Chapter Three
Chantel woke up when the roll-call whistle blew, and she hit the bunk on top. "Louis! Roll-call!" she stated.
"I'm up!" he said and he got out.
They ran out while she was stuck inside. 'Might as well try and walk,' she thought.
She then sat on the bed and pulled herself up. She took a step, and let go of the post. She fell, but then got right back up with some difficulty, and continued trying. When they got back from roll-call, she was sitting at the table. "Wow! Roll-call takes a long time," she stated.
"'Ow did you do that?" Newkirk asked.
"A combination of walking and falling," Chantel answered.
"You hurt Little One?" Lebeau asked.
"Except for a few bruises, no," she answered.
Col. Hogan raised an eyebrow at Chantel's stubbornness, and shook his head. "Lebeau?" Hogan asked.
"Yes Col.?" Lebeau asked.
"I think you should make some breakfast for us all," Col. Hogan suggested.
"Of course Col.!" Lebeau exclaimed, saluting.
Chantel was sitting when Newkirk decided to give Chantel her first lesson in pickpocketing. "Now, we'll start with someone easy, like Carter," Newkirk suggested.
"Okay. What do I take?" she asked.
"In his right side pocket is a handkerchief. Pull it out," Newkirk stated.
When Carter came over to talk with her, she pulled the handkerchief out and slipped it into her sleeve. When he walked away, she pulled it out and looked at it. "Why did I take this?" she asked.
"Usually when you pickpocket, you know what you are taking," he explained.
"OH! You just gave me something to take!" she exclaimed, understanding it.
"Hey, where's my handkerchief?" Carter asked.
"I have it Carter," she stated, holding it up.
"Oh, thanks!" he stated, taking it.
"Now, you got people like him are easy to take from, but Col. Hogan is harder," Newkirk explained.
"I understand. Carter's naive, but Col. Hogan is not!" she exclaimed.
"Correct!" he confirmed.
"Breakfast is ready! Eat up Little One," Lebeau stated.
"Thank you Lebeau," she said, and started eating slowly.
-30 minutes later-
She stood up and took shaky steps back to her bed. She sighs and sits down heavily. "Tiering?" Kinch asked.
"Yes, a little," she replied.
Kinch nodded, and went down to the tunnel. "Call us if anyone comes to investigate here," Kinch said, Newkirk and Carter following.
"I will!" she said, and the entrance closed.
-20 minutes later-
The trio came back up and saw Chantel standing. "This is pointless Louis! How are we going to tell the others Col. Hogan has been taken in for questioning?" she asked, worried.
"Here they are!" Lebaeu exclaimed.
"Guys! Something terrible has happened!" Chantel exclaimed.
"What?" Kinch asked.
"Col. Hogan has been taken in for questioning!" Lebeau explained.
"When?" Carter asked.
"10 minutes ago! They dragged him out!" she exclaimed.
"They dragged 'im out?" Newkirk asked.
"After hitting Chantel for trying to stop them!" Lebeau exclaimed.
"They only slapped me," she said, shrugging.
"Only slapped you? Well, that is better then them punching 'er Lebeau," Newkirk stated.
"True," Lebeau stated.
"They slapped you?" Carter asked.
"Yes! Now we have to get Col. Hogan back!" she exclaimed.
"Won't they bring him back?" Kinch asked.
"After a 1 to 7 days of questioning, yes," she answered.
"7 DAYS?" Carter asked.
"Yeah, for a P.O.W. Me, be a bit longer, plus starvation," she answered.
"Starvation?" Carter asked.
"Yes, no food, thinking I will break. They need a new...whoa!" she exclaimed, starting to fall.
Lebeau caught her, and helped her to her bunk. "Thank you Louis," she said.
"No problem Little One," Lebeau stated.
She sighed and leaned against the bedpost. "This is going to be a long day," Kinch stated.
"I'm worried about Col. Hogan," Chantel said, looking up.
"We all are Chantel, but we can't do anything right now," Kinch explained.
"Alright. I'm going to go to sleep. Wake me up if Col. Hogan comes back please?" she asked.
"We will Chantel," Kinch said, and Chantel curled up to go to sleep.
She fell asleep to dream of nothingness, which is very unusual for her, and woke up an hour later, wide awake.
-10 minutes after she wakes up-
Chantel was flipping a pen between her fingers back and forth on her left hand. "You're good with a pen," Newkirk stated.
"Easier this way," she answered.
"Can you do coins?" he asked.
"It's harder, but yes," she replied.
"Wow! Slight of hand!" Carter exclaimed.
"Glad to know I was missed," Col. Hogan stated.
"Col.! You are back! We have all been worried!" Lebeau exclaimed.
"They didn't beat you," she stated.
