part 4
"Do we go to the shelters, or will they expect us to help get the patients to safety?" Garrison asked.
"I'll go to the patients on the wards but you won't be expected to help." A spark of amusement lit the con mans eye, "You are still suffering from your injuries, remember?"
Garrison raised an eyebrow "I'd be suffering alright! If I'd continued to go to that damn clinic!" Then he sobered, "Be careful! We'll meet you at the car by six. If something happens get everyone out of here by six, Actor, that'll give you three hours to get out of the area before the bombing runs."
"Are you telling me you would leave by six if we weren't all assembled.?"
"Yes!" Garrison knew the con artist was reading him right now, and he knew what his observations were telling him. His mouth quirked up in a quick smile. "I'd leave at six. I'd be back after the bombing, but I'd leave at six."
Garrison made his way carefully up through the town and met the car Armin sent for him. It was after midnight when he walked into the warehouse the group used and was greeted by his men. "Are you guys ready to go?" he asked as he caught the uniform jacket Chief tossed to him.
"Yeah! What took you so long?"
"Well, let's see? I know it had something to do with air raid sirens!" He slipped his arms into the jacket and fastened the buttons up the front. "Has that order come through yet?"
Goniff spoke up from his position at the table, they had made themselves a meal on bread and cheese that one of Armins men had provided and he was seeing to it that there was nothing left to go stale. "Right after the guns stopped and things got quiet."
"Everything set on the road?"
"Everything's perfect on the road" Chief assured him. "You just stand back outta the way and let us work!"
Casino turned and walked back into the building from the doorway. 'It'll go just like clockwork, Warden. Just like you wanted."
"Alright. I'll take your word for it." Garrison checked his watch. "We've got a couple of hours before we have to leave. You guys better get a little more rest."
"What about you?"
"I got a couple of hours sleep after dinner, before the sirens went off."
Goniff perked up at the mention of dinner. "Hey Warden. How was that dinner? That administrator bloke feed you good?"
"We had Ris de veu sautes."
Sounded French, and fancy. "What's that, then?"
Garrison considered the little man as he remember the mealy texture and gamey taste of the meal he'd choked down. "I don't think you really want to know, Gonifff."
***
Actor met them near the back entrance to the hospital. "How did it go?"
"Just like clockwork. We slid our stuff in where it'll be the fourth round to go up." Casino had his back to Actor searching the grounds, waiting to catch sight of the other two. Chief left them to go around the side of the building to check on the car. "I tell ya, this badge thing is great! That Sergeant in there took one look at it and practically carried the damn things in for us."
They turned at Chief's quiet approach. "You see 'em yet?"
"Not yet." Actor checked his watch. "They still have some time."
When they'd taken the first load up the long corridor and into the staging area and he'd seen the gun crew Goniff had stopped in his tracks. Some of them were practically children, only fourteen or fifteen. A shove from the Warden had got him started again. Settling the rack on the ground near the low cement wall that separated the stockpile from the working area around the gun they turned, pulling the dolly behind them as they moved back down the ramp. As soon as they were outside and headed back to the truck he leaned in close and whispered, "What'r they doin' there?! They're just kids!"
"They fill out the gun crews Goniff." Garrison turned his hand up and checked the watch on his wrist. They were running late. It was nearly six. "They should be rotated out and off duty before the fly over. Now come on! We've got to get this one in there and get the hell out of here."
They heard the sirens as they took the last load into the chamber. It was too soon! The plan had called for another high fly over to draw flak and blow the guns but that wasn't for another three hour yet, more enough time for them to finish the job and get out of the area. So much for Reynolds 'precisely coordinated timing on the ground'. He thought they might still get away with it. They weren't part of the gun crew, there'd be no reason they would be required to stay.
Garrison kept them moving steadily towards the staging area for the ordnance. This load had the modified shells that would blow the gun off it's mount and shatter the barrel making the rail yards at the other edge of the valley defenseless. They could still set it back in the lines and leave themselves time enough to get away. When the Sergeant spotted them and waved them forward he tried to ignore him, the sharp blow of the mans hand on his back and the order to move forward into loading position sent his mind racing. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all!
