TDTLBU Chapter Thirty-Five

Perhaps it was fate that led Lissie to Kelly's Mercantile one breezy Saturday afternoon. After all, fate is a fickle and unexpected thing.

Mr. Kelly's son John was just now returning home from college, having decided to turn lawyer rather than to follow in his father's footsteps as merchant. The family business would go to his brother-in-law when he returned from the Pacific. Or rather if he returned. There was only one reason John Kelly hadn't enlisted but he rarely spoke of it. It was obvious enough and the subject was painful to him. Quite literally at times. 

John had been crippled by the polio epidemic many years ago. He hadn't had it as bad as some and could walk, but he wore leg braces to keep himself upright. Such a handicap made fighting impossible for him and so he pretended it didn't bother him, although every fiber of his being longed to be out there overseas with all the other brave men who had long since left Jefferson.

In spite of the crippling disease, John had still grown rather tall–nearly six feet–and his looks had made him rather popular at college. There was no denying he was handsome. But he had never met the right girl. And now as he stood behind the counter at Kelly's Mercantile and saw Lissie walk in, he felt instinctively that he had lost his heart forever. She had been only a girl when he left for college and here he returned to find her a woman. A beautiful woman with golden hair and soft brown eyes. 

She recognized him immediately and called out a cheery greeting and a welcome home. He swallowed once or twice, blinked hard, shook his head, and stepped forward like a man lost in a dream.

"Melissa Ryan." He spoke her name in wonder and she giggled.

"You act like you've never seen me before!"

"I haven't." His eyes were wide. "Not you. You've changed."

"So have you," She smiled. "Please call me Lissie, like you used to. I so rarely hear Melissa it seems as if it isn't even my real name."

"Okay, Lissie." He grinned eagerly. "Then I'm Jack."

"When did you get back?"

"Just this morning and…" he lowered his gaze, nervously. "You wanna meet up sometime? For supper and maybe a movie? To catch up, I mean. It's been so long and… and I…" he stopped, his face flushed. 

Lissie hesitated. The shadow of sorrow and pain filled her eyes. She had been doing so well, not thinking of Ronnie. And now this simple invitation was enough to bring him forward vividly in her mind. But she couldn't remember him as she had last seen him… boarding the train for Fort Benning. She always saw him lying wounded or dead somewhere in the desert. She drew in her breath sharply and forced her mind back to the present. John was watching her eagerly, waiting. Her eyes wandered down to the heavy metal braces wrapped around his legs and then back to his face. She felt herself filled with a sudden and fierce resolve. 

"Yes, I'd love to go out with you sometime."

When she left, John was in a giddy haze of joy, but her heart was heavy.

✯✯✯

"Feel like I haven't sat down in ages," Sam groaned as he plopped down heavily on the sand. Leaning forward, he carefully settled his battered tin mug of water into the ashes around the fire. 

“Feel like I haven’t eaten in ages,” Ronnie pulled out his k-ration, tearing into the box ravenously. “I’m so hungry this stuff almost tastes good.”

“Man, there’s a lot of stars up there,” Josh lifted his face to the sky, staring at the wide black expanse, so studded with stars the light was almost brilliant. “There’s a million more stars in the desert than there are back home.”

“Count ‘em.” Mac grinned.

“Sure thing. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…”

“Did you count that big one over there?” Ronnie pointed at the moon.

“...eight…” Josh added solemnly. 

"Hey, Ronnie," Mac took an enormous bite of a dry biscuit and kept talking, his mouth full. "What's your sister like?"

"My sister?" Ronnie raised his eyebrows. "Which one?"

"The little one..." Mac swallowed and said her name in a softer tone, almost a whisper. "Katie."

"Katie?" Ronnie smiled. "She's a sweet little thing. A homebody, like I said. Timid, but she can get pretty feisty, don't let her size fool ya. And boy, can she sing! None of the rest of us can sing much... But she sings beautifully and she loves it. Poor thing..." His voice grew sad. "She's braver'n any of us gave her credit for. Why, when Jerry left..."

"Jerry?" Mac's face fell.

"Yeah." Ronnie turned and looked hard at Mac. "Her fiance," he grinned in sudden understanding. "Sorry, buddy, she's not available. Jerry's got her, heart and soul."

Mac bit his lip and stared down at his half-eaten biscuit. He didn't answer. 

“We’ve been in action for weeks now.” Dan lit a cigarette slowly, staring into the flames. “Does that make us battle-hardened soldiers?”

“S’pose it does.” Mac suddenly came back to life. He reached out to touch the mug he had left warming by the fire and jerked his hand back, grimacing. “Too hot.” Using a crumpled, soot-covered handkerchief, he pulled it away from the flames. He fished around in the pocket of his coat, coming up with a rusty tin, opening it as if it held a great treasure.

