Chapter 13: More Unanswered Questions

Chapter 13: More Unanswered Questions

"Kinch, place a call to London about the pickup." Hogan didn't want Lawrence to leave, but he had a job to do. The Allies needed the information Fehler possessed to help end the war.

Kinch placed the call for a pickup that night. "Sir's, London is sending a plane tonight and they want the bridge in sector "G" blown tonight as well. Sources say there'll be munitions headed for the Eastern front crossing it early in the morning."

"How do they expect us to do all of this in one night?" asked Carter.

"It isn't like we haven't had more than one job to do before," said LeBeau.

"As much as I hate it, we'll have to split up. Newkirk and LeBeau will take the packages to the pick up. Kinch and Carter will blow the bridge. I don't want to take the chance on my leg giving out so I'll stay here. If something doesn't seem right, scrub the mission and get back here," ordered Hogan.

The men sat silently for a moment. Kinch glanced at his watch. "Newkirk, isn't today the day to clean Klink's office?"

"Um, yea." Newkirk headed toward the ladder.

"I thought…" Carter didn't get to finish the sentence. Newkirk grabbed Carter by the collar.

"Remember, Carter, we changed it to today," said Newkirk.

"Oui, Andrew. We changed it to today. Let's get it over with," said LeBeau.

"I'll make sure you're not disturbed by taking a long nap on my cot. I'll get you when it's time for roll call or time to eat." Kinch shooed the men upstairs.

HH HH HH

Newkirk leaned over Klink's desk, while he was dusting, to get a better look at the paperwork Klink was working on.

"Something I can help you with, Corporal?" asked Klink with a little irritation.

"No, Sir. I'm just dusting your desk off. This desk is really dusty, Sir," said Newkirk, dusting off the picture frames.

"I'll get out of your way. If you need me, I'm just outside the door." Klink laid his papers on the desk. He paused a moment at the door. "Do a through job." Then closed the door.

Newkirk smiled. "I like having Klink on our side now, but it has lost the challenge." Newkirk opened Klink's cigar box. "This ought to help the officers relax." He put a handful of cigars in his pocket.

Carter grabbed a bottle of Klink's schnapps. "Nothing like putting your feet up with a nice, smooth drink."

"And three crystal classes to put it in," said LeBeau.

Newkirk glanced at the paper Klink had been reading. "Check this out. It appears we are supposed to get a new prisoner tomorrow afternoon. It sounds like it might be another officer."

"Just what we need," said LeBeau.

HH HH HH

Hogan noticed Fehler had been quiet the entire time they were talking. He realized it could be because German military standards didn't permit fraternization with enlisted or because he didn't feel close enough to the men to join in. To help Fehler feel more comfortable, Lawrence and Hogan held their conversations in German. The men enjoyed their pilfered treats as they laughed and told stories about subjects everyone could talk about; women, irritating commanders and more women.

By the time Hogan appeared for evening roll call, all the schnapps and cigars were gone. He knew it was time to say his final farewells. When they were dismissed, Hogan and his men went to the tunnels to prepare for the pick up.

"I wish I could take you to the pick up," said Hogan as he walked Lawrence and Fehler to the exit. "I don't want to take any chances with my leg. Newkirk and LeBeau will make sure you get to the plane safely."

"I understand. How did you injure your leg any how? Was it when you were shot down?" asked Lawrence

Hogan shook his head. "A gunshot wound, I received a short time ago while on a mission, nicked the bone causing a small fracture. But that's a story for when we're together again."

"Be sure to look me up whenever you make it home. I'll continue to check in on your parents for you." Lawrence said, shaking Hogan's hand.

"Thanks, General," smiled Hogan. It was comforting to know, in his and Tom's absence; someone was looking out for his parents.

Fehler came to attention, giving Hogan a proper military salute. "Danke for your help, Herr Oberst."

Hogan returned the salute. "I'm the one thanking you. The information you have will help end the war sooner and save many lives." Hogan watch with mixed feelings as the men ascended the ladder. "Carter, have everything you need?"

