Chapter 2
1.
After the battle for Vire, the division was told to head west toward the city of Brest, and clear out any German resistance on the way. Aries tried to catch Callahan alone again, but both of them were too busy fighting. Oftentimes, they missed each other by minutes, or they would see each other in passing. Aries fell into the routine of sleep, fight, eat, fight, sleep.
Aries had his normal contingent of six men, and it was very late at night. It was hot, he was tired, and he was starving. They found a house that hadn’t been looted in the village of Le Chenay and sat down to eat there. Aries went outside in the night air to have a smoke, when he saw headlights bobbing their way up the lane. He immediately unhitched his rifle from his shoulder and aimed it at the oncoming vehicle.
He stood at the side of the road. The vehicle’s headlights caught him and didn’t come directly at him put pulled over right in front of him.
“Hey, soldier,” came a familiar voice.
“Captain Callahan?”
The captain leaned out the window of the truck. “Hello, Sargeant Aries. Fancy meeting you out here.”
By this time his men had come out to see what the commotion was about. “Yes, sir, I was going to say the same thing to you.”
“I was just bringing these supplies to our company in Antrain. I don’t know if there’s any room in the back for your men, but you’re welcome to hop in.”
Aries peered into the cabin of the truck to see two men already sitting there. “Why did you have to go, sir?”
“Because some quartermasters don’t listen. Check in the back, see if we have some room.”
Aries and another man went in the back. They moved some boxes around and were able to squeeze the six men into the truck. They argued about the last man to remain, and Aries went to the front. “Got room up here?”
“Squeeze over, boys,” ordered Callahan to the other two men, and they did. Aries was not happy about his bulk for once, as he sat almost in the lap of one of Callahan’s first sergeants.
Callahan manhandled the stick shift, between the legs of the other hapless sergeant, and got the truck moving again. “I think your company is still in Antrain, but you can stay with us until you find them.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The ride back was quiet because of the noise of the truck and the bumpiness of the road, but otherwise was uneventful. When they got to Antrain, Aries helped unload the boxes and sent his men to find somewhere to sleep. He found the captain in his HQ, talking to his communications array. In the dim light of lanterns, Callahan looked even more romantic. He had thick legs, and a small butt from what Aries could see through the uniform. He smiled at Aries again, and Aries just wanted to scoop the man into his arms and kiss those lips.
Callahan said, “Thanks for helping out. You’d better get some rest.”
“You too, captain.”
“Oh, I will. Have to finish a few things here.” He turned from Aries and went back to his men. Aries left the room without a salute, and stepped outside of the house. Part of him was exhausted enough to curl up right here and sleep, and another part of him wanted to go back and see where Callahan was sleeping. Unfortunately, that part kept him awake.
He found a spot in the woods and got over the part where he had Callahan bent over one of the tables in that room, pounding through him like there was no tomorrow. He used leaves to wipe up, and curled up into his bedroll, finally falling asleep.
2.
“Looks like you’re stuck with us, sergeant,” said Callahan’s XO to Aries. “We’re heading west. You’ll catch up with your company sooner or later.”
“That’s all right, I don’t mind. What’re my orders?”
The XO took out a map and showed it to him. “We’re taking Roumasson and heading through these hedgerows to Trans de Foret.” He straightened. “Think you can do that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Saddle up, then.”
Aries found his men, and, joining with another squad of eight, they started heading north along the road. They met up with some German artillery, which they wiped out by going around them and attacking from the rear. Aries’ blessings followed the men, and no one was injured by the time they sat down for lunch, right at the entrance to a large, thick forest.
“We’re going to have to go in there,” said the master sergeant in charge of the other men.
“I know,” Aries said while they sat on the road eating their rations. Another squad came up the road, followed by two more. They planned together, Aries listening, sometimes putting his few cents in, but in general the plan was sound. Just as they all got up to get ready to go in, someone came barrelling down the road. All the men moved aside for the vehicle, which skidded to a stop in front of them. Two men, one a lieutenant by his bars, pointed back down the road they had come.
“Go back to HQ, now!” Then with a grinding of gears, he was off again.
Aries watched the man go, and the men stood, looking at each other. “We’ll go back,” said Aries. “If we’re not back in an hour, then it’s safe to come back.”
“Right,” said the master sergeant, and the men went back to waiting, while Aries got the men going at a brisk trot back down to Antrain.
