Chapter Nine

Long days and even longer nights. Kid Wyatt lay slumped over this desk in one of the back rooms; the radio's white noise his constant lullaby. He'd been cooped up in the room since before dinner and he'd most likely be there in the morning when the others woke up. He'd done crossword puzzle after crossword puzzle and had decimated two pencils in the last two hours.

He'd just started to snore when the radio crackled to life - kicking up sparks of sound. "What the-" Kid picked up the ear piece and pressed it hard against his ear and cheek. "Go ahead, over."

He frantically scribbled down message after message, one for Teaspoon, two scheduled communiqués for Buck and bad news about supplies. He argued back and forth, unaware that two sets of eyes were watching him from the door.

Kid pushed his cap off his head and raked his fingers through his hair. The military cut still felt odd, he'd had a full head of thick brown waves for years. "What do you mean it'll be three days. We're running out of fuel...No... Not a chance. I can't just take the entire 'fleet' of Indians down to the closest petrol station and ask them to fill up the tanks and send the bill to the B.E.F." He quieted down for a moment, listening to the litany of excuses on the other end.

Ike capped a hand on Buck's shoulder, "Just when we're starting up..."

"Yeah," Buck nodded to Ike, doesn't look good from where I'm standing."

Ike nodded, "There isn't much good where I'm standing either. The club is scheduled to open tonight and I know Rachelle is tearing apart the back rooms."

A wise arch of Buck's brow drew Ike's eye, "Seems like a lot of worry over nothing. The club will open, people will come."

Ike smiled and led Buck away from the doorway when Kid looked up and glared, "I wish it were that simple. We've got to draw the right type of crowd, that's what Rachelle's so worried about." The two found themselves in Buck's room. "The last time Teaspoon stopped by, he - ah" Buck sat down while he searched for the word, "seamed... concerned."

Ike laughed, "Concerned is an understatement. The generals who are supervising do not see the 'benefit' of a program like this."

Buck nodded and smoothed his hand over his pillow. "I admit I still don't understand why I'm here."

"We're all here for different reasons-"

"Like Jimmy for instance. What do we need a fly boy for?"

Ike chuckled, "The military must have it's reasons..."

"Besides, if I have to hear one more time about the number of KILLS he's made... I have to make one of my own."

A knock sounded at the open door way, "Is this a private party, or can anyone join?"

Buck looked up a guilty look on his face, "Noah? Sure, come on in and take a seat."

"Thanks, I was walking by... can't really sleep much tonight."

"Really?" Buck hedged, eager to hear from someone else, the worries inside his own head were deafening.

"I've been expecting a letter from my Jess for days now." Noah pulled over a chair, turned it around and plopped himself down on it. The back of the chair between his legs he leaned down on his arms and stared at the floor. "I hope everything's okay."

Ike leaned forward, staring at Noah's hands. His right thumb and pointer worried at the empty space on his left hand, where a ring once stood sentry. "I'm sure she's fine. These days you can't expect reliable mail service, it's hard enough to get fresh food in town."

A grateful smile touched Noah's face, "I know Ike, but I miss my little ones the most."

Buck sat back against the wall, "Just how many do you have?"

Bright white teeth shone against the palate of his dark skin, "Five."

"Five?" Ike and Buck exclaimed in unison.

"That's just amazing," Buck's voice shook with disbelief, "You can't be more than twenty-five.. twenty-six?"

"Twenty-seven, actually. Jess'n me were sweethearts from the first, it wasn't long after we finished ....... school that we found ourselves in the nearest church."

Noah enjoyed the stricken looks on his friend's faces, "It's the best thing that ever happened to me." They seemed to squirm in their seats, "Just wait until you find the one. Finding yourself in front of a preacher will be a privilege instead of the punishment you're thinking of."

Buck shook his head, "No...not anytime soon." Even as he said it a foggy window slid into his mind, the heart traced on it had been in his thoughts for days. The next few moments of the conversation were lost on him as he closed his thoughts to anything but her.

Almost every day, he'd found an excuse to wander by the house where he'd seen her. Her window stood empty every time and now Buck was wondering if he'd really seen her or if she'd just been a vision, a trick of light playing on the glass.

Somewhere, deep inside, he knew she was real. The only thing he had to do, was find her.

"Buck? Buck? You in there somewhere?"

Something hit the side of his face and Buck looked over at Ike who was balling up a second piece of newsprint. "Put it down and no one gets hurt."