“What’re you doing, Cat?” Josh looked up as he dumped a packet of coffee into his mug.

“Making tea.”

“Think I heard you wrong, Buddy. What’d ya say?”

Mac looked up at him, one eyebrow raised in sarcastic surprise. 

“Tea. Ever heard of it? Pretty common beverage, enjoyed by millions of people around the world…”

“Hold it, hold it. I know what tea is. Why are you drinking it?”

“Because I like it.”

“So… why aren’t you drinking coffee?”

“Because I hate it.” 

Josh’s reply was lost in the laughter that echoed around the campfire. Coffee was considered the most essential part of the monotony that made up the daily rations and the only thing that made said rations digestible. There was hardly a man among them who didn’t drink it every chance he got, taking fullest advantage of every last drop. Mac rolled his eyes, carefully stowing the little tin of tea back in his pocket. He missed the sly wink Josh directed towards Ronnie. Ronnie only grinned, leaning back on his heels as he drank his own coffee. 

“Hey Cat, could you quick grab another can of water? This one’s out and we still got one more for our rations today.”

“Sure, whatever.” Mac pushed his k-ration back into his haversack and rose slowly to his feet, stretching as he pressed his hand to his back and winced. “Man, I could do without another march like that one.” 

“They sure like to put us through hell, don’t they?” Dan sighed dramatically at the rations in front of him. 

“Aw, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” Ken was stretched out to his full length, his chin propped in his hands, a lit cigarette dangling between his fingers. “Just think of what’s going on in Guadalcanal.”

“Jerry's out there. He hasn't been heard from in weeks and poor Katie's eating her heart out.” Ronnie shook his head. “Kinda makes you think… when someone you know…” He broke off, letting his words hang in the air. They were all feeling it. That nameless, obscure feeling of dread that hung heavily over them like a curtain. They couldn’t explain it, they couldn’t describe it. But it was very real. 

Mac returned with the can of water, plunking it down in front of Josh.

“If my tea is cold now, I’m holding you personally responsible,” he grinned as he sat down again. Josh did his best to suppress a smirk, bending his head in exaggerated concentration over his canned ham. 

“Something funny?” Mac picked up his mug as the others watched him intently, trying to hold back their laughter. As he took a sip, a strange expression crossed his face and he spit it out instantly. The quiet chuckles erupted into boisterous laughter. Grimacing, Mac wiped his mouth on his sleeve and stared into the mug.

“How’s your first taste of real coffee, soldier?” Josh was clutching his stomach from laughing so hard. “You should see the look on your face…”

He never got any further. Mac had jumped up and stepped over the fire, not taking the trouble to walk around it. He grabbed Josh by his collar, dragging him to his feet.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Guilty as charged,” Josh grinned. 

“You guys realize what will happen if the sergeant sees you?” Dan called out as Mac tackled Josh to the ground. The others were roaring with laughter as the two tussled in the sand, squashing empty k-ration boxes and scattering helmets and other pieces of equipment left lying around. 

“Okay, Cat, I give, I give!” Josh yelled as Mac pinned him down, laughingly.

“You ruined a perfectly good cup of tea,” he spoke in mock anger. “Give me three good reasons to let you live.”

“Get off of me first and then I’ll tell you,” Josh groaned. “C’mon. You weigh a thousand pounds.”

“Not until you promise to give me all your chewing gum for a week. And that’s letting you off easy. That tea is worth twice that.”

“Okay, fine, you can have it all.” Josh conceded and Mac let him go. He lay still a moment, panting, still laughing so hard he could hardly catch his breath. 

“Did you dump the tea out?” Mac picked up his mug and grimaced at the dark liquid inside.

“Maybe…” 

Without another word, Mac walked over to Josh and solemnly poured the coffee on his face. 

“That’s it.” Josh scrambled up, wiping his face on his sleeve. “You’ve forfeited your chewing gum. I’ll…”

“Alright, men, break it up.” The sergeant approached the circle. “Better get some rest. It’s late, and we have a lot ahead of us tomorrow."

✯✯✯

The sky was eerily gray as the men marched towards the front lines. Whether it was simply from clouds or the smoke of battle, they weren't sure. They were heading straight into the first real battle of their lives and the tension was palpable. They were terrified... Although they didn't show it.

"Wait a minute, Sarge," Ronnie spoke up as the sounds of battle grew louder. "There's something we need to do before we go out there."

Mac grinned, instantly knowing what he meant and echoed his words. 

"He's right, Sarge. We ain't gonna fight until we've asked the Lord's help."

And so there, on the edge of the battlefield, twelve men stood with their heads bowed in prayer.

“And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed."