by Jodi Thomas
The branches snapped in protest as Cody lowered the man inch by inch. Finally the French mechanic was almost able to touch the wounded boy.
“Drop him,” the mechanic said.
Cody let go. The enemy pilot fell into waiting arms far stronger than Katherine would have guessed. He carried the boy several feet to a clearing and gently placed him on the ground. Moonlight offered all the light she needed to see that he had both a head injury and a shoulder wound.
Katherine stood frozen above him. The blood dripping from his head and arm didn’t bother her, but the thought that this very man might someday kill Cody turned her muscles to stone.
“Help him, Kat,” Cody said from behind her as he set the bag of supplies at her feet.
“I…” She wasn’t sure she could touch this man. He was the enemy. He and his people had caused all the pain and hurt she had worked to relieve every day since she’d been in France.
The scarred, dirty face of the mechanic looked up at her. “You must help him. He’ll bleed to death if you don’t,” the man said. “He’s a pilot.”
“But he could live to kill Cody,” she answered the Frenchman without looking at him any longer than necessary. Even in the moonlight Katherine now understood why the man called Hoot lived in the shadows. His face was a mass of scar tissue.
Cody’s hand gripped her shoulders. “I’ll take my chances with him fair and square in the air, but on the ground he’s one of my kind. I can’t just hand him over to the French to be shot as soon as he’s well enough to stand.”
“But it’s treason to aid the enemy.”
“For me, yes, but not for you. You’re sworn to help the suffering no matter what side they’re on. Isn’t that the Red Cross philosophy?”
Katherine closed her eyes and remembered the oath she’d sworn before she left New York. Suddenly Miss Willingham’s words seemed to flow through her, warming her hands so they could relax: “We have to help those who need us.” The dean of nursing had never once mentioned nationality.
Looking down at the black bag, Katherine knew what she had to do. She knelt beside the boy, her fingers automatically working at the job she’d been trained for.
As she cleaned the wounds and wrapped each, the young German watched her. At first she felt him tense with fear each time her hand brushed his wounds. When she tied the bandage tight to stop the bleeding, he flinched with pain, but he never said a word. He might have little idea what she had planned for him, but he faced his fate bravely.
Cody and Hoot talked in the shadows, keeping watch over her as she worked. When she completed her task; she patted the boy’s arm and started to stand.
He reached out suddenly with his good arm and grasped her hand. Slowly, awkwardly, he raised it to his lips and brushed a feather-light kiss over her fingers. For the first time, Katherine saw his eyes clearly in the moonlight. They were the clear blue of an Ohio sky, and a tear made its way across his unwrinkled face. He might not understand a word she said, but he knew she’d saved his life. She realized how few differences separated the two armies. Both were mostly boys with fears and dreams, boys who would die in the battles they never even knew the names of.
Cody pulled her to her feet and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. “We have to hurry. Go back to the hospital tent and be at work by the time I take off. If something happens, I don’t want you involved. You’ve done enough already. And please, Katherine, never speak of this to anyone.”
Katherine nodded. He didn’t have to tell her about the danger she’d place both men in if she told anyone what they’d done. “What about him?” She had to know what the plan was even if she could take no more part in it.
“Hoot will carry the man through the shadows to my plane. I think I know a few places where I can cross the line in the darkness.” Cody didn’t sound very confident. “All I have to do is land and let him out. Come morning someone will find him, and by that time I’ll be back at my base.”
He pulled her against him. “I know you may not understand this, but somehow, even though he and I are on different sides, he’s a part of me. I have to do what I can and hope he’d do the same.”
The French mechanic lifted the German onto his shoulder and limped away as silently as fog might steal toward the horizon.
Katherine rested her head against Cody’s jacket breathing deep of the leather smell before she asked, “Can we trust the Frenchman? If he tells anyone what we’re doing, I’ll be sent back to the States and you’ll probably be charged with treason.”
“We can trust him,” Cody answered. “He took a big chance telling us about the pilot. We could have turned on him, too.”
Cody slowly pulled her arms away. “I’ll get word back to you as soon as I can and let you know I made it safely to my base. Stay here a few minutes so no one will see us leaving together.”
She wanted to say, “Don’t go!” but she couldn’t. He had to do what needed to be done. His honor would allow nothing else. He’d told her his unit would take to the air any day, and she knew he had to be with them. All the things she wanted to say, like “please come back” and “I love you,” were lost somewhere in the flood around her breaking heart.
Cody looked down at her one last time and said, “I know.”
Then he was gone, vanishing into the shadows as easily as a dream vanished at dawn. Katherine closed her eyes and fought back her tears until he was out of hearing.
While she waited, the night grew cold. When she opened her eyes, she felt suddenly very alone. The blackness closed in around her as it always did. She could feel more than hear movement at her feet and knew the creatures of the night were surrounding her before they attacked and bit at her flesh.
Fighting back her screams, Katherine ran from the woods. She didn’t have to see the creatures to know they were there. They were always there. She’d felt them in the blackness since she was a child, and they were no less frightening to her now.
