A quick side note for those who do not know. In the German version Newkirk has a severe stutter. I have tried to respect and incorporate that in this story, and it comes up in this chapter.
-HH- -EKvH- -HH- -EKvH- -HH- -EKvH-
Once again Hogan was impatiently wanting for roll call to end. He kept sighing and starring at his watch as Klink droned on about how the Allies will lose the war because Germany has a rich heritage of music and science. As he was talking, Klink couldn't help but notice Hogan's impatience. He walked over and stood directly in front of him.
"Colonel Hogan, I do so hope that I am not boring you." Klink smiled, shifting his weight on between his toes and heels.
"Actually Kommandant. You are."
"Oh good. I would so hate for you to take nothing away from my speech."
"Kommandant. In the year that I have been a prisoner here, I have never taken away anything from your speeches."
"Hogan, if you find my speeches boring, I can gladly excuse you….with a trip to the cooler…." Klink threatened.
"By all means, Kommandant. I prefer the sound of my teeth chattering to the noise of your speeches." Hogan rolled his eyes, only half paying attention to the conversation.
"Schuuuuuuultz!"
"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant! Was konn i' für Sie tun? (What can I do for you?)"
„Schultz! Der Hogan mag 'nen Besuch in der Arrestzelle. (Hogan would like a trip to the cooler.)"
„Wirkli', Herr Kommandant? ‚As is' da Hogan, gell? Und i' dacht', dass- (Really, Herr Kommandant? That's Hogan, right? And I thought that-)"
"Schnauze Schultz! Der Hogan….in die Arrestzelle...SOFORT! (Shut-up Schulz! Hogan...in the cooler...NOW!)"
„Zur Befehl Herr Kommandant! (Of course, Herr Kommandant!)" Schultz led Hogan away. It took Hogan a minute for realize what had just happened. Either Klink was learning how to play, or he was slipping. Either way, ending up in the cooler was not want he had intended. The rest of the men watched as Schultz led Hogan away. Glancing at each other confused, and chalking it up as part of Hogan's plan. Just what the plan was, was beyond their comprehension.
"Now. Where am I?"
"Germany!" A voice yelled. "Soon to be the newest territory of the United States!" All the men broke out laughing.
"Quiet! Or you'll join your Colonel Hogan in the cooler! Now, ah yes, now this jazz music all of you so like, is another reason that you will loose the war." Klink began pacing in front of the different barracks-lines again. "Classic German music like Beethoven and-" Klink continued his speech. By the time he ended and dismissed the prisoners, they were all sore from standing on their feet so long.
"A bloody politician in the makin'…" Newkirk walked into the barracks, slightly limping as he tried to keep the weight off his feet, "I 'aven't stood soon long in one place since I waited in line to see the first television in Selfridges…" Newkirk sat down and started rubbing his feet.
"What's television?" Carter asked coming in through the door.
"It's 'is invention of some Scotsman. Bloody brilliant really. It'll never catch on though."
"Oh." Carter sat down on Newkirk's bottom bunk. Kinch sat down next to him.
"How're you feeling, Andrew?"
"Fine I suppose." He shrugged. "Um, Wilson? I think that's his name. I'm not really good with names. Came by and gave me some more aspirin."
"Good." Kinch smiled warmly, before getting up and motioning Newkirk to follow him into Hogan's office.
"Newkirk." Kinch spun around. "After lights out, I want you to contact the Red Cross."
"Alright, Kinch. Are you sure you don' wanna do it? You know the radio better 'an any man 'ere."
"It might be suspicious if Carter has another off night and I'm not here to fill in for Colonel Hogan."
"Alright. I'll sneak over to the quarters of our beloved Chefin (1), and down into the tunnels from there."
"Alright. Lemme know what they say when you get back." Newkirk nodded in agreement and slipped back into the common room. Kinch sighed and sat down at the desk in Hogan's room, leaning his head on his right hand and playing mindlessly with a pencil from the desk in his left. He was trying to figure out why Hogan deliberately got himself thrown into the cooler. Shaking his head he couldn't figure it tout. Throwing the pencil down and standing up, he paced a little before he feet started to complain again, and coming to the decision that he would wait till Newkirk came back before he visited the Colonel, that way he could bring the good…or bad, news.
As Kinch walked out into the common room a while later, he was glad to see Newkirk and Carter in a conversation, and he headed over to see if he couldn't quietly eavesdrop as he poured some hot water for himself.
