part 3
"Well?"
"Only thing inside's a leather coat and a half empty bottle a brandy." Chief shined the flashlight on the ground at his feet, directing it at an angle to pick up any disturbance on the trail. "Look at this." He dropped down to get a closer look as the others gathered around him. From the beginning they'd relied on him to be their scout, assuming because of his heritage that he would be able to read tracks. He'd been able to do it too, but at first their thoughtless dependence on his skill had angered him as just more proof of him being a faceless savage in their eyes. He reached out and traced one of the imprints that marred the path. "Somebody's runnin'. And because the others still wouldn't understand what he saw and what it might mean Chief indicated other places where the same print fell again, and again. "Looks like he's been at it a while."
"So, Geronimo, these things fresh?" Casino had always been the worst one of the bunch when it came to baiting and name calling. Goniff and Actor took easily enough to 'Limey' and 'Beautiful' but he and Chief had spent much of their time in the beginning either fighting or running off their bad tempers on the obstacle course after Garrison had forced himself between them to break up one of their battles.
"Those showers hit the town just as we got there, remember? These tracks were laid down before and after that." Chief straightened up and directed the light down the path to his right. "He's still out there somewhere."
Garrison ran. They all knew that. He'd run on the estate grounds. He'd run with them after the first mission to see to it they got in shape. Once the group was established on the grounds permanently he and Chief had cut the path they were standing on now and used it on an almost daily basis.
"What'd we do, then? Just wait 'til he comes round again?"
They scanned the path to the right and left of them, all of them straining to catch any sound of the man they'd been searching for.
It was nearly midnight and the temperature had dropped. If the tracks Chief showed them were right, Garrison had been out on the trail during the sporadic rains and was probably soaked to the bone. Actor looked down the path and then back at the cottage. Only one light burned inside and there was no sign of a fire. He'd fallen easily into the roll of second in command when the group operated here during the war and the others looked to him now for direction. "I believe it would be best if we went after him." He glanced down at the prints that overlay each other. He couldn't remember how long the trail was but even his uneducated eye could discern at least six passes by this spot. He looked at Chief and Goniff. "Casino and I will get the cottage ready while you two go out and find him." Laying a hand on Casino's shoulder he turned him back towards the small dwelling, leaving it to the other two men to decide how best to go about their task. When they reached the doorway he flipped on the overhead lights and scanned the room for the phone. "See if you can get a fire started will you? I'm going to take the housekeeper up on her offer of some food."
g
Chief had run on the grounds almost from the moment they'd arrived. As part of their training all of them had been forced to run, and then forced to work out on the obstacle course. After they'd settled in to their routine and had earned a bit more of the Warden's trust he'd taken to running in the mornings while the others were still in their beds. It wasn't too long before he was keeping Garrison company, getting to know their commander in those early morning hours as they covered the miles together. He hadn't lost the habit even after all this time he still awoke early and reveled in greeting the sunrise out on the trails that laced themselves around the area he called home again. Goniff had come to it later, only starting after a run in with a man from his past shook him into needing the reassuring presence of the man they'd accepted as their leader... After the war he was surprised to find he missed the physical activity that he'd spent so much time complaining about and he'd found a large park close to his family home and reestablished the pattern of the daily running and climbing that had kept them in shape for their little 'capers'. It was a joke in his family that he was just keeping in trim to do 'a little burgling' if the chance presented itself.
Goniff accepted the second flashlight Chief held out to him. "You want to split up, then? Catch him between us?"
Chief nodded and they set off their on separate ways. The trail he and Garrison had cut had been a long one. The grounds were large and they'd taken their time over the years they were billeted there to perfect it. If some of the property had been sold off it wasn't likely access to the path had been restricted. Even if there were fences in this part of the world there were always gates or stiles that breached them, or steps that allowed foot traffic over them.
Goniff heard him before he saw him, the strained breathing and irregular footfalls screaming through the darkness. Coming to a halt he stepped off to the side of the trail and directed his light to the ground along the path so as not to startle and blind the runner approaching him. The apparition that separated itself from the darkness steamed with heat and effort. If Garrison saw the light or heard him call out to him he didn't acknowledge it but continued on his way oblivious to his surroundings. This wasn't the steady controlled pace that would allow him to cover long distances as they'd seen him do in the past but full speed, uncontrolled flight. He knew this kind of effort could kill, he'd seen it once during a marathon when one of the contestants forced himself past his own level of conditioning and endurance in his bid for victory and his heart burst with the strain when he was within sight of his goal. Goniff took off after the Warden as soon as he passed but there was no way he was going to catch him. He glanced over his shoulder as he ran and wondered where in the devil Chiefy was...
