Timing Part 2
"What kind of a problem?" asked Terry taking a seat in the chair facing Craig.
"I need Chief on this one." Craig sat and looked at her to gage her reaction and got exactly what he expected.
"Oh no," replied Terry adamantly, leaning forward to glare at him. "He needs at least a week for that wound to heal up. If he had to run away from anybody, he wouldn't make it." She frowned. "What do you need him for?"
Craig tapped out a cigarette and lit it. "They're spreading us out too thin. It's a sabotage thing in France. It has to be timed just right. Actor and I are going to be planting false information for the Germans about a planned attack by the Allies in order to get them to change their position away from where the real attack will be. Goniff has to learn from Chief how to disrupt the communication lines after the change in plans has been set, and Casino has to blow up the rail lines to slow the troop movement down and destroy some of the troop cars. There's a German general coming in who could blow the whole deal, so Chief needs to stage a car accident with him to prevent him getting to the headquarters before we get out of there. Chief's a better driver than Goniff."
Terry had been following this, but now she frowned suspiciously. "Wait a minute. Chief doesn't speak German or French. If he has a fender bender with a German general, how is he going to respond when they talk to him?"
Garrison smiled deviously. "I was going to ask you to come along, ride with Chief and handle the general. After all, you speak French and German fluently."
Terry sat back in the chair, silent, studying her brother. Yes, yes, try to keep sister out it . . . until it means the mission. Well, she was game for this one too. "So, we still do it. Only I drive the car and take on the general alone."
"You think you can manage that alone?" asked Craig, concerned over Terry going out on her own. The assault on her had happened even with Actor's backup. This time there would be no backup.
"I can do it," she said calmly.
"What about Chief staying behind?" asked Craig. "Does he need to be in a hospital so someone can take care of him?"
Terry snorted in disgust. "You know how far that would go. He's Indian. They won't take care of him unless one of us is overseeing it. No, he's better off here. I think I can get someone to stay and help Chief and keep my chicks alive." She got up and stepped toward the door, pausing before reaching for the knob. "You better talk to Actor. He's got more insight into the problems of coordinating the timing of the things we are going to be doing than I do."
"I plan to," said Craig. "Send him in."
Terry let herself out of the office and grinned at the con man. "You go talk to him. Two heads are better than one . . ." she pointed her finger on Garrison's direction, "and a half . . ." She pointed to herself.
Actor gave her a crooked grin and shook his head, rising from his chair to take her place in the Warden's office.
Terry picked up the telephone and lifted the cord over the banister so she could sit on the stairs and talk. After a bit of a wait, she got hold of Christine in London. "Hey, Sister, how would you like to babysit for the next couple days while I go on a mission?"
"Babysit what?" asked the younger girl warily.
"A dozen baby chicks in the kitchen and a Chiefy upstairs."
"Chief's hurt?" asked Chris with dismay.
"Yeah," replied Terry. "It's not bad. You just have to put a clean dressing on it every day. It's stitched. Nothing to it. Just feed and water everybody every day. We'll only be gone a couple days."
"And Craig's going to allow me to stay in the house alone with Chief?" asked Chris skeptically.
"Why not? I do it all the time."
"Yes," agreed Christine, "but you're you and I'm me."
GGGGG
"You're you and Chris is Chris!" exploded Garrison.
"What are you concerned about?" asked Terry. "You think Chief would touch a hair on her head? Chris is sharing a flat with Dirk and Tinker. I'd trust Chief over those two any day."
"Oh, that just makes me feel real good." Craig started pacing.
Actor hid a smile. "Lieutenant, we treat both of your sisters with the utmost care and respect. Christine possibly more so."
"Thanks!" exclaimed Terry.
"Now, Cara," grinned Actor, speaking in a placating tone, "I only meant that Christine is younger than you and so requires a bit more care and consideration."
Terry bristled, but with amusement. "Well, Actor, if that makes me old, it must make you antique."
Craig almost choked. Now Terry was starting a fight with the Italian? Didn't she know better than to tease him about his age?
"Not antique," replied Actor, calmly taking his pipe from his pocket, "just decidedly more mature than you."
Terry turned back to look with a raised eyebrow at the con man. He returned her gaze with a smug expression beneath twinkling eyes. Terry chuckled and walked back to him sitting in the chair. "Okay, Caro, you win that round." She slipped an arm across his chest from behind and bent down to give him a kiss on the temple which he accepted graciously.
