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Actor sat up near the fire keeping watch, more on Garrison and his persistent attempts to scratch, even with the padded bandages, than any threat from outside. The cream the doctor produced when the con artist fed him his story of a lady friend who had broken out in a rash after a romantic picnic in the woods had little effect on the blistered skin they'd finally relieved of its burden of artificial scar tissue. Morning dawned and the group was rousing and going about their tasks as the con man sat applying compresses soaked in the infusion Estera produced from the plants she and Chief gathered in the afternoon to the more sensitive areas. It seemed to help for a short time after it was applied.
The Italian con artist considered his commander. He knew the younger man must be uncomfortable, some of the wounds on his back and leg had festered and Actor had pursued the remaining splinters with single minded determination until they were all vanquished. The Lieutenant's arm was badly bruised and the shoulder had been twisted nearly out of joint, the muscles around it and up into his neck left swollen and tender. Both his exposure to the cold and rain while he'd hung up in his tree, and the damage done by the cord that lashed across his neck had left him with a painfully sore throat that prevented him from speaking above a whisper. And then there was the itching,,, the con man had contracted poison oak once and even though there had only been a small patch on his arm it had nearly driven him mad. But there was more to it,,, there was a dispirited air about the Warden as he gazed into the fire. "What's wrong?"
"Reynolds is going to kill me."
Casino brought the pot of coffee and several mugs to the fire and settled down next to the Warden. Placing a full cup on the ground next to the man's feet he took a long pull of his own and sighed in contented satisfaction. A moment later he noticed that Garrison just continued to sit there and stare at the cup on the ground next to him. The safe cracker chuckled. "Oh yeah! Sorry." Lifting the mug up he held it while the Lieutenant took a sip. "What's Reynolds got to complain about we did the job, didn't we?"
Garrison nodded as he silently held his hand out for Actor to remove the dressings that encased his fingers.
"Surely he won't fault you for this, it was an accident."
"I've been having a few too many of those lately." Garrison sighed "He probably thinks I'm bucking for a Section Eight."
Chief joined them at the fire. The young man had been up early and gone outside to greet the dawn, making a quick check of their surroundings before returning. Accepting a cup of coffee from Casino he settled on the other side of the Lieutenant. "What's that?" He asked as he took a swallow of coffee.
"A Section Eight?" The con man answered as he continued to unwrap the Warden's hand. "It's an Army regulation that allows a man to be discharged if he's found to be psychologically unfit."
"You mean if he's nuts? Well, Jeeze…"
"Casino! Don't say another word." The Warden's whispered growl didn't come out as much of a threat.
The men ranged around Garrison laughed, Chief carefully helping his leader to another sip of coffee as Actor finally freed his hand from it's restrictive binding. "But the Warden's hurt, not crazy."
"Well…."
"Casino!"
"But some men will injure themselves in an attempt to gain a discharge." Actor explained as he patted their commander on the back and offered another dose of the doctors cough remedy.
The young man looked at him for a moment before declaring, "That's crazy."
"And…" The groups explosives expert turned his hands up in innocence as three sets of eyes fixed on him.
"Casino" Garrison whispered. "Maybe you better go find something useful to do."
Goniff stumbled over from the side of the cavern where the food was stored. There was a second small fire there where Estera had boiled the local grain up into a serviceable porridge, he hauled the pot with him along with an assortment of bowls and utensils that he sat on the ground with a clatter. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing." The Lieutenant declared as finally got a decent swallow of coffee while the con man attacked the bandage on his left hand.
"The Warden's worried about Colonel Reynolds' reaction to his latest injuries."
The group's second story man grinned around a spoonful of breakfast. "He did tell you to be more careful, din't he?"
Garrison shook his head as he accepted a bowl from Chief. "He's going to have me riding a desk for the rest of the war."
Actor smiled. "Come now, you aren't in that bad a shape… this time."
