Chapter 5

I was in and out of consciousness and had a fitful sleep. I woke up in the late morning, to see a beautiful woman looking at me. “Goedemorgen. Je hebt goed geslapen.”

“Good morning. You slept well.”

My senses recoiled as I winced, feeling tremendous pain in my leg and my head. I spotted my rifle lying against a wall and immediately grabbed it, pointing it at her. I kept the muzzle on her as I looked around at my surroundings, wondering where the hell I am.

“Where the hell am I!” I yelled.

The girl gestured with her hands, trying to reassure me. “I won’t calm down! I’ve got to get back to my Regiment!”

I threw back the cover, noticing the different pants on me and stepped from the bed. I went down on one knee, the pain in my right leg and head was excruciating. I noticed the pant leg had been cut along the seam, and lifting it saw, a large bandage around my calf. I gripped it gently, feeling enormous pain.

“Je was gewond aan je been en hoofd. Mijn moeder nam een bot van je been, dat niet van jou was, en hechtte het dicht.”

“You were wounded in the leg and head. My mother took a bone from your leg, that wasn’t yours, and stitched it closed.”

“I don’t understand a word you’re saying. Do you speak English? She shrugged her shoulders, gestured with her hands, meaning, no. “Do you know Italian or German? I know a little German.” She nodded, no each time.

She surprised me, helping me to my feet. I hobbled towards the door, and she blocked my exit.

“Je kunt niet weggaan. Het is te gevaarlijk voor je. Duitse soldaten.”

“You can’t leave. It is too dangerous for you. German soldiers,” she said, pointing to the window. I understood Duitse soldaten as German soldiers.

“I limped to the window, sliding the curtain a little aside. “Jesus H Christ! Germans! There must be hundreds of them!” Soldiers moved in both directions along the road about fifty yards from her house.

“Alsjeblieft, blijf zitten wachten, ik zal je mijn ouders brengen.”

“Please, sit and wait, I’ll bring you my parents,” she said, helping me to sit on the bed.

As she left, I inspected my rifle, noticing it needed a good cleaning, but more importantly, the bullet chamber was empty. I searched my webbing for the extra clips of ten rounds each I carry and saw, they too, were gone.

I clutched my dog tags, more out of habit than anything. I looked at it, and noticed a piece was missing. “Christ, I’m missing half of my dog tags!” I searched the bed as if part of it could fall off. “Oh, my, God! They thought I was killed and took off the half of my tag for death certification prior to burial. Shit! They’ll soon notify my parents, who will go nuts with grief.”

I could hear footsteps coming up the wooden stairs. I instinctively trained my rifle on the door as it opened, even though it was empty of bullets.

I noticed a man and woman, both wearing clothes that had seen better days. She wore a dark green bodice that supported well-formed breasts and a long, beige skirt. Her long hair was swept back in a long ponytail.