"Yes, Colonel. It's not a very big bridge, so it won't take much. Then again, there wasn't much to spare. Is it really a good idea to blow the bridge tonight?" asked Carter.

"It could play to our advantage. Try to blow it before the plane is due to arrive. This way most of the patrols will be out of the pick up area," suggested Hogan.

"Good thinking. I would have never thought of that." Kinch pushed Carter up the ladder while he was still rambling.

"Don't worry, Colonel. Everything is under control." Kinch smiled, following Carter up the stairs.

"But it's part of my job description." Hogan walked back to the radio room to wait. Wilson was waiting on him.

"I was hoping you weren't going out," commented Wilson.

Hogan laughed. "I know better. No going out unless absolutely necessary until you give me the okay."

Wilson gaped at Hogan in shock. "I should have suggested the Gestapo take you to Berlin sooner. They've made you more cooperative. I like the change. Are you going to let me change your bandage or are you going to give me a fight?"

HH HH HH

Kinch and Carter crept toward the bridge. All was quiet. Too quiet to put the men at ease. They didn't hear any night creatures. This told them, someone, besides them had been there to scare the animals away. The question was, are they still here?

Kinch motioned for Carter to scout the area to the right while he looked left. If a patrol was spotted, they were to signal the other using an animal call.

As Carter neared the river, he heard German voices. He paused when he heard them approach his location. He quickly looked around for a place to hide. Not far from him, he spied a downed tree. He laid next to the tree, pressing his body as close to the trunk as he could. To his luck, one of the men on patrol sat on the tree. Carter held his breath, silently willing him to leave.

HH HH HH

Kinch made his way to the left not running into anyone. He was at the edge of the river, staring at the bridge. Everything was still quiet. Kinch glanced at his watch. They had been separated for five minutes now. The plane should arrive in twenty-five minutes.

HH HH HH

Carter rolled his eyes when the soldier lit a cigarette. A sharp pain developed in his side. He quietly moved his hand under him to find he was lying on a rock. Carter was going to leave it when an idea came to him. As hard as he could, he threw the rock away from his position.

The plan worked. The soldier quickly headed in the direction of the rock. Carter gave a big sigh. He looked around and strained his ears for anyone else. When he felt it was safe, he gave the call of a bullfrog.

HH HH HH

In the distance, Kinch heard a bullfrog. He hooted in response. He waited for the call again signaling it was okay to proceed. It finally came. He made his way to the bridge where Carter was waiting on him.

"Did you run into trouble," Kinch whispered.

Carter held up his hand with his fingers apart about an inch. "A little."

The men quickly placed the explosives. Carter had finished securing the detonator to the last explosive and started to leave. Kinch tapped him on the shoulder. "Are you forgetting something?"

Carter looked where Kinch was pointing. He had forgotten to set the timer. "Oops. It would be kind of hard for the explosives to go off without the timer being set."

"Stop talking and set it so we can get out of here," scolded Kinch.

HH HH HH

The four men moved swift and silently through the woods. It would be a shame to get caught now after how far they'd come. The men hid in some bushes on the outskirts of the clearing. Newkirk looked at his watch. The plane should be there soon.

They held their breath as they heard footsteps, crunching leaves on the forest floor. Fehler looked at Newkirk with fear in his eyes. He knew all to well what would happen to him if he was caught with the papers.

Lawrence sensed his fear. He put his hand on his shoulder for comfort. They were well hidden. It would take something major for the patrol to find them. That something was about to happen. LeBeau started to sniffle.

LeBeau held his nose and tried not to sneeze. Tears were streaming from his eyes, trying to fight the urge to sneeze. He could not hold the sneeze in any longer. Just as LeBeau sneezed, the bridge blew.

Immediately, the patrol headed toward the bridge. Fehler breathed a sigh of relief. Newkirk looked up when he heard plane engines. He flashed the signal with a flashlight, "Be ready. You won't have much time once the plane lands, in case the patrol decides to come back this way."