"You've got to be kidding! Actor, take a good look at me." Garrison held his arms away from his body and raised his chin for inspection. His eyes were nearly swollen shut. There were red, blistered patches on his face, neck and hands that looked as if he'd been splashed with scalding water. The muscles of his neck and shoulder were still bunched up in spasm and twisted his head down and his shoulder up. The gouges he'd suffered to his back and up across his abdomen prevented him from sitting or standing up straight, and he walked with a limp, favoring the leg that had collected the bulk of all those splinters.
Casino smirked as he considered him over his coffee. "You do look like an understudy for Lon Channey in one a them horror movies a his."
"You'r right, man. You'r gonna have a hard time explainin' this one." Chief smiled at their commander from behind his bowl of grain.
"I don't know what all the fuss is about…" Goniff snorted. "We just won't go back til you'r lookin' a little better. Blimey! I thought you two were s'pose to be clever."
Goniff looked back as they all stared at him. "We got all kinds a reasons to stay 'ere…. Toma and that mate a his, that Iagar fella, they could use some help gettin' this operation all set up couldn't they?" And as the Warden leaned forward and started to explain to him why they couldn't stay, why they had to go back as ordered he cut him off by reminding him, "You said it yourself, din't you? That bloke's important to the war effort." and he mimicked Garrison's strangled whisper as he continued, "'They've just started making an impact, delaying delivery of fuel and oil from the refineries here, blowing the wellheads in the oil fields themselves. …He's just started getting information out to us.' Seems like the Colonel'd want us to 'elp that kinda a thing along a bit."
"Hey! How come all of a sudden you'r comin' up with good ideas?" Casino grinned at the little Limey, watching as the ever hungry cockney peered down into the empty pot of porridge.
Goniff shrugged and clambered to his feet, calling over his shoulder as he headed back towards Estera to rummage for more food. "Dunno. Maybe it's 'cause Jon and Luca think I 'ave 'em."
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Contact between the partisan bands and the Allies was tenuous at best and Actor and Garrison spent some time setting up a network of message transfer points and simple codes. The first message they got out was to headquarters,,, the reason they, themselves weren't getting out… The message got through and the reply when it was decoded was 'Take the time." But the cons had to ask Garrison for an interpretation of the last line "FMEOR."
The Warden sighed and shook his head. "Full Medical Eval on Return. I think we may have worked with Reynolds too long."
Goniff laughed as he reached out and stopped the Lieutenant from scratching at the back of his right wrist. "Seems the Colonel 'as you figured out, Warden."
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Actor joked that they were running a school for criminal activity as they worked with the men and women that comprised Iagar's flock. Chief handled the appropriation of vehicles and disabling alarms, Casino simple explosives and lock picking, and Goniff, though he gave everyone a chance, only found two students he deemed had the natural talent to become pick pockets. Luca was one and Iagar himself the other. The men had practiced on volunteer victims and then set upon the more unwary members of the band until no ones personal property was safe, regardless of the pocket that held it.
When the opportunity presented itself to move into the next town and collect some information from the local commandant's office the 'students' were eager to try their hand. One of Enric's contacts in this small town passed the word to him that the commandant was rumored to have detailed information of German strength and deployment in the area. The administrative building was small and they believed they could manage the guards that were assigned there. The area had been under German control for sometime and their level of security was low due to their arrogant certainty in their superiority. The instructors declared the setup was perfect for a trial run and it would be a final exam for their students.
"Alright, this is what you'll do." The group crowded around to study the diagram as it was scratched into the dust.
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Elizabeth Celaru worked inside the small headquarters building as a cleaner and pointed out the commandant's aid, he'd locked the office and dropped his keys in his pocket before heading out for his dinner. Iagar tripped neatly in front of the man and had the keys out of their resting place before they'd had a chance to pick up the warmth from the soldier's pocket. Estera had shown real aptitude for electrical devices and alarms. She and Chief found the simple system that protected the building and disabled it with little trouble, Toma and the other's had the keys to get inside the building and office but they didn't want to risk a device that might be in place to protect the files where they hoped to find their information. Casino went in just in case a safe was involved.