They had to do as they were ordered, they couldn't afford to draw any attention that would cause doubts about the load they were bringing in. He settled the case on the floor of the bunker, backing the dolly away from it as he watched one man cut the strap that held the stack of shells securely in their racks and another reach out and pull the modified one into his arms and turn towards the gun. He gave the Sergeant a casual salute and turned pulling Goniff around and sending him forward in front of him with a shove. The ominous sound of metal on metal caused his heart to stop
"Move! We've got to get out of here!"
As Goniff turned the side of his foot caught on the edge of a tile and he stumbled, he felt the Wardens hand grip his shoulder, pulling him upright and shoving him forward. He strained towards the door but he didn't have his balance and only managed a few steps before momentum carried his body to far away from his feet and he was falling. "Goniff!" He heard Garrison shout at him and then ... Light, sound, pressure and heat all struck at once. He couldn't tell one from the other, and then he couldn't tell anything at all.
When the siren sounded the three men standing in the shadows turned as one to search the area between the buildings for any sign of the others. A flash lit the sky out in front of the main building as the ground shook. In the next instant they were running around to the front towards the gun. When they reached the large lawn they stopped and stared. The entrance to the ramp that led into the bunker was obscured by the smoke pouring from it. The sirens were silent, there was no sign of any plane. It had been a false alarm.
***
The blast was still echoing and ringing in Goniff's ears as he struggled to move under a heavy weight that was draped over him, pinning him to the floor. Squirming onto his side he finally managed to grab the frame of the door and pull himself free. Pushing up onto his knees he turned to survey the damage, squinting through the dust and smoke. Turning his back on the room quickly he grabbed the frame and wretched in immediate reaction to the carnage. His mind went blank except for one burning thought; to get away. He struggled to his feet and lunged a few steps down the corridor before a second thought hit him. The Warden! That was the Warden back there! For a split second survival instinct struggled with loyalty, his mind telling him nothing was alive within those walls, his heart insisting he go back anyway. He turned and staggered back to the door, squeezing his eyes shut he sank to his knees on the threshold, leaning and reaching in he grabbed hold of the Warden's jacket, feeling his fingers curl down through wet, tattered fabric. He could feel the heat of the fire that burned in the room on his face. Clenching his fists into the material he scrabbled backwards on his knees pulling Garrison out of the room and down the corridor, his eyes shuttered against the horror.
They found them at the end of the passageway, just where it turned and led up into the bunker. Goniff with his eyes still screwed shut, still moving backwards along the wall, still dragging the Warden by the back of his jacket.
Actor tried to pull the little man's hands away from Garrison. "Goniff! Goniff, it's alright! Goniff, listen to me, you have to let go so that we can get you out of here."
Casino started pulling and prying at his fingers, trying to break his hold, "Doesn't look like he's hurt. What'n the hells wrong with him?"
"He's in shock, man. You'r gonna bust his fingers! Just pull his hands up." Using his knife, Chief quickly cut the fabric away from the jacket leaving it for Goniff to clutch in his fists.
"Chief, get him out of here. We'll be right behind you." Actor turned his attention to Garrison slipping his fingers around the side of his throat to feel for a pulse there.
Casino waited, trying not to think about the blood that soaked the material of the shredded jacket, the back of the man's head, and the trail of it he saw smeared along the corridor floor.
Glancing up quickly, meeting Casino's gaze Actor could only verify, "He's alive, that's all we have time for now. Help me get him up."
Between them they pulled Garrison up, and dragging him down through the entrance to the corridor, followed Chief out onto the green. People were already running from the hospital, running to help. Actor knew they'd never get away if they were stopped now. Shouting at the men that reached them he jerked his head over his shoulder and ordered them into the bunker to the casualties within. "Holen Sie jeder heraus hier! Wir stellen eine Behandlungmitte hier auf dem Rasen auf." They moved on as the first group ran past to do as they were ordered. When the next wave approached they were ordered to set up a treatment and triage area outside the entrance in the same officious voice. They continued towards the front of the hospital, stepping aside as more people poured out to go to the aid of the injured. Those that would stop and help were ordered on to the bunker and as soon as they turned their backs to do as they were commanded Chief led the group around into the dark shadows along the side of the building, back where the car lay hidden.
