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Going Home

Written by John Zeek

Suhl

For once it was quiet in the garage. G.C. Cooper and his mechanics were eating lunch in the living quarters upstairs, and the drivers, with an audience of admiring young boys, were washing the trucks out in the square. Anse Hatfield took advantage of the moment by relaxing. It seemed like the perfect time to read his mail. He quickly leafed through the stack of notes and letters that had been dropped off this morning.

Nothing from Grantville. That wasn’t surprising; just yesterday he had read Hank’s weekly letter. Nothing from Magdeburg; again no surprise. Leonore was busy with the transportation school, and Wili didn’t like to write letters. So, on to the official stuff.

There on the top of the official pile was a thrice-folded sheet with the new wax seal of the Thuringia-Franconia National Guard. Anse muttered, “Shoot, I hear more from Jackson now in a month than I did the whole time I was in TacRail.”

Sure enough he saw the familiar scrawl.

Hatfield

From the reports I’m getting you are doing about as good as could be expected with the trucking service, and a better than good job on the garage. That’s as close as an attaboy as you’re going to get.

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with Rolf Nestmann, currently adviser to the Suhl delegation to the state legislature. He blames you for his problems and wants your head on a platter. You must have done something right to fire up an asshole like that.

I am sending three trucks with trailers in a convoy to Suhl. One of the trailers has parts for you to keep in stock if needed for the APCs. There are no plans at present to base them close to or in Franconia, this is just a precaution.

No, you can’t keep any of the drivers. You’re running a training program; train your own. You can keep one of the trailers. The others and the trucks come back, loaded with army rifles. Someone is making money.

Your request to transfer G.C. Cooper out of Suhl is denied. Look, Hatfield, I know he’s a problem, but he still owes West Virginia county six months of community service and he’s doing it as your chief mechanic in Suhl. The mayor wants him out of Grantville for a while.

On the good side, the city of Suhl is about to receive some new additions to the liaison group. You can’t say I never did you a favor after this.

Got to run. Unlike some people, I’m going east.

Frank Jackson Commanding SoTFNG

 

Anse read it twice. The business about Nestmann was good to know. He had really had nothing to do with putting a stick in the man’s spokes, but it seemed he had made an enemy. He would have to tell the guys that they were doing a good job and Jackson approved. He noted that he was going to have to find some storage space for the APC parts.

But what was Jackson thinking about with the part about new people being sent to Suhl? Shoot, they had radio operators and some advisers to the city council. What more was needed? And why tell him? And what favor? The man was speaking in tongues.

A noise in the garage told Anse that the mechanics were done with lunch and he would have to think about it later. Now he had to deal with the hard part of the letter.

“G.C., come here., Anse called from the door. “I just got a letter from General Jackson. He refused my request for you to go home. In fact, he wants you to stay six months. Hey, I’m sorry, man, but I tried.”

Cooper looked stunned. “Gee Anse . . . er . . . Boss, I've given up on going back to Grantville. Forget about it. I’m getting used to being here. In fact, I’ve been looking for a place to rent so I can send for Connie. Do you think I could stay permanently?”

Anse felt like tearing out his hair. For the past two months he had heard nothing but complaints from Cooper about Suhl. “Let me get this straight. All you've done is moan about going home since you got here and now you want to stay?”

“Yeah, I’ve gotten to like living here. I’ve made friends with some of those Jaegers that work for you. Heinrich Emmerling and me are going hunting next week. Besides, I’m helping one of Reardon’s guys build a steam engine in my spare time. Boss, I bet you could fix it with Jackson so I can stay.”

Anse nodded. “I’ll give it a shot, G.C. No promises, but if you can keep the trucks running, I want to keep you.”

Cooper walked off happy, but Anse was amazed. The thought of G.C. Cooper and Heinrich Emmerling hunting, and more importantly, drinking together, drove Jackson’s letter out of his mind.

****

The crew cab pick-up seemed to hit every bump and hole in the road. Leonore von Wilke was sure that the driver was aiming at them. After the train ride from Magdeburg, this reminder of the normal road quality in Thuringia was tiring. Living in Magdeburg had made her soft. But, she reminded herself, the big truck was more comfortable than a coach. Not much faster though, she thought as a party of mounted constabulary trotted past the truck. But this was the third time they had passed today. Horses have to rest, trucks don’t.