Estera kept watch outside the building in the alleyway, she could see the hallway and the door to the commandant's office and both ends of the alley. Tudor Stoica watched the street and the front of the building from the mouth of the alley and Actor was leaning in a doorway across the street. Luca and the others were waiting with the truck two blocks away. They'd move in to pick the group up when it was all over, or, if their luck didn't hold, provide firepower and cover to get them out of any trouble that might come up. There were others stationed around the area to give them warning if the commandant was spotted returning for any reason, or if troops other than the guards who normally patrolled the street entered the vicinity.
The assault on the building went smoothly, the inside group easily gained access to the office but then had to spend their time waiting as Toma worked to open the locks on the files. Casino, normally short tempered and quick to act, proved a supportive teacher and talked Petre through the job allowing him the satisfaction of completing the task rather than damaging his confidence by stepping in to take over. There was no camera for this job, they simply copied the information off onto another paper to carry out with them after they returned everything to the files. Just as they were replacing everything in the office to it's original position as Casino insisted disaster struck. A guard appeared at an unexpected time and Tudor froze when the solider challenged him.
Actor signaled the car and started across the street only to hesitate as Estera stalked out of the alley. In a loud angry voice she demanded to know where Tudor had been all evening. She slipped her hand into the bag she carried and flipped the cap off a small bottle that rested inside, letting the precious perfume spill over her fingers. As she brought her hand up out of the bag she tossed the bottle away in the bushes before she delivered a sound slap to the side of the startled young man's face. Pulling at the collar of his coat and stepping in close, she started to screech about the strange perfume he had on him, and berate him for his infidelity. Actor strolled up to stand next to the guard who was watching the scene with amusement. The angry young woman jabbed her victim with her finger causing him to step back and twist to get out of her reach. She continued her rant as she watched the members of the inside team leave the building through the door to the alley and make their way out of sight at the other end. As soon as Chief gave her the thumbs up she grabbed Tudor by the arm and hustled him down the street leaving Actor and the guard to trade comments about the joys of married life before they parted to go on their separated ways.
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"How'd they do? Any trouble?"
"It went well." The con artist reported. "Tudor needs to work on his ability to improvise, but Estera was wonderful! The guard was completely taken in." Actor leaned over and kissed the young woman on the cheek, and then turned and offered his hand to her husband, after a moment Toma smiled and took it.
"And inside?"
"Piece a cake…well, not really, but it'll get faster and easier with practice." Casino turned to his protégé, "You just swipe anything you can lay your hands on that's got a lock and work on it until you got it down. It won't take long Don't go tryin' no safes though. You use the explosives like I show'd ya." Toma was a large man and the enthusiastic hug he bestowed on the safe cracker in return for his praise left the man breathless and laughing.
"Well then," Goniff rubbed his hands together and grinned at the group gathered around him. "Looks like you all passed! We better go back and tell the Warden."
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"You hear that? That's one a them werewolves. Jon told me all about 'em. You were right Casino. This place is right crawlin' with werewolves 'n vampires 'n things… but they ain't like the ones in the movies. Blimey, they'r way worse'n anything them movie blokes'd think up……." The little pick pocket settled down next to Casino outside the farmhouse they were using for the night. The place was several miles out of town and hadn't been lived in for a year or so. The windows were broken and the gardens overgrown with weeds. The tree in the yard was dead, green leaves only a memory now as the bare branches scratched at the side of the building and stretched skeletal fingers skyward. Goniff had finished his watch and Casino had just come out to relieve him.
"You better go on inside and get some sleep, Warden says were takin' off in the morning."
"Aw I ain't sleepy, I'll keep ya company for a bit, mate. Ya know," he started off softly. "Them movie guys got it all wrong about a lot a stuff. Luca told me how they deal with vampires here and it ain't nothing like you think it is…."
The soft sound of large wings overhead made the explosives expert duck his head, to cover his action he leaned down to check to see that his boots were securely tied. "So, ah, how do they manage it?"
"Oh, they got a whole ceremony for it. See they figure out which bloke is causin' the trouble, see." Goniff sidled a little closer and lowered his voice. "Then they dig up 'is grave and open up the coffin. Luca said they cut the head off and set it down between the feet, and then pound stakes through the body to sort a stick the fella to the ground so's he can't get up and cause no more trouble." The little second story man got to his feet and stretched. "Then they split the chest open and take out the heart and cook it."