"I always do, Cara."
Garrison shook his head and looked at the errant pair, wondering why at times he felt he no longer had the upper hand in this group.
"All right," he said trying to gain control. "Chris can stay here." He fixed Terry with a hard look. "Are you sure you can handle a German general by yourself?"
"Of course," replied Terry breezily. "I handle him don't I?" She smiled snottily at Actor.
"Actor?" asked Craig with exasperation.
"She can do it," he assured the officer, hoping he was right.
Craig turned to Terry. "Can Chris get here in time?"
"She's already on her way."
"Okay. Can you throw together something quick for supper and we can brief afterward?"
"I will get right on it, Lieutenant, Sir." She fired a salute at him and bounced out of the office.
Craig shook his head and turned to Actor who was puffing on his pipe to get it started. "Thanks for not taking offense at her."
"That's quite all right, Warden," replied the con man with a smile. "I am learning she teases out of affection, not maliciousness. And taking a page from her own book, I will . . . 'get even' . . . at some point."
Craig chuckled. He just bet the Italian would at that. Becoming serious again he questioned the con man. "How do we play her? Dress her down so he doesn't look at her twice?"
Actor shook his head, puffing to get the pipe started. "I understand your wish to protect her, but for the sake of the mission she must catch his interest otherwise he will just continue on as though the accident was of no consequence. We will have to dress her up a bit, make her seem as though she comes from a wealthy background. Perhaps she is just traveling through to visit relatives in another town."
"And what if it goes wrong? What if she gets in trouble again?" Craig was beginning to regret his decision to use Terry.
"If it goes wrong again, then we will get her out of trouble . . . again." The con man's tone was matter-of-fact, covering the turmoil in his mind. Though Teresa had insisted over and over that she did not blame him for Jaeger assaulting her, he still blamed himself.
Terry did indeed throw together a decent dinner for them. As soon as they were done eating, she drove into Brandonshire to fetch Christine from the train station, while Garrison briefed the men on the mission. By the time the two girls returned to the mansion, the men were in their rooms packing. Craig packed Terry's bag while she took Chris in to show her what needed to be done for Chief.
The girls entered the Indian's bedroom and shut the door. Chris smiled somewhat shyly at the young man. A small smile greeted her in return.
"I guess you're stuck with me for the next couple days," said Chris.
"That's good," replied Chief.
"Okay," said Terry turning to her sister. "The supplies are on the dresser. Every morning, take the old dressing off, sprinkle the wound with sulfa and tape a clean dressing over it. If it starts to look red or starts draining, give him a shot of penicillin."
"I'm sorry?" said Chris in dubious surprise. "Give him a shot?"
"Yeah," replied Terry. "You've inoculated cattle before. Same thing."
Chris and Chief both stared wide-eyed at her.
"I don't think it's really the same," said Chief hesitantly.
"How much and where do I give it?" asked Chris wishing she had asked first before agreeing to this.
"One cc in the backside. The penicillin is in the refrigerator, and there's a kit with a syringe in my medicine cabinet and one in Actor's. When you're done, take it downstairs, take it apart and boil it for twenty minutes then put it back in its case."
Chris was not at all comfortable with this. "Uh, Terry, he's not a steer. Where exactly do I – uh – shoot him?"
Terry took a deep breath to squelch her exasperation. She thought by now Chris would have had some hands on learning. Apparently not. She knew how to mainline morphine because she had done it to Craig, but obviously not how to give a regular injection. Smiling encouragingly, Terry explained how to find the proper location for the injection. "Don't worry," she said. "It won't come to that."
"I hope not," Chris and Chief said simultaneously.
"And where is this wound?" Chris was almost afraid to ask.
"Right hip."
Wonderful, thought Chris. The shot went below the belt and the wound was below the belt. Neither was in a place Christine was ready to approach on the young man she found herself more than interested in.
"You two will be just fine," assured Terry breezily. "I gotta run. See you in a couple days." She left the two younger people speechless.
GGGGG
The parachute jump went without a hitch. Terry was now seasoned enough that by the time Actor and Casino reached her, she was stuffing the wadded up silk and lines under a bramble bush. The three proceeded to track down the parachuted bags of supplies and secured them while Goniff and Garrison arrived to join them. In almost their usual formation, they set off, following Garrison's lead on the five mile hike through the countryside to the farmhouse that would be their safe house for the mission.
