Stands not within the prospect of belief

Hammelburg, five hours later...

The woman entered the store and all eyes set on her. She was used to it, she did not react. She walked to a distant corner and waited.

Benny, the clerk did not like her there. People gossiped and stared. He took his broomstick and tried to avoid her eyes as much as he could. She scared him so. With her black dress and pale face hidden under a black scarf, she almost blended with the shadows in the darkened corner. She did not move an inch until seconds before the bells in the front door rang. Then, she straightened up. Benny swore that she was grinning as someone pushed the door open.

"He wasn't more than a ruddy party crasher. No one invited him," Newkirk said, holding the door while Schultz and LeBeau entered.

"Le Marquis de La Fayette is a national hero," LeBeau replied. "He helped to kick you, red coats, out of America."

They were not mad at each other. The early morning argument had faded away hours ago. This was just an act to keep Schultz distracted from their real reason to be there. Newkirk turned to the clerk and waved.

"Hi, Benny." He went straight to the apples and leaned on the gondola.

"Hi, Peter," the man said and continued sweeping the floor.

"Wait a minute," Schultz frowned. "I've never brought you to this store before. How come you know his name is Benny?" He stared at Newkirk. "And you too are going to tell me that all the clerks you know are named Benny.*"

"Of course not, that's silly. I call everybody Benny. Haven't you noticed that, Benny... I mean, Schultz?" Newkirk shrugged as he rubbed one apple on his sleeve.

"But he called you Peter."

"That's a common name for an Englander," Benny said. "I see one, I call him Peter."

Schultz shook his head. Every time he came into town with these prisoners, they surprised him with the same story. If there was something going on, he wanted to be the last one to know. "LeBeau, go on with the shopping. We have to go back to camp."

"Don't rush me, French cuisine should never be rushed." He turned to confer with Benny.

Benny handed them a piece of paper. "That's all they gave me today," he whispered.

"What is this?" LeBeau read. "Here says an egg?"

"Are they cooking breakfast now?" Newkirk took the paper. "And what is this? The egg triggers the weapon? What kind of weapon is that?"

"It seems that the egg is somewhere in Nuremberg. Apparently, the Gestapo is recruiting someone with special abilities to get it."

"What special abilities?" Newkirk asked.

"LeBeau! Remember the ingredients for the strudel." Schultz smiled and bowed to some ladies coming in.

"Here, Schultzie, have an apfel." Newkirk tossed the apple to him and looked around to make sure no one was looking at them. His eyes met with the lady in the corner and he smiled. "Well, hello there." He touched his hat and slightly bowed. The woman lifted one hand and pointed at him.

Benny pulled at Newkirk's sleeve. "Don't talk to her!" he whispered. "Did you look her in the eyes?"

"Well, yeah. She's not your bird, is she? Because she just winked and pointed at me with her finger," Newkirk chuckled and looked at LeBeau. The Frenchman shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"Mutter Gottes, nein! " Benny crossed himself. He went throughout the store picking up all kind of herbs.

"Benny?" Newkirk called him. "Time is short, we've got to leave in a tick."

The clerk man came back and handed him the herbs in a paper bag. "Here, you must boil these in water, and drink it before midnight." He glanced at the corner where the woman was still standing and quickly turned back. "It might be too late anyway."

"Late for what? Benny, what's going on?" LeBeau smelled the bag with the herbs and wrinkled his nose.

"That's a witch," his lips barely pronounced the name. "I can't say her name but I know that she doesn't travel that far without a good reason-"

"A witch? Where?"

They were so taken by Benny's words that they did not notice Schultz getting closer. The three men jumped.

"Don't ever do that!" Newkirk put his hand on his heart and took a deep breath. "Listen, Benny. I respect most local customs, but this doesn't concern me at all."

"Oh, yeah? She came in minutes before you did. She was waiting for you," Benny said and crossed himself again. "You've been hexed."

"Hexed!" Schultz gasped.

"Hexed?" LeBeau asked. "What's hexed?"

"It means that she gave me the evil eye," Newkirk said shaking his head. "You know, bad luck." He shrugged and turned to Benny. "That only works if you believe in those things. Which I don't."

"But you're a magician. You have to believe." Schultz began to look at him with some concern.