"We understand," said Lawrence. "Thanks again for everything."

"Just doing our job, Sir," answered Newkirk.

"Do me a favor. Give Hogan a hard time for me. Someone has to keep him on his toes," said Lawrence.

Newkirk grinned. "Already do, Sir." Newkirk watched the plane land. "Better get going."

Lawrence and Fehler entered the plane. Before the door closed, Lawrence said to Newkirk, "A pleasure working with you."

Newkirk nodded in agreement as he and LeBeau waved them off.

HH HH HH

Everything went satisfactory with the pickup and blowing up the bridge. The papers Fehler found were on their way to London. A radio message came in during the night from the underground. They had some information for Papa Bear. Hogan made arrangements for someone to stop at the work detail he had to arrange with Klink.

"Come in," Klink yelled.

"Good morning, Kommandant. Beautiful day isn't it?" said Hogan.

Klink stared at Hogan. Hogan's attitude screamed he was up to some monkey business. "What is it now, Hogan? Don't you have anything better to do than to bother me?"

"With Wilson's restriction's, I'm not able to do much." Hogan hid his smile as Klink rolled his eyes. "Sir, the men were wondering when we were going to get our next shipment of Red Cross packages?"

Hogan already knew the Red Cross packages were late because of a bombing raid a few nights ago. Since only a few people traveled that road, and the Nazis didn't view the prisoners receiving the Red Cross packages as important, they didn't see any reason for them to fix it. Hogan decided to use it to their advantage.

"I'm being pfenniged to death by Berlin and all you can worry about are Red Cross packages?" asked Klink.

"Sorry, Kommandant. I sometimes forget Berlin runs this camp and not the Iron Colonel." Hogan painted his picture for Klink. "It's just the prisoners don't have much. We noticed the meals in the mess hall are slimmer. The men are so hungry they're fighting each other over crumbs. I heard one man was so desperate he tried to sneak into the dog pen for their food. The men deserve what belongs to them. We have to supplement our lack of food somehow."

"To be truthful, you can thank the Allies for the delay in your Red Cross Packages. Thanks to their bombing raids, the road is impassible." Klink snapped his fingers. "That gives me an idea. Since the Allies destroyed the road, it's only fair the Allies fix it."

"Kommandant, according to the Geneva Convention, you cannot force prisoners to work," reminded Hogan.

"What do you want, Hogan?" asked Klink.

"It would be nice to have an extra hot shower a week," suggested Hogan.

"Only for a month," amended Klink.

Hogan smiled. "You have a work detail. When do you want them ready, Sir?"

"Schultz is passing out mail right now. Have them ready in an hour," said Klink

Before anything else was said, Hochstetter barged into the room. "Good, just the man I want to talk to. Saboteurs blew up a bridge last night. What do you know about it, Hogan?"

"I know as much about it as I know about everything else you come here to ask me about," said Hogan.

"Major, I can confirm, Hogan was in his barrack all night. Sergeant Shultz and I do a surprise bed check every night. When we checked Barracks 2, Hogan was sleeping in his bed," Klink lied.

Hochstetter glared at Klink. "Problem is who will vouch for you? I doubt you did the bed check and you are only covering for Hogan to protect your own neck. If I find out you are lying to me, I will make sure you have a long painful experience to help you think things over."

Hogan tried to remain calm. Yes, he was in camp all night, but now he would see how strong Klink's backbone was.

"Major, I have nothing to lie to you about. My unblemished escape record speaks for itself. I have these checks and the prisoners know it. They just don't know when. If anyone tries to escape, they will be caught immediately," said Klink.

Hogan was impressed. So far, so good.

Hochstetter stood toe to toe with Hogan. "I will catch these saboteurs. When I do, I'll make them talk. And when they talk, you'll be mine for good." Hochstetter stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

There was a moment of silence between Hogan and Klink. Hogan sighed. "Thanks, Kommandant." Hogan came to attention, properly saluting Klink.

