Family Care
By:AliasCWN
Chapter 7
"Where is he?" Troy paced the wadi and fumed. "I knew I shouldn't have let him stay behind."
"It's only been fifteen minutes Troy." Moffitt soothed. "Perhaps with all of the excitement he is having trouble slipping away."
"I'm going back for him."
"No." Moffitt argued. "Give him more time. Tully's smart, they won't take him without a fight and we haven't heard any shots. If you go back they will have two targets instead of one. Besides, if he did get caught they will be waiting for you."
"Then you do think he's been caught?"
"No!" Moffitt insisted. "You need to trust him Troy; he'll make it back as soon as he can. He may just need more time."
"I trust him Moffitt." Troy sighed. "It's just that I don't want him getting caught by that major. I don't want to have to carry Tully out of there too." Troy looked exhausted at the thought of carrying another one of his men off the German base. "I don't know if I could stand here and listen to his cries and have to wait another day to go get him."
"There is nothing to indicate that Tully has been captured or even detected." The British sergeant argued. "Until I hear shots I am going to believe that Tully is being careful and taking his time getting off of the base."
"I hope you're right." Troy answered. "Because the next time I see that major I'm liable to take a shot at him no matter how many guards are around him."
"I'd be more that glad to help if the chance arises."
"We can't." Troy groaned. "We have to think about Tully and Hitch. We have to get them safely out of there and back to the base. As much as I want him dead I have to think about Tully and Hitch first."
"Agreed." Moffitt nodded. "But there is always tomorrow. Sometime in the future we may get our chance." He added hopefully.
"I hope so." Troy admitted. "I really do." A low moan from the jeep transferred his attention from worrying about Tully back to his wounded man. "How's Hitch doing?"
Moffitt shrugged. "As well as can be expected. Both feet are badly bruised and you know how tender the sole of the foot is when you are used to wearing boots. The swelling extends well up his legs. I'll wager that he won't be walking comfortably for quite a long time. I gave him a shot of morphine to help with the pain."
"Can we take the gag out?"
"I'd prefer to leave it in." Moffitt looked uncomfortable with his decision. "I don't think he can moan loud enough to be heard but I don't want to take any chances since we need to be close to wait for Tully. If someone heard and came to investigate we'd be forced to move and Tully wouldn't know where to find us."
Troy agreed with the suggestion. "I don't want to have to hit him again."
"I don't think that will be necessary. The morphine should help keep him quiet. The gag is more of a 'better safe than sorry' scenario."
Troy nodded again and turned his attention back toward the base. Moffitt checked on Hitch again and tucked the blankets tightly around his still shivering body. Satisfied that he had done all he could for the moment, he picked up a machine gun and joined Troy to watch for Tully. They stood side by side and searched the desert between them and the base for any sign of their last team member.
Nearly ten minutes later Moffitt suddenly stiffened and pointed a finger toward the German base. "There! Someone just dropped over on this side of the wall."
"Where?" Troy demanded.
"Just to the right of where we crossed with Hitch." Moffitt pointed. "About twenty yards this side of the wall, see the darker shadow moving this way?"
After a moment Troy nodded his head. "Is Hitch ready to travel?" He didn't take his eyes from the shadow that they thought was Tully.
"All you have to do is start the jeep." Moffitt confirmed without looking at the other sergeant.
Neither man spoke again as the shadow moved closer. The base was starting to quiet down again after the excitement of the explosion. The lights that had been turned on in the confusion were already being extinguished to allow the base to hide in darkness. There was still a glow from the fire caused by the explosion but the German soldiers were getting it under control. The shadowy figure headed their way was outlined by the glow as he crested a small rise. Both sergeants relaxed as they recognized Tully's lanky form trotting toward them.
"Sarge?"
"Here Tully." Troy answered the low call.
Sirens began to blare as the search lights suddenly lit up the entire perimeter of the recently darkened base. Soldiers ran along the walls looking out into the desert where the lights extended. Looking back the three Allies could see men rushing to join the guards already on the walls.
"Let's go!" Troy urged. Spinning on his heels he was the first to reach the jeeps. He dropped his machine gun into the holder and slid behind the wheel. He had the jeep started and was ready to go before Tully was seated. "They must have found the soldiers we left in the cell." Troy glanced over as Moffitt climbed behind the 50. He waited as Tully's jeep jerked forward and led off into the desert. Troy looked over his shoulder at his passenger and eased his jeep out of the wadi at a slower pace.
They weren't followed so Tully took the time to pick the smoothest path for the two vehicles. Troy had them keep moving for over an hour, wanting to be sure that they were well clear of the base. He had Tully keep a slow pace that grated on all of their nerves but no one complained. After the first couple of miles Troy stopped long enough to remove the gag from his driver's mouth. Hitch's low moan accompanied every bump he hit with the jeep.
"Troy! There's a good place to camp about a mile ahead."
Moffitt's call was a relief to Troy who was grimacing with every moan from the rear of his vehicle. Waving Moffitt on he gave his permission to halt at the campsite.
