Female Trouble
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 4
"Moffitt's friends live about an hour from here," Troy explained to the sergeant he knew as Crystal. "We'll drop the girl off and then get you where you need to go."
"Sounds good Troy," Crystal nodded in agreement. "You don't know what this means to me."
"We'll get you there," Troy answered.
Crystal was going to tell Troy that he had misunderstood what he was referring to, but the moment was lost.
"Breakfast is ready Sarge."
"Okay." Troy motioned for Crystal to go ahead of him. "We'll eat and then I can explain the plan to Miss Fontane. She may not be happy being left behind."
"I feel bad about that," Crystal admitted.
"Blame the war," Troy suggested. "We all do things we'd rather not do, and don't do some things we'd like to do."
"I think I hurt her feelings."
Troy was about to turn away but stopped as Crystal made his admission.
"I wouldn't talk to her," the sergeant confessed. "Back there on the German base, I wouldn't talk to her. I felt bad about my part in her team getting killed, and I couldn't bring myself to talk to her. I thought if she knew that I was the one responsible for her being on the convoy, she'd hate me." Sergeant Crystal shook his head sadly.
Troy didn't know what to say so he went to get his breakfast.
"Good morning Sergeant," Lydia greeted cheerfully. "Would you like some coffee?" She held out a cup of the steaming brew.
"No thanks," Troy responded. "I already had mine. Maybe Sergeant Crystal would like some." He waved the coffee away. "We need to talk Miss Fontane."
"That sounds ominous," Lydia joked. When the sergeant didn't smile, she lost her own. "Has something happened?" Lydia looked around the camp but everyone appeared calm. The others were all going about their business as if everything was fine.
"There's been a change of plans," Troy began. "Sergeant Crystal needs to be somewhere right away. Our orders are to deliver him to his destination."
"So we're going to be later getting to the base?"
"Yes, a few days," Troy admitted.
"Where are we going? Or can't you tell me?"
"We…aren't going any place. We're going to leave you with some friends of Sergeant Moffitt's. They'll keep you safe until we get back to pick you up. Sergeant Crystal has an assignment and we are going to help him finish it. It's too dangerous to take you along."
"Sergeant Moffitt?" Lydia repeated. "Are his friends British?"
"Arab," Troy announced. "Does that bother you?"
"No, I suppose not," Lydia frowned. "I really haven't met any of the Arabs yet."
"This is your chance," Troy responded. "They speak English so you will be able to talk to them."
"That will be a nice change," Lydia replied. "Sergeant Crystal wouldn't talk to me at all, and I know he speaks English."
"He had his reasons," Troy replied, "but you'll have to talk to him about that."
"Weren't you listening Sergeant? He won't talk to me!"
"Look Miss Fontane, I'm not going to get in the middle of that. That's your business, and his. I'm sure that Moffitt's friends will talk to you. You'll be their guest and Arabs take their hosting duties very seriously. Did you read the booklet the Army put out about how to act around the native population?"
"I didn't know there was one."
"It doesn't matter," Troy decided. "Moffitt says they're used to hosting foreigners and are tolerant of missteps. Just do what they tell you, especially if they tell you to hide. They are taking a risk by taking you in."
"I could go with you. I wouldn't get in your way."
"No, it's too dangerous," Troy insisted. "We'll be back as soon as possible. You'll be safe with Moffitt's friends. Consider it a learning experience."
Tully walked up to Troy and Lydia. With a nod to Lydia, Tully addressed the sergeant. "We're ready to go Sarge. Doc says we should get going so we can reach his friends before the Germans spot us."
"Okay Tully, I think we're ready here. Tell the others we're leaving." The sergeant turned his attention to Lydia. "I'm sorry about the delay, but it can't be helped. If you'll get in the jeep we'll get going. We'll drop you off and get Sergeant Crystal where he needs to go."
"All right Sergeant," Lydia sighed. "I guess I don't have much of a choice."
"None at all," Troy agreed.
Lydia once again rode with Troy and Hitch. This time, the other jeep led the way. The miles of endless sand made Lydia sleepy again and she found her mind wandering. Her thoughts went to Sergeant Crystal. She had seen him talking to the base commander before the convoy left the base. Even then she had noticed his intense eyes, more green than blue. That and his dark, curly hair had drawn her attention, even from a distance. She had even joked with one of the other nurses about meeting the man. Now her friend was dead, and she had met the man, only he refused to even talk to her. Lydia groaned in frustration.
"Are you all right Ma'am?"
She looked over at her driver, embarrassed that she had been caught daydreaming about the sergeant. This one was young, blond, good looking; she wondered why she wasn't attracted to him. It wasn't until that thought crossed her mind that she realized that he hadn't shown any interest in her either. He was polite, but that was as far as it went. She was so engrossed in trying to figure it out that she didn't realize that she was staring.
