Female Trouble

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 7

"Did your contact tell you anything interesting?" Moffitt asked as he handed Sergeant Crystal a coffee in the morning.

"He says things are going according to plans."

"That's good," Moffitt murmured.

"Everything okay?" Troy asked as he reached for a cup of the steaming hot brew. The steam rose in a cloud of aroma that the sergeant sniffed with appreciation.

Crystal noticed the move and smiled. "Heaven's nectar," he smiled. "What did man do before coffee?"

"Actually…" Moffitt began.

"Not now Doctor," Troy cut in. "You can give him a history lesson later."

"A history lesson?"

"Never mind," Troy answered. "What are our plans for today?"

"We are expected back at the base," Crystal reminded him.

"We can head there directly," Troy answered. "Where is Prichard?" The sergeant looked around their small camp but he didn't see the other man.

"He took Hitch a cup of coffee," Moffitt explained. "He had his breakfast already. Apparently he's an early riser."

As they talked the other man appeared and joined their circle.

"Are we going straight back to the base?"

Troy took another sip of his coffee and looked up. "Are we in some kind of hurry?"

"Not really," the other man answered. "But I have to warn you, Captain Dietrich is out here somewhere looking for you." He looked at Crystal as he finished his statement.

"I'm not worried," Crystal shrugged.

"Then you don't have a problem with us swinging by and picking up that nurse we left with Moffitt's friends?" Troy looked over the rim of his cup at Crystal.

"No problem at all," Crystal answered.

"Nurse?" Prichard's lifted his head at the mention of the nurse. He looked at Troy before turning to Crystal. "You wouldn't be talking about the woman that escaped with you?"

"Yeah, an Army nurse," Crystal answered. "She was on the convoy when it was attacked. We left her with some of Sergeant Moffitt's friends until we could return for her. The mission came first and there wasn't time to take her back to the base. They promised to keep her safe."

"Those friends wouldn't happen to be Arabs, would they?"

"Yeah, why?" Crystal asked.

Prichard chewed on his lip and looked uncomfortable.

"Spit it out Prichard," Troy growled.

The other man sighed and nodded. "Okay. I heard a rumor that there was an Arab locally who might be hiding a foreign woman. Captain Dietrich was worried after you busted out with the girl. He wanted to make sure she arrived at the Allied base safely. He claimed it was a matter of honor. From what I heard; he was planning to send her back anyway but he was worried that you would get her hurt trying to make it on your own."

"He said he would send her back but we can't believe him!"

"The Captain is a man of his word," Prichard argued. "That's one of the first things I learned about him. I hate to admit it, but I respect the guy."

"If Dietrich said he would send her back, he would." Troy agreed. "If I had known that, I might have left her behind. She would have been safer with him. I was worried about her getting hurt too. If we had been involved in a fight, she may have been hurt."

"We couldn't leave her behind!" Crystal shouted angrily.

"And we didn't," Moffitt added in a soothing voice.

"Maybe you should have," Prichard suggested. "She could get hurt now, or maybe your friends will."

"What do you mean?" Moffitt demanded.

"The captain heard the rumor about the Arabs hiding a girl and he was going to check it out. If he goes in guns blazing, somebody is going to get hurt." Prichard warned.

"He's looking for her?" Crystal took a step toward Prichard.

"Probably head over there today," Prichard nodded. "He's heading a column looking for you and he reported that he'll come back that way."

"We have to go get her before he gets there!"

Crystal's cry drew Tully's attention. He walked over to the group with a curious look on his face. "Something wrong Sarge?"

"Pack up, we're leaving," Troy answered abruptly. He nodded at the other men. "Any objections?"

No one objected. Each man packed his breakfast items and headed for the jeeps. Hitch joined them after being called and took his place behind the wheel. "Where to Sarge?"

"We're picking up that little nurse," Troy answered. "And hurry."

Hitch glanced back at the sergeant with a question in his eyes.

"Dietrich may be headed there," Troy added.

Hitch nodded and started out. Before they had gone very far Tully's jeep took the lead and set the pace. The sun wasn't up yet but there was enough light to let them see the obstacles in their path. Tully skillfully wove his way through the dangers to get them there in a hurry.

Tully's jeep led them to the rear of the estate. Moffitt climbed from the jeep after warning Prichard to stay out of sight. Troy and Crystal met him in front of the jeeps.

"We can enter through the servant's gate," Moffitt suggested.

Troy nodded. "You go in and get here. Sergeant Crystal and I will go around the front and warn you if Dietrich shows up. I know it may be a breach of manners, but don't stay for tea."

Moffitt smiled and nodded before he entered the back garden.

Troy led the way around the house to the long road leading to the estate. He ducked back, knocking into Crystal.

"What is it?" Crystal whispered.

"Dietrich's already here," Troy whispered. "He's walking toward the front door right now."

"We have to stop him!"

"It's too late to do anything from out here. His column is parked around the front of the building. If we start anything we'll have to deal with them too, and we don't have the firepower to do that."