"Troy, I think you should wait here."
"What?" Troy shook his head to clear it. His concern for his injured man had his thoughts wandering and it took a moment to understand what Moffitt was saying.
"The Germans are almost certainly aware of the location too and I think Tully and I should go ahead and make sure its empty before you bring Hitch close."
Troy agreed partially. "You go ahead but I am going to follow at a slower pace. I want to get Hitch someplace where we can let him rest."
"We'll come back to meet you as soon as we know it's safe."
Troy watched them speed off before halting his jeep to check on his passenger. Hitch was tossing restlessly and had dislodged the blankets. Troy tucked them around him again and felt his forehead. The heat radiating off of his driver's skin worried him. With a sigh he climbed back into his seat and followed the tracks left by the other jeep.
The clouds had cleared and the velvety black of the night sky was sprinkled with tiny pin points of light that sparkled down on the quiet desert. Troy sometimes found it hard to associate the horrors of war with the serene natural beauty of the North African desert. A night like this one should have been spent enjoying the quiet tranquility of the desert but here he was fleeing the brutality of man upon man. A moan from the back only added to the contrast between reality and what should have been. The quiet sound of a motor drew nearer and he drove on to meet it.
"All clear." Moffitt called when they were close enough to talk without shouting.
"Can we build a fire for Hitch?" Troy asked as he listened to his driver's teeth chatter in the cold desert air.
"Yes." Moffitt assured him. "There's no water but can get by with what we are carrying. Tully and I will gather some wood and dry brush along the way; most everything there has been burned already."
Troy agreed but he found himself fidgeting at the delay. He was about to declare that they had enough when Moffitt beat him to it.
"That should do it." Moffitt announced. "Tully and I will go in first to make sure that no one moved in while we were gone."
Troy had to force himself not to chaff at the delay.
Once the camp was declared clear for the second time Troy pulled in with his jeep. Moffitt was already unloading the firewood getting ready to build a small fire. Tully helped Troy get Hitch settled on some blankets near their future fire while Moffitt prepared to light it. A low moan escaped from Hitch's lips as the blankets were tucked around his legs.
"I thought you said the morphine would help with the pain." Troy growled as another moan escaped.
"It has helped Troy, without it he wouldn't be able to rest at all."
"He's not resting Moffitt!"
"It's the weight of the blankets on his feet and legs." The British sergeant explained. "The weight is causing him pain but if we uncover his legs he'll get chilled even worse than he is already."
"My uncle had a sore toe once, something called gout." Tully spoke softly from behind Moffitt.
Moffitt turned to look over his shoulder at the lanky private. "It's the same principle." He nodded. "Gout is an inflammation of the joint that causes excruciating pain, especially when you put any weight on it. Basically the same thing is occurring here. The thing to do would be to keep the blankets off of his feet and legs but that would allow him to get cold. With the danger of shock we just can't risk it."
"My uncle didn't have to worry about shock but he sure shocked my aunt with his language when she tried to cover his toe. He howled like an old hound dog when she put even her lightest sheet on it."
Moffitt gave Tully a small smile. "I bet he did. I've heard it can be very painful."
"The point is Doc; my aunt came up with a homemade contraption that helped my uncle." Tully went on to explain. "She made this tent-like thing that kept the blanket up off of his foot but still kept him warm. Nights in the mountains of Kentucky in the winter can get pretty chilly too."
"What do you need to make it?" Troy asked, knowing that Tully wouldn't have mentioned it unless he thought there was a chance of it helping.
"I need some of that firewood and some rope."
"Take what you need." Moffitt told him. "We gathered plenty."
"I'll get some rope out of the jeep." Troy offered as he rose to do just that. When he returned with the rope he was carrying a machine gun. Tully was picking through the firewood to get what he needed. "Here's the rope. Take anything else you need. I'm going to go stand guard; if you need me just holler."
Tully nodded without looking up. Troy dropped the rope by his feet and headed for the top of the wadi. When he had the pieces he wanted Tully began to arrange them the way he wanted them. He laid them out carefully on the ground and cut short pieces of rope to hold them all together. Using a piece about four foot long as the main pole, he began to make legs to hold it off of the ground. He made a set of legs for each end and a set for the middle. He added a third leg on the one end to help stabilize the whole thing. Each knot was pulled as tight as he could make it to keep the legs from shifting. He worked diligently to finish and failed to notice the fond smiles that Moffitt sent his way as he watched him work. With the last knot secured Tully rose to try out his handiwork.
"Let me help you Tully." The British sergeant offered. Removing the blanket from Hitch's legs, they precisely placed the firewood frame over the lower half of his body. Moffitt placed the blanket over the frame and Tully helped him arrange it. Tully used rocks to hold the edges in place so that the air couldn't get under it. When they finished they stepped back to study the results.
"That should do it Doc." Tully drawled with satisfaction.
