
"Alright Newkirk," Lebeau muttered.
Newkirk beamed, and hit the bunk twice. The bed went up, and a ladder fell down into what looked like a tunnel. He ran down the ladder, followed by Kinch, and then Carter. "Newkirk?" Lebeau asked.
"I'm right 'ere mate! Don't worry, I won't drop 'er!" Newkirk exclaimed.
"Alright, here she comes. Hold on Chantel," Lebeau stated, lowering her down.
"Thank you Louis! Hello Newkirk!" Chantel greeted.
"'Ello Chantel! I'm guessing you want 'er back now Lebeau?" Newkirk asked.
"Yes Newkirk," Lebeau answered, taking Chantel back into his arms.
"Hey, Newkirk? What's your first name?" she asked.
"It's Peter," Newkirk answered.
"Thanks," she replied.
She looked around her surroundings, looking surprised. "This is a tunnel! Why doesn't everyone escape and leave?" she asked.
"This organization is used to help other people escape back to the Allies," Lebeau explained.
"So, you will leave here when we win. That's going to be a long time," Chantel stated.
"What makes you think that Chantel?" Carter asked.
"Well, this seems like a tug-of-war game. Both sides are pulling a rope, and those who have the advantage is constantly changing. Best way I can describe it Andrew," she explained.
"It's an intresting way of putting it, but it sounds like you don't have a lot of faith in the Allies," Kinch said.
"If you had been captured 3 times not including this time and it was up to you to escape from the stupid prisons, would you have much faith in our side?" she asked.
"Not a lot, no," Kinch replied.
"I didn't talk all three times," she stated, relaxing in Lebeau's arms.
She ignored their surprised looks and they entered the communications room. "Oh, good Chantel. You're up!" Col. Hogan stated.
"Can I contact Lone Wolf and tell her she isn't rid of me yet?" she asked.
"Sure," Col. Hogan answered.
Lebeau sat her in the chair, and they set up the pole. "Lone Wolf this is Blue Moon, come in! Lone Wolf this is Blue Moon come in please!" she stated.
"Blue Moon this is Lone Wolf! What do you need?" a male voice came over.
"Get my mother right now Samson!" she exclaimed.
"Yes ma'am!" they heard the voice exclaim.
"That annoying brat," she muttered.
"Blue Moon, why did you contact me?" a woman asked.
"If you want me gone and dead Lone Wolf, just take a gun and shoot me point blank. Over and out Lone Wolf," Chantel stated.
"Were you serious Chantel?" Lebeau asked.
She looked at Lebeau, and explained, "I am an accident child Lebeau. I have been captured and tortured for information three times! My mother doesn't care about me, does that answer your question?" she asked, tiered.
"Are you tiered Little One?" Lebeau asked.
"Yes I am Louis. I don't really enjoy talking to my mom," she answered.
"Hey, Newkirk, Chantel is tiered, so let's take her back up, okay?" Lebeau asked.
"Sure Lebeau," Newkirk answered, bit raised an eyebrow, slightly.
Lebeau picked up Chantel, and she relaxed against him. By the time they reached the end of the tunnel to the ladder, she was asleep. Newkirk climbed up first, and Lebeau haded Chantel up, then came up himself. Newkirk had put her on the bed and tucked her in. "That's my job Newkirk," Lebeau whispered.
"So, why did you want me to come up 'ere with you?" Newkirk asked.
"Chantel has problems with her mother. She was serious I think about the gun thing!" Lebeau explained.
"Oh, we better watch out for 'er! We'll keep our eyes opened and watch out for 'er Lebeau," Newkirk replied.
Lebeau nodded and looked at Chantel's sleeping form. Then the whistle for roll-call sounded, and Lebeau hit the bunk twice, opening it again. "Hey! Roll-call!" he shouted down, and they marched out.
-After roll-call when Schultz walks in-
"Attention! The commandant wishes to see Col. Hogan, and the rest of the prisoners are contained to the barracks," he stated.
"Hey, Shultzy, I have Apple Strudel," Lebeau said.
"Oh, I shouldn't have some, but oh! Well, just a little," Shultz said.
Chantel sat up slowly, and painfully. She leaned against the post, her feet touching the ground. "You get bribed Shultz? Someone really is good here," Chatel exclaimed in German.
Shultz jumped slightly and everyone looked at her. "I know German," Chantel said with a shrug.
Col. Hogan nodded, and left for the commandant's office, leaving Shultz behind. "Ah, you are Chantel Adelaine. I am Sgt. Shultz, the guard for this barrack," Shultz introduced.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Sgt. Shultz," she replied in German.
"You know German, French, and English. You know anything else?" Lebeau asked.
"My skills are dancing, singing, code-making/-breaking, and creating distractions. I am also good with animals," she stated.
"You are very talented," Shultz commented.