"What are we going to do? We can't let them get Lydia!" Crystal moved as if he was going to go around the building despite Troy's warnings.

Troy reached out and held him back. "Come on, maybe we can get to Dietrich inside." Troy led the other sergeant around to the gate that Moffitt had used only minutes earlier. They entered the house and followed the sound of voices to one of the front rooms.

Moffitt and several Arab men faced the German captain across the room. An Arab woman stood behind Moffitt and another one stood behind the Arab men. Troy slipped around the edge of the room he was in and eased his way up to the doorway separating them from the group. With his back to the wall, he motioned for Crystal to move closer. The two men plastered themselves against the wall and listened to the conversation talking place in the next room.

"I have no problem with that Sergeant."

Dietrich's voice. Crystal threw what little caution he had used up to this point to the wind and dashed past Troy. His sudden appearance stopped Dietrich from finishing whatever he had been about to say. Crystal pointed his weapon at the German captain.

"Sergeant!" Moffitt shouted. To Crystal's surprise, he stepped in front of the officer.

"Get out of the way Sergeant," Crystal growled, "he's not taking her."

"If you hadn't rushed in here without knowing the situation," Moffitt frowned, "you would know that we have already settled that question. The captain has already agreed that Miss Fontane will be leaving with us."

Troy stepped into sight and nodded at the German. "Captain."

"Sergeant Troy," Dietrich responded in kind.

"The captain has agreed to allow us to take Miss Fontane back to our base. He has also agreed to pull his column back so we don't have to fight our way out," Moffitt explained.

"That's nice of you Captain," Troy replied sarcastically, "what's the catch?"

"No catch Sergeant," Dietrich answered calmly. "I already told Miss Fontane that I would see her safely to an Allied base. Your being here saves me a trip."

"You're quite the gentleman."

"Yes, I am," Dietrich answered with a smug smile. "Tell me you wouldn't do the same if Miss Fontane were German."

Troy lowered his head and smiled, "I don't think I can do that Captain."

"I thought not."

"You don't really believe this guy, do you?" Crystal demanded.

Troy turned his head to look at Crystal. "Why not?"

"He wants her for himself, that's why!"

"I invited her to dinner, merely as a gesture of kindness. The sergeant misunderstood my intentions." Dietrich explained. "It was always my intention to return her to your base."

"That's not what it looked like to me!"

"Why Sergeant, you sound jealous. Have you changed your mind about her? As I recall, you wouldn't even talk to her while she was on my base. I didn't think you cared what happened to her."

"I care," Crystal answered. "I didn't talk to her because I didn't know what to say to her. I was the one responsible for her getting caught in the first place. I got her friends killed. What could I say to her?"

"You were responsible?" Dietrich's eyebrows shot up. "How?"

"That's not true!" The Arab girl stepped past Moffitt and pulled the covering from her face. Lydia looked toward a surprised Crystal. "You did what you could to protect the convoy. It wasn't your fault. I don't blame you for any of this."

"There is one more thing we have to get straight," Moffitt interrupted before Crystal could say anything.

"What is that Sergeant?" Dietrich asked.

"What about Sheik Abari and his family?"

"What about them?"

"Are they going to be in trouble for hiding the girl?"

"I don't see why," Dietrich answered. "I didn't find any evidence that she was here. I think the rumors I heard were wrong. Someone mistook a visiting relative for a foreign woman."

"Thanks Captain," Moffitt replied. "Of course, we would prefer you stay here until we're gone."

"It is customary for guests to share tea," Sheik Abari spoke for the first time. "Perhaps the Captain would share that custom with us."

"I'd be honored," Dietrich answered with a bow of his head. "Would that give you enough time Sergeant?"

"Yes Captain, it would."

"Then we'll be on our way before any of your men get restless," Troy decided. "Moffitt, bid your friends so long and let's get moving."

Moffitt spoke to Sheik Abari, thanking him for his help and promising to visit at a later date. He took Lydia by the arm and pushed her toward Sergeant Crystal. He waited as the two of them ran toward the back door. Troy followed them. Moffitt looked back once to see Dietrich and the Sheik walking toward the other room like old friends.

"I thought you were going to wait out front," Moffitt reminded Troy as they walked back to the jeeps.

"Crystal had other ideas," Troy explained. "When he realized that Dietrich was here, he kind of lost it. It was all I could do to keep up with him once we headed for the back door. I can't figure him out. First he won't talk to her and then he almost gets everyone killed to save her."

"You heard him, he felt responsible for putting her in danger."

"Well I wish he had kept thinking that way just a little bit longer. He sort of reminded me of Hitch when he gets some girl in his head."

"Hitch has never put us in danger over a girl, himself perhaps, but not us."

"Yeah," Troy replied thoughtfully.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just realized, Hitch hasn't said anything about the girl. I didn't think about it before. It just seems strange, that's all. He usually flirts with anything in a skirt."

"Perhaps he has other things on his mind."

Troy chuckled. "Yeah, right."