Chief pushed through the brush and prayed that the image he carried in his head of the grounds was right. If his memory wasn't playing tricks on him the overgrown path he was on would connect with the track they'd cut. The Warden turned and bolted at the first sight of his light, hadn't even broken stride when he called out to him. He'd tried to follow but he couldn't keep up, could just barely keep the guy in sight as he trailed him. Then he'd heard Goniff call out and knew if he made it through, this cut off would put him in front of Garrison and they had a chance of catching him between them. If they missed their chance they'd just have to trail after him until he finally collapsed... and by the looks of him that wouldn't take too much longer..
Chief pushed through one last stand of shrubs and found himself standing on the path. Whoever was keeping the place for the owners now had kept the trail cut back, but only as a walkway for guests that might stay on the property. It was a little rough and even though the man had been doing some trimming it was over grown and this section was narrow. He stooped and picked up a branch that had been left lying along the trail. He might be able to block Garrison, he might be able to get him to stop. He shined his light on the trail about halfway to the curve. He could hear them coming towards him. When the Warden pounded out of the gloom he could see Goniff's light bobbing along behind him. Then he turned his light on the long leafy branch he held across the path. He didn't know if it would be enough...
When Garrison got close he could see the confusion in his face. He still wasn't seeing them, but he'd seen the brush and probably thought he'd taken a wrong turn. Chief braced himself in case the Warden decided to just push through but he broke stride a moment and finally looked up. As soon as their eyes met he turned and headed away from him, only to be faced with Goniff.
Even though he was exhausted, drenched with rain and steaming with sweat Goniff didn't think he had much of a chance of stopping him. When he passed him the first time he was sure that the Warden hadn't even known it was him. Now he knew. Now he could see recognition in his eyes as he staggered to a stop. Chiefy was easing up on him from behind and all he had to do was keep him from breaking away from them again. He could see Garrison shifting his attention between them, weighing his chances and he saw when he made his decision and started towards him again.... But his body finally betrayed him and he tripped and fell to his knees on the path.
Goniff ran forward, sliding to a stop on his knees within an arms reach, but he held back. He watched the man struggle for breath and he waited for the Warden to give him his cue. Chief had stepped up close but held back too. Garrison took a shuddering breath, then another as he tried to gather his strength.
"Get the Hell out of my way Goniff." He didn't know why he was running, all he knew was that he had to keep moving. He didn't care what it cost him, he had to keep moving.
"That didn't work before Warden, s'not likely to work now." He could see the Warden's heart pounding against the shirt he wore. It was like it was trying to burst out of his chest. He reached a hand out for him. "C'mon, mate."
That soulless look that Garrison had only lasted another second before reality crashed back in and he started to crumble. The eyes that Goniff glimpsed before the Warden covered them with his hands seemed to hold all the grief and pain that had ever been let lose in the world. And as the little man reached his arms around him and pulled him close he felt it too, felt it with him, and he thought his heart would break. When Chief stepped close and laid his hand on Garrison's shoulder he gave one muffled sob and then fell silent. All they could do for the next few minutes was stay huddled like that as he shook with the effort it took to stay alive and when the little cockney felt the weight on his shoulder increase he glanced up into dark worried eyes.
"We better get 'im back." Turning his attention back to Garrison. "Can y' make it, Warden? If we help ya?" He didn't get a response, but when Chief reached down to help Garrison to his feet he didn't resist, he just went meekly where he was led...
gggg
"Shouldn't he be layin' down or somethin?"
"What do you suggest, Casino, that we force him to bed and tie him up to keep him there?"
Casino was pacing the central room of the little cottage. They'd built up a fire while the others were out runnin' the Warden down and he frowned at the man that sat in the chair they'd drawn up in front of the hearth. There was no luggage around, Garrison must have come off without it, or walked off and left it somewhere. When they stripped him out of the soggy shirt he wore they'd just thrown a quilt off one of the beds around his shoulders to try and keep him warm. He'd be a lot better off in the bed the quilt had come from but Actor was right, there was no way any of them would force him into it. They'd just have to sit there and wait for him to topple out of the chair. Didn't look like that would take too long either.
Goniff sat near by and urged the soup the lady up at the manor had brought down on him, but Garrison wasn't having any part of that. It was like he'd drawn himself away from them again. As soon as they'd got him on his feet out on the path that blank look had come over him again and he'd gone off somewhere in his head. Goniff watched him as he sat there and stared into the fire... Considerin' what was waiting for him when he got back in his right mind he didn't blame the bloke for running from it just a bit longer.