The moonlight guided her until she reached the rows of tents. Katherine slowed to a walk and tried to stop the pounding of her heart. She made herself walk in measured strides without looking up when she heard a plane overhead. Closing her eyes, she said a silent prayer as Cody flew into the night and away from her.
When she could no longer hear the sound of his engine, she made herself a promise. She would work as hard as she could until he returned. Nursing would keep her hands busy, and if she was tired enough she wouldn’t wonder where he was or if this day would be his last.
A cold, damp wind chilled her face as she walked toward the hospital. When she looked up, she saw a long line of men standing outside the main Red Cross tent. Katherine quickened her pace. As she passed among their ranks, she discovered many of these men were not shot, but ill with fever.
Entering the hospital, she was shocked to find every bed filled. Dr. Wells hurried toward her. “Thank God you’re here, Katherine. We need to separate these men from the wounded as fast as possible.”
“Start setting up more beds,” the doctor said, “before we lose more men from fever than from bullets.”
Katherine hurried to do what was needed. By the time she’d divided the hospital into two parts and organized the nurses so that those working with the wounded did not come in contact with the men with fever, she was exhausted. She looked down at her watch and realized she’d worked almost twenty-four hours without a break and with only coffee to keep her going.
As she stepped out of the tent, Katherine was amazed at how cold the weather had turned. The wind had grown bitter, and now the sky was dark and brooding. The sudden change from the hot damp hospital tent into the crisp night air made Katherine’s head swirl.
In exhaustion she lost her way and she wandered off into the blackness.
She ran without direction or plan, for what seemed like an endless time, toward the only light she saw in a sea of blackness, a light that wasn’t constant but flashed in the dark like fireflies blinking. The muddy earth pulled at her shoes,
but she forced herself to keep running toward the flashes of light. She wished Cody’s arms were around her again. She needed Sarah to calm her fears. She had to reach the light before the night creatures came out.
Someone in the darkness shouted for her to stop, but Katherine didn’t react. In one moment the earth slipped away and she was falling, falling, falling.
Twenty-four
SEVERAL PAIRS OF strong hands reached out of the blackness and pulled Katherine up from what seemed to be a long grave. She saw explosions of gunfire above her head. The sound was like rapid thunder and much closer than she’d ever heard it before.
“Crazy lady!” a voice above her yelled in a British accent. “If this foxhole hadn’t stopped you, you’d be at the front line by now.” The soldier turned to his men. “Lift her up easy, boys. No telling what she broke in that fall.”
“I’m all right,” Katherine lied. Her body felt numb, as if she’d landed flat, bruising everything equally. “I just got turned around and thought I was running toward the hospital.” She wanted to tell all the men yelling at her that it wasn’t her fault. She was tired, and she hated the night, but she doubted they’d understand.
“Well, pardon me for saying so, miss, but you don’t seem in such good shape to me. How’d you get this far into the lines without someone stopping you?” The soldier yelled again as though he had only one volume level. “If you don’t mind, I’ll have my men carry you back to the hospital.”
The thought of being placed on a stretcher and carried into the tent horrified Katherine. “No!” She pushed at the hands that held her. “I can walk.”
The officer hesitated, then told his men to lower her slowly to the ground. “All right, if you say so. But I’m sending a few men along with you to make sure you get there. We’ve got a war to fight here and we can’t have nurses dropping in on us.”
The last thing Katherine wanted was to be alone. She wasn’t sure she could cross the black space between the trenches and the hospital without screaming. She accepted the offered escort.
A firm hand rested beneath her arm as she moved toward the tent lights. The man touching her didn’t speak but only walked formally at her side as though if he got too close he’d catch her insanity. Another soldier followed a step behind, silent as a shadow. When they reached her quarters, both saluted and disappeared without a word.
Katherine took a long breath, realizing she’d just done a very foolish thing, running into the night. There were men who needed her. She couldn’t afford to allow her fears to rule her again, no matter how tired she became.
Hurrying inside, she quickly lit the little stove and washed. Several places looked like they would be black-and-blue tomorrow, but at least tonight she was safe.
Her thoughts were filled with Cody’s love as she huddled between the stove and her desk. She didn’t notice a letter from Sarah on her desk. She moved the thin envelope around twice while she finished her paperwork before it fell unnoticed to the floor.
Katherine finally stood and stretched. Every muscle ached from either the fall or from exhaustion. It seemed like a lifetime since she’d been held. Her lips were still puffy from Cody’s kisses and the very private parts of her were sore from his loving, but her entire body longed to touch him and be touched.
His memory was almost tangible in her little room. She brushed the top of the tent where she’d seen his sunny-colored hair touch. With a smile, she wandered around, caressing all the things he’d touched only hours before. The smell of leather, wool, and Cody lingered in the tent as if refusing to leave.
A sudden draft of cold air whispered across her cheek and she whirled toward the opening of her tent. No one was there. She’d almost expected to see Cody walk in and open his arms in silent greeting.