"I believe you are right Tully, that should do it indeed." The sergeant stood back and admired the tent formed by the frame. "Very nice Tully." The sergeant praised. "It keeps the weight of the blanket off of his legs but keeps the heat in. When Hitch wakes up I'm sure he will be most grateful."
"Huh." Tully grunted. "When he wakes up I doubt he'll be thinking about anything like that." He huffed. "But that's okay, I didn't do it for the gratitude. I did it because Hitch is family and I could help. I was always taught to take care of family and that is what I am trying to do. I just want to do what I can; I wasn't much help back there at the campsite when he got caught."
"You did what you were supposed to do." Moffitt argued. "It could just as easily have been you that was taken."
"Yeah, but it wasn't."
"And that wasn't your fault!"
"It doesn't come down to who is to blame." Tully answered sadly. "Hitch is hurt and it's up to us to get him to a hospital. That's the important thing now. We have to take care of each other because we are all we have, each other."
"We also have to take care of ourselves." The sergeant pointed out. "Why don't you try to get some sleep? You have next watch and you need to drive in the morning."
Tully nodded silently and went to get his blankets. He dropped them on the ground next to where Hitch was finally sleeping somewhat peacefully. After arranging the blankets to his satisfaction he crawled into them and reached out to touch the other private lightly on the arm. "You sleep now Hitch, we'll take care of you." Hitch moaned and moved restlessly under the makeshift tent. Tully checked to make sure the blankets were still tucked in before rolling in his own and going to sleep.
When Troy woke him to stand guard he glanced over at the sleeping blond. Hitch was covered in his own blankets and lying on some others. "Are those your blankets he's sleeping on?" Tully asked.
Troy nodded. "One is an extra one but he needed more than that so I gave him mine." Troy looked up and smiled. "I'll be okay; I probably won't sleep much anyway."
Tully rolled out of his blankets and handed them to the sergeant. "Take mine; I won't be needing them for few hours. When I wake Moffitt I'll borrow his for the rest of the night."
"Thanks Tully." He glanced at Hitch. "He had me worried for a while but it looks like he's sleeping better now."
Tully nodded. "Until we move him in the morning."
"There is nothing we can do about that Tully. Moffitt says he'll give him more morphine before we leave to keep him quiet. We're doing our best here Tully. We're going to take care of him."
"Yeah, like I told Doc, we have to take care of each other." Tully nodded at the blankets in Troy's hands. "You'd better wrap them around you before they cool down; I have them all warmed up for you."
Troy chuckled and wrapped the still warm blankets around his shoulders. "Thank you Mother."
Tully smiled and ambled off to take over guard duty for the next three hours.
"Hey Tully." Troy called after him. Tully turned around to look back. "What took you so long to get off of the base?"
Tully looked around their small camp as he answered. "After the explosion some officer came up and pointed at some of us and began waving his hands. I was one of them he pointed at so I followed the rest of them when they left. I guess we were supposed to find out what was going on. I followed them toward the fire until I got a chance to slip away. There were soldiers running everywhere so I had to be careful sneaking back. I did what I had to do and then I rejoined you."
"You had us worried for a bit, we thought we were going to have to carry you out of there too. We thought that major got you."
"Never going to happen Sarge so you can quit worrying about that." Tully turned to leave but turned back. "How is everything out there Sarge?"
"Quiet as a church on Sunday."
"No tumbleweeds?"
"None that I saw."
"Good, I can use a quiet night."
Troy saw Tully grimace as he remembered Hitch saying the same thing when he took over the guard the night before. Troy didn't know the reason but he noted Tully's reaction.
"You Okay Tully?"
Tully kept looking the other way as he answered. "That major deserved to die, not only because of what he did to Hitch, but for the other's he's killed too. There's no way Hitch was the first one he's tortured like that."
"I doubt that Hitch was the first, it looked like he had had lots of practice before Hitch. Unfortunately Hitch probably won't be the last. There are some things we have no control over. Moffitt and I are hoping for another chance at him, we won't let him get away again. We just don't want to risk anyone else getting caught if we can help it. We were worried."
"Sorry Sarge, but it isn't going to happen." Tully began to walk away and this time Troy let him go.
Troy paused near his driver and checked the blankets.
"How is he?"
Troy looked over as Moffitt pulled his blankets below his chin. He glanced at his driver again and shrugged. "He seems to be sleeping easier."
Moffitt smiled. "Tully's idea helped."
"You mean his aunt's idea? If it works so well maybe she should have patented it."
Moffitt smiled at the reminder. "Well, since we're all family I guess we're just keeping it in the family."
"Tully's hiding something."
The British sergeant sobered immediately. "About what?"
"I don't know." Troy shook his head. "Something is bothering him about what happened to Hitch." Troy guessed. "But unless it starts to affect his duties I'm not going to push."
"Tully worries about all of us." Moffitt stated matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, about that." Troy continued. "He said we never had to worry about that major catching him. He made it sound like he meant any of us but he must have meant him."
"He can't promise that with any degree of certainty." Moffitt answered.
Troy shook his head and rolled up into Tully's blankets. "He sounded pretty darn sure."