They found the company’s convoy a half-hour later in a smoking ruin. People were running around, while men barked orders at them. Aries sent one of his men back to the men gathered in the forest, while he took the other five among the convoy.
He found the captain’s jeep, also a smoking hulk. Two men were in it, burned beyond recognition, their bones exposed, flesh blackened. A pit had formed in his stomach.
“Where’s the captain?” yelled Aries, but no one was listening. He looked at the two bodies in the jeep and approached them, ignoring the sweet smell of burnt flesh. One of the bodies was tall – the XO. The other was of medium height, but not built like Callahan.
He grabbed a corporal with a bloody face as he wandered in their direction. “Where’s Callahan?”
“They came…he, I don’t know.”
Aries almost threw the man aside. His men kept walking north and bumped into another convoy that had stopped on the road because of the mess this one was in. It was Company D of the 116th, and their captain was swearing up a storm to get a bulldozer to clear this mess out of the way.
Aries checked the other vehicles. He went back to the captain’s jeep and looked around. The side of the road had been churned up by many people running. He saw paths through the fields of men pushing down the grain as they scattered.
“Where are you?” he whispered, looking at the paths of grain. Unfortunately, tracking was not one of the blessings of his Lady. He glanced around him, to make sure nobody was following, and then he headed out into the field.
He still could hear the commotion behind him as we went deeper into the field. He found one GI lying face down in a trampled section of grain. He claimed the dog tag and headed further in, following a different trail.
This led into the woods. He growled in frustration. His gut instincts said to go into the woods, but his head was saying that he needed to report in, to check and see if Callahan was indeed missing.
His gut never steered him wrong.
3.
When he was a boy in Erie, he had often gone through the woods without letting his da know where he was going. Once he came upon a druidic sacrifice that was against the law. He said nothing, but somehow the Romans found out and put the man in their games.
Aries became a man soon enough at fifteen summers. The Romans took him then and gave him a sword, teaching him how to fight. He took to it like a salmon to water, and fought in many battles against his own people.
He never liked it, being in the auxiliary, but he could become a Roman citizen after serving for 25 years. Eventually they took him across the sea and out of Gaul, all the way to the Illyanic provence, where he fought and died in a battle against some shepherds during what he later found out was a revolt.
The afterlife was exactly what he expected. A bare, empty wasteland that he walked endlessly in. There was a castle far away, but no matter how much he walked, he could never reach that castle. Other shades and spirits were with there with him. Some spoke to him and wanted to tell him their tales, but he never listened and kept walking.
He stopped at one point, staring at the castle, cursing it in his old language and the language of the Roman soldier. He fell to his knees and would have cried if his shade had tears. Instead he wailed, tore at his clothes that didn’t come off since he was buried in them, the armor of the Romans.
Exhausted, he sat in the dirt of the afterlife, despondent. That was when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He pulled his head up and turned around, seeing the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.
“Lorcan,” she said. She had dark hair, long, loose and curly, wide dark eyes, and a gentle smile. “I have searched for you.” She spoke in his old language.
He turned his body around, and knelt, facing her. “Beautiful lady,” he replied in the same language, and then was speechless.
She crouched down to his height. “I am Ishtar. I come to ask of you things.”
“Anything,” he said breathlessly.
“Listen to what I ask first,” she said, and caressed his face. She was so warm, and this place was so cold. He took her hand in both of his and leaned into it. “I need your arm, your strength, your skill. I will return you to the land of the living, but you must do what I ask of you.”
“Yes, lady,” he said, rubbing his face on her hand. “Gods, yes.”
Then she pushed him back onto the ground and made the sweetest love to him he ever had. He knew, even as he did, that no woman could do what this lady did. He knew, also, that this lady was not merely a shade, but a goddess.
When they finished, and she curled in his arms, she said, “This is what I ask of you. You must go back to the world and help those who need it. In return, I will give to you the languages of the world, so that you may become one with them. I will give to you long life. I will give to you the power of the Ram.” She lifted her head and gazed at him. “What say you?”
He caressed her face saying, “I will.”
The power of the Ram, he found out, was his new name, Aries. He was a warrior, a fighter. He had the power of Mars in him. He could win nearly any fight he came up against. But there were some things that he couldn’t do, no matter how hard he tried.