The thought of trucks reminded her of Anse, setting up a trucking service in Suhl. Damn the man, he had no right to interfere with my life this way. She had to admit that Anse could have suggested this course of action and she might have agreed. They had talked of marriage and were technically engaged. But it was little more than a comfortable fiction to keep other men away. She smiled. Well, it was a bit more than just a fiction. Damn the man, arranging this transfer to Suhl went beyond suggesting. He could have asked. He's treating me like baggage.

She had liked being a captain in TacRail. What was this Mechanical Support Division she was being transferred to? Who was going to take over the communications classes at the transportation school? Was she asked? No! It was pack up, and take two of her best radio operators to Suhl. And to add insult, she was not transferred in rank; there were apparently few captains in Mechanical Support. Lieutenant Leonore von Wilke was not happy. Damn Anse for fixing this and damn General Jackson, too.

Lost in her thoughts, Leonore let her hand release the grab handle above the door. At that moment the truck driver decided that the upcoming set of ruts were too big to dodge so chose to drive on through. The predictable result was that Leonore bounced against the hamper in the middle of the back seat, and her leg banged into the cooler on the truck floor. “Damn! Treated like baggage.”

“Ma’am, are you all right?”

Leonore looked across the seat to Gertrude Barth, her fellow backseat passenger, and realized that she had spoken out loud.

“I’m fine, Trudi. The bump just caught me by surprise.” Leonore saw the concern fade from the young radio operator’s face. She questioned herself, was I ever that young? The other radio operator, Jost Fassheber, had turned to look from his seat in the front. Another young one; he couldn’t be more than twenty-eight, and he was the oldest of her people. Even the driver was young; she doubted he had seen nineteen years yet.

The other drivers in this convoy looked even younger. The sergeant commanding looked like he had started shaving last week. The other passengers were also young women and men. Sometimes she felt like she hadn’t joined an army but the "Children’s Crusade."

And now she was talking to herself; the children would think she was a crazy old woman. Damn that man.

****

Anse was cursing his maimed left arm as he and the Berenger brothers were laying out the next day’s schedule. The damaged muscle meant he had to limit his driving to level ground and good roads. Level ground and good roads were rare around Suhl.

“Okay, Eudo, you’ll take the northern run and Achille, you take the western trip. You’ll both drive Blazers with winches and no trailers. That way you can help anyone who gets into trouble.”

When the brothers nodded in agreement Anse noticed that Stefan Bocker, one of Kirk Franklin’s recruits, had come into the garage and was looking around.

“Yo, Stefan, we’re back here.”

Bocker looked relieved and hurried to join the trio. “Herr Hatfield, you are needed at Herr Franklin’s office immediately.”

Hatfield thought for a second. What could Kirk want with him? Lieutenant Franklin was head of the liaison office to the city council and thus was effectively in command of the National Guard contingent in Suhl, all six men. But he never interfered with the trucking service other than to have Cooper service the old truck assigned to them. In fact, he spent most of his time talking to the council and inspecting weapons orders for the army. Oh well, there was only one way to find out.

“Stefan, run back and tell Lieutenant Franklin I’m on my way.”

****

Kirk Franklin had a relieved look on his face when Anse arrived in front of the building that housed the liaison office. The former garrison barracks was a busy place since it also housed the mounted constabulary office.

The first words out of Kirk’s mouth confirmed Anse’s impression. “Boy, am I glad to see you! I just received written orders from Jackson that you were to be present to meet this convoy. The constabulary patrol reported they were less than two miles out.”

“What’s all this about, Kirk? I have some parts coming in, and one of the trailers is supposed to stay in Suhl, but . . .”

Franklin shook his head. “I have no idea what’s going on. The orders did say you would want to talk to one of the replacements.”

“Replacements?”

“Yep,” Franklin nodded. “I’m about to lose Ralph Difabri, and Pete Chehab is already gone. There are supposed to be a couple of radio operators to replace Ralph and a junior officer to replace Pete. I’ve been asking for a trained doctor or a couple of EMTs, instead I lose my sergeant and radio operator. To top it off, we’ll probably lose Pete’s wife, Penny, as a nurse. ”

Anse still didn’t see why he was supposed to be here. Jackson obviously wanted him here because of one of the replacements. But who was coming into town? “Got any names on the replacements, Kirk?”