"Needed to be to stay alive," she replied.
"I should teach you how to cook when you get better!" Lebeau exclaimed.
"Thank you Louis," Chantel stated.
"You intrested in learning knew things?" Newkirk asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"I think between Lebeau and I we could teach you 'ow to cook, pickpocket, & break into locked places," Newkirk stated.
"I'm going to be very busy when I get better," Chantel exclaimed with a small laugh, which made her wince slightly.
"Do you need to see a medic Chanel?" Shultz asked.
"I just need to change my bandages, though the ones on my lower back will be hard," Chantel explained.
"I'll go get some bandages," Kinch said.
"Thank you Kinch," she said.
She rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, and she felt the stares at her arms. She unrolled the bandages and she heard them gasp. "Little One!" Lebeau exclaimed.
"They did that to you?" Shultz asked.
"My legs and back look the same," she answered.
"Here are the bandages," Kinch stated.
"Thanks Kinch," she replied.
Lebeau gave her a warm clothe and she cleaned her wounds on her arms. He took it back and washed it out. While he washed out the clothe, she bandaged her arms. "Those are going to take awhile to heal," Shultz stated.
She rolled up her pants and removed those bandages, flinching as she pulled off a few scabs. Lebeau handed her the clothe again and she gently cleaned those cuts out, flinching every once in awhile. "These are deeper then I had thought," she stated.
She bandaged them and then sat up slowly. "You said your lower back right Chantel?" Lebeau asked.
"Yes, I did," she said.
"I'll help if you don't mind," Lebeau suggested.
"No, I don't," Chantel repled.
She rolled up the back of her shirt, and when Lebeau undid the bandages, she felt him flinch. "It's just cuts over bruises. They aren't deep since they didn't wish to hurt my spinal cord, because it might hurt me enough so I couldn't talk," Chantel explained.
Lebeau gently wrapped the bandage around her lower back gently, afraid of hurting her. "Don't worry about hurting me Lebeau. What they did hurt much more then touching the cuts," Chantel stated.
He finished, and stood up quickly. "I think he needs to throw up," she stated.
Lebeau swallowed hard and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. The one German medic who ever treated me threw up every time he did," she stated.
"Though he hadn't ever treated someone before, so that might have had something to do with it," she added.
"Oh, I know him. He wrote letters saying how he wanted to kill whoever beat this girl he had to treat. That was a year ago," Shultz stated.
"Yeah, I was 17," she muttered.
"What did you say?" Lebeau asked, truly not hearing her.
"It is nothing Louis," she answered, lying.
She closed her eyes when Lebeau said, "Dinner's ready! You joining us Schultz?" Lebeau asked.
Newkirk picked her up, and said, "You are going to join us for dinner Chantel!" Newkirk exclaimed.
"No, I have to continue patrol," Shultz replied to Lebeau's question.
"NEWKIRK! PUT ME DOWN!" she snapped, coughing slightly afterwards.
"'Ere you go!" Newkirk stated, putting her at the table.
"Newkirk, I don't remember asking you to pick me up!" she stated.
"No, but tonight you are joining us since, we 'ope you will be better enough when the mission is scheduled," Newkirk explained.
"Not if my mother planned it," she stated.
"She didn't plan it, Col. Hogan did! He even doubled checked for flaws!" Lebeau stated.
"I know, but Lone Wolf found something else. I suggest putting it a day after she suggested it though," she muttered.
A plate of food appeared in front of her. "Eat up Little One!" Lebeau exclaimed.
"Thank you Louis," she said, and started eating.
She was eating slowly, her stomach slowly accepting the solid food, and she stopped eating when only a 1/4 of the food was gone. "I forgot," she muttered.
"Forgot what?" Lebeau asked.
"I haven't eaten solid food for four days," she answered.
Lebeau nodded, and shortly after Chantel continued eating. After a half-hour of eating slowly, it was finished. "Thank you Louis," she muttered.
Newkirk picked her up again, and she didn't say anything. When he put her on the bed, and pulled the blankets over her, she fell asleep. Lebeau just shrugged, and Newkirk sat at the table. "So, 'ho's up for a game of cards?" he asked.
After four founds, Newkirk winning three, and Kinch winning one, Col. Hogan came back. "Well, good news. Chantel will be staying permanently here at Stalag 13. Bad news is if they wish to interrogate her, they just need to tell Klink, and drag her out," Hogan explained.
"What? Those rotten no good Nazis!" Lebeau growled.
"We wouldn't be able to stop them," Hogan stated.
"That's not right!" Carter exclaimed.
"No, it isn't Carter, but what they do is rarely right," Kinch stated.
"Let's all get some sleep now. We'll talk in the mourning," Col. Hogan stated.
They nodded and went to bed. Lebeau was the only one without blankets, but he maybe slept he best of all.
-End Chapter Two-