Noah laughed, "We thought you left us there for a minute."

Buck felt his shoulders quake with laughter, he'd been caught in his daydream, "Guilty."

Ike propped his feet up on Buck's bed, "You looked happy."

Smiling at the other 'riders', Buck shared a wistful smile, "I was... I was."

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Kid set his earpiece down and rubbed his ear to restore feeling to his ear. He had a mother of a headache. It had started from word one of the radio message and had only gotten worse. Kid shoved a cookie in his mouth and munched on it while he separated the messages to deliver them. There was one message he hated to deliver, it was the one for Teaspoon.

Slowly, he stretched up out of his chair and moved to the wall calendar. "April 9th, Wednesday." He marked it with a red pen, a large angry "X" where a clean square had been. "Damn it!" Over his momentary lapse, Kid looked around his office and just outside the door, relieved that no one had heard him.

Reaching into the brown box on his desk, Kid fished around, his fingers picking up crumbs like a magnet. "What?" Kid turned full to the desk and lifted the cover. "This was a full box of cookies YESTERDAY!" His voice bounced off the walls. Frantically, Kid racked his brain. He'd gotten the box yesterday and it had been sitting on his desk.

He was forgetting something. Who used the radio yesterday... who?

Kid licked his finger and swept it through the crumbs. Bringing it to his mouth the slightly tart taste of the Peanut Butter jogged his memory. "Butler!!! You snake!"

Kid smacked the lid down on the box and ran out the door, heading down one level to the private rooms, "BUTLER!"

***************

The conversation stopped as Kid's bellow could be heard barreling down the hall. Buck leaned over the bed, trying to see down the hallway. "I wonder what's got Kid so riled up?"

Ike shrugged his shoulders, but they all turned as Kid nearly ran into the door frame. "Where is he?" Kid panted.

"HE?" Noah asked and then did a head count. "James?"

"James?" The word was laced with bitterness, "Yes JAMES!"

The three just shrugged and turned back to their own conversation.

"So? Where is he?"

Noah turned with a questioning eye. "We don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

The three looked at each other again. They hadn't known him for very long, less than a week in fact, but Kid didn't seem like himself.

"What's the matter Kid?" Ike decided to get the whole scene over with.

"The matter? What's the matter?" Kid dropped the box in the middle of Buck's bed, crumbs went flying like fleas escaping a circus.

"Hey!" Buck started to brush the crumbs off, "I'm not gonna sweep the floor.."

"My Cookies!" Kid fumed and paced near the door.

Noah laughed, "Isn't that the box your sister sent?"

"Yesterday... it came yesterday, and today it's gone!"

"What' the matter Kid?" James sauntered into the room, covered in miles of dust and motor grease. He flipped a coin in the air, the white of his teeth flashed against the dark layer of dirt on his face, "Anyone up for a game of poker?"

Kid swiped the box off the bed and shoved it into Jimmy's chest."

"Whoa!" Jimmy looked down at the young radio operator, "What's this for?"

"Clean up your own mess!" Kid stalked into the hall.

Jimmy followed him and whipped him around by the arm. "What's up with you?"

Kid's eyes flashed anger, ignoring the cache of riders that had spilled out of Buck's room to watch. "My cookies! They're gone."

"Cookies?" Jimmy shoved his free hand through his hair and gripped the box to his chest with the other, "What's wrong Kid?"

Noah shook his head, "It's hard to imagine this is all about some box of cookies-"

"Well, it ... it ISN'T!" Kid pounded his hand against the wall to emphasize his point, "A message came in for Teaspoon tonight-" He trailed off, leaving the riders hanging.

"And?" Buck prompted.

"And nothing, I can't tell you what it says, you'll have to wait for Tea-"

"No! No way Kid," Jimmy hated mysteries. "You can't just 'half' tell us about this.. and then STOP!"

"I- you know I-"

Buck moved closer, "We'll find out about it tomorrow morning, why not now?"

"Fine, you want the news, you get it." He drew in a shaky breath and let the news fly like a freight train, "Today, April 9th," there was a terrible sadness to his voice, "Germany invaded Denmark and Norway."

Kid reached out and snatched back the box from Jimmy and ran off down the hallway.

Not a sound filled the hall, just an overwhelming fear. The War was looming closer and closer and no one knew when it would be right outside their door.

To be continued...



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