It was an hour before dawn when they arrived at the house. Goniff took the first watch. Garrison and Actor laid out the maps and blueprints by the light of an oil lamp. Casino set about starting a smokeless fire in the fireplace, while Terry moved into the kitchen area to see what she could find for an early breakfast. The four ended up snacking on the inevitable bread and cheese and acorn coffee.
Garrison and Actor bent over the plans and ran through every scenario they could conceive of and how to adapt to the changes if necessary. Casino and Terry slipped out the door, the safecracker disappearing down the road to make the first foray into to town to acquire two vehicles.
Terry located Goniff on watch. The Englishman was a bit surprised she did not have something for him to eat. He was even more surprised when she took the rifle from him and cradled it in the crook of her arm.
"Go get something to eat and brief with Craig," said the girl, scanning the area and the road.
"You sure, Love?" asked Goniff skeptically. "Yer going to take watch?"
"I'm sure and yes I am," replied Terry confidently.
Goniff wasn't so sure about this. The frown on his face caught her attention.
"Go," said Terry. "I'm fine."
The Cockney shrugged. "Okay, I'll be as quick as I can."
"I'm fine, Goniff," reassured Terry. "I'm Chief, remember?"
"Not 'ardly, Love," teased Goniff.
Terry grinned.
Goniff slipped into the house and stood inside the door, watching Garrison uneasily. He couldn't hardly believe the Warden had agreed to his sister taking a watch on her own. When the lieutenant looked up and fixed narrowed eyes on him, he knew he was right.
"Uh, sorry, Warden," stammered the pickpocket quickly. "She insisted she was takin' the watch. I'll just grab sum'in' to eat and go send 'er back."
To the Englishman's surprise, Garrison seemed to think about it a minute and waved a hand absently at him before turning back to his maps. "It's all right. Let her take it."
Even Actor looked up in surprise at that one.
It was a couple hours later when the sound of an engine reached Terry's ears. Giving a sharp bird's whistle, she crouched down behind some bushes, rifle trained on the dirt track leading to the house. A black German staff car slowly appeared and crept towards the house. Terry had the sights trained on the driver's seat until the vehicle angled around and she recognized Casino at the wheel. She put up the rifle and stood, stepping out of cover and walking toward the car.
Casino got out and did a double take when he spotted Terry. "What are you doin' out here?" he asked skeptically.
"I think it's called 'taking watch'," the girl replied drolly.
"By yourself?" Casino was still skeptical.
Terry's mouth pinched together. "When are you guys going to get over the notion I'm useless?"
"You're not useless, Babe," said Casino, "you're just . . ." He let the sentence wander into silence at the annoyed look on her face. "Uh, I gotta talk to the Warden and go back for the other car."
Casino took two steps back, turned and walked rapidly toward the house. The door miraculously opened a crack to let him in. Goniff had been the doorman and the Cockney just rolled his eyes at the safecracker.
"Uh, Warden, Terry's . . ." Now Casino stopped at the stony expression Garrison aimed at him. "I – uh – found a nice car for Terry. I'll just go back and get it now."
Casino tossed the key to the staff car in the general direction of Actor. The con man did a fumbled catch of it, but the safecracker had already turned around. Casino hissed at Goniff, who was peeking past the curtains into the yard.
"She still there?" he whispered.
"Naw, Mate, she's gone back in the trees," assured Goniff just as quietly.
Casino let himself out and skirted around on the opposite side of the yard. Damn that girl was gettin' prickly. He couldn't see Terry watching him, chuckling silently to herself. When he finally returned with the French Peugeot coupe, he was relieved to see Goniff was back on guard duty. He dragged himself into the house.
Terry and Actor were seated at the table, the confidence man reviewing the timing and staging of the accident, and quizzing the girl with different scenarios that could occur with the German general, gauging her responses in French and German. Casino sauntered up and dangled the keys to the coupe in front of Terry's nose.
"Don't say I never gave you nothin'," said Casino cockily.
Terry took the keys, eyebrows going up at the make of car engraved on them. She ignored Actor and got up to look out the window while the safecracker dropped into a chair and put his crossed legs up on the table.
Terry gave a long low whistle at sight of the vehicle. "Oh, it's a shame to have to wreck that car. Can't I just drive it back to England."