However, he wasn’t the only man who was blessed by Ishtar. Every 120 years, he felt a calling to a certain place, usually through a dream. At that time, he would join his “brothers” who all had names of the zodiac and they would sing praises to Isthar and celebrate in her name.
He wished right now he was the brother called “The Hunter”, because he was getting turned around in these woods. He was more concerned with being quiet and looking for any Krauts than finding his way.
He came out to a clearing. He pulled out his compass, and noticed a drop on it. Then felt some drops hit his face when he looked up.
“Aw, dammit,” he moaned, and checked his bearings. He was heading southwest, away from the division and going further south than he intended. He had no map with him. He was looking across another field.
He stood on tiptoes to see if he could see any more flattened grain. The chances of that were going to be slim. He knew he was lost. The rain started falling.
He walked along the treeline as the rain started, still heading generally southwest. He would walk, glance up to see if there were any flat patches of grain, and keep walking. It started getting late. His watch said it was 5:30.
Normally that was dinner, but now he wasn’t sure where the company was at all. He wanted to go back northwest, to run into his own men, but his gut kept saying to go this way. So he went.
As luck would have it, he found a spot where the grain was trampled near the treeline. With a whispered and upward glance of “Thank you, lady,” said in his old native tongue, he followed it. Although the sky was gray and raining, it was still daytime. He could see that there was a lot of people walking, it looked like four abreast.
He followed the trail, coming up onto a rise, and he saw a house. He also saw trucks and other vehicles, so he kept low and crept closer. It was as he feared: Someone opened a door to a truck and he could see a swastika painted on the side.
“Shit,” he hissed, and ran the rest of the way toward the building, still crouched. He reached the closest building and threw himself against it, staying beneath the window. Still keeping low, he crept around the building and pushed the door in. A pair of horses gazed at him and snorted in surprise.
“Sorry,” he muttered, and crept back, going to the next building. He heard a couple of squawks, which meant this was the hen house. He peered over the windowsill – he counted two chickens and a rooster. He ducked back down and went to the left. Another shed was there, so he used that for cover. He was getting closer to the trucks and the house.
Going behind a couple of more buildings, he found himself behind a garage. He could distinctly hear the Germans speaking.
“I wonder where Patton is.”
“The colonel said he isn’t here.”
The Germans started to walk, crunching along the area between the house and the garage. If they passed the garage and looked to their right, they would see him there. He waited, rifle at the hip.
“I wouldn’t mind going a few rounds with him. It’s better than all this running.”
“Fred! Kris! We’re going to take the prisoners now.”
Aries peered around the corner to see the two Germans with their backs to him, and another man further back, standing near a truck.
“Shit,” Aries hissed, and jerked back. The stable was far away, but he had to run for it. He heard the truck start up. He got up and bolted across the field in plain sight to anyone who was looking, and dove into the stable.
He unlocked one of the paddocks, grabbing a bridle. “Going to ride you bareback, sweetheart,” he said in French, “so please forgive me.”
He led the horse out of the paddock and fit the bridle on, then swung onto the horse’s back. He pulled gently to let her go out into the field near the trees. He saw a truck to his left on a road, driving, so he swung to his left across the field, heading toward the hedgerows.
The horse took the lead, and started running as he gripped tightly around her shoulders. He kept low, holding his rifle in one hand and the reins in the other. As the truck stopped at an intersection at the end of the hedgerows, Aries jumped the hedges about a half kilometer away. The rain slicked asphalt made the horse slip, and he almost lost his balance, but regained it and the horse’s.
“Atta girl!” he yelled, and got her back on the road. The truck took a left and he followed it. Head level with the horse’s, he listened to her pant as he dug his legs in and she ran. She was probably not going to catch up, but he would at least have a good lead. The truck slowed down and eased to the left to avoid a bomb crater, but he didn’t stop. He almost caught up to the truck before it cleared the crater and started to pick up speed again. He jumped over the crater and was nearly level.
He looked at the truck to see if there was any way to grab a handhold, but then saw a man’s face in the mirror ahead of him. The man leaned out with a pistol and shot at Aries.
Aries slowed down and got behind the truck. The horse was starting to wheeze. He had to shit or get off the pot.
Just then the back flap opened, and a German with a rifle stood up, taking aim at Aries.
