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Date Posted: 19:34:41 03/05/01 Mon
Author: Lakota
Subject: Waiting for You - Chapter 22 (Continued)
In reply to: Lakota 's message, "Waiting for You - Chapter 22" on 19:32:53 03/05/01 Mon



“Ahhhh….I see you’re looking at that dreamboat of a twin brother of mine?”

“Dreamboat? Well, yes he is rather handsome, Sami. I don’t know what I expected him to look like but…I
………..I guess I’ll go powder my nose and get ready. Nice pictures, Carrie.”

Victoria headed to the hallway. Sami turned to Carrie with a bemused look.

“Am I making too much of it or was Victoria a little less then her usual English serene self?”

“You noticed?”

The sisters smiled and followed Victoria.

After putting away the dishware and cookies in the kitchen, the men returned to the living room. Kurt headed for the
foyer where his coat was hung and retrieved a newspaper.

“I almost forgot. When we got here, the newspaper was on the doormat. I picked it up and intended to give it to
Carrie but that all flew out of my mind when Jack and I started reliving gridiron glory days. Here.”

He tossed the newspaper onto the coffee table where it fell open displaying the large, bold black headline. Lucas
leaned forward and slowly picked it up as through it were made of glass, handling it with care as he read the details.

“My God----“

“What is it, Lucas?” Jack asked when he saw the color drain from Lucas’ face.

“The Allies took another beating at Anzio – that beach in Italy they began taking back over two weeks ago..”

“How can that be? They stormed up the beaches in no time two weeks ago. The Germans gave them almost no
resistance.”

“That might have been, Kurt, but apparently they didn’t take advantage of the chaos the Germans were in by the
surprise attack. They’ve fortified their positions all along the roads. According to this they’re bringing up panzer
divisions and infantry from other areas they occupy farther back in the Italian interior.”

“I know we’re in it but I thought there were bigger contingencies of Canadians, Turks and British.”

“There are, Jack, but not along the Conca-Cisterna corridor. That’s one of the roads the Allies want to clear so we
can get supplies and troops in heading to Naples to connect it with Rome. According to the article, we’re the ones
who got it today.”

“We, meaning GIs?”

“Yeah, Mike, as in US Army Rangers. Let me read a little further.”

Silence fell over the room as they stared at Lucas while he continued to read and absorb the information in the article.
The muffled conversation and laughter of the girls in the other part of the apartment and Guinevere’s purr as she sat on
the coffee table being petted by Kurt were the only audible sounds other than the ticking of the mantel clock. When
he finished reading the article, Lucas placed the paper back on the coffee table and stared at the floor for what
seemed longer than the few seconds it actually was.

“They sent seven hundred and sixty-seven Rangers up the Conco-Cisterna road thinking that they could work their
way up the sides of the highway and blast the Germans out of their positions. The countryside is all barren hillsides
and the Gerrys had the high ground all along the way. The Rangers got pinned down for nearly sixteen hours trying to
make headway in the open, barren landscape. The Germans ordered heavy artillery fire on them. After almost an
entire day of taking repeated shellings, the higher command ordered them to retreat……….six….” Lucas’s voice
dropping on the last word of his narration.

“Six what?” Jack asked.

Mike leaned forward and read the last paragraph of the story until he understood what Lucas had meant.

“Six returned.”

“Jesus……that’s almost a one hundred percent casualty rate.” Jack said in a hushed tone as though saying it any
louder would irrationally endanger the remaining six. “Looks like the Nazis aren’t gonna give up that easily are they?
They are going to make us win this war from them…by beating them until every last one of them
surrenders………using everything that we have…”

“…..and using every one of us in uniform, possibly…” Mike concluded.

They looked at one another as each felt their own appointment with destiny in this war approaching them from some
unknown direction …..waiting for them in some unknown place.

“You guys ready to go?” Jennifer asked as she stuck her head around the hallway entry.

Lucas appreciably jumped at the sudden “loud” voice that came from behind him. He had, momentarily, involuntarily
returned to a scene over the English Channel - - watching a large red ball of flame appear where moments before a
bomber with a white star painted on its side had been.

“Yeah, I am. How about you guys?” Mike said trying to put some enthusiasm back in his voice.

“Sure.” Was the only response Lucas could muster while Kurt only nodded his head.

The girls were helped on with their coats and the door opened for them to leave through. Carrie sensed something
had changed between the time the girls had gone to freshen up and their return.

“Mike, is everything all right?” she whispered in his ear as he helped her get her left arm in her coat sleeve.

“Sure…I think we’re just hungry, is all.”

Not believing his answer Carrie also instinctively knew to push him or any of the other three further wouldn’t elicit any
more details of what had occurred in the living room.

“All right. I’m ready for some Italian food. Come on Lucas, let’s go break breadsticks together,” Sami said smiling at
Lucas in an attempt to lighten the dark mood she could see in his eyes. For the first time in six weeks she saw the look
that had frightened her at the train station the day he returned to her life after an agonizing four-year absence.

As they headed down the apartment house hallway Lucas leaned toward his brother and whispered so only he could
hear.

“Suddenly, Italian food is the last thing I want.”

Mike nodded…..and the subject was closed.

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