a/n: Thank you all for the continued support! Sorry for being late with this update, but real life is having a tantrum and demanding more attention. :)
For a while, I wanted to have the main character anonymous, but it seems that it's hard to maintain realism without some people calling him by his first name, like his father. So... I sort of used what buggleston thought his name was. :)
Characters from Hogan's Heroes do not belong to me.


The Thrilling Adventures of a Boy Spy

:: Part, the Fourth ::

I realize my situation was getting pretty dark around now, but I have to tell you; it wasn't going to stay that way. I knew it was up to me to have a plan.

Uncle took my hand and walked swiftly forward. Papa was going to be all right, I told myself, because if I hadn't, I was sure I'd go mad. Besides, I was going to help him.

I tried to detach myself from Uncle's hand, but he wouldn't have it. So I had an idea.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I said.

Uncle looked down at me, totally frazzled. That took him off his high horse for a minute. Yes, things were getting better already.

His steps grew faster and I trotted along to catch up. He went up the steps of a huge building and almost threw me through the doors. "I don't have time for your problems. Go find it yourself." And he slapped the door shut behind him.

Now I was alone – I think. I checked out the new room quickly, counting. Big stuffed chair, table, door, door, door (including the one leading outside). Metal thing against the wall, pictures, a hundred little doo-dads on the shelves. No person. Yes! I scrambled through one of the doors – a rightward one – and jumped on the bed to reach the window. I put aside the trinkets on the little table next to the bed and opened the window. It was just like ours at home, so the latch thing gave me no problems.

Of course I looked around briefly before I jumped out. There was another big building to the right and running all across my line of vision, a tall, ugly fence. I peeped my head out quickly and saw to the right was a tall hollow structure with a pointed cap on top of it; behind it, a small rectangular structure. Closer to me to the right was a big wooden building, and far, far right was the gray building Papa and Hogan were taken to. Somehow, I felt the two of them had something going on together – some spy thing. That would explain Papa's look back there. Which would also mean they were on the same side!

Unless, of course, there was something else going on. But I didn't want to think about complications now.

So I looked around once more, saw no one, and leaped out. I scrambled to the edge of the building and suddenly realized I should have called Mama from in there. There was a phone in the building. I looked back at the window, seriously reconsidering...

But it looked like my jumping out of the window was a non-reversible operation. Poor Mama! I battered myself. You dumb dumb. Now Mama is really worried.

Well, that just meant I had to get this thing over with sooner.

So I looked around once more past the corner of the building. There were all kinds of people marching back and forth or standing still, lugging long guns. If I could get behind the rectangle building, I could then get to the gray building. It was a straight shot from my building to the rectangle, so I counted, one, two, three, then off I went!

Man, that was scary. But nobody saw me, I think. I still had to get from the rectangle to the gray building. And the gun people were buzzing around the gray one. So I dug a little into my spy brain and figured that I could make them look the other way if I made a noise on the other direction of me. I don't know if that made much sense, but I figured it this way: I grabbed a handful of dust and rocks from the ground (it wasn't much of a handful with my little hands, unfortunately) and with all my might threw it over the right corner of the gray building. It was good I played so much snowball on the playground. You know, you had to have a good throw if you wanted to win against Bernd – or even Kirkie. But anyway...

Some of my dust and rockball got caught in the spiky rope that ran along the top of the tall fence around the gray building. Luckily, most of it went over and the people all looked the other way. So I scampered across, feeling like a real life spy. Then I got to the fence. I almost thought I goofed and couldn't get across, but I'd done this thing before – going under fences that is. We once lived in a country house with horses on the other side of the fence. I threw a stick over once and crawled under the fence to get it back. The horses sure scared me!

Anyway...

This fence looked a little worse off, but I quickly scampered around and found a spot where the bottom of the fence lifted a little from the ground. You can pretty much guess what I did, although I tried my bestest not to squeal at the bits of wire that poked out from the bottom.