Chief pulled the door open and hoisted Goniff up into the backseat. Turning he helped Casino hold the Warden while Actor climbed in, and then help lift the unconscious man in to lie face down across their legs, his head resting in Goniffs lap. He was in the front and had the car moving towards the gate a moment later. Seeing the car the guard hesitated a moment. They didn't slow down, they couldn't, not with wounded in the car. Chief added speed and headed right for the barrier. As they approached the guard brought his weapon up and fired on the vehicle. Actor reached out and pushed Goniff down, holding him out of harms way, shielding the Warden with his body as Casino returned fire to cleared their way out. He could feel Goniff start and push up against his hand when the gunfire erupted around them, then bring his hands up to cover his head and curl down in the seat. The car bounced and swerved through the barricade careening to the right it raced away from the compound.
Actor straightened and shifted his position to look back at the road behind them. "There doesn't appear to be anyone following us."
"Yeah! Yet!" Casino grumbled as he reloaded his pistol. "Soon as they find that guy and figure out you two are missing they'll know exactly who their lookin' for." Shooting a worried glance over his shoulder he asked, "How are they?"
With his hands around Garrison's chest to hold him steady as they jolted along the road Actor could feel that the man was breathing. "The Lieutenant is still with us." He stretched out his hand, shaking the pick pocket by the shoulder "Goniff?" The face that turned to him was blank, the blue eyes nearly black with enlarged pupils. The little man's mouth moved wordlessly, then he turned his gaze and stared back down at the bloodied head cradled in his lap. Actor watched as Goniff pulled in a gasping breath and held it, and felt as the little man started to tremble. Pulling the handkerchief from his pocket he laid it over Garrison's head. Goniff stared a moment longer and then brought shaking bloodstained hands up to carefully hold the cloth in place. "How quickly can we get to the safe house? We will need time to see to both of them."
In less than thirty minutes they were pulling off the road onto a rough farm track. Ten minutes later the car lurched to a stop in the trees behind the old farmhouse where they were to meet their contact. Chief and Casino moved quietly away from the car to make sure it was safe to approach and use the building.
* * *
Casino steered Goniff into the kitchen with an arm thrown around his shoulders, settling him at the table before turning back to help Actor and Chief carry Garrison from the car into the small bedroom that lay on the north side of the room. Carefully they lay him face down on the narrow bed, Actor folding a blanket under his left shoulder and chest, turning his head to the side so he could breathe.
"Casino, we have to risk a fire. They both need to be kept warm. And I'll need water." Calling after the safecracker, "Try to get something into Goniff. Try and get him talking." He turned to the young man standing next to the bed, "I want to cut the jacket away. I don't want to move him anymore than we have to now," and watched as Chief knelt down and set to the task with delicate determination.
Chief ran the razor sharp blade up the center of the back of the jacket and shirt and folded the fabric back, pulling it away from the Lieutenant's shoulders. Rocking back on his heels the young man looked up at Actor puzzled, "I don't get it. Where'd all the blood come from?"
Actor wiped his hands clean and traced his fingers over Garrison's back. Except for the deep scratches across his shoulders, the skin was intact. Shaking his head Actor motioned for Chief to continue and when the fabric of the sleeves had been split he raised the inert form as the ruined tunic was removed. "I don't understand" searching, he still only found the mottled bruises and abrasions the river had left on him. The memory of blood smeared on the floor, the stain that soaked Goniff's trouser leg and reddened the hair on the back of the Lieutenant's head raised a horrible possibility in his mind. He glanced at the discoloration that was slowly spreading on the cloth he'd placed under Garrison's face.
At a quiet tap on the door he turned and accepted the basin and towels Casino held in his hands. "You two will need to take care of Goniff and watch for our contact. I can manage this alone." Pulling a stool to the head of the bed he started to carefully prise the cloth away from the blood that was clotting into the Wardens' hair as the other men quietly left the room, closing the door behind them. He listened as the outer door closed, knowing Chief had moved outside to keep watch, then heard the low murmur of Casino's voice as he tried to comfort and provoke Goniff into speaking. He heard the crackle of paper and the dull thump of wood as the firebox in the kitchens old stove was loaded. Actor managed to pull the cloth free of the drying blood covering the back of the Warden's neck and head and sat for a moment, gathering his courage to investigate the injury further.
