CASUAL DUTY - Chapter Six - The Line

May 1981
Fort Huachuca, Arizona
Old Hospital Grounds

“No, no! Not like that! You gonna cut off you damn foot, you keep on like that.” He backed away, holding up his hands up. “That there’s a scythe, not a sickle.”

Bridie stopped mid-swing and squinted up at the next soldier in line. The glare of the sun burning through the thin atmosphere stung her eyes. She dropped her arm, holding the tool at her side, out of range. “What?”

He tossed his sickle on the ground and stepped closer, taking the implement. He turned the blade down and wrapped his hands around the grips. “Lay it down. The blade, see? Like this, and pull. Just give it a little tug is all. Cuts real good.” He handed it back with a shy smile and turned back to retrieve his own blade.

Bridie thanked him. She tried to copy his graceful movements, but her blade kept getting tangled in the tall grasses. She stood up and stretched, rotating her shoulder to work out the kinks. The sun burned across her shoulders and the back of her neck. She wiped her face with her sleeve, surprised to see it was dry. She felt like she was sweating, but there was nothing there. Most of the others had their uniform blouses off, working in their T-shirts. Some of the men had even taken them off and draped them over their heads like the pictures she’d seen of people who live in the desert. She noticed that the girls who were working mostly kept their shirts on, but a couple of them who were sitting in the shade of the old hospital, sat with their sleeves rolled up, sunbathing like they were at the beach.

She continued to hack away. A flock of grasshoppers, disturbed by Bridie’s blade, launched a hasty counterattack, flying in every direction. She batted them away from her face with a shudder. What else was hiding in this sea of grass? Snakes? Locusts? Another yank and the tool slipped out of her hands. She sighed and surrendered, throwing her hands in the air. “This is hopeless!”

“Slow down, girl. You got too much fight in you,” he said. “Just keep it moving, slow and easy like, in a straight line. Ain’t in no hurry. We gonna be out here til lunchtime anyways. No sense in working yourself up like that.”

“Well, how are we going to finish, if we don’t hurry? There must be miles of this grass.” She pointed out toward the road where the detail bus had delivered them this morning. “How are nine people supposed to get all this grass cut? And what about rakes? We’re gonna have to . . .’ She stopped when she heard his laugh.

“What?” she demanded. “What’s so funny?”

“Done? Girl, ain’t no such thing as “done.” He shook his head. “You on the line.”

“The line?”

He nodded. “That’s what we call it, out here. Cuttin’ grass or bush. Haulin’ rock. Weeds. Paint. Whatever. If you don’t have permanent detail, and Top don’t have nothin’ specific for you, it’s the line.”

“But I’m supposed to start class, 96B School. I’m going to be an Intelligence Analyst. My orders—“

“You and everybody else. They only got so many slots, and there’s, well you saw how many there was at formation this morning.” He took off his utility cap and wiped his brow. “Look girl, what we doin’ here, it don’t matter none to no one. We just here on the line. The bus come back at lunchtime, take us to chow. Then we come back out, maybe here. Maybe somewheres else, ‘til the bus come. Then we go back and it’s PT. Then chow. Next day starts again.” He shook out his cap before putting in back on. “It ain’t that bad. Nobody around to bother you. If it look like we’re busy when the sergeant drive by, he leave us alone.”

“But . . “ she started to renew her complaint. What was the use complaining to him? He was stuck right here with her.

“You keep on complaining, keep fighting, it only feel worse, you know. You in the Army now. Get used to it. It’s too hot. All the time. Or too cold. You’re gonna be tired. Hungry. Feet hurt. Suck it up and soldier on is all’s you can do.”

“I guess. Be all you can be, right?” she added with a laugh. “Join the Army. Travel to exotic lands. Meet new people.”

“ . . . and cut the grass,” he finished with a smile.

Bridie reached over and offered her hand. “I’m Bridie Traynor.”

“Charlie Wilkins. From Waycross, Georgia.” He shook her hand.

“I’m from Wisconsin. A small town just over the border from Illinois.” She added, “ Twin Lakes.”

His gaze shifted to just over her shoulder. “Here come Top now.” He stepped away and went back to work swinging the blade.

Bridie turned and saw a cloud of dust spreading just beyond the edge of bushes at the road. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the soldiers who had been sunbathing jump up and start cutting grass with gusto. She bent back over her scythe and dragged the blade as she watched the truck drive slowly past the detail and continue down the round around the bend without stopping. If it was the Sergeant Simpson, he wasn’t after anyone out at this site.

