Pranksters, Inc.

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 4

"Do you think we have enough wood?"

Tully glanced at the pile of wood they had stacked in the back of the jeep and nodded. "That merchant only had the six roosters we borrowed and maybe a dozen hens. I think we have plenty of wood. With the wire that Sergeant Franks gave us it should be big enough for all of his chickens and a dozen more."

"Maybe he'll get more now that he'll have a good chicken pen."

"If he does, he's going to have to build another pen by himself," Tully answered. "This is a onetime deal."

"Did you tell Sergeant Franks why we wanted the wire?"

"Nope," Tully shook his head. "He didn't ask and I didn't volunteer any information. He was going to throw it out and he didn't care why we wanted it."

"That's good," Hitch smiled. "Sergeant Franks has a room in the barracks on the same floor as us. Those roosters woke him up after working a double shift. He never got in until after three a.m. and the roosters starting crowing around five."

"Then you'd think he'd be happy to know what we plan to do with that wire," Tully grinned.

"Oh he'd probably be happy to know the chickens are penned up, but he'd probably also realize it was us who turned them loose in the first place."

Tully made a face. "Yeah, we wouldn't want that. I hear the sergeant really knows how to carry a grudge."

"So let's hope he never finds out," Hitch agreed.

"If Sarge is right, everybody on the base knows," Tully answered.

"They suspect, but I don't think any of them know for sure. Nobody has said anything to us about it yet."

"I guess we should go see that merchant and find out where he wants his new chicken coop."

The two climbed into the jeep and headed for the Arab quarter to begin their work for the day.

The saw was dull and the boards from the pallets were hardwood. Tully and Hitch were both sweating profusely by the time they had all of the pieces cut to the desired lengths. They paused for a break before beginning the actual construction of the chicken coop.

"It sure is hot out here." Hitch wiped the sweat from his forehead and reached for a canteen. He took a long drink before handing the water to Tully. Working the gum in his mouth he began to blow a rather large bubble. There was a giggle from behind them and both privates turned to see two small children watching them.

The children seemed fascinated by the pink bubble. Hitch popped it and blew another one for their amusement. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out two more pieces of his favorite flavor of gum. Holding it out, he offered it to the children.

The boy, a few years older than his sister, stepped toward the soldiers warily. When he was close enough he snatched the gum from Hitch's hand and darted back to his sister. The two examined the wrapped gum excitedly.

"You have to unwrap it," Hitch explained. Pulling another piece from his pocket he peeled the paper away and popped the gum into his mouth. "Then you have to soften it up by chewing it." He made exaggerated motions of chewing the gum. The children giggled again and followed his example. "That's it!" The children jumped back at the change in his tone.

"You're scaring them," Tully warned."

"I don't know how to explain it so that they understand," Hitch responded. "Remember that kraut I tried to teach to blow bubbles?"

"I remember," Tully nodded. "He finally got it; he just wasn't very good at it."

"Well to be fair, we were all more interested in staying alive than blowing bubbles. He would have been better if he had had more time to learn."

"I don't know about you, but I wasn't going to stick around there to teach him. We barely got out alive as it was."

Hitch nodded his agreement. Turning back to the children he managed to demonstrate his technique well enough that they managed to blow several small bubbles. They were giggling about their success when their father came out of the house. With a word to the children they scampered away. The father sat in the shade to watch the two soldiers work.

They took a short break at lunch when the merchant's wife brought food out for all three of them. While they ate their meal the merchant went around inspecting the work they had done so far. He shook the frame and paced the exterior counting his steps as he walked. His expression gave nothing away as he returned to the shade to eat his own lunch.

"Do you think it's big enough to suit him?" Hitch whispered.

Tully shrugged. "We got all of the wood and wire we could, I guess it's going to have to be."

Several hours later and the coop was almost done. Hitch held the board while Tully secured it in place. He glanced over to see the merchant smiling as they worked. "I think he's enjoying watching us sweat building this pen."

Tully glanced over and nodded. "It sure looks like it," he agreed around a mouth full of nails.

"Do you think Sarge will be satisfied with it?"

"Why not?" Tully asked. "He doesn't have to live in it."