"Is something wrong Ma'am? I can ask Doc to stop if you need a break."
"Oh, no, I'm fine," she hurried to assure him. "I was just thinking."
"Oh," the blond nodded. "I try not to do that; Sarge says it just gets me into trouble."
Lydia laughed. "He's probably right. I don't think I should do so much of it either."
"You can trust Sarge Ma'am, he knows what he's doing."
"I'm sure he does Private. I'll try not to get in his way."
"Don't worry about that Ma'am; Sarge is really good about getting around obstacles, human or otherwise."
"I'll try not to worry but these last few days have been rather unsettling. I expected to encounter horrors, that goes with the job; I just didn't expect to be a part of it."
"Just bad luck Ma'am," Hitch assured her. "But Sarge will get you back to the base and you can fly to Benghazi from there. You'll be safe there."
Lydia smiled at the blond and settled back into her seat. She would try not to worry, but that left her mind to wander again.
Moffitt's friends were agreeable to taking the young nurse in as a guest. They welcomed her with their usual grace and charm. Lydia soon felt at home with the man's wives and children. They promised to keep her safe and hidden until Moffitt and his friends could return for her. Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully wished her luck and said their goodbyes. Sergeant Crystal stayed back and remained quiet. Lydia watched the two jeeps drive away with a lingering sense of disappointment.
Sergeant Crystal had switched jeeps so that he could talk to Sergeant Troy. He twisted in his seat so that he could see Troy while they talked.
"Once I get there, I have to meet with the base commander. He was expecting me early this morning so I don't know how he's going to react to me now. I hope he didn't decide to go ahead without me."
"Headquarters is aware that you were captured, and rescued," Troy answered.
"You mentioned me? I was traveling in secret under an assumed name."
"Relax Sergeant, we didn't mention any names or locations. We had a code all worked out with the captain at our base. Our captain knows us well enough to read between the lines. But don't be surprised if Jerry knows you're here. They did take you prisoner."
"But they don't know who I am. All I gave them was my name, rank, and service number. They have no idea why I am here."
"Dietrich's not stupid Sergeant. He'll figure out that you're not who you say you are. And he'll make assumptions from there."
"My cover was as escort for the convoy. Miss Fontane was even told that I was one of the escorts. The captain doesn't suspect anything, he was going to send me to a Pow camp. He didn't even ask me any questions."
"That might fool him for a while. A lot depends on how much they know from their spies. They've been monitoring our radio calls lately. Our spies say they are expecting something. We didn't make much of your rescue because we didn't want to attract any special attention."
"That's all the more reason to get there as soon as possible. I need to meet a contact before everything goes down. We need to act on his information before the Germans get wise."
"Okay Sergeant, we'll get you there as soon as we can. The rest will be up to you."
"That's all I ask Troy."
"Hey Sarge!" Hitch called some time later. "Dust."
Troy grabbed the binoculars and focused on the source of dust in the distance. A large German column was headed toward them. "Slow down and stay near cover," Troy ordered.
"Why slow down?" Sgt. Crystal asked. "Shouldn't we be trying to outrun them?"
"They don't know we're here yet," Troy answered. "If we go too fast, we'll leave a trail of dust that they would see. This way we can sneak away and they might not realize we're here at all. We'll try to sneak past them."
"And if we can't?"
Troy grinned. "Then we run, and if that doesn't work, we fight."
"Two jeeps against a column?"
"Unless you want to surrender."
Sergeant Crystal made a face but didn't argue. "Just get me where I need to go in one piece."
"We're working on it Sergeant."
The jeeps changed course slightly and Troy kept the glasses glued to his eyes. At one point Tully spotted a patrol and they had to avoid that too. Moffitt pulled out a map and plotted a course that would avoid both groups. He called to Troy and pointed at the map. Troy motioned for him to lead the way.
Tully guided the two jeeps through a series of wadis that kept them off the open desert floor. Several times it felt as if they had doubled back but Tully seemed confident that he was going the right way. Finally, Troy called a halt to check their location and let the engines cool.
"Do you think we lost them?" Sergeant Crystal walked over to where Troy and Moffitt were talking.
"I hope so," Troy answered. "We're losing time traveling like this."
"How long until we know?"
"We won't know until we see them again. Besides, even if we lost them, there's no guarantee that they are the only krauts out here."
"How long until we reach the base?"
Troy looked to Moffitt for an answer.
"At this rate, three hours or more," the Brit answered.
Sergeant Crystal nodded. "I had hoped for sooner, but I guess getting there in one piece is more important than speed."
"Now you're getting it," Troy replied.