“Not a clue, Anse. I’m not even sure of how many, other than the lieutenant and the radio operators. I’m still hoping for a medic or a nurse.”

****

The first person Leonore recognized when the truck came to a stop in the square was Anse. For once he was not dressed in a coverall, but a rather neat denim jacket worn over a pair of locally-made trousers. He was standing next to a man wearing a tie-dyed camouflage jacket with a lieutenant’s insignia on his shoulder, obviously the commander, Kirk Franklin.

Ignoring Anse, Leonore walked straight to Franklin and saluted. “Leonore von Wilke, reporting with a party of five.” She refused to use her new rank; the man would surely recognize her collar insignia.

Franklin looked at the four men and women who had assumed a line behind her. “I was expecting only you and two radio operators, Lieutenant. Introduce your people. We’ll have to find a place for them to live, Suhl is getting crowded. And relax. We’re not that big on the formalities.”

Leonore used a formal tone as she pointed them out. “On the end is Specialist Jost Fassheber, my senior radio operator. Next to him is his wife, Specialist Hille Bach, a trained EMT and a Suhl native. Next is Specialist Gertrude Barth, my junior radio operator. On the end is Corporal Kurt Hennel, a trained MP, and also a native of Suhl. So, Lieutenant Franklin, you only need to find quarters for myself and Trudi. The others have made arrangements to live with their relatives.”

Franklin looked a bit peeved. “Excellent, Ms. von Wilke. But I did say we were informal here in Suhl, so relax. If we used titles in conversation it would get confusing. Since I’m a lieutenant, you’re a lieutenant and even Anse here is a lieutenant, it can get messy. First names are fine between us. Oh, you remember Anse Hatfield? He is building a trucking service for the city.”

Leonore turned to Anse as if she had just seen him. “Yes, sir, I remember Lieutenant Hatfield. We were at one time engaged to be married. Now if I can dismiss my people, you can show me those quarters.”

****

“Okay, what did I do wrong and how do I fix it?” Anse asked.

Kirk Franklin had wisely walked away from the problem; no one wants to be in a train wreck. He had informed Leonore that Anse would show her to the large house that the liaison group rented close to the city garage.

Now Anse was asking the big question.

“Anderson, I think you have fixed quite enough already.”

Anse knew she was angry. That was the only time she used his full name.

After a few steps Leonore continued, “As to what you did wrong, that is obvious. I am here.”

Anse had to ask. “Just how am I supposed to have arranged this? Frank Jackson is not my best buddy, you know that. And you were in the USE Army not the National Guard. The only pull I have there is with Colonel Pitre, and I doubt she would have listened if I asked her for your transfer. She wouldn’t want to lose her best officer.”

“I don’t doubt that she would listen to you. She did sign the orders transferring me to the Thuringia-Franconia National Guard. You must have started ‘fixing things’ as soon as you got my last letter. Anderson, I am not helpless nor am I stupid. You are treating me like I was both.”

She walked faster. “We should have discussed this before you started pulling strings. I could have stayed in Magdeburg and you could have joined me there. Instead I am ordered here, and given a make-work job after being demoted in rank.” Leonore gave a sigh. “I am not happy with you right now. You have broken our agreement to treat each other as equals.”

Anse felt like screaming. He hadn’t done anything to deserve this. He hadn’t done anything. Instead, he asked in a quiet voice, “What letter was that? The last letter of yours I got was from two months back. You had just gotten orders to continue your assignment at the OCS and transportation school.”

Leonore stopped walking and turned to face him. “Honestly, no evasions or half truths, you didn’t get my letter from last month?”

“I haven’t gotten a letter from you in two months. I was worried, but I figured you were busy setting up classes. Just what was in this letter that was important enough for me to violate our agreement of equality?”

Leonore smiled and Anse felt a burst of hope. It surprised him some times how much he cared for her.

“Well, Herr Hatfield, our last meeting in Grantville was more productive than you thought. I am schwanger . . . enceinte. What is the English word? Pregnant? Yes, that is the word. I am pregnant. Or as you hillbillies would so crudely but accurately put it, I am knocked up. And you are the knocker.”