The sun continued to blaze without mercy. Bridie’s stomach rumbled. The can of Coke and the package of cookies from the vending machine she’d eaten for breakfast on her way to formation were a distant memory. She wondered how much longer until the bus returned to take them to the mess hall. She had another reason to want to get back to the barracks. There didn’t seem to be a latrine anywhere in sight. Throughout the morning she’d seen some of the men disappear around the back side of the hospital building, and then return a few minutes later. Maybe there was a latrine in there? She yawned and continued to hack, working into an awkward rhythm, her attention drifting. Last night after she’d finished in-processing, found her duffle bag and moved into her temporary room in the barracks, it was almost 0400 in the morning. First formation was at 0500 for PT. Not enough time to shower and sleep, so she’d opted for the shower. No one else was up at that hour, so she enjoyed a few minutes of privacy and all the hot water she wanted. Maybe she should have skimped a little in favor of a quick nap.
“Nobody move.” The barrel of the gun loomed in her face. Bridie flinched and swung her scythe up in defense. She froze. The glare of the sun blinded her. The sounds of other soldiers’ voices drifted past. A dream, she thought and shook off the memory. Had anyone seen her? The memory seemed so real. She wondered about Mrs. Bolling, if she was still in the hospital. What had happened to the gunmen? Another head shake. She needed to pee, but she had no idea where the latrines were.

She looked around for Charlie, but he had worked his way over toward the treeline in the other direction. She decided she couldn’t wait any longer. She’d go check for herself. Taking her scythe with her, she made her way around the side of the building. Nothing but the back of the hospital with the remains of some old concrete steps. She picked her way through bits of broken glass, beer cans, fast food wrappers. She smelled urine and other more pungent odors and guessed that everyone else just did their business wherever they wanted to. Ugh! She hated peeing while standing up. If she hurried, maybe no one would come around the corner and see her.

She found a spot in the corner behind the old steps and decided that was her best chance for privacy. As she zipped up her pants and fastened her belt, she heard a rustle from somewhere under the building.

Snake!

Without turning to look, she stood up to run but lost her balance and fell back against the side of the building. She threw her hands behind her to push herself off the wall and stuck her hand into a sticky spider web. Her feet skidded in the loose gravel and slid out from under her. She landed in a heap banging her head against the unforgiving steps. Where was the snake? She scrambled to her feet, crouched down keeping away from the spider shaken from its web. She turned to retrieve her hat from where it had fallen under the building and looked directly into a pair of eyes not two feet from her face.

Bridie froze. Her heart hammered in her chest. She held her breath, unable to move or even blink. Across from her, the eyes blinked slowly. It was a turtle, a giant turtle under the building. The turtle blinked again and retracted its head slightly and backed away into the darkness.

Bridie’s heart rate slowed. She gasped. Just a turtle. No, wait. It couldn’t be a turtle. They lived in water. This must be one of those desert tortoises Sergeant Simpson mentioned last night. Don’t touch ‘em, he said. Well, she hadn’t touched it. She shook her head, then remembered the snake. She glanced under the building and didn’t see anything else except an old blanket, an empty water jug and more trash. The rustling sound she’d heard must have been the tortoise. See? No snake. She tried to convince herself as she wiped the sticky web from her fingers.

She pushed up, brushed most of dirt off her uniform and attempted to reassemble her dignity. She looked around to see if anyone had seen her fall, and was relieved to see that no one was in sight. Bridie picked up her scythe and picked her way through the grass back to the work area as though nothing had happened. A few dirty smears on the knees of her trousers were the only signs of her fall.

Back at work with shaking hands, she continued to hack, tangling grass with her blade, clearing it, and then tangling it again. The running dialogue in her head continued. No snake. There was no snake. It was just a tortoise. Tortoises don’t bite. You’re fine. Just hang on until the bus comes.

The soldiers near her renewed their efforts at their tasks. She looked up to find the cause and saw the dust cloud signaling the arrival of another vehicle. Maybe it’s the bus, she thought.

“Ain’t lunch time yet,” she heard someone declare. “Can’t be the bus.”

She saw the jeep swing around the bend and slow down near the edge of the field where the detail worked. Everyone stopped and watched as the jeep skidded to a halt and the driver’s door open. A pair of spit-shined jump boots emerged, followed by bloused fatigue trousers, and the webbed utility belt signifying a member of the training cadre. Murmurs broke out amongst the soldiers. Bridie squinted in the sun to see the cause of the disruption.
“Private Traynor!”

