The Night of the 21st

The weather outside was frightful. A blizzard was making its way through Germany, covering everything in its path in pure white snow. Everyone in the area was sitting next to a fire, warming up with some boiled water, or if they were lucky, some hot cocoa.

Well-almost everyone.

Hogan's Heroes were all huddled around the radio in the frigid cold tunnel, waiting for orders from London. LeBeau was rubbing his shoulders furiously. Carter was wringing his hands. Newkirk, on the other hand, was standing completely still, his hands stuck deep into his pockets. Kinch was sitting in his chair, watching the radio, the headset around his neck.

Suddenly, the beeping started. The men watched in anticipation as Kinch started to translate the message. Kinch tapped the receiver, asking for a repeat. The message came again.

Kinch took off his headset, a grin on his face. "Due to the blizzard, London has requested that all espionage activity cease for the next five days."

"The next five days?" Carter started counting on his fingers. "Does that mean…?"

Newkirk gave a loud whoop. "It sure does! We have Christmas off, mate! And Boxing Day too!"

Carter's eyes widened. "Oh boy!" he exclaimed. "Well, what are we going to do for Christmas then?"

"Our Red Cross packages should be arriving any time now," LeBeau said. "Even if the Kommandant steals from them, we should have enough supplies for the best Christmas Dinner this camp has ever seen!"

Carter smiled dreamily. "My mouth's watering just thinking about it!"

"I bet we can get some pine branches, and maybe get a wreath to decorate the door," Kinch suggested.

"I don't care what we do!" Newkirk exclaimed jovially, "We finally get a bleeding holiday!"

"Let's go tell the Colonel," LeBeau grinned. "He'd love to hear the good news!"

The team exited the tunnel. Colonel Hogan was watching the door, ready to shoo away anyone who wanted to come in.

"We have Christmas off!" Carter announced loudly.

"The blizzard is making travel almost impossible, so we have orders from London to lay low for the next five days." Kinch explained.

Hogan grinned. "I was hoping they'd order that. I'll speak with Klink, see if we can get an extra hour or two of electricity for Christmas."

"I will plan the dinner!" LeBeau eagerly grabbed a pencil and some paper and began scribbling down some ideas.

"Permission to go outside and gather materials for a wreath tonight after rollcall?" Kinch asked. "I won't be going too far from the stump, so I'm not going to get lost out there."

"If you want to go out into the cold, permission granted," Hogan said, "and grab some holly if you can find it. But don't go out of your way though. I'm not a botanist, so I'm not sure if it grows here or not."

"Don't forget to look for some Mistletoe!" Carter told Kinch.

Kinch was bewildered. "Mistletoe? Why would we need that?"

"Because…" Carter blushed, realizing what he had just said. "Never mind!"

Everyone burst out laughing, even Carter.

"So, are we going to be doing presents?" Carter asked when the laughter died down.

LeBeau looked up from his list. "I'd like to, but I'm not sure I could get enough presents for all four of you, especially since we only have three days until Christmas Eve."

"It's kind of hard to go Christmas shopping when you're busy sabotaging," Newkirk added sarcastically.

"What if we only did one each?" Hogan suggested. "We can do a Secret Santa."

Kinch smiled. "I like it Colonel."

"Oh boy!" Carter looked like he was about to burst from excitement. "This is almost like Christmas at home!"

Newkirk tore the flap off his box of cigarettes and broke it into five pieces. He handed one to each person. LeBeau passed around his pencil. Hogan took off his hat and laid it on the center of the table. One by one, each man wrote his name on the cardboard and placed it in the hat.

When everyone was done, Hogan picked up his hat, gave it a good shake, and passed it around.

"I got myself!" LeBeau complained.

"Me too," Kinch said. The two men hastily switched cardboard pieces.

"Is everyone else good?" Hogan asked.

LeBeau, Kinch, and Newkirk nodded. Carter was staring wide-eyed at his piece.

"Did you get yourself too, André?" LeBeau asked.

Carter shook his head. "Nope." He folded the cardboard and shoved it into his pocket. "I'm good."

"Alright everyone," Hogan said, "We have three days until Christmas Eve. Don't stress too much over your Secret Santa. LeBeau, if you need any help with dinner, just ask."

"Oui, mon Colonel," LeBeau nodded.

"This is going to be the best Christmas I've ever had in a long time," Carter said.

Everyone nodded, lost in thought. But their reminiscing was cut short by a loud noise.

"Everyone out for rollcall, Raus! Rrraus!" Sargent Schultz ordered.

The men sighed. It was freezing cold out, and nobody wanted to go for a rollcall. They trudged outside anyway. Hopefully, it would be quick.

"Repoooort!" Kommandant Klink's yell boomed across the camp.

"Herr Kommandant, all present and accounted for!" Schultz informed him.

"Very good! Prisoners dismissed!" Klink sounded very far away. It seemed that even Klink didn't want to be outside in the storm.

The instant rollcall was over, Kinch went to gather the pine branches. Everyone else started to get ready for bed, thinking about what to get their Secret Santas, and what in the world someone could get for them in Stalag 13.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kinch came in from outside, covered in snow. He was surprised to see Hogan there.

"How's the weather?" Hogan asked casually.

"Terrible," Kinch said. "I got the pine branches, but it was really hard to see out there. I even tried to get back in through the wrong tree stump."

Hogan frowned. "This storm's a doozy. No wonder London wants us to lay low. No more outside missions for a while."

"You got that right," Kinch smirked. "Besides, who wants to be outside on Christmas? Especially with this party going on."

Hogan grinned. "You're right. All we have to worry about now is how we're going to treat our stomach aches after stuffing ourselves with LeBeau's dinner. And that's not the worst thing in the world. Not by a longshot." Hogan stood up. "I'm heading off to bed. Merry Early Christmas, Kinch."

"And a Happy Early New Year to you too, Colonel." Kinch answered back. He watched the Colonel walk back to his room, a spring in his step. Kinch smiled. It had been a long time since he'd seen Hogan this relaxed. Kinch changed into his nightclothes and went to bed.

Outside, the storm raged on.