Chief stepped back in the door from seeing the lady back to the manor house. It was quiet in the room, except for Casino's pacing. They were all just quietly watching the Warden, avoiding what had to come. Even Actor who made a living at it now. He moved over to stand next to the one they'd followed through the hell of war and it's aftermath. Folding himself he took a seat on the stones of the hearth and looked up in the man's face. To anyone else it would have looked blank, but he'd spent too many years studying that face, taking cues from it. He could see the pain lurking there.
"Warden... What happened?" And he settled in to wait. The story would come if he waited long enough, gave the Warden time enough to tell it. It wasn't going to be a good story, but it was one that needed to be told. If he couldn't manage to tell it the man in front of him would be eaten alive by it, eaten from the inside out until there was only a husk of a man left. Chief didn't want to see that happen, so even though it wasn't in his nature to push, he did... just a little. "Warden?"
It took a few more minutes. He never took his eyes off the fire but they could tell he was trying to get his thoughts in order, trying to get himself ready. Casino stopped his pacing and came to stand at his back. Actor pulled a chair up next to him and settled into it. Garrison took a deep breath and then another, steadying himself... then he quietly started in.
"We had a fight."
"What was it about?"
"I was offered a promotion."
"Katherine didn't want you to take it?"
"No. She wanted me to, but it would mean another overseas assignment. I didn't want to be away from her...especially with the baby."
"Why didn't you tell anyone about the baby?" Actor asked, gently leading him.
It took him another minute. "She was afraid... She was afraid to jinx it."
"This wasn't the first pregnancy?"
The Warden shook his head. "She lost the first one almost before we knew she was pregnant. She carried the next one three months, the one after that a little over four. The doctor said he thought if she could make it to six months it would be alright... And she made it... She'd just sent out the announcements." He took another deep breath and scrubbed at his face with his hands. "We'd just moved onto the new base and I was all for just staying there but she talked me into making a trip back to the coast. She wanted to tell you guys in person... and she was feeling so good... She even got the doctor on her side. Said if we were going to make the trip it'd be easier on her to take the plane than to ride all that way in a car..."
They sat and waited through the silence. He was started now and he'd tell it all, finish the report, but it would have to be in his own time.
"She always wanted to travel." Garrison glanced around him as the cottage came into focus again. "She wanted to come here, to see where I'd been stationed, go to the places I'd seen during the war..., see the place in Germany.... I promised her I'd bring her, but after we lost the first baby she was just so weak... It was worse the second time. I was afraid to let her get too far from home so I just put her off, just kept promising. Then she had the third miscarriage. I told her that I didn't want kids after all, that I didn't think I could be a good parent. I finally came clean about my family..." He hadn't meant to keep that from her but he could never figure out how to tell her that not all the scars he carried with him were from injuries he'd suffered in the war, that not all the scars were visible. "I told her that there was a chance I'd turn out like my grandfather and it was just safer not to have any kids. I told her I'd bring her over as soon as she was strong enough. She stopped asking after that."
They'd made trips around the country as his assignments allowed. They'd been out to see Chief and made it to the east coast for Christmas and a couple of anniversary parties. But he never wanted to risk a longer trip. Even after she'd lost their third child, after he decided there wouldn't be any more, that he wouldn't risk her life on the promise of the laughter of children.
"She didn't tell me about the baby until she was over three months. She wasn't sick and I thought she was just putting the weight back from the last time. She didn't trust me. I think she was afraid I'd make her get rid of it." He dropped his head into his hands and admitted. "I thought about it too, I should have made her.. I just never said anything to her... My God! She was so happy, she was so sure that it would be alright this time... But so scared something would happen, so afraid she'd do something wrong."
"You said you had a fight, what happened?"
He turned his head and rested it on clenched fists studying Actor as he talked. "I'd just gotten word of the promotion, the same day she got the OK from the doctor. I hadn't brought the plane up from the last base yet, we were on the way back to get it. I didn't want her to make the trip but she insisted, said the doctor would back her up, that everything would be fine. We stopped by the base post office and she dropped off the announcements and then we headed out. All she could talk about was how much we had to celebrate... the baby, my promotion... I let her go for a while but then I told her I wasn't taking it and she got mad. Told me I was crazy. That I had no right to make a decision like that on my own. She said I had a family to think about now and the new grade and pay would make it easier for us. But it would mean six months overseas, they would have waited until after the baby..., but... six months!"
He remembered her scolding one moment and laughing at him the next.
"Oh, Craig! I'm stronger than you think I am. You've kept me wrapped in cotton wool for so long I can hardly breathe anymore. It'll be good to get rid of you for a while!"