The truck hit a bump, and the German fell backwards into the truck, the shot going up and through the canvas top. With one more squeeze of the legs and a push forward, he got close enough to the truck so he could leap into it if he tried.
Instead, the truck slammed on the brakes, and he and the horse went right into the truck. The horse hit her chest on the tailgate, while Aries was dumped inside. He slammed into the back of the cab of the truck, but he wasn’t dazed. He righted himself, but was facing two men with pistols pointed at him.
The truck had stopped, and someone opened the cab door. Aries looked around, and saw that one of the men in the truck was Callahan. Callahan’s left thigh was bandaged, with blood seeping through it. “Aries?” he said, surprised.
Aries stood up slowly, then looking at the two men with pistols. He heard a shot outside – someone had just killed the horse. The flap came open. Aries saw the dead horse on the road, and whispered a prayer for its soul to run free.
The German outside yelled at him in German, “Hands up!”
Aries made like he didn’t understand, and took two steps forward. The men with the guns waved them at him threateningly. He put his hands up and sat down on the bench, across from Callahan.
“Tie him up,” said the man outside.
“We have no rope, sir.”
The outside German threw up his hands and turned from them, walking back to the front of the truck. It started up again.
Callahan stared at Aries. “What the hell was that stunt?”
“Was trying to save you,” he said, looking sheepishly at the rest of the men and not again at Callahan.
“You could have gotten yourself killed!”
“I knew what I was doing.”
“You did, so now you got yourself captured.”
He glanced at the two men. “Not for long.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He looked at Callahan and grinned. “Hold onto your seats, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” He put his hands under his seat. Callahan saw it, and copied the movement. The rest of the men did too.
Aries suddenly got up, and, swaying with the motion of the vehicle, leapt at the German soldier diagonally opposite him at the end of the truck. The other German across from him shouted and unloaded his pistol on him. Aries punched the other German hard enough to daze him, relieved him of his weapon, and then shot the other German. He fell back against the canvas of the truck.
Aries tossed the first German over the side. Although he could take injury, it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. He felt the bullets worm their way back out, and one hit the floor, bouncing.
The men stared at him. One made the sign of the cross. Aries grunted, and, with a glance at Callahan, went over to the window between the cab and the back. He punched through it, tearing out the glass and ripping up his hand, then fed the pistol through it and shot right, then left.
He pulled his hand out just as the truck drifted left, hit the side of the road, and roll sideways. The men on the passenger side of the truck fell onto the men on the driver’s side, and one man fell out.
Aries got up first, checking Callahan. He had his hands tied behind his back, and one of the other guys was trying to get off of him, but dug his elbow into Callahan’s thigh. Callahan hissed, while Aries got the guy off of him. All the men started jumping out, rolling onto the grass at the side of the road. One man had gotten untied, and was untying the rest. Aries untied Callahan. “We got everybody?”
“I think so,” Callahan said, getting up on his good leg. He tried to put weight on his bad one but it didn’t hold.
“I got him!” Aries yelled. “You guys, get the hell outta here!” He turned to Callahan and got on his left side. “Lean on me.”
He obviously didn’t have to say it twice, because when he looked around in the rain, nobody was there.
Callahan sighed. “Aries, you might as well leave me. I’m injured and–”
“I’m not leaving you, sir,” Aries said firmly. “We have to find some shelter.”
“I’ll take you up on that,” said Callahan.
He turned around for Callahan and squatted slightly. “Climb on.”
Callahan sighed, and put his arms around Aries’ broad shoulders. Aries took the hands, crossed them in front of his chest, and then stood up, lifting Callahan off the ground. He left the truck, heading away from the west and into the woods.
3.
Aries had been given the blessing of endurance, though he knew he was going to crash hard when he stopped. He kept heading due northeast, hoping he would run into someone.
They were crossing a pasture when Callahan said, “Aries, stop.”
Aries did, lowering Callahan slowly to the ground. Callahan was pale, and his bandage was soaked. “You must be…tired.”
“I think I see a village up ahead,” he lied. “Just a little more.”
“Let me rest here.”
“No, sir.” Aries pulled him up, knowing what those words usually foretold. They usually meant he was going to dig their grave where they lay down. “C’mon, not too much farther to go.”
He didn’t find a village, but he did find a farm. He almost ran toward it, as the rain got worse. He went to the barn, but saw it was padlocked. Hoping that Callahan didn’t see, he grabbed the lock and twisted it open.