Well, I got behind the gray building now. There was a door to my right and a small square window near the top of it. I tried the handle and amazingly it opened. It seemed liked a movie-like strike of luck, but then, wouldn't it be movie-like if it was locked? Maybe I hadn't seen enough movies. But I figured there were so many people toting guns, they didn't need locks.

So I slipped inside and thankfully there were no other people except the two I wanted to find. I made sure I listened carefully before I tiptoed down the isle to Papa and Hogan.

"...get suspicion away from us," Hogan was saying in a low voice.

"Well, how's that going to happen now?" Papa responded just as quietly. I loved hearing him whisper. I sounded so spyish.

"I hope they don't get stupid and try to contact us here."

"They are your men."

"Yeah, but they'd be crazy. With a guard posted in each barracks. Klein's really going all out to catch us. That's just what he's waiting for – to grab our hands in the cookie jar."

"Pardon?"

"An American expression, Corporal."

"Oh."

I finally inched into their eyesight, with the expected gasp from Papa. "Ernie!" It was fun surprising him.

"Hi, Papa!" I exclaimed.

"What – what are you doing here?" He jumped from a seat in the corner and grabbed the bars nearest me.

"Shh." I put my finger to my lips.

Hogan got close – as close as he could in the bars, anyway. "What are you up to, kid?"

Papa knelt down and took my hands. "It's dangerous here," he gasped. "What are you trying to do?"

"And how did you get in?" Hogan looked at me with a look like Bernd when he had something sneaky up his sleeve.

"I'm here to help you, Papa – and you." I looked at Hogan.

"Help?" Papa was looking so, so worried.

"Listen, you're only what?" Hogan looked up the isle. His voice went lower. "Ten, twelve years old? Do you even know what's going on?"

I put on my best grown-up face. "I know Papa and you are in trouble, and I know I want to help."

There was a sound from up the isle. Hogan's eyes locked into mine. "Jump into that other cell, hide in the shadow. Don't move and don't talk. Got it?"

I nodded, recognizing the high seriousness of his command. A thrill went up my spine – and a fear. One of those mixed-up emotions, I guess. But anyway, I scooted out of there at kids-hearing-the-ice-cream-wagon speeds and did what Hogan asked.

And good thing, too. A gun-toter was coming down the isle, a stony statue look on his face. He came, passed, turned around, passed again, and left. No words. Well, I thought, what a useless walk. I guess they must be bored out there. Probably played rock-paper-scissors for who'd make a march down here. But anyway!

Once he left, I scooted back into the light.

"Good job," Hogan said. I smiled. He was a good spy, I could tell. And I was working with him!

"What could I do to help?" I asked in a whisper.

Papa was shaking his head, speechless. "I'm not letting you do anything, Ernie."

Hogan looked at Papa. "I would agree, too. Except we don't have a lot of options. Listen, kid, tell me, how did you get here? And make it fast."

That was a two-sided question. "I got into this camp by hitchhiking from a so-called dog truck." Hogan shook his head, sighing and smiling. I smiled with him. "Into this building, I crawled under the fence."

"I've always been looking at that hole," Hogan sighed.

"Well, what does this mean?" Papa was getting frazzled.

"Did anybody see you?" Hogan asked me.

"Of course not! I'm a spy," I held my head up high.

"Oh, Ernie," Papa sighed, leaning on the bars.

"Papa, I'm going to get you out." I tapped his big fingers. He looked up at me wistfully (Yes, another big word!).

Hogan motioned for me to come near him. "Listen, kid, Ernie. Do this for me, okay? Go out the way you came. Don't let anybody see you. Go by the building labeled "Barracks 2" and see what's the situation. And if you can get anybody there alone, tell him not to try anything like going into the tunnels, okay? And above all, don't tell what's happening here to the men in black, the ones with the guns. This conversation is our secret. Okay?"

"Yes, sir!" I saluted.

"Uh." Hogan adjusted my arm so that it was bent and the edge of my flat palm touched my forehead. "Wrong salute, buddy."

I think Papa was going to keel over in a faint.