The Christmas Exchange

By:AliasCWN

Chapter 1

The sun was setting as the two jeeps raced across the desert floor. The lead jeep swerved to avoid some rocks sticking up out of the endless sand. Its passenger reached for a grip on the dash of the battered vehicle as two of the wheels temporarily gripped only air. His teeth clicked together as the wheels once again hit the ground and the tires found renewed traction and threw sand in their wake.

The driver of the second jeep had a bit more warning and his evasive tactics were much less severe. He wheeled his vehicle around the rocks without tipping and followed in the tracks of the first jeep. His passenger didn't have to worry about being tipped out but he did have to cover his face to avoid breathing in the plumes of dust thrown up by the other vehicle.

"I say Troy; don't you think it would be wiser to slow down just a bit?"

The passenger in the lead jeep glanced back at the shouted question. For a moment he considered ignoring the query but commonsense won out. Reaching over to tap his driver on the shoulder he gave the order to slow down. With the decreased speed he released his hold on the dash and leaned back in his seat.

"What's the rush? The base will still be there tomorrow and no one is chasing us at the moment." Moffitt continued shouting as Tully pulled his jeep up alongside Troy's.

Troy acknowledged both truths with a self-conscious grin. "You're right. I guess I was just anxious to get back."

"I'm ready to go home too, but I would prefer if I were to arrive there in one piece. Racing across the desert in the dark is a recipe for disaster." Moffitt smiled at his counterpart. He understood Troy's reasons for hurrying. They both had more preparations to make if they wanted to surprise their drivers for the upcoming holiday. His thoughts went to the package he had been expecting. It was overdue and now it was quite likely that it would not arrive until after Christmas. It was disappointing but he would just have to find something else to give the younger men for a gift. He had sent for them in what he had considered to be a reasonable amount of time ahead of the upcoming celebrations but given the army's postal system, he wasn't too surprised at the delay. Surprising the other members of his team was an undertaking in itself. They spent so much time together and knew each other so well that it was hard to keep any kind of secret for very long. Still, he had made the effort, and this time he had believed that he had been able to pull it off. Only now the gifts were late and Christmas was only a few days away. He wasn't sure what else he could give the younger members of the team that they really wanted.

Troy was having similar thoughts as he watched their surroundings for any sign of trouble. His intended gifts were late too and he didn't really expect them to arrive before the big day. He was thinking about heading to the local market and looking for replacements before their gift exchange. If the gifts arrived later he would be able to present them at a later date. He knew his friends would understand. The mail was slow and unreliable at best. Mail, especially packages, had been known to be misplaced or lost altogether. Some found their way to the recipients later, although many of those had been opened along the way, either by careless handling or by unethical handlers. Troy hoped that his had just been delayed because of the sheer volume of Christmas packages and not lost in the system forever. Some of the mail was lost with ships that were sunk or planes that were shot down and he realized that that could hardly be avoided. The part he hated was knowing that some of the packages ended up in the possession of the men who were supposed to be responsible for sending it on to the intended recipient. The Army did its best to control that scenario but the Army was big and many of those unsavory characters slipped through the cracks.

Of course it wasn't always the results of American actions that prevented the mail from being delivered. They had once stumbled across a German patrol that had inadvertently captured some mail destined for an American unit. The soldiers hadn't been able to read the letters but they had been making good use of the contents of the packages. Troy smiled as he imagined some German soldier getting caught eating the cookies Tully's mom occasionally sent to Tully. Heaven help any German Tully caught eating one of his missing cookies, or anyone else for that matter.

That thought reminded Troy that a few days earlier Tully had received a package in the mail. He had immediately tucked it away in his footlocker but they all knew he had it. Troy suspected that there may have been some cookies packed in among the hand knitted socks and other goodies that Tully's folks had sent. His mouth watered at the possibility of Tully sharing his bounty from home. Tully was never stingy with his treats at any other time and Troy suspected that the only reason they hadn't already tasted them was because Tully was saving them for Christmas.