Klink smiled, returning the salute. "Remember, have your men ready in one hour. Dismissed."

"Yes, Sir," said Hogan, exiting the office.

Hogan entered the barracks in time to see Kinch jump up and down and scream with joy. "They got them! They got them!" Kinch ran up to Hogan. "They got custody. Thank you, Sir. Woo Hoo!"

Newkirk looked up from his letter "What did they get? A sack of money?"

Kinch shook his head. "No, something better."

Newkirk looked confused as well as the others listening. "Mate, what could be better than a sack of money?"

A broad smile appeared on Kinch's face as he said, "They gave some children a home."

Hogan thought back to when Kinch asked him if there was any way he could pull some strings to help Kinch's parents adopt his cousins. Helping others always put a smile on his face.

Before he forgot, he decided to break the news to the men about fixing the road. "By the way, Klink agreed to let us fix the road. We leave in an hour." Hogan held his hands up to stop the grumbling. "Klink has a good point. Since the Allies are the ones who destroyed it, it is only right the Allies fix it."

"Here you go, Colonel," Christopher said, handing Hogan a letter. "Schultz left this for you."

Hogan stared at the envelope. It was a letter from his mom. The letter couldn't have come at a better time. "Thanks. Christopher, I've been meaning to ask you something about the quilt you made. When you received the material, did you put their initials on it right away?"

"Yes, Colonel. Why you ask?" inquired Christopher.

Hogan paced, thinking. He hated unsolved problems. "Did you sew the pieces together right away or wait until you had them all first?"

Christopher stared at Hogan. "I put them in a pile until I got all the pieces. I laid them out first to make sure they all fit right. Why are you asking? Is there something wrong with it?"

"Maybe it is because of the stress of everything, but who gave you the black material with the initials WAH?" asked Hogan

Christopher thought a moment. "I remember sewing the scrap on the quilt, but I don't remember who gave it to me."

"Could it have been William Hart in Barracks 7?" asked LeBeau

"No, his middle name is Bernard," answered Newkirk.

Kinch pulled out the list of who is stationed at Stalag 13. "Hampshire, Walter P. Hooper, Willie, D. Hoot, Wallis C." Kinch paused "Walter Hurst has no middle name listed."

"But why the black material?" asked Hogan confused.

"Sorry, I'm not able to help, Colonel. I honestly don't remember," said Christopher.

Hogan shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I was thinking of everyone's name as I came across their scrap and couldn't think of who it belonged to." Hogan headed to his room to read the letter from his mom, when Knox stopped him.

Knox handed him a stack of papers. The first page in the stack said 'The Imposter'. "I hope you like it, Sir."

Hogan smiled as he read the first page. "I'm sure I will." He decided to head to the tunnels for some peaceful reading.

He sat on a cot with his back against the wall and his legs stretched in front of him. He opened the letter from his mom and started reading.

Dearest Son, 20 October 1944

All is well here. Your dad and I chaperoned the high school fall festival. It reminded me of the time we chaperoned you and your brother's fall festival. I will never forget the site when I opened the closet door to get a mop to clean some spilled punch. You were lucky I found you in there and not her dad.

Your brother on the other hand wasn't so lucky when your eighth grade teacher found him under the stage with her daughter. I don't know if I was more mad at him for what he did or the month full of Saturdays he had to spend in detention.

The lady on the corner, who plants Pansies in her yard every year, fell on some wet leaves and broke her hip. Doctor said she would be in bed for some time. Some of the ladies on the block are taking turns making meals for her.

I saw the red headed kid you use to get into fights with the other day. He was severely injured and sent home. Even though he's in a wheel chair now, he's helping at his parent's store. Sad to say, but his loss did him some good. He is a much nicer person now. He's going to marry his girlfriend in a couple of months. His fiancé has asked your sister to play the piano in the wedding. I have to get started on making her dress.

Your friend stopped by last Sunday after he visited the cemetery. He's such a nice man. He tries to spend at least one Sunday a month at our house. He said it was the least he could. He said he is so grateful for what you did for his family; he doesn't know how he will ever repay you.

