by Arnie
Goniff nodded, opened the door a few inches and slid through the gap.
"Ya know, considering how much that Limey eats," Casino commented, "I'm surprised he can get through those doors at all!"
Chief grinned openly but said nothing, as the door opened a few inches again and the blond Cockney reappeared.
"No go. The Sergeant-Major's in the 'all." Goniff shut the door quietly behind him. The Warden might threaten them with a firing squad if they got caught, but they were all determined to take their chances and escape.
Actor sighed. His fine suit had not been made for climbing out of the window, and he'd hoped that they would be able to avoid such an eventuality. "Very well. The window it is."
Chief raised a hand to move the bars, then froze. "Someone's there."
"Damn!" Casino scowled. It looked like they might have trouble getting out after all. Why tonight, of all nights?
"'Ere, we could just go an' ask the War..." Goniff's suggestion was cut off sharply.
"No way, baby! He'd say no and you know it!"
Goniff shrugged. He'd guessed that that would be Casino's retort, but he'd wanted to give a go anyway.
"Goniff," Actor's face was intent - he, too, was determined to escape their prison, "Whereabouts was the Sergeant-Major?"
"In the 'all, I said so."
"No, where exactly. Upstairs, downstairs...?"
"In my lady's chamber?" Casino finished, grinning slightly at the thought.
"Dahnstairs, in the 'all. He was talkin' to Peterson."
"Then we go into another room and escape using that window," Actor stated.
"We'll have to stick to this side o' the house," Chief reminded them. "There's no ivy growin' on the other side."
"'Ere, the bedroom at the end o' the 'all, it's got a big window - and there's plenty of ivy down there."
Actor looked sharply at the thief. "And how exactly do you know that?"
"Well, I uh...'appened to be in there and I noticed," Goniff offered, airily.
"Was that while you were climbing out of the window?" Actor demanded accusingly.
"So you were the one who stole that silver box from there," Casino snapped. "We lost three days leave 'cause o' you!"
"I didn't know the Warden was gonna find out, did I?" Goniff protested. "I just thought me Mum would like it."
Actor shook his head. Goniff really was like a magpie: any shiny object caught his attention. "It makes no difference now," he told them, interrupting Casino's spirited attempt to get hold Goniff and wring his neck (and not for the first time). "We lost three days leave, but we can still have a fine evening in the Doves."
Casino stopped chasing the elusive Limey and scowled at Actor. "You're just sayin' that 'cause the landlady thinks the sun shines out of your�."
"Casino!" Actor was shocked. "I can assure you, the landlady of the Doves has never made any remark like that."
Chief sat down on the edge of the table as the row escalated. Sometimes he was amazed they didn't stop to have an argument in some German Kommandant's office and get them all captured. A slamming car door caught his attention and he made a dive towards the window, throwing a "Quiet!" at them as he went.
The three cons broke off their argument abruptly as they turned to see Chief peering out of the window once more. Naturally, the Indian was careful to avoid being spotted.
"It was the Warden," he informed them. "And he had his briefcase with him!"
"That only means one thing," Actor commented.
Casino sat down with a sour look on his face. "Another mission." And bang went their chances of a night out.
"Yer never know - we might 'ave to leave termorrow," Goniff said, hopefully.
"Yeah." Casino perked up a bit. "Who's gonna be fightin' the war on New Year's Eve?"
"We are."
Casino looked up sharply as Garrison shut the door behind them. "I mighta guessed!"
"I agree." Garrison put his case on the table and opened it, pullng out some maps and plans. "We fly out at 2300 hours." He looked at Goniff as the Cockney screwed up his face in an attempt to make his brain understand the twenty four hour clock, and added, "That's eleven o'clock, Goniff."
Goniff nodded, and sat down with a resigned look on his face.
"We're being dropped over Germany, where we make our way to this prisoner of war camp. It might look a little familiar to you."
"Hey, that's the place we broke Pryor out of!" Casino exclaimed.
"That's the one."
"We gotta break someone else out?" Chief asked, tensing up. Whoever it was, he hoped it wasn't another face from his past.
"No." Garrison hesitated then continued, "We break in...and then break out again."
"What?" Even Actor was surprised at that plan.
"There's a contact of ours who's being held in there. He can't leave, not yet. But we need the information he's got. Our job is to break in and collect the information."