"Precisely. Because I'm a magician, I don't believe in magic. It's all a bunch of tricks." He leaned on the gondola of fruit and one of the boards went loose. Newkirk almost fell when the apples began to roll over the floor.

The few customers around turned in their direction. No one saw the woman in the corner grin and exit quietly.

"Oh, Gott, it has already begun!" Benny crossed himself for the third time.

()o()o()

"Come on, you were out for almost three hours. They had to give you more than this," Hogan said, staring at the piece of paper. "An egg to trigger a weapon? What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Schultz kept interrupting us." LeBeau finished with the stove and came back to the table with a mug in his hand. "Then, that Benny wouldn't talk about anything else but the witch and the spells." He sat next to Newkirk. "Drink this."

"LeBeau, I told you I don't believe in superstitions." Newkirk shook his head and reached inside his pocket for his cigarettes. He tapped on the package and all its content flew around.

Hogan frowned and Kinch lifted an eyebrow. LeBeau just sighed and picked up the cigarettes with Carter's help.

"It's been like this since we left the store," he said. "First, Schultz couldn't get the car started. When we got out to look under the hood, the piston blew up and the steam hit Newkirk on the face."

"I knew you looked tanner than usual," Kinch chuckled.

"Not bloody funny," Newkirk smirked. "It's just a bunch of coincidences," said he with the cigarette in his lips. He tried to light it but his lighter did not work. He tried once, twice...

Hogan got tired of listening to the clicking and snatched the thing from Newkirk's hand. He lit the cigarette at the first try. "And that's why you went to the emergency room?"

"Not exactly." LeBeau pushed the mug towards Newkirk. "We were sitting on the sidewalk, waiting for the motor to cool off when the car began to move on its own-"

"And it ran over Newkirk's foot?" Carter asked.

"Not exactly," LeBeau went on. "When we were about to run to stop the car, Schultz came down the street and he stepped on Newkirk's foot."

"Auch!" Carter said. "At least there were no broken bones," he smiled at Newkirk. The Englishman just glared.

Hogan stood up. "But that just leaves us back in square one." He read the paper once more. "The egg that triggers the weapon?"

"Must be some part of the structure of the weapon that is in the shape of an egg," Kinch said.

"Hey, it could be a missile. You know, some part of the control section that has an oval shape or something." Carter's eyes glowed every time he talked about explosive weapons.

"It could be, indeed," Hogan said with some relief. "Kinch, go to the radio and see what else you can find out from the local underground." He laid his hands on Newkirk's shoulders. "And you, go to bed. It's been enough excitement for your first day on the field after what you went through in the last mission."

"Between the witch tales and Schultz stepping on me foot, I almost forgot about that," Newkirk said clapping his right side with his hand. He went to his bunk and climbed up in one jump, as usual. Only this time, he did not lift his knee high enough and hit the upper board.

Hogan came to catch him before he fell. "Are you okay?"

Newkirk rubbed his knee and laughed. "It's just a bump, I didn't even feel it."

"Boy, you're clumsy tonight," Carter shook his head. "I wonder why that woman hexed you. Maybe you should take that potion LeBeau prepared."

"It's not a potion. I made some tea to calm him down."

"I am calm," Newkirk glared. "And I don't need any bloody potion to make me feel better. Hexes don't exist. They're on the mind of the weakest and most susceptible. They don't affect me."

Before he tried another jump, Hogan grabbed his arm. "You'd better stay in the lower bunk for tonight, okay? Carter, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Carter nodded.

As they had been doing for the last four weeks, they made sure that Newkirk went to bed and fell asleep. Taking care of the Englishman had been hard and nerve racking. There had been several sleepless nights when they watched over him while he fought a nasty infection. He had finally begun to feel better but his friends were still too wired up to let him go back to his normal routine just yet.

"I suggest you go to sleep too, gentlemen," Hogan said. "Activities will have an early start tomorrow, remember?"

"How could I forget?" LeBeau sighed. "I have to prepare all that food for the Boshes and serve it to them."

"We all have to do it. Since the colonel got us to volunteer as waiters," Carter said as though he did not see Hogan standing there. "Which by the way, provides a great smoke curtain to keep up with the latest movements on the German front." He smiled innocently.