"So that's it." He laughed, following her lead and letting the argument drop. "You just want me out of your hair?...."
"But she didn't answer me. When I turned to look at her there was already blood running over the seat and pooling on the floor at her feet. We were only about thirty minutes from town... but it was too far. It took me too long to get her back."
"What did the doctor say?"
"That she'd lost too much blood. That there was no way to stop it, not even with transfusions." He turned away and concentrated on the flames again. "We were right there, surrounded by all that equipment, all those doctors, and all I could do was hold her in my arms and watch her die. They let her see the baby, let her name it, but she never got to hold her... ..."
They exchanged stricken looks over his head. They all thought the baby died with Kathy.
"What happened to the baby, Warden?" Casino rested his hand lightly on Garrison's shoulder. "What happened to your little girl?"
"Anna... She named her for my mother... Anna died about twenty minutes after Kathy. The doctors knew she wasn't going to make it so they brought her to me. I was still with Kathy, still in the room where she...where..." He took a deep breath. "They put her in my arms and I got to watch her die too....She was so tiny, so much in need of my protection and I couldn't do a thing but sit there hold her while she died too."
Garrison shoved out of the chair and swayed there a moment.
"Where are you going Warden?"
"I can't stand it any more." The fire was too hot, the room seemed to be getting smaller. "I've got to get out of here." But when he turned for the door he couldn't seem to make his body work.
Actor and Goniff had come to their feet, Casino was still standing at his back and they caught him as he dropped. Chief pushed the chairs out of the way as they lowered him down to the floor. Actor knelt by his side, automatically taking on the role of the group's medic. They watched as fears of stokes and heart attacks swirled in their heads.
"He OK?"
GGGG
"You scared?"
Garrison turned and smiled, he'd answered that question before. "No... terrified."
Casino grinned back, "You'r not doin' this alone you know."
"I know. Thanks." Then he turned away, his attention riveted on the top of the stairs.
The little crowd shifted, their clothing rustling as they waited. It might be a few minutes, dames liked to make an entrance. Casino turned his attention from the stairs to the men gathered around him. They'd changed over the years, they were a little older, a little gray streaked through their hair, Actor needed that fancy cane he carried with him, Goniff had himself a set of glasses, but they'd made it. And it wasn't just the four of them any more. All the guys had gotten married, Actor'd kept at it until it looked like he'd finally gotten it right. And all of 'em but Actor had kids. All of 'em had family to bring along. His folks were there, Goniff's Mom and Molly. Actor's brother and his family had come over from Italy. Even Colonel.... General Reynolds had come. With Val and the kids, Johanna and Chief's two, Eddie, Beryl and Goniff's mob, filled in by Winnie, Alf and Marion and her family, there was just over thirty people waiting as witness.
Casino turned and watched his parents and smiled when Pop reached out and handed over his handkerchief to Ma... She loved weddings and usually started cryin' soon as she set foot in the church...He didn't know where all the tears came from but was glad she was still around to shed them and Pop was still there to help her mop them up. She dabbed at her eyes then leaned down and tucked the soggy thing back in Pop's pocket where he sat in the wheelchair. The last stroke had left him his speech but had taken away his ability to walk further than a few steps. The ramps they'd built in the old house, and the rooms they'd fixed for Mari were still getting a work out and Casino's oldest kid was living there with them full time to help out, he was standing by now, ready to be his Grandpa's wheelman.
Casino reached out and caught Val's hand, turning it palm up he planted a kiss there and folded her fingers over it. His heart swelled almost to bursting as she smiled at him and the only thing that caused him to look away was the murmur and sigh of the people gathered around them as the bride finally made her appearance. As he looked at the woman standing above them, flanked by her daughters he prayed the Warden would finally find what he'd had for almost twenty years now.
The crowd moved back and left the guys standing there as they waited for her to make her way down the stairs. They parted and let the three of them through. The girls were acting as her bride's maids and all four of them were standing up with the Warden. He told them there was no way he'd be able to pick just one of them out for a mission like this, they all had to do it.
g
After Kathy and the baby died Casino thought the Warden was going to die too. They'd tracked him down and brought him back to the States with them, each one taking him for a time as he recovered from the shock. Chief took him first. Garrison needed the solitude of the desert and the quiet companionship of the man that had always been their scout. He needed someone who would just stand at his back and not push him to talk... When he was ready to do that, Actor took over. He was between wives at the time and could devote all of his attention to the one who had led them as he worked through his grief and feelings of guilt. Then Goniff had him come and gently reintroduced him to having a family around, one with kids. And when he was finally ready the Warden came home to Casino's large, loud, laughter filled home.