"I don't think it can swim the Channel," replied Casino sarcastically.
Curious, Actor walked to the window and looked out over Terry. "Casino, that car will be recognized and I am sure missed. Could you not find one a little less conspicuous?" objected the Italian.
That got Craig's attention and he joined the two at the window.
"It'll be fine," assured the safecracker. "It was sittin' out behind a barn. I had to prime the carburetor to get it to start. Only one there was some little ole lady, deaf as a post. There weren't any telephone wires so even if she does notice it's missin', she can't report it."
Garrison simply shook his head and turned back to pull a chair out, straddle it, and began going over Casino's job with the man. Casino parroted it back to the officer with his usual unconcerned tone. Satisfied, Craig rose from his chair.
"Hey, Warden," said Casino belligerently. "How come I gotta do all the walkin' this time. I mean we walked five miles to get here. I just walked ten miles to get the two cars. And now you expect me to walk another four miles to blow up those railroad tracks. Why me?"
Garrison paused and seemed to think hard on the answer. "Well, Casino," he said slowly in a serious tone. "I figured you could use the exercise."
The unexpected response brought a guffaw of laughter from the suave confidence man and a chortle from Terry.
"Funny, Warden," replied Casino sourly. "You been hangin' around your sister too much."
Garrison ignored him and walked away. As he passed his sister, Terry caught his upper arm to stop him and leaned close.
Barely above a whisper, she said, "And I thought you told me not to tease them?"
Craig looked sideways at her, a small smile on his mouth, and shrugged.
They rested for another hour and then Casino relieved Goniff on watch so the pickpocket could change into workman's clothes. After Goniff had finished, Terry went in the bedroom and changed into a traveling skirt and linen blouse. Craig then changed into a German lieutenant's uniform and made way for Actor. The fastidious con man had been in there a quite a few minutes when Terry became impatient to put her makeup on.
She tapped at the door. "Hey, Actor? Are you decent? I want to use the makeup kit."
The Italian had the white shirt on and was just stepping into the pants. Several responses came to mind at that particular phrasing of the question, but instead, he realized she had seen him in his underwear before and simply replied, "You may enter, Teresa."
Terry slipped inside just as the man was straightening and pulling the riding breeches up. The tail of the white shirt covered his rear. Too bad, thought Terry, the man had a nice asino. They ignored each other as Terry took a seat at the little table with the kit on it. She stole a glance at Actor and paused. Craig had told her one time that he found it fascinating watching the con man change his persona as he put on the SS uniform.
Actor tucked the tails of the shirt into the pants and buttoned the fly closed, cinching the belt up to the last notch. He then slipped his arms into the braces to hold up the pants that were at once too big in the waist and too short in the legs. Hands adjusted the collar and shoulders hitched to gain comfort. As all this was happening, the man's posture straighten even more if that was possible, and the corners of his mouth began to curve downward, the eyes taking on a hawkish expression.
Terry gave up the idea of putting on her makeup and sat back to stare, mesmerized.
Feet were shoved into shiny black riding boots that managed to cover the high watered ends of the pants and heels stomped to get seated. The sleeve cuffs were buttoned and adjusted. Actor picked the wool tunic up by the shoulders and shook it out before slipping it on. The front was buttoned and the belt secured. Each shirt cuff was carefully adjusted for length and comfort. The cross was attached at his throat and the medals straightened. In the entire process, the Italian had been replaced by a severe SS officer.
Actor glanced at Terry and frowned even more at sight of the girl sitting silently staring at him with slightly raised eyebrows. "I thought you were putting makeup on," he said accusingly. "Hurry up."
"Sorry," said Terry. "It's just . . . very interesting watching you dress."
The Italian's eyebrows rose. "Women are usually more interested in watching me undress."
"I'm sure," said Terry, sucking in a cheek and turning away to concentrate on the makeup.
Actor placed the cap on his head and picked up the riding crop before leaving the bedroom. He did not hear the softly spoken, awed, 'Scheiβe' that followed him.
When Terry left the bedroom, she looked at least ten years older than when she had entered it. Craig was impressed that she could now change her appearance without the assistance of the confidence man.
Terry approached her brother and stood closely so she could whisper to him. "You were right. His whole personality just slowly changes as he puts that uniform on. God, he's good."
"Yes, he is," Garrison had to agree. There was no denying the man was the best in the business.