“But . . . How . . .”

“I think you know how, since you were there when it happened.” Leonore chuckled. It wasn’t a happy chuckle.

Anse stepped back. He had never thought about this. Damn, he was fifty-five years old—too old to be starting a new family. He well remembered that last meeting. He had used showing the Berenger brothers the road to Grantville as an excuse to get three days with Leonore, who was between classes. Now he was seeing the results of shirking his duties. But this was not the time to kick himself; it was time to deal with the result. And deal with a seriously pissed off Leonore.

“Besides this letter to me, which I remind you I never received, who else knows?” Anse was finally able to ask.

Leonore thought a moment. “Only the doctor and maybe a couple of nurses. Well, Adriane went to the Medical Center in Grantville with me, so she knows.”

Anse fought to keep his voice calm. “Adriane? You mean Adriane Hall who runs the tram shop?” Adriane was the fixer. After all, it was Adriane who had gotten Leonore and him together on their first date.

“But of course. How many Adrianes do we know?” Leonore had started walking again, but slowly.

Anse stepped out to walk beside her. “Then it’s a good bet that Colonel Beth knows. Adriane exchanges letters with her every week. And the colonel does have a lot of pull with Frank Jackson.”

“Maybe, but I doubt Adriane would betray my confidence. And Colonel Beth would never interfere in my personal life this way.”

Anse smiled. “So you think friends shouldn’t interfere? Back when I was crawling into a hole because of my wounds, who was it that pulled me out and threatened to kick my ass? Who was it that convinced me to come to Suhl in the first place? That was you, my dearest friend. And I thank you every time I wake up in the morning.”

“That was different, you were . . .” Leonore’s voice trailed off.

“I was making a mess of my life and you saved me from myself. I would bet Adriane and Beth are saying the same thing right now. And you know how Frank Jackson thinks of the colonel. She's the daughter he never had. Nora, we have been well and truly set up.”

Leonore stopped walking and appeared lost in thought for a long moment. Just when Anse was about to interrupt, she said, “Anse, you may be right. If you didn’t arrange this, and I believe you didn’t, someone did. And Colonel Beth and Adriane are the most likely culprits.”

“That’s water under the bridge, but I’m glad you believe me. The question now is, what do we do? I can start making arrangements and we can have a church wedding within the month. Or we could go back and get Kirk Franklin to tie the knot tomorrow. I think it’s within his power as commander of the liaison group, if you want just a civil wedding.”

Leonore reached out a touched his shoulder. “Stop, you’re fixing again. Besides, you're forgetting the most important part. You have never asked me to marry you. I know we've both assumed it would happen in the future, but this is now.”

Anse recognized a clue when it hit him in the face. He knelt in the muddy street and took Leonore’s hands in his. Much to the amusement of passing pedestrians, he asked, “Leonore von Wilke, dearest lady, love of my heart, will you make my life perfect? May I be your partner in life and love? Will you marry me?”

Leonore smiled and touched his cheek. “Oh, stand up. You don’t have to win my heart. And you’re getting dirty. And your answer is yes. With so many people throwing us together, who am I to resist?”

Two days later

“Let me do most of the talking,” Rudolph Amberger stated as he and Anse walked toward the church. “My brother Paulus is a stickler for details of faith and will be looking for reasons to refuse your request. He dislikes all the changes you Americans have brought us. He has a special dislike for your concept of freedom of choice in religion. But he is a fair man and will listen to reason. You’re lucky that he’s here; our pastors before were very strict and unreasonable. Paulus has been seasoned in the small towns closer to Grantville. We just got him back in town this year.”

Anse had discovered he was supposed to arrange the wedding. Arrange a church wedding, something that he had evaded in his two previous marriages. Leonore had surprised him by preferring a church wedding. But what church? While Anse had attended various churches here in Suhl, mostly the Catholic chapel with Pat and Ursula Johnson, he had no fixed membership. He hadn’t had any church membership since he was sixteen and saw "Uncle Billy" Daniels bitten by the timber rattler he was dancing with at a Oneness Church meeting, and he doubted he should mention that to a Lutheran pastor. Because it had to be a Lutheran church. Leonore was a practicing Lutheran. Of course, she was not a member of any of the congregations in Suhl, but ...