Battle Cry - Leon Uris [90]
“That would have been fun.”
“Light me a cigarette.”
“You smoke too much, Danny.”
“Nag, nag, nag. Just like a wife. Get home from a hard day at the office…five brats climbing all over me and then the old lady starts griping.”
“Shut up or I’ll deck you.”
“Kathy, where did you learn that talk?”
“From you.”
They rode, trying to avoid the heavy hearted, sick feeling inside them. The walls were closing in. The invisible hand was pulling him away. A wild notion, yet too clear for comfort—desert, go over the hill.
“Danny?”
“Huh?”
“I want to go to San Diego with you.”
He didn’t answer.
“I know it sounds crazy, but we can do it. Maybe we’ll have another month, even two.”
“No,” he answered, “that’s it…don’t try to get around me, please.”
“Why, darling, why?”
“Don’t you see. Kathy? Well be grabbing at straws.”
“But darling…”
“Kathy wait. I guess we both know what we are thinking. No use trying to kid ourselves. There’s no time left. But honey, if I took you to San Diego it would be…desperation. You’d be alone in a room, maybe even one like that motel. You’d sit alone and wait, wondering if every night was the last one….”
“I’m not afraid.”
“I know we promised, but we have a lot of things to talk about. We have to try to plan something for the future. It’s going to be rough, but one of these days everything will be worth it all. Till that time, this is your home. I want to remember you here…safe. It would bust the bubble. If I took you back there, we’d be just another desperate couple in a desperate city.”
“I understand,” she said. “I’m going to quit school and get a job. With what you’ll be sending, I’ll be able to set up a little apartment. I want a place, just ours, for you when you come back.”
“No!” The sharpness of his voice startled her.
“Danny!”
“I didn’t mean to shout. That is out, absolutely. If your folks get too rough, my dad will stand by you. You’ll always have a home.”
“But why, Danny? I thought you’d be so happy about it.”
His mind wandered back two weeks. A lonely haunted room in a third floor walkup. A pale, sad girl there. Alone—alone with the ghost of Nort. If something should happen, if he didn’t come back, she must not be alone.
“Why?” she repeated.
“Don’t ask me…don’t ask me.”
The airport was asleep at four in the morning. A few tired travelers sat dozing on the hard wooden benches. Danny bent over and mussed his brother’s hair. The little boy squinted one eye open and put his arm about his brother.
“Flight Sixty, for Chicago, Cheyenne, Salt Lake, and Los Angeles. Gate Ten.”
“Dad, you don’t know how much your help…”
“Have a good trip, son. Write to us.”
“Yes, sir.” Henry smiled at the note of respect.
“Don’t worry about the home front, son, I’ll take good care of her.” Their hands clasped tightly. His father stood back as the young couple walked into the night. A sharp wind howled over the runway. The silver monster waited at the gate. They stopped and she became rigid. He must not see me cry…he must not. She forced a grin on her white face.
“I’ll make it up to you, Kathy, some day.”
She nodded for fear speaking would bring tears. He held her a moment, then turned and walked away. He turned again at the door and then he disappeared.
A burst of wind, a deafening roar, and the silver wings were swallowed up in the black night.
“Danny! Danny! I love you!” Henry Forrester placed his arm about the girl tenderly and led her back to the car.
CHAPTER 7
I SLEPT with one eye open, an old Marine trick. I had seen plenty of them come back from furlough. Sometimes it took a week, sometimes a month, sometimes they never snapped out of it. It helped if they had someone to talk to when they came in. I always waited up when one of my boys was due back.
That night, a tall, good-looking Marine passed the sentry box at the gate of Camp Eliot. He trudged down the dimly lit, long street, past the row of quiet barracks, leaning slightly under the weight of his heavy officer’s bag. The door opened and he stood for