"-oh no, golly, we've been in America forever. I'm the first, well, aside from my brother and father, and uncle, to set foot outside the country in gee, a long time."
"You're father an' uncle left the states?"
"Well yeah, they were both in the Great War."
"Me ol' da was in 'at one too. Bunch a rubbish that war."
"Yeah. Well most wars are. Which is why you just gotta make the best of it. That's what my mom always said. Turn limes into limeade."
"Don't ya mean lemons into lemonade?"
"I don't think so…anyways, what did you do before the war, Newkirk? You must have done something."
"I…well… it's not important. W'at did ya do?"
"Well, I was going to school, but then the war started, and I figured since everyone else was joining, I should join too."
"You're bloody jokin'."
"Oh no, you see, the way I figured is if I was one of the first people over here, I would be one of the first people back, you know, before it got too crowded, and I wanted to come over before it was over too, and-"
"Okay, Carter. I get it."
"Oh. How did you join?"
"They found me 'iding under me bed."
"Really? They did?"
"Yeah, an' took three Bobbies to drag me away… no Carter. Blimey! I was forced to enlist like everyone else." Newkirk shook his head. Kinch was just about to walk over when Schultz entered into the Barrack and turned off the light, ordering everyone to bed. Resigning to what would be another long night, Kinch sat down the cup next to his bunk, and got ready to climb in. Watching Newkirk climb up onto the top bunk, they nodded at each other. Kinch closed his eyes, and attempted to drift off to sleep.
"Newkirk heard his Bunkie's breathin begin to slow and become regularized. Sliding off the bunk, Newkirk slipped his boots back on.
"Mooommm….thaaaat youuuu?" Carter asked with his eyes still closed.
"No Andrew, it's a good dream fairy again. You go back to sleep now." Newkirk finished tying his left boot.
"Mmmmkay…." Carter rolled over. Newkirk slipped out of the barracks. Kinch watched him go, and rolled over on to back, staring at the ceiling.
Newkirk slipped and played hide and seek with the searchlights before he entered Klink's flat. Tiptoeing across the floor, he briefly paused, considering writing a few choice phrases on Klink's head, but deciding against it (as he lacked a fountain pen), and decided he should better precede to the radio. Climbing down the ladder it didn't take him long reach it. It was as he was picking up the radio that he realized, the British Red Cross would be closed for the evening. Of course, you Berk. If it's nearly 10 at night 'ere, England's only an 'our earlier. Bleedin' brilliant. Newkirk leaned back in the chair. 'Ey wait a bleedin' minute, the States is earlier…. Newkirk grabbed the radio and began to ring London.
"Mama Bear this is Goldilocks. Mama Bear this is Goldilocks. Please come in. Over." Newkirk paused, and waited a minute, before he repeated.
"I repeat, Mama Bear this is Goldilocks. Please come in, Mama Bear. Over." Still no response. "Bloody 'ell Peter! Of course they won't respond!" Newkirk cranked the radio again, before calling their contact in Berlin. "T-T-Till E-E-Eulens-s-spiegel hier ist G-G-Goldlöckc-c-chen. Till Eulens-s-spieg-g-gel h-h-hier ist Goldlöckchen. B-B-Bitte k-k-kommen. (T-T-Till E-E-Eulens-s-spiegel, this is G-G-Goldilocks. Till Eulens-s-spieg-g-gel this is Goldilocks. Please come in.)" Newkirk took another deep breath. "T-T-Till Eulenspiegel. B-B-Bitte kommen. Hier i-i-ist G-G-Goldlöckchen, bitte a-a-antw-w-worten. (T-T-Till Eulenspiegel. P-P-Please come in. This i-i-is G-G-Goldilocks, please a-a-ans-s-swer.)" Newkirk paused again. "Bist du d-d-da o-o-oder nicht? (Are you th-th-there o-o-or not?)" He asked annoyedly and loudly. Finally a older man voice could be heard on the line.
"Ja ja ja. Ich bin's. Was ist schon los, Goldlöckchen? Over. (2) (Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm here. What's goin' on, Goldilocks? Over.)"
„Finally! Ich m-m-meine... bitte T-T-Tillie, kannst du m-m-mir z-z-zum American Red Cross v-v-verbinden? Over. (I m-m-mean...please T-T-Tillie, can you c-c-connect m-m-me t-t-to the American Red Cross? Over.)"
„Sicher. Moment mal. Aber zu erst, wie geht's die Kalinke? (Of course. Just a moment. But first, how's Kalinke?)"