"That's crazy!" Even Goniff recognised that fact.
"That's as may be, but we're going in."
"Won't the guards notice when they acquire some extra prisoners?" Actor questioned.
"We won't be there long enough to take part in any head counts. If everything goes according to plan, they won't know we're there at all." Garrison looked around at them. "I know it's crazy, but we need the information and this is the most reliable way to get it. If he smuggles it out to a contact, it could be tampered with long before it reaches Army Intelligence. We have to get it directly from the source."
"Why tonight?" Casino demanded, with his usual annoyed look on his face.
Garrison looked him straight in the eye. "Because that's when we've been told to go. Be ready at 2230 hours."
"Great, just great! New Year's Eve and we gotta go on stinkin' mission." Casino scowled at everyone within sight as he climbed into the back of the truck.
"Look at it this way, Pappy - at least we're not stayin' in there long enough to celebrate our birthdays," Chief offered.
"You hope! If we get caught we'll be celebratin' Christmas in there!"
"Casino, shut up and sit down!" Garrison ordered sharply as the Sergeant-Major pulled the tarpaulin down to cover the back of the truck. The American Lieutenant was beginning to regret mentioning the mission.
Casino sat down with a thud as the truck pulled away. New Year's Eve and they were parachuting into Germany. What a life.
"Least we 'ad Christmas off," Goniff reminded them, smiling to himself. He'd received a letter from his Mum, plus a heavy fruit cake that had gone down a treat after the best Christmas dinner their rations (and a black market contact) could provide.
"Yes," Actor agreed. "We might have been spending Christmas day in prison. Think about that."
Casino scowled to himself. He knew they were right. They were far better off than a lot of his friends - Blackie included. Last year, Blackie had been in prison...this year, he was in an unmarked grave. Casino shrugged the memory off: he knew he was lucky. "Well, who wanted to go to the Doves anyway?" he asked. "We'd hafta spend all night watchin' Chief beat the locals at darts, while Actor chats up all the best lookin' dames. Now, if someone hadn't pinched that silver box...."
Goniff shifted in his seat slightly. They'd all been punished for that, but he didn't want the Warden finding out he was the sole culprit. "Yeah, Chiefy never loses at darts. You'd think the locals would 'ave learnt by now, wouldn't yer, Chiefy?"
"Yeah." Chief sounded preoccupied and he was. He had a good sense of direction, and at the moment it was telling him that they were driving around in circles...which didn't make sense.
Actor felt some concern. He'd never heard the Indian accept a compliment before - was he ill? "Chief? Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I just...." His voice trailed off. "Warden, we goin' straight to the airfield?"
"We're flying out at 2300 hours, Chief, we don't have time for detours." Garrison frowned slightly, he'd forgotten about Chief's finely tuned sense of direction. "Look, I know you're all disappointed about not getting into London for that three day pass and now losing out on your New Year celebration at the Doves, but it can't be helped. In any case, you losing your three day pass was nothing to do with the mission."
"Yeah, we know!" Casino's tone of voice promised retribution to the sticky fingered Limey in their midst, and Goniff shifted in his seat again. With any luck, the mission would take Casino's mind off any thoughts of vengeance, well, at least until they got back and Goniff was able to be out of sight and out of mind.
Any other comment Casino was going to offer on the subject, was interrupted by the truck swinging around a tight corner and jerking to a stop. Garrison pulled up the tarpaulin and scrambled out first, quickly followed by his team.
"This ain't the airfield." Typically, Chief's quiet comment was short and to the point.
Garrison grinned at the looks of surprise on his men's faces as they stared at the Doves Pub.
"I thought we were off on that mission?" Casino demanded.
"We are...tomorrow night. Considering all the cons you lot pull on me, I figured it was about time I got my own back."
"Revenge, Lieutenant? I'm shocked!" Actor held open the door for his friends, his amused tone betraying his total lack of affrontedness.
"You should be, Actor, you're buying the first round," Garrison told him, leading the way into the bright, cheery building.
Casino stopped and looked up at the pub. "I guess it's your lousy Limey beer again," he said quietly, not seeming to mind in the slightest. "It'll be warm too, you know that?"
"Yeah, mate." Goniff grinned. "Warm beer and good mates. What more do you need for New Year's Eve?"
The End.