She was still flipping the pen across her hand, and Newkirk takes it away. "Hey! I was still flipping it!" she exclaimed.
"The governor's back, so you can calm down now," Newkirk replied.
She sighed, crossed her arms and muttered something under her breathe. "I am going to start lunch now. You wish to help Little One?" Lebeau asked.
"How about tomorrow?" she asked.
"Of course Little One," Lebeau answered.
As Lebeau cooked, Newkirk pointed to a piece of paper that was sticking outside of Col. Hogan's pocket. "Can you nab that?" he asked.
She grinned, stood up, walked shakily over to Hogan, and 'fell'. She got the paper and slid it into her sleeve. "Are you alright?" Hogan asked, helping her up.
"Yes, I'm completely fine," she replied, walked back over to the table and sat down. She slid it out from her sleeve, and slid it into Newkirk's pocket. "You better tell me what it says!" she whispered.
"I will," he muttered.
Col. Hogan went to his room, and we opened the letter. It said,
"Dear Col. Hogan,
We have enough news at the moment. Arrive in London. Rooms only on Monday."
"It's a code. W.H.E.N.A.T.M.A.I.L.R.O.O.M! When at mail room!" she whispered.
"'Ow do you figure that?" Newkirk asked.
"It's an old code. When a letter starts, take the first latter of every word and put them together. Can you give it back to him please?" she asked.
"Yeah, I can," Newkirk stated, and went to the Col. Hogan's room.
Lebaeu served lunch, and she ate slowly again. When Newkirk came back out he sat on the other side of her. "What is it?" Lebeau asked.
Carter and Kinch looked up, while Chantel continued eating. "Col. 'ogan wants to see 'ow far Chantel can walk," Newkirk explained.
"When?" she asked.
"After lunch. Maybe we should break for tea before she goes in there?" Newkirk asked.
Chantel sighed, got up and walked shakily to the door. She knocked on the door, and asked, "Col. Hogan?"
"Come in Chantel," he answered.
She walked shakily in and held onto the desk to support herself. "Newkirk says you wanted to see how far I could walk," she stated.
"Yes. This is from the table to here, correct?" he asked.
She nodded, afraid if she spoke, the pain she was in would fill her voice. "You can sit down Chantel," Hogan stated.
She nodded, and sat down on the bunk. "You walked far enough where I think I can allow you to join us in roll-call. I'll have you by Lebeau," Col. Hogan stated.
"Yes sir!" she stated.
"Dismissed Chantel," he said.
She nodded, got up, and walked shakily out the door. She sat at the table, finished her lunch, and said, "I will be joining you guys for roll-call tomorrow."
"Who will you be standing next to?" Newkirk asked.
"Lebeau, but I think I am going to be in-between you two," she replied.
"Maybe Little One," Lebeau stated.
"You know, when you speak French, I 'ave no clue about what you are saying," Newkirk stated.
"Oui, that's the point!" Lebeau said.
"Please be nice!" Chantel muttered, putting her head on her arms, which were on the table.
"Are you alright Chantel?" Newkirk asked.
She nodded, and then fell asleep.
-2 hours later-
Chantel woke up with a start as she felt someone touch her shoulder. "Sorry Chantel! It's just me, Carter!" Carter exclaimed.
"Where are the others Carter?" she asked.
"They are in the tunnel. They don't want us down there right now. They will come up and get us when they need us," Carter explained.
"Alright," she muttered.
As the minutes ticked by, she explained to Carter about the number code, "1A, 2B,3C, 4D, 5E, 6F, 7G, 8H, 9I, etc. or flipped having 1Z, 2Y, 3X, 4W, 5V, 6U, 7T, 8S, 9R, etc. You can also pick certain numbers to mean different things," she explained.
"Wow!" he exclaimed.
"I create codes. Like my codename, Blue Moon? I have three numbers for it, 2, 8, and 16. 2 since a blue moon is when two full moons happen in a month, 8 for the amount of letters combined in both of the words, and 16 because that is the two multiplied. Let us do your name Andrew Carter. You would have two numbers, 12 and 24. 12, the amount of letters in both words and 24 for the amount of letters times the amount of words. You see how it works?" she explained.
"Yeah!" Carter exclaimed.
"AND! If you know the code by heart, you don't need a code book!" she finished.
"We need you both down 'ere!" Newkirk stated.
"Coming," she sais, and went slowly down the ladder. Newkirk helped steady her when she finished her decent, Newkirk asked, "You okay?"
"Fine," she replied.
"She is really good with codes Newkirk!" Carter exclaimed.
"'Ow good?" he asked.
"As good with codes as I am with bombs!" Carter stated.
"Thanks Carter," she said, walking shakily to where Kinch is.