The Army had left him alone through all of that, waiting in the background while he burned up his accumulated leave and tried to make his decision to get out or go back to work. All of the guy's urged him to get out, get away and do something else with his life but in the end he picked up the phone, made the call and told the brass he was ready. Two weeks after that he accepted the promotion to full colonel and was gone. And they didn't see him again for years. He sent cards at the right times, he sent gifts to the kids for their birthdays and at Christmas and to them on anniversaries but they didn't see him. The only time they even heard his voice on the phone was when Pop had his stroke and he called to check up on him. When they'd all get together there was that hole at the table and all of them secretly feared that he'd push it too hard, take too big a risk sometime and put and end to his life. Suicide by military engagement...
That all changed when he'd breezed into town three months ago, called a meeting like they'd been ordered up for one last mission and just sat there practically stone silent for the two days it took for all of them to make it to their spots around the table in Casino's kitchen. He was getting out of the service he said. He didn't know what he'd do with himself, but he was getting out. They'd find a way to make it on his retirement... They. Them! The two of them.... He was getting married again and he wanted them all at the wedding.
After they'd finished pounding the living daylights out of him and nearly shook his hand off the end of his arm he'd broken away and used the phone to call her. She'd been stashed in a hotel downtown and in the time it took for Susan to come out by cab they'd cooked up the biggest party the neighborhood had seen in a long time.
The next few weeks they got to know her as the couple spent time shuttling around the country visiting and getting all the plans settled for the wedding and the life they'd lead together after the big day. Susan was lively and vivacious, and when she needed to be, quiet and calmly accepting, loving and as protective of the Warden as she was of her girls. They all fell for her, hard. She'd been married to a military man, a pilot who'd lived through the war only to get himself killed in the 'police action' over in Korea when it first flamed up, leaving her to raise their two girls on her own. Her brother had been killed in the war and her parents were already gone which made her a stray and a prime candidate for Ma's adoption activities without the extra bonus of being hooked up with the Warden.
Casino's parents offered up their home again for the ceremony but it had been no surprise when they'd been gently refused. The Warden had picked a spot to live out in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. He said he couldn't explain it, but the little town reminded him of the place over in Germany, the place where his mother had grown up, and the area not too far from it where his father had been born and raised. He said it made him feel closer to them... It wasn't far from Chief and, by air, it wasn't far from the rest of them. They figured they'd all be headed there for the wedding and started making arrangements to get out there. But when the official invitations finally came he'd thrown them a curve ball. They were to assemble at the airport closest to their homes and he would come after them in a chartered plane... then they'd spend a night in New York before heading for England. It was all arranged. He'd taken the mansion for the ceremony. It was big enough to hold everyone and the library would be a perfect place for the wedding.... The couple would spend their first nights as man and wife out in the gardener's cottage.
g
Casino's thoughts were jerked back to the present when the parson asked for the ring. He patted the pocket where he'd stashed it and his heart stopped for a second when he came up empty. Then he leaned forward a little so he could turn a threatening eye on Goniff, where the retired pick pocket stood at the end of the row. The little Limey grinned at him a moment then shrugged and reached down into his own pocket and pulled the simple gold band out. He passed it along to Chief who handed it off to Actor who finally dropped it in his outstretched palm. When he turned to deliver it he caught the Warden looking at them, that half smile on his face, shaking his head like he always did when he caught them in one of their scams. As he handed the ring off and watched the Warden slip it on her finger, as he listened to him repeat the words his minded drifted back into the past again and he found himself standing in the kitchen of his parent's house...
"It's just crazy, y'know. I mean, all that education and going through West Point, bein' an officer and stuff. He's a real hero, Ma, got medals for bravery and everything. But he doesn't have anything that counts." Casino pulled his mother into a bear hug and kissed the top of her head. "Not like I got."
She put her hands on his chest and pushed back so she could look up into his eyes. "You like this young man, don't you?"
He thought a minute, "Yeah. I guess I do." He smiled down at her, "Just don't let him know, it'll ruin our relationship."
She slapped at his shoulder, leaving a wet print of her hand on his shirt sleeve, and turned back to the sink. "You make sure he knows it. It's one of those things that counts."
.... And then the minister declared they were man and wife and they kissed and when the Warden turned with his wife, backed by her girls, his daughters now, to face the crowd Casino could see it in his eyes. He had everything that counted, right there. He'd gathered it all around him and brought it back with him to the place that had seen them change from and group of men that were thrown together to do a job, to a circle of friends that had watched out for each other through good times and bad... through the laughter and tears that turned them from friends to family. He could see it as he pulled Val close... The Warden finally had everything that counted, and he knew it.
The End