„Gut. N-N-Nun, die V-V-Verbindung? Over. (Good. N-N-Now, the connection? Over.)"
"Tja, schon gut. (Oh, alright.)" Newkirk heard him set the radio down and pick up another. A moment later Tillie's voice was heard back on the radio.
"Ich hab's. (I have 'em.)"
"G-G-Gut, b-b-bitte, frag ob s-s-sie die Akten für Lieutenant A.J. Carter h-h-haben. A wie A-A-Anton, und J w-w-wie Josef. Over. (G-G-Good, p-p-please ask if th-th-they h-h-have the records for Lieutenant A. J. Carter. A as in A-A-Alpha, and J as i-i-in Juliet.)" Newkirk asked and held his breath. Till Eulenspiegel picked up the second radio and asked the question.
"Sind Sie noch da? Ja? Frag das ARK ob sie 'ne Akten für Lieutenant A.J. Carter hab'm. A wie Anton, und J wie Josef. Over. (Are you still there? Yes? Ask the ARC if they have the records for Lieutenant A. J. Carter. A as in Alpha, J as in Juliet. Over.)" He waited for a response.
„Moment mal. (Just a moment.)" The man on the other end of the radio reported, before picking up his radio and relying the message. "American Red Cross? Yes, the message we have for you is do you have a file for a Lieutenant A.J. Carter? A as in Alpha, J as in Juliet. Over." The radio middleman waited.
"A Lieutenant A.J. Carter? What unit was he with ? Over." The Red Cross worker asked grabbing a pencil.
"Um…I'm not sure. One moment please. Over." The middle man picked back up the other radio. "Noch da? Bei welcher Militäreinheit war er? Over. (Still there? What unit was he with? Over.)"
"Ähm…nich' sicha, Momen' mal, frag' ich. (Um…not sure, just a sec, I'll ask.)" Tillie set down the radio and picked up the set connected with Newkirk.
"Goldlöckchen? Bei welcher Militäreinheit wa' der Carter? (Goldilocks? What unit was Carter with?)" Newkirk listened to the question, before realizing, he didn't actually know the answer.
"Tja…w-w-weiß ich n-n-nicht. Muss ich ‚n-n-ne g-g-geben? Over. (Well…I d-d-dunno. Do I have to g-g-give o-o-one?)" He asked, the question snaking its way through the multiple receivers before bouncing back to him.
"Yes." The American Red Cross stated. "But if you can wait a few weeks, we can see what we can do without one. We just need to know as much information as possible to help expedite the process." Newkirk sighed upon hearing the news, and tried to think back to his conversation with Carter, and the information Kinch was able to get out of him.
"I know he is from Bullfrog, North Dakota. And has one brother named Andrew. I'm not sure on the brother's middle name. And was shot down some time ago."
"What does the A.J. stand for?"
"I believe the J stands for Jim."
"And the A?"
"I don't remember."
"When was he shot down?"
"Um, I'm not sure. But 'e made it back to England 11 weeks ago."
"Well I'm afraid I can't promise anything. We have thousands of names here, and hundreds still yet to process. However I will let you know if I find anything within the next few weeks." The Red Cross women told Newkirk through his contacts. She felt terrible for not being able to help him further, but without more information there wasn't much she could do. Newkirk thanked her, and instructed her on how to reach him, if she happened across more information, before signing off.
Feeling frustrated Newkirk banged his hand on the table, immediately regretting doing so, as now his hand hurt. Walking back through the tunnels, he slipped out of Klink's personal flat, and back to his barrack.
Sneaking in through the door, he stumbled across both Olsen and Kinch kneeling next to a sleeping Carter, who was still mumbling in his sleep. Curious Newkirk walked over.
"Shhh. Newkirk. Listen." Kinch whispered from somewhere in the dark. Although Newkirk couldn't see it that well, Olsen and Kinch leaned in close to Carter's ear.
"Kannst du das Gedicht noch mal wiederholen, Junge? (Can you repeat the poem again, lad?)" Olsen whispered.
„'Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind. Er hat den'... (3)" Carter recited the entire poem in his sleep. Olsen looked at both Kinch and Newkirk. Newkirk wasn't convinced. Kneeling with the others at the foot of the bed, Newkirk tried testing the boy for himself.
"H-H-He J-J-Junge. Verstehst d-d-du m-m-mich? (H-H-Hey mate. Do y-y-ou understand m-m-me?)"
„Jaaaa-'eah-neiiiiinooo..." Carter started fidgeting.