"Uh, Lone Wolf isn't responding," Kinch stated.
She took the communications, and said, "Wolf2, to Wolf8, come in," she said.
"Wolf2 this is Wolf8 over," a guy said.
"Have we lost Little Red Riding Hood?" she asked.
"Yes, Wolf8, we lost her, and 2Spices" the guy stated.
"Find her! We need 24Wolves information," she stated.
"I know. Over and out!" the guy said.
"They refused to answer out of code, but they lost my mom, some plans that she has, and 2 female members of her crew," Chantel explained.
"That was 2Spices!" Carter exclaimed.
"Yeah, 2 HIGH level people on her crew! Sugars are used for lower members," she explained.
She sighed and got out of the chair. "Sorry Kinch, but that team and I set up a certain code two years ago. We only use it for secret info or important info," she explained.
"It's alright! One of the skills you mentioned was code making and code breaking, so I am not surprised, you would make a code for important information to go through. You probably created it to make sure the information didn't get into the wrong hands," Kinch stated.
"Correct! It had happened twice before we made the code," Chantel explained.
"The second time cost me my first time in interrogation, and they snapped my left arm in half because they wanted the rest of the information so badly," she continued.
She got a few stares. "You went through that because the information got in the wrong 'ands?" Newkirk asked.
"Yes," she replied.
She then smiled at them, and stood up. She got the desk, and shakily walked back to the ladder. "Am I sill needed?" she asked.
"No, you can go back up," Col. Hogan stated.
"Thank you Col. Hogan!" she replied, and walked up the ladder, sliding into the room.
-With the Heros-
"She seems a little distressed Col.," Lebeau stated.
"Yea'! She did 'ave a look on 'er face that I 'ave only seen one other time," Newkirk stated.
"When Newkirk?" Col. Hogan asked.
"When a friend of mine didn't want to say all the information they knew about something. It turned out that they 'ad said that if 'e told anyone, they would shoot every person 'e was connected to," Newkirk explained.
"Why?" Lebeau asked.
"'E wasn't supposed to know about it. I think this 24Wolves is a plan that she isn't supposed to know about," Newkirk explained.
"Are you suggesting we go and ask her?" Carter asked.
"Yes Carter, that is what they are suggesting. This is probably the one time I will ever say I want no part in trying to get her to say anything Hogan," Kinch stated.
"I am sorry Col., but I won't help either," Lebeau said.
"I don't think anyone is going to side wit' you governor. Sorry, but Chantel is very important friend of ours," Newkirk stated.
"I know. I'm just going to ask her," Col. Hogan stated, and went back up the ladder, the others following.
"Hey, Chantel?" Col. Hogan asked.
"Yes?" she replied.
"What is the 24Wolves plan?" he asked.
"The plan that Lone Wolf said to not do a week from the day I arrived," she replied.
"You think your mother ran off with the plans and betrayed the Allies?" Lebeau asked.
"I wouldn't put it past her. Give her enough money and she would betray or get rid of anything," she answered.
"She disowned you didn't she?" Lebeau asked.
"Last name revoked. The man my mother married had payed her to get rid of me. This happened at 16, right at the beginning of this war," she replied.
"Well, that was a private conversation!" Newkirk stated with sarcasm.
"I'll explain it later to everyone. Louis, can you please do me a favor and inform Newkirk of our conversation please?" she asked.
"I will, but later Little One," Lebeau replied.
"Thank you," she said.
As Lebeau recooked the lunch, and served it. "Thanks mate," Newkirk said, and Lebeau nodded.
Chantel nodded, and ate slowly. When she finished, they decided to play Bridge, but Chantel decided to watch. Newkirk and Carter were partners, while Kinch and Lebeau were partners. The partners were sitting across from one another. Newkirk passed out 13 cards to each player, and to his left was Lebeau.
-About 40 minutes later-
Newkirk & Carter had 7 tricks, and Lebeau & Kinch had 6, meaning Newkirk & Carter won. "You two won by one, so don't get cocky. Had I been playing, you most likely would not have won. Though I haven't played for about a year," Chantel stated.
"Good night everyone, I'll see you for roll-call," Chantel muttered.
Shortly after she went to sleep, Lebeau climbed up, pulled the covers on, and started going to sleep, when he thought, sitting up, 'Covers? But...they are...were on Chantel!'
He realized that Chantel had put HIS covers on his bunk while they had been down in the tunnel. 'She went to the trouble of making sure I would be comfortable. Who would be so kind?' he asked himself, falling asleep.
Unfortunately, it snowed that night, and for poor Chantel, she only had her outfit that she came to Stalag 13.
Oh, poor Chantel! Let us see how the Heros will help her now! REVIEW PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU ON MY HANDS AND KNEES!