Bridie recoiled and considered dropping into the grass to hide. Sergeant Simpson. She looked for somewhere to run, but it was futile. Nowhere to hide, either.

“Traynor,” he repeated. “Get your ass over here!”

She turned and made her way down the hill toward him with her scythe.

“Leave it,” he barked. “Get in.” He swung himself into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

Bridie dropped the tool at the base of a tree and climbed into the passenger seat, fumbling her seat belt. He gunned the engine, spitting gravel in all directions and spun back toward the road. He worked his way through the gears and drove back toward the main post area.

“Colonel wants to see you, most ricky tick,” he said. “Like I got nothing better to do than chauffeur you around.”

Bridie stiffened, but said nothing. The Colonel? Which Colonel? She didn’t know anything about officers, except that they were to be avoided at all costs. Sergeant Simpson didn’t elaborate, so she just sat quietly. At least she was off the line. For a while anyway.

CASUAL DUTY - Chapter Five - My Bonnie

Chapter 5
Twin Lakes, WI, March 1981
Scottie’s Pub (Upstairs)

I hope I still remember the combination. Bridie climbed the stairs to the apartment she shared with her father above the pub, clutching the $100 bill. It’s almost 1:30. He should be downstairs with the cash drawer by now. She paused at the top of the stairs when she saw his bedroom door was open. “Dad?”
No response. She pushed his door open and saw the unmade bed. A sour smell of stale liquor, sweat, and cigarette smoke made her nose wrinkle. She set down a cup of coffee on the nightstand. Pushing aside a small mountain of dirty clothes with her foot, she stepped over a pair of shoes, and made her way to closet where the safe was mounted on the wall.
“Oh bring back, bring back, bring back my bonnie to me.” The sound of her father’s voice trickled down the hallway.
Well, at least he’s awake. Bridie slid the closet door open and took a step inside, reaching up for the combination dial. Her foot bumped against something, and before she could bend down to see what she’d hit, she heard the sound of glass tinkling and a bottle rolling on the closet floor. She dropped to the floor to catch it and knocked two more into each other, setting off a chain reaction of bottles crashing and rolling across the room, under the bed and out into the living room. Empty bottles?
“Bridie?” The door at the bottom of the stairs slammed and Bridie heard the heavy tread of Maisie coming up the stairs. “I’m coming up now, alrighty hon?” Maisie came twice a week to clean the pub. Once a month, she cleaned the upstairs apartment. She bustled in carrying a load of clean sheets.
“John’s saying he’s had six already today. Can you believe that? It’s only the start of March and six launches in a morning. Summer’s gonna be a good one. Busy.”
Bridie knelt frozen on the floor surrounded by the spread of dusty liquor bottles looking for a place to hide. Maisie dumped the sheets on the end of the dresser, fumbled for a corner of the bedcovers and yanked them to the floor. She stripped off the sheets and added them to the pile. “John says that the fishing derby for the airline people, you know, Braniff? John says…”
“…The winds have blown over the ocean. The winds have blown over the sea…”
“Oh jus’ listen to himself, will ya hon? He must be feeling good today, singing.” Maisie dumped the pillows from their cases and tossed them back on the bed.
Bridie stood up, holding an empty vodka bottle in her hand as Maisie scooped up the dirty linens and breezed past her out to the living room.

“…he says that they might have almost 150 this year. After the derby, we’re gonna go see my sister, the one who lives in Michigan…”
The bathroom door opened and Bridie stared as her father stumbled along the hallway heading toward them, wearing only a pair of dingy jockey shorts with an overstretched elastic waistband.
“Oh bring back, bring back, bring back my bonnie to me…” he sang to himself as he made his way down the hall. At the top of the stairs, he ran out of hallway. He stopped, lurched across to the opposite wall and shuffled around the corner, banking off the edge of the china hutch, and staggered across to his bedroom door, collapsing onto the bare mattress.
“.., she’s the one with the two sets of twins. Anyways, we’ll be driving this time, instead of flying. Oh, and John says with the fishing so good this spring, we’ll like to have to hire a boy. Maybe the Rszonka boy. You know him, hon? The one that runs around with the waitress, Wendy?”
…seventeen, eighteen…Bridie needed to breathe, but couldn’t force herself to move.
“What you doing with that money, hon? You need some change? John’s got change in the Bait Shop.” Maisie squeezed Bridie’s hand as she slipped the bill into her apron pocket. “Be right back. John’s got change. You’ll see.” She scooped up the pile of linen and bounded down the steps, slamming the door behind her. nineteen…twenty...click…flip. “…bring back my Mommie to me.”

CASUAL DUTY - Chapter Four - Reporting In

May 4, 1981
Riley Barracks
Fort Huachuca, Arizona

“Private Traynor reporting, sir.” Bridie held her salute, right hand rigid, tip of her middle finger just touching her eyebrow, eyes straight ahead, focused but not seeing anything in the glare cast by the security light mounted above the door to Building 51005, Riley Barracks. Moths swarmed with their wings abuzz, attacking the light. Squadrons of birds darted, dove and escaped with a load of bugs, a reverse bombing run. Crickets sang hidden in the juniper bushes outlining the sidewalk and at the base of a large statue that remind her of the stone lions guarding Brookfield Zoo. She resisted the temptation to flinch when a stray moth struck, or duck to avoid the crazy birds. What kind of birds fly at night, she wondered. The dry night air baked the layers of sweat and grime into an itchy crust that covered her body. The thermometer on the wall outside the MP station told her it was 93 degrees.
Two men sat on the edge of the planter box shadowed by the lion statue. It looked like a lion, but different. Maybe it was Egyptian, or . . . Bridie blinked to clear her vision and gave up trying to think. Beyond hungry, bone-tired and achy, she stood fast. A shower. Clean bed. Lasagna with . . .
“Roberts, you gotta watch?”
“Yes, Sergeant Simpson.”
“Would you be so kind, Specialist Roberts, as to tell me what time it is?”
At the edge of the glare, Bridie saw one of the men check his wrist with a grand sweep of his arm. “Ah, twenty three forty seven hours, Sergeant Simpson.”
“Twenty three forty seven? Why, that’s almost midnight, innit Roberts?”
“It surely is.”
“You see that soldier standing here in my yard, disgracing the uniform of those who served with distinction and honor? What’d you suppose this soldier is doing in my yard at twenty three forty seven hours on this fine Sunday night, Roberts?”
“I’d say the soldier was reporting in, Sergeant.”
“Reportin’ in to a nonexistent officer? You see any officers loiterin’ around here?”
Roberts turned his head looking for nonexistent officers. “No, Sergeant. I do not.”
Bridie felt her blood retreat from the surface of her skin in an attempt to hide behind her internal organs. She held her salute. Was she supposed to drop her salute, and then re-salute this sergeant, or should she just stand still and let the punishing blast wash over her? Her brain struggle to form a corrective strategy, but before she developed any conclusions, her tingling fingers decided she should drop her hand and try again. What difference did it make anyway? Once a sergeant got riled up, they just had to unload. Besides, this was no different than the drill sergeants in Basic. And she knew the secret to surviving a first class ass chewing. Settle into a comfortable stance, unlock her knees, hold perfectly still, and zone out with a neutral expression. And no crying -- ever.
She dropped her arm and gave it a quick shake to force a little blood back into her fingers and resumed her stance. With a deep breath, she executed another snappy salute. “Private Traynor reporting, Sergeant Simpson.”
The sergeant boosted himself off the edge of the planter, hitched up his pants, and removed a toothpick from the corner of his mouth, flicking it into the junipers. He halted in position with his gleaming jump boots merely inches from her scuffed low quarters, the top of his headgear an inch below her nose. Just like Sergeant Trump, a little guy. He walks like his boots pinch, she thought as he circled around behind her, scrutinizing her appearance, cataloguing her list of sins against AR 670-1. Without warning, he snapped to attention and tossed off a precision salute worthy of a Marine Guard. As he dropped his arm, he rocked back slightly on his heels.
Too tired to flinch, Bridie covered her reaction by stretching herself just a smidge taller and dropping her arm.
“Twenty three forty seven hours. Sure am glad you could arrange your busy press schedule to drop by and take care of the formalities of signing into our unit, soldier. If that’s what you are.”
His stale coffee and cigarette breath bounced off her chin as she exhaled through her nose in an attempt to redirect its path. Another trick from Basic. Do not react she thought. He didn’t ask a direct question, so don’t respond. She risked taking a quick breath through her clenched teeth.
“You gotta copy of your orders?”
“My orders were in my bag, on the bus,” she started. She hadn’t sent her luggage since early afternoon when she left it behind on the bus at the Quick Mart. “I don’t know where—“
“Excuses! Do I look like a fuckin’ bellhop to you? You want me to find your luggage for you?” His eyes bugged underneath his bushy eyebrows, and his mustache crawled across his upper lip like a giant black caterpillar when he yelled. “I asked you a question, soldier. Do you or do you not have a copy of your orders?”
Bridie blinked and mentally formed her face into a steel mask, willing the droplets of his saliva to bounce off and land back on his face. “No, Sergeant. I just . . .” Stop floundering! Just shut up and take whatever he’s got and get it over with. The sooner he’s done, the sooner you can get to bed.
“Roberts?” He held out his hand behind him without looking.
“Here you go,” Specialist Roberts said, winking at Bridie as he handed the Sergeant a clipboard. He stepped back a few feet and adopted a casual “at ease” posture.
Sergeant Simpson unbuttoned his breast pocket, extracted a pair of reading glasses and perched them on the tip of his nose. He read, “You are directed to report for duty to the Welcome Station at Riley Barracks, Building 51005, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona no later than 2400 hours on 4 May 1981.” Pausing, he raised his glance over his shoulder. “Time, Roberts?”
“Twenty three fifty eight hours,” Roberts replied without looking at his watch. He wiggled his eyebrows imitating the Sergeant’s overly dramatic expressions.
“You’re late.” Sergeant Simpson declared.
“Well, technically speaking, she’s. . .” Roberts began.
“Haven’t I told you when you begin your argument with ‘technically’ you better pack up your kit and withdraw from the fight? You know you already lost if that’s your argument, don’t you?”
“Yes, Sergeant.” Roberts nodded, rolling his eyes.
Bridie wondered, not for the first time today, if any of this was real or if she’d wake up tomorrow in her bunk back at Fort Leonard Wood facing a 15-mile forced march.
“Overlooking for just a moment, your flagrant disregard for your reporting time and the fact that I missed my anniversary dinner with my wife in anticipation of your grand arrival. . . “ He paused and dropped his gaze to her uniform. “. . . and your obvious disdain for the requirements of Army Regulation 670-1, Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia, I am required to read the following statement per Fort Huachuca Policy. ‘Welcome to Fort Huachuca, home of the historic Buffalo Soldier. You are assigned to the United States Army Intelligence Center and School (USAICS), Delta Company, in anticipation of your eventual selection for advanced training as an Intelligence Analyst. It is my . . . ‘ Roberts, what’s this here word?” He held out the clipboard and pointed.
“Fervent, Sergeant. FUR-vent. It means burning or glowing, as in -–“
“Shut up. “ Directing his attention back to the letter, “’fervent hope that you will find your assignment to USAICS personally rewarding and professionally challenging.” He pronounced the acronym as a single word ‘You-SAYks’. “At Delta company. . .”
Bridie settled in, unlocked her knees and let the jargon drift past her and dissipate into the night air. She gave up any hope of dinner and considered the possibility of finding a cookie.
“. . . make the most of your assignment by. . . “
A long blink. She fought to reopen her eyes and mentally scratched the saliva drying on her face.
“. . . an environment that is welcoming and encouraging . . .”
Doo-dah, doo-dah, she sang to herself. OK, forget the cookie, maybe just a sip of water? Focus! What is he going on about now? She waited for the key phrase that usually signaled the big finish “it is incumbent upon you. . . “
“. . . training that is demanding and rigorous . . “
He’s gearing up for a second wind. Doesn’t he want to go home to his wife? He wasn’t making that up about his anniversary, was he? Who’d marry that troll? Another long blink.
“. . . and to ensure compliance with AR 600-9 Army Weight Control Program.“ He stopped and looked her up and down again. “That gonna be a problem for you, Traynor?”
Bridie shriveled. Her constant struggle. In Basic, she’d dropped maybe 15 pounds, but she’d never be called thin. Don’t let it get to you, she thought, rubbing her thumb along the seam of her uniform trousers. “No, Sergeant!” Dear God, please let me pass the weigh-in, she prayed.
“Un-huh.” He thumbed down the page to find his spot and resumed reading about the Commander’s Open Door Policy. “. . . it is incumbent upon you to bring the matter to the attention of the Chain of Command.”
Thank you, God. Blink.
“’I hope you will make the most of your time during your assignment here by exploring the richness and majesty of the surrounding area, steeped in the history of . . .’”
Bridie’s eyes slammed shut, squeezing back her frustration and losing her battle to maintain focus. She swayed from her strict posture. What was that? He’d stopped reading. She opened her eyes.
“You may consider yourself welcomed.”
Shit! What did he say? Had she fallen asleep? “Thank you, Sergeant?” she offered.
“Uh, Sergeant Simpson? The supplement?” Roberts stepped forward and took the clipboard. He sorted through the pages. “Here it is.”
“Ah, yes. ‘Supplemental Attachment 1 to Fort Huachuca Welcome Letter. Distribution: All personnel upon reporting for duty will initial they have received this supplemental briefing. On 17 June 1981, Fort Huachuca will host the annual desert training exercise on the western range. All personnel not specifically assigned to an active training slot will be attached to the Casual Platoon to support preparations for the exercise. Specific duties will be assigned as required. Effective immediately, all leaves, except those categorized as emergency leave, are hereby canceled until the conclusion of the Exercise and its attendant clean up activities. Anticipated personnel release date: 17 August 1981. . .”
Bridie drifted again with the singsong delivery.
“. . . desert tortoise training. . .”
She blinked slowly, her eyes resisting reopening. What was that about a porpoise?
“. . .You have been trained. Sign here,” he said and clicked his black government pen, thrusting the clipboard and official form at her. His ragged fingernails looked chewed as he pointed to the acknowledgement line.
Training Certificate? “Service member acknowledges. . .” What was this? “What training?” she asked.
Sergeant Simpson turned to look over his shoulder. “Roberts? Desert Tortoise Training?”
“Don’t touch ‘em.”
“Any questions?” Sergeant Simpson tapped the form.
She scrawled her name in the vicinity of the signature block.
He grabbed the clipboard and slipped the pen in his pocket with his glasses, and buttoned the flap. “PT formation at 0500. Selection at 0700. Chow, if you got time before Selection. If that don’t interfere with your busy press schedule, that is.” He snapped into position. “Atten-shun!”
Bridie and Specialist Roberts snapped.
“Roberts, get this sorry excuse for a soldier outta my yard, so I can go home and begin the process of apologizing to my wife.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“Dismissed!”