"Wo h-h-hast du denn D-D-Deutsch gel-l-lernt? (Where d-d-did you –l-l-learn G-G-German?)"
„School."
„In der S-S-Schule? B-B-Bist d-d-du Deutscher? (In s-s-school? A-A-Are y-y-ou German?)"
„Nein. No. Amerikaner. Carter, Andrew, Sergent 02763350…." Carter's eyes suddenly flashed opened. Although he didn't see Newkirk, Olsen, or Kinch. Carter's expression was one of sheer terror, as he started screaming.
"NEIIIN! NO NO NO! I don't know anything! Schweinehund! Lassen Sie mir in Ruhe! Ich weiß gar nichts! Aaaaaaaah! No! No! I haven't done anything wrong! Nichts! (Bastard! Leave me alone! I don't know anything! Aaah! No! No! I haven't done anything! Nothing!) " Carter continued to scream and thrash. Newkirk leaned over and started shaking him.
"'Ey! Break outta it! Andrew! Andrew!"
"Huh…what? Oh…." Carter felt his cheeks hotten. "Sorry, I'll go back to sleep."
"Look Andrew. It's okay. Do you want to talk about it?" Kinch asked. Carter shook his head.
"Tja, ich geh wieder ins Bett. (Well, I'm goin' to bed.)" Olsen started to stand up.
"Gute Nacht. (Good night.)" Both Kinch and Newkirk chimed. Carter looked up at them confused.
"What did you just say?"
"Oh knock it off Andrew. The jig is up. We know you can speak German." Newkirk crossed his arms as he starred at Carter.
"I….what?" Carter sat up feeling slightly dizzy, cradling his arm, and faced them both from his position on the bed.
"It's true, Carter. We heard you." Kinch starred at him coldly.
"I…can… speak… German….?" Carter said loudly, astonished. "Gee this is great! I haven't spoken German since I was a kid!" His face brightened.
"Say again?" Kinch was confused.
"Don't you see?" Carter jumped off the bed. "My grandma was….well…..she spoke it. And I'd forgotten it all. But if I was mumbling German, this is fantastic!" Carter was truly excited. Kinch looked at Newkirk who shrugged.
"I'm goin' to bed." Newkirk climbed up to the top bunk.
"Hey Newkirk. Since I haven't thrown myself outta bed tonight. Do you want your bottom bunk back tomorrow?" Carter asked.
"Yeah. Only if you're not gonna 'urt yourself. If ya feel ya need a while longer, that's right by me."
"Thanks Peter. You're a good friend." Carter yawned and layed back down. Kinch who had crawled back into bed was tired and confused by what just happened. He figured it would make more sense in the morning.
-HH- -EKvH- -HH- -EKvH- -HH- -EKvH-
The next morning the entire barracks avoided Carter like he was poison Ivy. Neither speaking to him, or outwardly engaging in any way. Each man was processing over what had happened the night before. Carter on the other hand was overjoyed that he had been mumbling in German, but was feeling embarrassed and hurt by the lack of outward friendship.
"Hey Kinch, can I um, I mean, what I was wondering…can I speak to you a moment?" Carter hesitated, and waited while Kinch who was finishing brushing his teeth to answer.
"Alright Carter." Kinch finished washing off his toothbrush, and turned to face Carter. He neither smiled, or frowned at the boy. "We can talk in the Colonel's office." The two headed in to the office. Carter played absent mindedly with his fingers.
"Well…um….I'm, er not sure how to put his, but uh…I would like to escape." He starred at the floor, while Kinch looked him over from top to bottom.
"Escape? No one escapes from Stalag 13." Kinch stated in a flat tone, crossing his arms.
"I know….I mean that's what I heard. But….well,…you see….I have this girl back home ya know, and well I wanna get my service done as soon as possible so I can get back to her, ya see? And being locked up isn't helping that. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, is there an escape plan? Can I get outta here?" Carter looked up and looked Kinch in the face. His face suggested honestly, but Kinch wasn't ready to bite just yet.
"Look. Andrew. I can't help you. We all want to get home. But that's not possible. So if you excuse me, I wanna finish getting ready before morning roll call."
"Yeah. Okay, Kinch." Carter starred down at his boots.
(1) German for Female Boss. Every once in a while in the show they call Klink this.
(2) Yes „over" is an English word, instead of „Ende", but since they use it in the series, I went with it.
(3) Erlkönig by Goethe. It's a famous poem that a lot of school children have to memorize, including me.