"All right, I've been listening to your complaints all day long. All I ask for is your cooperation. That's what we're here for, remember?" Hogan grinned. He took a last look at Newkirk who was asleep, and went to his office. After this mission, whatever it was, he would ask for a license to some of those fancy retreats at the Côte d'Azur.

()o()o()

"How did I get here?"

She put her arms around his waist and looked up at him. Her natural paleness contrasted with the blackness of her long curly hair. She smiled. "I called you, my Enchanter of Delusion. You heard my song."

He looked around the cage and the dungeon. "Are you a prisoner here? Have I come to save you?"

"Oh, sure... we can talk about that later." She caressed his cheek down to his neck. "Do you want to dance?"

"I think we should get going. Someone might come." He grabbed her by the hand and headed for the door. She pulled back. "What is it? We must go."

"I can't," she pouted. "I'm enchanted... The wizard put a spell on that door. I'm trapped in here."

"But I could get through.. I opened the lock for you."

"I called you because I needed to meet my knight in shining armor... Now I know you're ready to fight for me... " She took his hand in hers and kissed his wrist.

()o()o()

The next morning...

The minute Newkirk woke up, he knew he was in trouble. Just as he sat up and prepared to jump off his bunk, he realized that he was not in the barrack anymore... He was on it.

He could see Schultz opening the doors of every barrack and urging the prisoners out. Soon, he would notice the empty bunk and there would be an alert. Newkirk decided that it was no use on keeping the suspense. He sat on the edge of the roof and waved at the sergeant.

"Hey, Schultz. Gutten Morgen!" He smiled. "You wouldn't happen to have a ladder, would you?"

The sergeant sighed and pressed one hand against his forehead. These prisoners were getting what was left of his sanity. Good thing that he would have the afternoon off. Surely he needed to put some distance between himself and them, at least for a couple of hours in town.

"Did you hear the joke about the roof?" Newkirk grinned. "Oh, never mind, it's over your head anyway."

The prisoners already formed outside burst into laughs. Schultz tried to shush them but that only increased the turmoil. By the time that Carter and Kinch arrived with the ladder, Klink and Hogan were coming out from their respective offices.

"Schultz, report!" Klink yelled and looked up at Newkirk. "Why is this man out of uniform? And what is he doing on the roof?"

"Give him a hand before he slips and breakes his nose," Hogan whispered to Kinch.

"He should've had that potion last night." Carter sank his hands in his pockets and shook his head.

"Quiet on the lines!" Schultz yelled.

Newkirk came down and smoothed his nightshirt. He smiled widely and saluted Klink and Hogan. "Colonels, nice weather, innit?"

Hogan immediately assumed an attention position. "Corporal," he said responding to the salute with a straight face. "Give me the report. How nice is the weather?"

Newkirk cleared his throat and began to improvise. "Clear and bright, although several nimbus cumulus are forming up north and-"

"Enough!" Klink yelled. "What was he doing on the roof?"

"Well," Hogan said, matter-of-factly. "Fridays we work on the ditches outside the gates and I wanted to make sure that we'd have good weather. So, I sent Corporal Newkirk to check on that before roll call."

"That's right, sir. I was in me way down when I realized that the ladder was gone."

"Ridiculous!" Klink glared. "Colonel Hogan, I want this man in his uniform in five minutes! Sergeant Schultz, delay roll call until everybody is present!" He went back into his office.

Hogan waited for Newkirk to make the first move before pushing him inside the barrack. He led him to the first bunk and shoved him on it.

"Sit down, and don't move," he said, as he walked to the lockers. He fetched Newkirk's uniform and tossed it towards him.

The corporal caught it in the air. He smiled triumphantly and began to get dressed. He got up to zip his pants and almost stumbled on his own boots.

"Well, one out of two," Hogan shrugged. He sat at the table. "What happened out there?"

"You saw what I saw," Newkirk shook his head. "I must've been sleepwalking or something."

Hogan nodded and frowned. "I'm kind of worried, you know. This is very unusual."

"It's not in me manual either, Gov'nor."

"You've been acting strangely. Maybe your wounds affected you more than we thought."

"Well, I felt out of sorts after that but I think I've been handling it rather well. This is completely different." Newkirk pulled his nightgown over his head and Hogan noticed something in his left wrist.