"What'd they wanna do that for?"
"Huh? Oh! They get it all dried out that way, and then they grind it up and make a 'ot drink of it."
"What?! Why?"
"Blimey! How should I know? It's their bloody ceremony." The pick pocket stretched again and stepped into the farmhouse, leaving Casino behind staring off into the darkness. The safe cracker jumped as Goniff moved quietly up behind him a moment later and nudged him on the shoulder. "Easy mate! I just brung ya a cup a tea." Holding the mug out until it was taken from his hand the cat burglar watched a moment and laughed to himself as Casino peered down into the cup he held in his hand and then brought it up for a cautious sniff before he sat it aside in the dirt and walked off to complete his rounds.
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Dawn saw the group getting an early start. The cars and truck they'd taken were to be left behind for Iagar and Toma's group to use, along with some of the uniforms. In deference to the Warden a large covered sedan had been found instead of their usual open touring car. His skin, where the make up had covered it, still blistered on exposure to the sun and had kept him out action, sitting in the cave or safe house with Major Todeskopf through the daylight hours, waiting on darkness so he could move around freely…. "Just like one a Casino's vampires." Goniff joked.
They were leaving Todeskopf's original papers behind with Jon who'd proved adept at falling into the roll of the crippled German officer. He'd already successfully taken a resistance fighter from a commander over in the next valley. Dragomir Celaru, Elizabeth's brother, was fluent in German and called ahead to tell the commandant to expect a visit from the interrogator. Actor had come up with a concoction that marred Jon's skin, at least temporarily, and after one look at 'Todeskopf' the captive's jailors quickly gave him up. The group felt they could make good use of the Major and the legend they were busily spreading about him in the area.
It had come as no surprise when Goniff approached the Warden the night before they left. to ask about their prisoner. "Uh,,, what'r we doin' about Georg there?"
"Who?"
"Major Todeskopf. That's 'is name. Georg Heinrick Todeskopf. We are takin' 'im back with us, ain't we?"
Already knowing the answer, Garrison asked anyway. "Why?"
The softhearted burglar shoved his hands deep in his pockets. "Well,,, He ain't a bad bloke really, when you get to know 'im... For a German, I mean."
Garrison had come to the same conclusion having been cooped up with the German major during the daylight hours. He found that the officer had never actually questioned any of the men he'd been sent to escort to Berlin. After his injury the SS determined they could make use of his appearance to demoralize prisoners while they were on their way in. They'd withheld treatment that might have improved his condition to meet their needs. Up until they recruited him he'd been a pilot. And while he'd been disgusted by the assignment he'd hardly been in a position to refuse it.
The group would take Todeskopf out with them as an injured Allied flier being taken back for questioning. Garrison sacrificed himself and spent an hour or two outside in the daylight to blister up so he could reprise his role as the Major for the trip out, using a copy of the interrogator's papers that had been produced by the forger in Toma's band.
Goniff donned his uniform, and the Warden had been right, Actor was jealous.
"Look at the fit! You must have had a tailor work on it for you. And the rank! I don't believe this…." He was especially annoyed as he was dressed as a simple soldier and would again be the SS Colonel's chauffeur, with Chief and Casino along as guards.
Goniff snorted a laugh and winked at Casino as he held the door for him when he got in the car. "You'r right, mate! Takes class to be an officer!"
Garrison turned to consider the little cockney as he settled into the seat next to him. "You know Goniff you did pretty good this time out." and he continued as his pick pocket preened. "I think I'll put you up for OCS when we get back."
The little man looked up at his commander and smiled. "What's that, then?"
"Officer's Candidate School." The Warden had a hard time controlling his laugh as the burglar's face fell. "It's tough, but you can handle it, and it's only seventeen weeks long."
"Aw, Warden! What'd I ever do to deserve a sentence like that?!" and he turned away and crossed his arms, huffing as the men in the car laughed at him. "That sort a stuff'll turn a bloke old before 'is time, it will! Blimey! Make me all responsible for everyfing? ….I thought you was s'pose to be clever!"