Forcing back the tears, Katherine looked down. There, just inside her tent, lay a small package wrapped in newspaper. She walked slowly toward it, hoping it was good news, fearing it might be bad. As she knelt to pick up the package, she looked through the opening in the flap, but couldn’t see anyone outside.
Written on the package were these words: “When you fly into a little field near the Somme River, deliver this to a mechanic named Hoot. He’ll know where to take this package. Thanks, Cody.”
Katherine tore into the wrapping like a child with only one present at Christmas. She shoved all the paper away and opened the box. Folded neatly inside was the long silk scarf Cody had been wearing when he left her.
Carefully she lifted the scarf and held it to her cheek. She could smell the wind and adventure just as plainly as she could smell Cody’s strong masculine fragrance woven into the cloth.
A note lay in the bottom of the box. For a moment Katherine couldn’t bring herself to pick it up. Part of her would rather have faced no news than the possibility of bad news.
Carefully she unfolded the single piece of paper and read the bold handwriting:
Kat,
I made it back after delivering my cargo. All hell’s about to break out near Verdun. The battles will be costly and fruitless. The ground they’ll pour blood into looks worthless from the air.
Don’t know when I can get back, but I’ll carry you in my heart until then.
Love,
Cody
Katharine crumpled to the floor. She cried until no more tears would fall. She wanted to sleep in Cody’s arms. Like a child she was tired and hungry and in need of rest, yet she couldn’t stop crying or make even herself stand up.
Finally, exhausted, she curled into a ball on the cold floor and closed her eyes to the world.
Some time later, in the space between dreams and reality, someone lifted her in his arms and carried her to bed. He laid her down gently, like a father; then Katherine felt warm covers being tucked around her. She smiled and stretched beneath the warm blankets, too sleepy to open her eyes.
Several hours later when she finally rolled over, Katherine felt as though every bone in her body had been rearranged. Without opening her eyes, she remembered all that had happened the night before, even the part where she’d dreamed she’d been tucked into bed by someone who cared about her. Somehow the dream of being cared for gave her comfort, reminding her that there was kindness in this world filled with fever and dying.
The months that followed were cold and damp. Work and gray skies seemed endless. Katherine sometimes had trouble remembering what day it was. Occasionally, when planes landed from the south, they brought short notes from Cody, never more than a few lines quickly written.
He reported that his men, now called the Escadrille Américaine, had been moved to a quiet sector at an airbase called Luxeuil. The men were restless and ready for action, but the French seemed reluctant to allow the Americans to fly near the front.
The Escadrille had made its first kill. One of the men was returning from his first patrol when he spotted a German two-seater observation plane. The American had never before fired his machine gun, but he made a hit and the German plane nose-dived to earth. The hit created an overnight hero and made headlines across the ocean.
Cody’s next letter came from Verdun where the Escadrille had been transferred once more. Miss Willingham sent all the news clippings of the battles near Verdun, telling Katherine that Cody was also still in touch with those back home. The clippings told of troops ordered “over the top” by the thousands and cut down just as quickly by enemy machine guns. The news reported that so many artillery shells were fired, the ground between the trenches was potted and devoid of all life.
Within weeks the Escadrille became famous. They were the American heroes of the skies, fighting the very best German planes and men. And like all heroes, many were dying.
As the year progressed, Katherine used all her energy working so that at night she was exhausted. Finally, on a rare afternoon off, she decided to clean her quarters. With her usual determination she set to work, resolving she wouldn’t spend the day worrying. The office was half cleaned when she found Sarah’s letter.
>
Katherine opened it excitedly and almost screamed aloud when she read the first line: “I can neglect my duty no longer. I’m coming over in the spring.”
The next few days were lost in a happy whirlwind of activity. Katherine should have had months to prepare for Sarah’s coming, but the lost letter had cut the time short.
Arranging for a two-day pass, Katherine rode to the coast in a supply truck to await Sarah’s ship. The weather was warm, and France was beautiful away from the front. At times as they bumped along the road, she found it hard to believe this country was at war, for peace rested so easily over the landscape.
Knowing she’d arrived early, Katherine booked a room in a little inn that allowed her to see the ocean. She could have stayed at the Red Cross headquarters, but she didn’t want to spend her one day away from the front talking to the other nurses about the war.
She spent over an hour soaking in a real bathtub, then put on the only dress she’d brought to Europe other than her uniforms and ventured downstairs to the restaurant.
The place was smaller than the dining room at the boardinghouse in Columbus. Little tables for two and four were arranged around the sides of the room with one large round oak dining table in the center. All the tables were covered with linen and place settings, but except for a tired waiter leaning against the wall in the far corner, no one was in the room.
When she took a seat, the waiter brought her a menu and a glass of wine. Katherine felt terribly wicked as she sipped her first glass of spirits since she’d downed a glass of whiskey the morning she flew with Cody. What would Miss Willingham say if she saw her prize student all alone in a foreign country, drinking?
Katherine laughed to herself and tried to figure out at least one word on the menu. She might be very hungry by tomorrow afternoon if she didn’t come up with something to order.
“May I help the mademoiselle make a selection this evening?” a low French-accented voice said from behind her. “Would you like more wine?”