"What's that?" He grabbed Newkirk's arm. "Looks like punctures. Insect bites?"

"Don't know," Newkirk rubbed it. "It hurts. Maybe I put me hand on a nail or something in the ladder when I was coming down."

"Perhaps," Hogan sighed. "Wash it thoroughly, it might get infected."

They came out to the lines and endured Klink's famous speech on Stalag XIII security and escape-proof system.

"Important members of the Party are coming to the Stalag tonight, and I expect full cooperation from all the prisoners." Klink directed these last words at Hogan, who shrugged.

Then, they were on their way to the field outside the gates. Kinch watched the road for their contact in Hammelburg coming with sewing supplies and spare parts for their communication system.

The rest of the group dig the trenches around the camp to avoid floods during the incoming winter. The day was rather nice. The fall was almost over but the reddish leaves still clung to the trees, giving the landscape a glow of fire. In Europe, they called this time Saint Martin's summer. For Carter, Kinch and Hogan, this was the Indian summer.

"Halt!"

Schultz's voice interrupted Hogan's reverie. Their contact had arrived with a cart full of fruit and milk.

"Come on, Schultz, it's just Benny. You know Benny," LeBeau began the distraction while the others hid the delivery under their clothes.

They were so busy watching Schultz that they almost missed the motorcycle going straight into camp. Hogan stared at it with curiosity. "Hey, Schultz, how come you bug Benny here and don't say anything about that man that just came in?"

"That's a courier from HQ Berlin," he shrugged. "I was informed of his visit. I know Benny. But I don't know what he's bringing today." Schultz gave an inquisitive look to the contents of the cart. "Yesterday he didn't say anything about coming here."

"Just grab something to eat and let us take a break." Hogan signed for Kinch to get closer. "I want to know what's in the mail today." He turned to Benny. "You're some minutes late, what happened?" he whispered.

"I was waiting for the newspapers to come out." Benny handed him one issue and whispered. "I thought you would like to know about this." He gave them the papers.

"Wow! Another disappearance in Hammelburg," Kinch read.

"It's like the fourth this week, isn't it?" Carter frowned. "Could it be a serial killer?"

"If he comes this way, he'll have to talk with my rifle," Schultz said.

"What for? Does your rifle know how to give directions now?" Newkirk chuckled and the others laughed. He leaned on his shovel and it slipped. He fell face down.

Benny watched Carter help Newkirk to his feet, and he shook his head. "He's getting worse, I see. Poor boy."

"He's been on the floor longer than on his feet," Carter said.

More laughs interrupted the activities.

"Oh, back off!" Newkirk dusted his uniform. "I'll be here till Sunday, my next number is in ten minutes."

"All right! Enough of jolly jokes," Schultz straightened up. "Go back to work! You have to finish by noon."

"Don't take it out on us," Hogan grinned, "just because you have a date this afternoon and don't want to be late." He turned and lowered his voice. "Well, Benny, what news do you bring?"

"There are no words on any missile prototype. But the egg has been located in downtown Nuremberg. The address is coming soon." He shook his head. "They say it must be a museum or an art gallery. They're still investigating."

"All right, all right," said Hogan with resignation. "We'll keep our eyes and ears open."

"Oh, just one more thing." Benny almost whispered. "My cousin Matilda's cat is having kittens in three days. She wonders what to do with them?"

"How many kittens?"

"Ten."

Hogan nodded to Kinch. "I'd say put them in a safe box by the river."

"No problem," Kinch said taking a mental note. "In three days."

A loud noise made Hogan turn around. "Newkirk, stop whatever you're doing and sit down. Don't touch anything, don't move!"

"So young," Benny said. "I wonder why she had to pick him up. I don't think they've met."

"I think that you did a good job with all that talking about hexing and witches, Benny. My boys can be very receptive sometimes, " Hogan said.

Benny shrugged. "Good luck with the egg hunting, then."

Newkirk made an attempt to grab a tin cup to drink water but bumped it against the barrel. He spilled the water all over himself.

Benny shook his head in pity. Hogan rolled his eyes. "Luck? I think that's at the top of our problems."

tbc

* In Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, LeBeau tells Schultz that all the clerks he had met were named Max.

Thank you for following the story with so much interest.

Happy reading! Reviews are always welcome ;)