47.

~ Ariadne was folding down a handmade blanket in the new bassinet. It was late in the evening and she could hear Beth clacking away on a new typewriter.

Her sister-in-law was interviewing her every evening for the article that was turning into a more detailed thing. The pretty nurse was made to recount details of war time London and the Blitz. Beth wanting to know everything about what went on during the bombings and how she felt. They hadn't even reached meeting Arthur yet as Beth was collecting pages and pages for her article.

"My editor is really excited about this." Beth said happily.

Ariadne nodded and pulled out the little shoes Robert had gotten her. For some reason, she didn't tell Beth about the shoes. Her sister-in-law wouldn't be mad or suspicious about it. Wouldn't judge her. Ariadne had done nothing wrong. Her employer had just given her an nice gift for her baby. That was all.

So why did she feel the need to hide them from Beth?

"Did you think the bombs would hit you every time they started?" Beth asked over her writing.

"No, not every time." Ariadne told her. "Sometimes, we heard nothing at all. It was really quite and we thought it must have been a false alarm."

"But when the bombs fell, what was that like?" Beth asked.

Ariadne thought back to those frightening days.

~ She had been ordered to the shelter the first night she was in England. Her feet bandaged from the open wounds she got from all her walking.

A nurse helped her to walk and they bled again as they reached, not a shelter, but a spot under the stairs.

It had been daylight out and she heard sounds like thunder approaching them.

The bombings making windows rattle as they approached closer and closer. She noticed that all the windows were taped shut as well as all the picture frames. But still, the hospital shook on it's foundation as the bombing grew closer and closer.

She held her breath as a bomb struck close, knocking things off tables and shattering glass that wasn't taped down.

"It's alright." A red cross nurse whispered to them as she heard the thunder roll away.

That had been the first real bombing she had endured. She had been so scared and the hospital staff told her it was nothing. Noting at all.

~ "It was scary at first. You kept thinking they were coming for you. They would hit you. You would hope that the bomb would hit the building next to you. I know that sounds terrible." Ariadne said as Beth listened.

"It doesn't sound terrible." Beth said. Her keys clacking again as she took down Ariadne's story.

Beth could never understand what Ariadne had gone through. Never truly felt how horrible it was. Beth had never gone without a meal, never hid in a shelter, never walked till her feet bled and her shoes were useless. Beth never had to work 16 hours strait till she was soaking in her own sweat and her hair, body and clothes smelled of awful things.

Beth could never understand what it was like to not have running water in a hospital full of wounded. Never know what it was like to work on no sleep and have men die before you.

Ariadne bit her lip. She never wanted Arthur home more then she did at this moment. She wanted someone who had shared her experience and not need words. Who could be more then just an observer. She wanted someone to talk to.

"Oh, by the way." Beth said taking a break. "The mail came. You got something from a hospital in London."

Ariadne stashed the shoes Robert gave her under the bassinet and went to the stack of bills and letters on the table.

A heavily stamped envelope was waiting from her. She recognized the sharp, steel engraved writing of the Matron.

Her throat caught. It was news of Arthur's death. She knew it was. She knew that the Matron had found Arthur in the hospital and had been unable to save him.

She didn't even want to touch the letter. Didn't want to know. She was happier not knowing.

'Arthur, Arthur, Arthur.' She thought.

She suddenly remembered their first meeting. Her mysterious Lieutenant. Then her charming Captain who took her to the movies and for a picnic. Her handsome Major and her husband. How could he be gone? She couldn't bare it.

She pocketed the envelope and told Beth she was going out for a walk.

"Alright." Beth said distractedly.

~ Robert's apartment was opulent and comfortable. The well groomed man opened the door for her after a few seconds of knocking.

"Ariadne." He breathed in shock. "Are you alright?" He asked seeing she was upset.

"I'm sorry to drop in on you like this." She almost cried. She was shakily removing the envelope from her coat pocket.

~ Robert brought her inside. Maurice was sleeping soundly as the two younger people talked in hushed whispers.
"I asked her to write me if she found Arthur. My husband." Ariadne said wiping the tears away.

"You didn't open it?" Robert asked looking over the envelope. She shook her head.

"I was too scared." She said not able to stop shaking. Her hands trembling as Robert's hand came over her own.

"Let's open it now." He said calmly.

She nodded.
"I know it's going to tell me he's dead. I didn't want to read it in front of his sister." She whispered as Robert used a letter opener to slice into the envelope.

The well groomed young man read and re-read the letter.

"Well?" Ariadne said about to jump out of her skin.

"Nothing about your husband." Robert said. He cleared his throat and read.