Hitch had immediately slowed the jeep at Troy's order and had allowed his tight grip on the steering wheel to loosen. He was relieved to be slowing down because hazards became harder to spot as the sun went down. Rocks that looked low enough to drive over could be just high enough to take out an oil pan. Soft sand could give way and drop a jeep just low enough to erase any perceived clearance over a hazard leaving them with a damaged vehicle. A hole in an oil pan would mean a death sentence for a jeep without any spare parts to fix it. And that wouldn't bode well for their quick return to base.

Squinting at the desert floor in front of the jeep, Hitch tried to pick the safest path. They would be looking for a camp soon and he didn't want to spend the better part of the night fixing a jeep if he could avoid it. He wanted to spend the night sleeping and dreaming of home and traditions they shared at Christmas. Tomorrow they would continue to the base and he could finish his own preparations for the holiday. Rumor had it that the Allies were trying to negotiate a twenty-four hour truce with the Axis powers for Christmas. That meant that they could all relax and forget about the war for that length of time. Midnight Christmas eve until midnight Christmas day; twenty-four hours of peace and quiet when no one killed anyone else just because they wore a different uniform.

Dietrich's base was the nearest German stronghold and if the captain agreed to a truce then Hitch was certain that he would stick to it no matter what. The rumor hadn't been confirmed yet, but Hitch was hopeful. He knew that he was ready for some Christmas good will and he suspected that the others were too. There was something magical about the season that seemed to bring out the best in people, at least in most of them. He hoped that nothing happened before the holiday to derail the truce talks.

Tully glanced over at Moffitt and grinned. Like Hitch, driving fast in the dim light made Tully uneasy. He knew as well as any of them how dangerous it could be to a jeep. He wouldn't have said anything to either sergeant but he was glad that the decision had been made to slow down. The rocks that Hitch had swerved to avoid looked like they were buried deep enough that they wouldn't have done any damage but it was hard to determine in the fading light. Like Hitch, he wasn't keen on spending the night fixing something that could easily have been avoided with a little care.

With the slower speed he could let his mind drift to the upcoming holiday. He smiled happily as he considered the preparations he had already made. The package from home had been impossible to keep a secret from the others since they had been there at mail call, but they didn't know for sure what the package contained. He had quickly tucked it away from curious eyes until he was ready to share what was inside. His folks were pretty self-sufficient on the farm and they had been saving their ration coupons so that they could send Tully a nice care package for Christmas. Not only had he received homemade cookies, but his mother had also included real coffee, sugar, and some handmade taffy that his sisters had made with the help of some older cousins.

Tully grinned happily to himself as he remembered the taffy pulls that used to turn his mother's kitchen into a sticky mess when his younger sisters insisted on helping. His mouth watered at the remembered flavor of the sweet concoction. He remembered how sticky it was and made a mental note to warn the others so that they didn't let the pieces he shared get all covered in sand. His mother had been concerned that the taffy would melt in the desert heat but Tully had assured her that it wouldn't matter. Melted or not, it would still taste the same. He could already see the faces of his teammates when they sampled the special recipe his mother used to make the taffy. Her taffy had won ribbons at the county fair every time she entered it. Her pies were award winners too, Tully remembered, but he hadn't been able to figure out a way for her to send him any of those.

All of the memories the season evoked made Tully homesick for his family and the cool mountains of Kentucky. He was feeling a little melancholy by the time they located a campsite for the night. His thoughts were still of home as he pulled his jeep in behind the other one already stopped in the wadi.

"Hitch, take first watch. Tully, it's your turn to cook. Heat something quick and put the fire out so we don't announce our presence here to everyone within ten miles." Troy climbed out of the jeep and immediately began issuing orders. As the second jeep rolled to a stop he motioned for Moffitt to join him at the front of the first jeep.

Moffitt reached under his seat for his map case. With the sky turning deep velvety black they would use the rapidly appearing stars to confirm their current coordinates. He hurried to join Troy at the front of the jeep.