"If he's not happy we may find ourselves camping out in it," Hitch warned.

Tully looked at their nearly finished coop and frowned. "Then maybe we should seal the cracks between the boards so sand can't get in when the door is shut."

"I'll get some tar and we can mix it with straw," Hitch offered. "Once it hardens it will keep about anything out."

"I'll finish the roof while you're gone."

"Be right back." Hitch headed for the American part of the base to see if he could get any tar. Half an hour later he was back with a bucket full of the thick, black goo. They spent the rest of the afternoon sealing the cracks between the boards and taring the roof. By supper time they were hot, dirty, and tired, but the chicken coop was finished. They proudly stood back while the old Arab merchant inspected the finished structure. They both smiled happily when he nodded his satisfaction.

Tully wiped more of the tar off of his hands and picked up the empty bucket. "I guess we can go now."

The merchant, seeing that they were preparing to leave, motioned for them to wait. He called to his wife in the house.

"What more does he want?" Hitch whispered to Tully. "He has a new pen for his troubles. All we did was borrow the roosters."

Tully shrugged. "I guess we'll find out in a couple of minutes."

Soon the merchant's wife came out carrying a basket. She handed it to her husband and went back into the house. The merchant checked the contents before holding it out toward the soldiers.

"You'd better take it," Tully whispered when Hitch hesitated to accept the offering.

"He doesn't owe us anything," Hitch answered. "We were paying our debt."

"Well Doc isn't here to explain anything to him and he might be offended if we don't accept his gift."

"Okay." Hitch smiled and nodded as he accepted the basket. "Thank you."

The merchant smiled toothlessly and nodded toward the basket. Nodding toward the pen he said something that neither private understood before shooing them away. He was still smiling so they decided that he was happy with his new pen. Taking the shooing motions as a dismissal, they gave a slight bow and hurried away. When they looked back the old man was doing another inspection of his new pen and smiling from ear to ear.

"So what's in the basket?" Tully asked as they headed toward the barracks.

"I don't know, I didn't look," Hitch admitted. "I feel kind of guilty for accepting payment for building that pen. We were supposed to be repaying him."

"Well look already, I'm kind of curious," Tully urged. "He gave it to us because he wanted to, not because we ask."

"Yeah, I guess," Hitch mumbled. Hitch pulled the cloth cover off of the basket and smiled. "Hey, he gave us some fresh eggs, real ones, not powdered. There's a loaf of fresh baked bread in here too."

"We can make an omelet," Tully suggested with a sigh.

"Or cook them over easy and dip toast in them," Hitch added.

"Real eggs," Tully sighed, "he didn't have to do that."

"Especially after we borrowed his roosters," Hitch agreed.

"We'll have to share with Sarge and Doc, they're the ones who insisted we build the chicken pen."

"Maybe we ought to give the cook a couple too," Hitch added. "I still feel guilty about him getting the blame for the green potatoes. Besides, if we share with him maybe he'll make your omelet."

"And cook yours over easy." Tully nodded in agreement.

Hitch carried the basket gingerly into the room the sergeant's shared and placed it on the table next to the beds.

"What's that?" Troy asked.

"It's a surprise," Hitch grinned. "We're having real eggs for breakfast tomorrow!"

"You were there to build a pen, not steal his eggs!" Troy growled.

"We didn't steal them!" Hitch protested. "The merchant gave them to us for building the pen."

"You were supposed to be repaying him," Moffitt frowned.

"We didn't ask for anything," Hitch answered.

"And he might have been insulted if we had refused his offering," Tully added.

Troy looked at Moffitt and frowned. "Well?"

"They may be right," the Brit answered. "It is considered rude to refuse a gift."

"All right," Troy sighed. "That must have been some pen."

"He really seemed to like it," Tully replied.

"He must have," Moffitt agreed after looking in the basket.

"We thought we could offer the cook a few in exchange for cooking ours for us," Hitch suggested. "He probably doesn't get real eggs that often either."

"And Hitch feels guilty about the potatoes," Tully added with a grin.

"They're your eggs," Troy nodded, "whatever you decide."

"We'll talk to him after supper," Hitch nodded. "How do you want yours?"