"Dear Madam, I have located a gentleman by the name of Lieutenant Colonel Dominic Cobb. He was rescued off the front lines in Germany last week. He is on the mends and will be returning to his homeland. He was saying the name Arthur. When I inquired more information, he said Arthur was alive and right behind him. Regrettably, I know nothing more. I will write when I have more information."

Ariadne could almost hear the voice of the Matron. Ever efficient. Ever professional.

She let out a sigh of relief.

"So we don't know if he's dead or not." Ariadne whispered.

"He was alive and well the last time this Cobb person saw him. That was a over a week ago. Maybe he's alright." Robert offered.

"Then why hasn't he contacted me?" She cried. She felt the tears spring to her eyes. She knew Arthur was dead. She could feel an emptiness in her heart at the memory of her Captain and their picnic. Of how handsome her major looked when she danced on his feet. Of her mysterious Lieutenant kissing her. He was dead and in the graveyard of Europe.

Like magic, her mind flashed an image of a dead, rotting face.

It's eyes sunken in.

It's mouth pulled back, exposing teeth.

It's flesh weathered and gray, but unmistakably, Arthur.

"He is most likely on some top secret mission." Robert said soothingly. "He might not be able to write or call."

Robert's voice was so calm and logical. Of course he was right. The image of her dead major faded sharply from her eyes.

She nodded. She felt better somehow.

"Thank you, Robert." She said as that pain in her heart eased a little.

"Let me take you home." He said kindly.

~ Arthur was a solider. He hadn't set out in life to be one. As a boy, he played with metal army men. But he grew up and went to law school. Playing solider now seemed so childish. Yet here he was, knee deep in mud as he was helping to dislodge a jeep in the pouring rain.

"She's wadded in there." One of the men said after they stripped the jeep of all non essentials to make it lighter. It took an hour to finally free it from the mud pit. Arthur was too exhausted to build a tent. Instead, he chose to sleep in the jeep and watch the stars.

He had been using a motorcycle to traverse the dangerous roads. The colonel telling him to be careful as the major felt a need to be reckless lately. He felt so powerless since he was told he couldn't contact Ariadne. His wife must be frantic with worry.

~ He woke up in the early dawn, the camp was still and too quite. A heavy mist had settled over the field the battalion had camped at, and hid everything from view. Even they sky was clouded over and he couldn't tell if it was dawn or high noon. For an irrational moment, Arthur thought the battalion had left without him. Marched on and left him sleeping.

He was a ways away from the rest of them. Closer to the mud pit they had dug the jeep free from. Why he didn't start the jeep up and drive to the camp, he never could explain. But nature was calling him and he clumsily stumbled out of his seat to go behind a bush.

He walked into the camp as the chill in the air was hitting him. They had been on the march for days now and there were the constant sounds of bombing as the Soviets were pounding on the door of Berlin.

But this morning, everything was calm. Eerily calm and still. Arthur reached the tents where hundreds of men were sleeping peacefully. The mist covering everything in a sleeping haze so thick, he could barely see four feet in front of him. He noticed the sentries were asleep and shook his head.

"Wake up, Corporal." He growled at the young man. "Uncle Sam isn't paying you to get your beauty rest."

The youth said nothing and didn't wake. Arthur kicked his shoe.

"Corporal?" Arthur asked.
The young man's head lulled to the side and it was then that Arthur saw the bright red line across his neck.

The youth had his throat slit while he was sleeping.

Arthur quickly felt for a pulse and couldn't find one. The body was cool but still a little warm, he hadn't been dead for long.

The Major's first instincts were to alert the camp that someone had invaded them. But his more rational mind, which always won out, said to stay low and be quite. The rest of the camp was sleeping. He could hear heavy snores coming from tents.

Arthur took advantage of the fog. It hid him as he moved stealthy from tent to tent. His ears straining to pick up any movement. His eyes trying to penetrate the fog. Finally, he saw it. Dark figures in the mist. Moving around on silent feet. The shoulders slumped and bent down. Picking up things. Arthur crept closer to them. They were speaking German in hurried whispers and Arthur had difficulty understanding them because of their accents.

He only caught the words, "hurry... weapons... Americans... get that... hurry."

Whoever they were, they had killed the sentry on duty. A boy not much older then 18 and were trying to steal weapons from them. Arthur readied the handgun he never went without these days. He even slept with it on. Along with his boots, helmet and his cigarettes case tucked in his breast pocket.

Silently, silently, he found himself a good position. He counted five of them. No more, no less. They were hard to see from the fog but they appeared to be working alone.

"We can take a jeep?" One of them asked.

Arthur shook his head at the audacity of it.

In his clear, well practiced German her took aim and said.
"Excuse me, those belong to me."

His firing was rapid and on target. The invaders barely had time to stand up before they were cut down by the Major's bullets. The fog swallowing them whole.