I know I must be boring you with all of this. I have to be going. I have so much to do. I wish you and your brother were here to have some fresh apple pie I just took out of the oven. We went to the apple orchard last week. We brought home 3 bushels of apples! I think I'm going to enter one of my apple pies in the county fair. Your dad wants to use some of the apples to make his special drink. I reminded him what happened the last time. He said he would be more careful. Tell that to the cat that got into some of his special drink. I don't think its fur will ever grow back

I'm going to end now. Take care and God bless. I pray every night He keeps you safe and will bring you home soon.

Lots of Love

Mom, Dad and Sis

A tear rolled down Hogan's cheek, landing on the letter. "I love you to Mom and Dad." He pulled his knees to his chest and wept. Most people might find the information in the letter boring, but he enjoyed reading every word.

Before he was shipped out, he told his mom to not put any names in any of the letters and for her name it was to be mom or Mrs. Hogan. He didn't want the Nazis to find anything in the letters they could use against him.

Hogan looked at the calendar. Just over a week left till Thanksgiving He longed to be home with is brother, Tom and sister, Lisa. He could picture them all sitting around the kitchen table at Thanksgiving, eating the fresh apple pie with fresh homemade ice cream. He could be home right now. London had given him the chance to go home and he turned it down. He turned it down so others may go home to be with their families.

He could see the German forces weakening. The Allies were pushing further toward Germany and the Russians were close as well. It was only a matter of time. All he had to do was be patient.

His mind drifted to Kewpie and Hochstetter's words. It didn't make any since for Hochstetter to show concern for Hogan. Why did he say the same words Kewpie did? Why would he tell Hogan to mind his leg?

Hogan had noticed his most recent encounter with Hochstetter was different. He seemed to show restraint. Through the haze of his mind in the barn, he remembered how Hochstetter didn't want to punish him for speaking his mind.

His mind thought about his quilt. Hogan jerked his head up as a thought occurred to him. Hochstetter's uniform was black. His name was Wolfgang Hochstetter. Hogan quickly went to the records they kept on local Nazis. He found Hochstetter's folder. He skimmed through the pages looking for any notation of a middle name or initial.

As Hogan searched, his heart raced. Could his tormenter have somehow found his way into the tunnels? If so, why did he not arrest them as spies or shoot everyone?

Nothing. No mention of a middle name or initial. Hogan dropped the folder as he sat on the floor. His body started to shake with fear. Fight! Fight for all you're worth. The words he had heard in Berlin came to his mind. He recognized the voice saying them as Kewpies. Was it another coincidence between Hochstetter and Kewpie? Could Hogan's initial thoughts about Hochstetter being a double agent be correct?

It didn't make since. If Hochstetter were on their side, why would he try so hard to prove he was Papa Bear? If he was on the other side, why did he not arrest them? Why would Hochstetter leave obvious clues pointing to him?

Hogan drew his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. Did Hochstetter just want to play games with Hogan, trying to weaken his defenses? Hogan had more questions than answers. The big unanswered question now was what does he do with this information? Did he close up shop or confront Hochstetter? Maybe Hochstetter wanted Hogan to close up shop. Maybe that is when Hochstetter plans on arresting them.

Hogan could feel his blood start to boil. If Hochstetter is really on my side, how could he torture me like he did? If we make it through this war alive, I promise Hochstetter, Ally or Nazi, you will get everything you deserve.

"Colonel!" LeBeau yelled down the ladder. "It's time for us to fix the road."

"Be up in a minute." Hogan calmed his emotions. The last thing he wanted to do was worry his men if he didn't have to. He put the folder away along with the letter and the story Knox wrote. He took a deep breath. "Back to business as usual."

A/N: Most of the conversation between Hogan and his men while they were reading their mail, refers back to Brainwashed by Nitestalker. Thanks for reading and reviewing. The story doesn't end here. Be on the look out for the last story in the series Guardian Angel.