He knew they could get Garrison back, they'd proved their resourcefulness in transporting and caring for their wounded before and there was no question they would find a way this time if they had to. The question in his mind was what life would be like for the young officer if he survived what might prove to be a serious head injury. Actor had spent the last few days surrounded by the aftermath of that type of injury. He'd heard the eerie wails and groans from the locked wards where the severely damaged were kept. He had watched a young man who spent his days rocking in a corner, rhythmically hitting his head against the wall and seen the ones who repeated the same word, the same gesture over and over again without knowing. He'd tried to help control the sudden out bursts of violence and frustration as damaged brains and minds faced their new limitations. Actor had worked with men who would always know darkness, silence, who would never move of their own will, and those who would never be able to control seizures or the spasmodic flailing of their limbs without physical restraints. Sad hollow eyes that would never know joy again haunted him, balanced by the rare few who would laugh with childlike delight when they managed, after months of practice, a ham fisted scrawl that represented their own name. Lifting the towel from the basin of water, he twisted it in his hands, letting the water run back into the container, he took a breath and lay the wet cloth across blond hair stained red.
The first touch of the icy water brought a gasp from Garrison and he frowned and clenched his fist in unconscious protest. No new flow of blood resulted from his effort as he worked, though the stain on the coverlet grew sluggishly. Actor caught the fleeting hope and held tight to it as he continued. He carefully washed and rinsed and wiped, running his fingers over the skull, through the hair, searching for a breach in the bone, a depression or laceration , anything to explain the blood, frowning in confusion as he found nothing. He turned and rinsed the cloth in the basin, puzzling at the slight grating noise he leaned forward and gazed at the water. The bottom of the container appeared to have a layer of irregularly shape sand or gravel,,, Sitting back suddenly he knew what must have happened. Bile rose in his throat Actor closed his eyes and took a deep breath letting it out slowly through pursed lips. "Lieutenant?" he said softly, "Warden, can you hear me?" When Garrison's frown deepened and he shifted his head towards him slightly Actor rose and crossed the room to the door
***
Casino took his jacket off and settled it around Goniff's shoulders, he'd been trying to get the little guy to say something and was having no luck. All the crazy little Limey'd do was stare down at his hands. He finally figured if that's what the guy was gonna look at it'd probably be better if they weren't covered in blood so he'd found another basin and some more towels and carefully washed them clean. Then he'd rummaged around the kitchen until he'd found a tin of beans and opened them up to offer him. There were two times when you knew Goniff was in serious trouble; when he wouldn't eat, and when he wasn't talkin'. He was silent now and the food sat, untouched on the table next to him. Casino was worried.
He needed to get Actor back out here to check on him and had just started to go after him when the door off the kitchen opened and the Italian spoke quietly from the threshold.
"Casino, I need some help."
He cast a glance at Goniff who still sat unmoving at the table and then moved across the room to join Actor. Together they carefully turned Garrison on his back and Actor set to work cleaning the blood from his forehead and face while Casino held the man's hands down as he tried to fend off the care he was receiving.
"How is Goniff?" Actor saw the concern on Casinos face when he looked up, shrugged and shook his head.
"I don't know, man, he's just sitting there. His hands and knees were all scraped up. I got him cleaned up but...." he shook his head again, "I don't know."
***
Several minutes later Garrison's eyes flickered open and he found himself staring up into Casino's smiling face "You are one lucky son of a bitch!"
He didn't' feel lucky, the ache in his head pulsed against the pressure of the safecracker's hand with every word and he tried to turn his head to get away from it Groaning he managed to ask "What happened?" but couldn't stay awake to hear the answer.
Casino frowned and carefully lifted the cloth he'd been pressing down over the Warden's forehead and cheek. "That didn't last long." Checking the dressing he shot a look at Actor. "The bleeding's stopped but he's startin' to sweat."
"See if you can find any more blankets." Actor finished bandaging Garrison's hand and moved up to the head of the bed as Casino left the room. He watched as Garrison's eyes fluttered open again and he shifted his head to look around him. "Warden?" he waited for the eyes to focus on him. "Do you remember what happened?"
Garrison closed his eyes a moment, took a deep breath and nodded. "Some idiot loaded the wrong shell." He squinted up at Actor "Where's Goniff, is he alright? Where are we?" He tried to push up off the bed but was easily checked by the pressure of the elegant hand on his shoulder.
"Just stay still a while longer. We are at the safe house, Chief is watching for Armin and Goniff is in the other room." When he felt the man relax and settle back onto the bed he took his hand away and stood, crossing to the door to take the quilt that Casino had found in one of the other rooms. Actor shot a quick look through the door at Goniff and then raised a questioning eyebrow at their cracksman. Casino tilted his head slightly and shook it, turning, he closed the door behind him and they could hear the murmur of his voice as he addressed the Englishman.
