Chapter 3

Terry sat on the wooden bench bordering the wall in the train station in Brandonshire. She looked around at the people going about their daily business seemingly as though there wasn't a war on. She had to hand it to the British. They got the crap bombed out of them and they just got right back up, dusted themselves off and kept on going. She leaned back against the stone wall and listened to the undulating cadence of voices. When she had first arrived in England, it had sounded so foreign. Now it sounded normal. And living with Goniff's broad Cockney accent and vernacular had Terry beginning to pick up the bloody slang.

Her mind wandered to the purchases in the trunk of the Packard. With two more mouths to feed, including Chris into the mix, Terry had stopped at the farm where she usually got her eggs. She had managed to wheedle two more dozen from the man, but it was winter and the hens were off their laying. She would have to start rationing eggs at the house. Thank goodness for Actor. Under his tutelage, she now had a very comfortable amount of money she could use to purchase things on the black market. Granted the army provided some supplies, but the men would have wasted away to nothing by now if they had to subsist on rations alone. Especially Goniff who had a never ending hunger and could pack it away like he had a hollow leg. Terry knew she had a tendency to spoil them all. Goniff had to have his biscuits; cookies to her. Casino was a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Chief never let on what his preferences were, just eating whatever was put in front of him. And then, she stealthily fed Actor's sweet tooth that he did not want the others to know about. Craig didn't much care as long as she used some of their mother's recipes once in awhile.

Thinking about one brother brought her thoughts to the other one. She had managed to find some clothing that should fit that overgrown brat kid brother of hers. She wondered if it was too late to get in on the bet for how long Kelly would stay at the Mansion. There had to be a bet. Then again, maybe not. Craig said the betting had gone down on anything to do with the Garrisons. Maybe her family was too predictable. No, that couldn't be it. The cons really didn't know her family well yet. They had just met Kelly and she was trying to get used to the changes in him herself. Christine wasn't around enough to feel completely at ease with the men yet, but Chris was pretty much – well, Chris. And Craig had changed quite a bit too. All the cons saw was the West Pointer who had to remain in control of them. They did not know the wild, practical joking boy he had been until the Point got hold of him. Actor probably came closest to seeing the real Craig. Terry had watched them both. The two men had that same gleam in their eyes over a good con, and they recognized it in each other.

The train pulled up to the platform and discharged its passengers. Terry stood up and scanned the small crowd until she spotted her sister. Standing on tiptoes and waving an arm wildly, she caught the younger woman's attention. Christine hurried over to Terry, looking around.

"He with you?" she asked.

"No," replied Terry, starting to walk out to the car. "I was afraid he would 'do a runner', as Goniff would say."

"Why?" asked Chris, removing her coat as it was getting unseasonably warm for an early November day.

"Craig wants to send him back to the ranch."

Chris chuckled cynically, "Good luck. I've tried already. I couldn't get him to go home when we got to New York. I thought once he found out what things were like over here, I'd be able to persuade him to go back." She shook her head. "It's just not going to happen."

"Didn't figure you had any luck," said Terry, "or you wouldn't have taken him out of the States to begin with."

They got into the Packard and Terry waited for the other cars to clear out a little, warming the big engine up.

"I never asked," said Chris. "I assume he isn't hurt or you would have said something."

"No, he's just underfed."

"How's he taking to the guys?" asked the younger girl with a grin.

Terry shook her head. "Craig got a laugh out of Kell's reaction this morning. I didn't think about it and let Actor kiss me in front of him. Craig said Kelly was a – uh – bit concerned."

Chris started laughing.

"Oh, it gets better," continued Terry. "Brother Dear told him I was Actor's mistress."

Her sister chortled on that one, but stopped abruptly and shot the older girl an apprehensive look. "He was joking wasn't he?"

"Yeah. At least I think so."

Chris made a face. "He isn't still accusing you of sleeping with Actor in London, is he?"

"Oh sure he is," said Terry. "I just hope he isn't saying that to Actor. I'd die of embarrassment."

"You know he probably is."

"Well, Actor hasn't said anything about it to me." Terry wound her way through the village. "I guess it doesn't help we kiss a lot."

"Got over that one in a hurry, didn't you?" teased Chris.

"You have to admit, he does do it well," said Terry.

"Oh, I know," agreed the younger sister. "I kissed him once, remember? Too bad he's so old."

"Not old, Sis," smiled Terry. "Mature."

Chris sputtered with laughter at that. "And just how much more 'maturer' than you is he?"

Terry shrugged, "Fifteen years, if anything in that dossier on him is correct."

"And . . . how old is Chief?" She tried to be nonchalant about it.

Her sister shot a glance at her with a small grin. "That's a good question. According to the last prison he was in, he's two years older than me. Craig and I don't buy that. No way he's older than me." She lifted a shoulder. "A while back I mentioned I was older than him. He didn't exactly agree, but he didn't deny it either."

GGGGG

The phone rang and Garrison picked it up. It was the expected call. Kelly watched his brother's face warily from the couch in the office. He could only hear Craig's side from there.

"Hello, Sir," said Craig. "Just fine, Sir, and you? . . . No, Sir, it's a family matter. Kelly arrived here yesterday . . . He's fine . . . Apparently he got himself out . . . Just a moment, Sir."

Garrison held the phone out toward his younger brother. With a deep breath to steel himself, Kelly got up and took Craig's seat and the phone. Garrison sat on the corner of his desk and watched.

"Hello, Dad," said Kelly.

"Kelly Garrison!" boomed the General's angry voice. "I am very glad to hear your voice, but I am tempted to come over there and tan your hide!"

"I think I'm a little big for that now," said Kelly wryly.

"You're fourteen years old! I will set up transportation and you will get your backside to the ranch and keep it there!"