Aries pulled open the door and shut it behind them. He smelled the fresh clean hay of the barn, and the smell of animals. He turned and came face to face with a cow, who mooed at him.
“Right,” he said, and walked around the cow to a spot toward the back of the barn. He lay Callahan down again. “Captain. Callahan. Bill!”
He opened his eyes and focused them on Aries. “Aries. Where are we?”
“A barn,” he said. There was a lantern, and next to the lantern was a box of matches. He debated whether to use them.
Callahan sat up against the pile of hay. “At least it’s dry.” He lifted his injured leg, looking at the bloody bandages. “They didn’t even stitch it.”
“What happened?”
“They shot me while I was getting out of the truck.”
“You weren’t in your jeep?”
“I never ride in that jeep.” He nodded upwards, “Have any food?”
“No, sir.”
“Forget the ‘sirs’, Aries. Right now it’s just you and me, and we’re stuck here.”
“All right then. I’m going to go check the big house, see if–”
The door to the barn opened and Aries turned, German pistol in his hand. A child was whistling as he walked down the small aisle near the cow, and stopped short upon seeing the men in the dim light.
A boy dropped the pail he was carrying with a clang and ran back out.
“Shit,” Aries spat.
“Language,” said Callahan.
Aries sighed again. “Do you know French?”
“Only from school.”
“I’ll do the talking.”
“Aries,” said Callahan, “who are you? Superman?”
“No,” he replied, standing up and next to Callahan. “Not quite.”
The door opened again, and this time a lantern lit the room. Both men squinted. A voice called from the door, “Parlez-vous français?”
“Oui,” said Aries.
He continued in French, “Who are you?”
“Americans. Who are you?”
“Oh, thank God.” The man stepped inside, leaning an antiquated rifle against the door. “You don’t know how we’ve been praying for this to happen!” The man was tall, thin and gaunt, and ran toward the two Americans. He hugged and kissed Aries on both cheeks, and held him at arm’s length, as if he was a long lost brother. “You’re hurt.”
“He doesn’t speak French.” Callahan was trying to get up and Aries went to his side to help him. “Do you have a doctor?”
“There is a doctor in the village. But there are Germans there.”
“Great,” Aries said in English, and told Callahan what the man said.
Callahan said, “See if he can give us some food, and tell him we’ll leave so that he doesn’t get in trouble.”
When Aries told the man, he shook his head. After rapid fire of French, the man smiled, waiting for a reply. “He said that he’ll get us food and a doctor tomorrow. He wants to show us something.”
“I don’t know, do you trust him?”
“Not particularly.”
“I’ll go see.”
“No, I will.”
Callahan gave him a look. “Don’t make me pull rank on you.”
“I thought you said to forget it.”
“Fine, we’ll both go.”
Aries said something to the man, who nodded, bobbing his head. He started for the ladder to the loft. Callahan looked up, then back at Aries. “Maybe you’d better go.”
Aries grinned, and left Callahan near a pillar. A little boy was there staring at him, and Aries climbed the ladder. The man lifted a few bales of hay, setting them aside, and then made a presentation.
“He’s got a two-way radio up here,” Aries said. “The antenna’s inside and I guess he puts it outside to pick up signals.”
“Think we can get a hold of the 116th?”
“I don’t even know where we are.”
Aries made a downward motion with his hand, and the man put the bales of hay back while he climbed down. “I can’t give a report if I don’t know where we are.”
“Ask him.”
He did. “Nouvoitou.”
Callahan shrugged. “No idea where that is in relation to where we were.”
“I didn’t memorize the map, either.” Aries started to sway. The adrenaline was crashing. He was going to pass out. Callahan reached a hand out and grabbed Aries, though if Aries fell, Callahan would fall right on top of him.
“Food,” Callahan said, and mimed eating something.
“Oui!” the man said, and snapped something at the boy. Aries stepped forward, barely keeping his feet.
Callahan limped back to his place at the base of the pile of hay, and Aries followed. He finally collapsed, sitting down hard.
“We’ll get some food into you, Aries.”
“Too tired to eat,” Aries said.
“Sleep then, I’ll watch over you.”
Aries smiled, and closed his eyes. “It’s supposed to be the other way around,” he muttered, as he drifted off to sleep.