Garrison had been watching from the bed, and read the concern in their silent exchange. When Actor returned and draped the quilt over him he caught his wrist, "What's wrong with Goniff?"
The smile he turned on their commander was smooth and the voice reassuring, "He appears to be uninjured."
Nice try, he thought. Penetrating the fa�ade with an intense gaze Garrison spoke quietly, "And that's not an answer to my question."
Actor stood looking at him a moment before sighing and sitting back down on the stool. "I don't know. I think it's only shock, but he's not coming out of it."
Garrison raised his bandaged hand and ran the fingers along the laceration over his eyebrow, over the swollen eye and down across the abrasions that covered his right cheek and jaw. "Actor, how did you get us out of there?"
"We didn't. We found you in the corridor. Goniff had pulled you out, almost onto the green."
"God! He turned back into that..." Garrison lay silent for a moment staring off into the darkness and his hand dropped back onto the quilt. With a shudder he turned back, "You'd better bring him in here where he can be quiet for a while." Closing his eyes he continued, "Casino picking at him isn't going to help."
Actor stood undecided, watching as sleep overtook the injured man again. Maybe giving Goniff something to do was the answer, maybe it would bring him out of himself. He moved through the door and back out into the kitchen crossing to stand next to the little pick pocket, "Goniff" he called to him and when he got no response he knelt down and peered into his face. "Goniff! Goniff, I need you to stay with the Warden." He felt a flicker of hope when the blue eyes shifted up to gaze at him. "I need you to watch the Warden, Goniff, I've got to get some rest." He stood, reaching down and grasping the man's arm he pulled him up and guided him, unresisting, to the stool at the side of Garrison's bed. Pushing him down he left him sitting there and moved back out of the room, standing at the door to watch for a moment before closing it softly and returning to the kitchen. Crossing to the stove he held his hands out to the fire and shared a long concerned look with Casino.
Goniff sat for a long time just staring at the wall in front of him, he didn't see it, couldn't see anything but smoke and dust and bodies thrown into twisted piles. He closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. Instead of blackness all he saw was red, deep dark red staining the floor and the walls, the back of the Warden's jacket, red soaking into the cloth that covered his head, blood red staining the pants he was wearing. He screwed his eyes shut and willed the sight away, willed it back into the place in his head where nightmares came from. He moved his hands apart letting them rest like blinders at either side of his face and he looked down on the pants he wore. The stain was there. It hadn't been a dream.
Gradually the pounding of his own pulse in his ears faded and other sounds began to penetrate his thoughts. Wind rattling the leaves and twigs scratching against the window of the quiet room he sat in, birds singing from the branches of a tree that creaked over head, the murmur of voices on the other side of the closed door, squeaking from the stove as it opened and the solid thump of a log being settled onto the fire before the door was closed with a groan and a metallic clatter, the steady breathing of someone who lay on the bed next to his stool. Raising his face he let his fingers trail down over his cheekbones and down onto his lips and as he chewed his finger ends he shot a furtive glance towards the body on the bed. After a moment he let his hands drop into his lap and sat watching the regular rise a fall of the bandaged hand that lay curled on the quilt that covered Warden's belly.
***
"Goniff?"
The little man jerked awake and instinctively pulled away from the unexpected touch on his shoulder. He didn't know for a moment where he was. He didn't remember falling asleep. Then the sound and the sight and the oily feel of it on his skin came roaring back to him. He lurched to his feet and turned, searching for the door.
"You OK?"
Goniff stood for a moment, his back to the Warden. He studied the sliver of light the crack in the door threw on the floor of the room. Taking a deep breath he turned and sat down on the stool. Leaning forward he rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together, staring at the knuckles as they turned white with the force of his grip.
"Are you alright?"
The creaking of the bed finally pulled his gaze up away from his hands. He looked into the worried face of his commander. Garrison had levered himself up on an elbow and was watching him.
"I'm OK. I'm,,, uh, I,,, " He closed his eyes and saw it all again and his words came in a rush, "I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead, like everything else back there." He brought is hands to his face and scrubbed hard, trying to rub the vision out of his eyes.
Garrison reached out and caught at his arm, "I know."
"You don't know! You can't know, you didn't see it!" Goniff jerked away, refusing to be consoled.
Garrison dropped his hand and leaned back against the wall. He stayed there, quiet, unmoving, until the other man finally looked at him, then he started to speak, quietly. "You know I had a command in North Africa before being assigned to you guys." He didn't wait for a response. "We were involved in pretty heavy fighting over there. One push was especially bad. We were ordered to hold our position and we'd been pounded by heavy artillery fire all night. There was a direct hit where some of my men were dug in... I'd set seven of my guys in that hole... When we got back in there, there were only four bodies. I knew those guys Goniff and I couldn't identify any one of them from what was left." He looked away, "I know."
"The rest of them, did they get away?"
Garrison shook his head slowly, remembering the shreds of cloth, the bits of bone and the blood, "They just weren't there anymore."
Goniff closed his eyes and the sight came back again. "I never wanted to see anything like that. I'm a,,, I ain't brave like the rest of you guys. I thought I'd heave my guts up when I saw that," he added in disgust.
Goniff's voice held a bleakness and self doubt that Garrison had never heard before, he frowned and watched him. "That doesn't have anything to do with your courage. You came back for me, didn't you? Actor said you pulled me out of there."
But he hadn't listened, he was still looking back, still feeling the shock and fear and panic that consumed him after the explosion. "Casino's right. I'm a jinx," he breathed. " I almost got you killed!"
Garrison shifted on the bed, his breath catching as the muscles over his bruised ribs cramped in protest. "Are you kidding? If you hadn't fallen and tripped me up I would have been right in the path of that blast. Even if I'd just been bending over to pick you up I'd have caught it. I heard the stuff hitting the walls around us before I rammed my head into the concrete. I could feel it pulling at the back of my jacket. If you hadn't fallen we'd both have been torn to shreds in that doorway." He met the little man's disbelieving stare with a weary smile. "From now on I'm going to bless every klutzy move you make." He continued, "Goniff, brave isn't doing something that doesn't scare you. Brave is looking at something that scares you to death and finding a way to do it anyway. Courage is setting aside your instinct to run and turning around," he looked into the doubting eyes, "after heaving your guts up and pulling somebody out of danger. If we were a regular military unit what you did back there would earn you a medal. Don't you ever question your own bravery, I never have!" Garrison watched for a moment as the words sank in, took root and Goniff straightened on the stool and squared his shoulders a bit.
But then he shook his head. Goniff turned to face him, his eyes swam with tears. "But some of 'em were just kids. Just little kids, Warden. We killed 'em."
"We didn't do that Goniff, Germany did!" How was he going to make him understand? "There aren't any children over the age of twelve left in Germany. Some of those 'kids' have been training to do that job since they were eight. Those 'kids' swear every day to lay down their life for Hitler and the Fatherland. They put them in to run the guns, they use them as saboteurs, snipers. Damn it, Goniff! They let them strap explosives to their backs and send them in to blow our troops to Hell precisely because we won't expect it, because they are 'just little kids'!"
"How can you say,,, how d'you know that?"
"Because I was almost part of it. Hitler's Youth!" Garrison said in disgust, "There isn't any 'youth' left. Only babies, old people and fanatics. That's what we killed, Goniff. Fanatics That's what we're fighting. And, God help them, that's what Germany is going to be dealing with after the war."
Goniff leaned forward and rested his face in his hands. He remembered growing up, playing with his cousins and his mates along the river down at the old docks, searching for treasure, old bits of ancient pots or glass, shells, things that his Mum always made such a fuss over. Even when he set out to go to school and then on to work running messages along the street he'd still had himself a bit of fun. He was just fourteen then. How could a whole country full of kids miss out on that. How could a country sacrifice its kids? For what? He couldn't understand it. He was too tired to understand it. Goniff didn't know if he even wanted to try.
They both looked up as the door opened and Casino looked in to check on them. Garrison motioned towards the other room with his hand, "You'd better go get some rest. Think you can do that now?"
Goniff nodded his head and stood, "Thanks," he opened his mouth as if to say more, but closed it again. Standing there he looked down at the floor between his feet and then glanced up, the smile that crossed his face was quick. "Thanks." he said simply and turned and walked to the door. Casino threw an arm around his neck and led him across the kitchen to a cot he'd pulled out of the other room and set up where the warmth of the stove would reach it.