"No, Sir," said Kelly firmly.

There was a pause as the General reacted to having his youngest son refuse him. "What did you say?" he said slowly and deliberately.

"I said, no, Sir," repeated the boy steadily. "I am not going back to the States or the ranch. I have been working with the resistance and will go back to working with the resistance."

"I will have the OSS pull you out of there! I have already had a talk with Donovan about using underage civilians."

"Chris and I don't work for the OSS anymore. It was the OSS that landed me in a Russian POW camp. I met up with the Maquis in France on my way out. I'll be working some with them from now on. I think Chris is already."

"Are you out of your mind!" blasted the irate father.

"No, Sir, I know exactly what I'm doing."

"I'll have Craig hogtie you if necessary!"

"I already told Craig. I'm not letting him and you do to me what you did to Terry and Chris. And what about Terry? You sent her over here as a civilian to work with Craig. Going on missions could get her killed along with the rest of them. What's good enough for one of your kids should be good enough for all of us. Sir." Kelly's tone bordered strongly on the disrespectful side.

"Terry's involvement was supposed to be different and it's none of your business," said the General slowly. "She is also ten years older than you."

"Oh, because she's older it's all right for her to get killed? Doesn't matter." Kelly cut the older man off before he could get his roar of objection out. "Bottom line is I'm staying. You fought your war, Sir. Now we're going to fight ours. I don't think we have anything more to talk about. Here's Craig. Good bye, Dad."

Kelly got up and shoved the phone into Craig's chest. Garrison was looking at the boy as though he didn't know him, and truthfully he didn't. Slowly he took the phone in his hand and watched the younger boy stride out of the room. He half expected to hear the front door slam, but it didn't.

Craig took his seat back. "Sir?"

"What the hell is going on with you kids?" asked the older Garrison in puzzlement.

"It's like Kelly said. You have fought your war, now we are going to fight ours, in our own way. Terry's with us so far. Chris, I don't know. She pops up and she disappears and pops up and disappears. If she's been wounded, I don't know about it. Terry has."

"Terry's been wounded?"

"She took a bullet."

"And I wasn't notified?" demanded the General.

"Sir, it's a hazard of what we do. One of my men took care of it. It wasn't bad. She's fine. If it's something bad, I'll notify you."

There was silence on the other end. Craig waited, wondering just what was going through his father's head right now. The voice that came back was quiet and resigned. "Try to talk some sense into him."

"I've tried, Sir. Chris is on her way. I assume once he's seen her, he'll disappear."

A sigh came over the line. "Try to keep tabs on him, Son."

"I will try, Sir."

"It's late," said the older Garrison. "I think I'll go to bed now. Take care of yourself, and the other kids."

"Yes, Sir," said Craig. "Good night, Sir."

The connection ended. Craig was surprised at his father giving up that easily. Maybe the fiasco with the girls in New York had taken some of the starch out of their old man.

Craig got up and walked to the door. The common room was silent. Kelly was standing in the middle of the room. The eyes that mirrored his seemed to belong to half man and half boy. They were quietly defiant.

Craig ran a hand through his blond hair. "You got more balls than brains, Kell."

"Why?" asked Kelly. "Because I stood up to him? He's never been there for us. He pops up once or twice a year and runs roughshod over all of us, then goes back to Washington. At least Terry and Chris had the guts to try to get out."

Craig was acutely aware of his men sitting behind them listening. "Kelly, this is not the time or the place for this conversation."

Kelly was aware of the men also. "Sorry, Brother." He shrugged.

"Car comin'," said Chief quietly. He watched the Packard pull up. "Terry and Chris."

As soon as the car came to a stop, Chris was out the door and running up the steps. Terry remained behind and went to get the packages out of the back of the car. Chris burst through the front door, eyes immediately homing in on her younger brother. She burst into tears and threw herself in Kelly's arms. The two hugged fiercely.

"Oh thank God!" she sobbed into his chest.

"Hey, it's all right, Sis," he smiled into her hair. "They got me and I was afraid they had gotten you too."

Chris tried to pull herself together. She leaned back and looked up at him. "They probably would have if these guys hadn't gotten me out." She nodded her head toward the men behind them. "And they didn't even know who I was."

Kelly glanced at the men he thought of as crooks or gangsters. They had rescued his sister? "What happened?" he asked.

Chris smiled. "We were both going after the same papers. Craig was wounded and they needed someone to take care of him until they could get him back to England. I was dressed up as a nurse, so they thought I was one. They kidnapped me. They could have just dropped me off at the coast, but they brought me the rest of the way here."

Kelly was thinking he might have to change his outlook on Craig's men. He would have expected them to dump Craig and run. Or at the very least, dump Chris or do something horrible to her. And Terry seemed perfectly happy to stay in the house with them all.

Chris frowned. "Are you going home now?"

"Hell no!" said Kelly adamantly.

Chris glanced at Craig who was standing there, arms crossed, and an unhappy look on his face. She flashed a worried glance at him and went back to hugging the youngest member of their family.

The door opened again and Terry came in, laden like a pack animal and juggling packages. Chief was on his feet immediately and walked over to take some of the packages. She gave him the ones for the kitchen and set the rest on the stairs. While the Indian put the purchases away in the kitchen, Terry moved up beside her older brother.

"Get the call?" she whispered.

"Yup."

Terry could tell by his tone and answer, besides his stance, what the outcome of that conversation was. "He ought to know by now, we're his kids," she said in a low voice.

"I'm supposed to talk him out of it." Craig nodded toward Kelly.

"Give it up, Craig. If you weren't so straight-laced army, you'd be right there with us."

Garrison wondered just how straight-laced army he would still be by the end of this war, considering what he was doing and with whom he was doing it.