CASUAL DUTY - Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Lydia’s Quick Mart, May 1981
Outside the Main Gate, Fort Huachuca, Arizona

Bridie settled back against the wall with her legs outstretched. She lifted Mrs. Bolling’s head, placing it in her lap. The last step in the checklist for Treatment for the Prevention of Shock was to notify emergency services. That would have to wait. She watched the red and blue lights from the police strobes chase each other around the room. The police know we’re in here. They’ll get us out.
Bridie glanced at the clock again, two minutes after three, 1502, she corrected. She’d missed the bus. What happened to her duffle bag? How was she going to explain this? Late reporting in for her duty assignment. Isn’t that called AWOL? Maybe one of the police will write her a note.
The gunmen still huddled across the room, not speaking to the hostages. I’m a hostage. Hostages were supposed to sit still and do exactly what they’re told, according to what Bridie heard on TV and the in the movies. It’s always the same script. The hijacker stands up, points his gun and announces that the plane in going to Cuba. No one gets hurt. Well, this isn’t an airplane and we’re not going to Cuba. On TV they’d wait it out, unless it was like SWAT. Then Hondo and the Team would break down the door and shoot the bad guys. No, this isn’t like on TV. It was more like Basic. Execute an Assault on a Defensive Position. Wait a minute. Maybe this was some kind of a test. Was this just another part of Basic? Maybe this wasn’t real, and the drill sergeants are watching from somewhere in the store. Some kind of final exam? And I’m sitting here on my butt, letting it happen, not doing anything? It couldn’t be. I did get on the plane. I got off in Tucson. I spent the night in the hotel with Julie and Tracy. They couldn’t fake that! The bus ride through the desert from Tucson? That was real. Maybe it’s some kind of test at my new school, for intelligence analysts, and the other soldiers from the bus aren’t analysts. She searched the walls for some sort of window or any sign of observation. If anyone’s watching, I’ve failed. They’re gonna kick me out for sure. If it is a test, what am I supposed to do? No one told me the task, condition and standard. “Well, figure it out, Super Troop. What do you know?” SFC Barrett’s voice in her head comforted her.
Bridie signed and closed her eyes. It was something to do to pass the time until someone rescued her, them, she corrected. SFC Barrett would ask, what’s the situation? Break it down. What do you have? Who do you have? What do you need to do? What do you need to get it done? Think it through, Super Troop.
Task: This looks like a rescue. Civilians. What do they call them? Noncombatants. The task would be something like “Evacuate noncombatants from a convenience store.”
Conditions: Given a Class A Uniform, with handbag and headgear, in an indoor environment, daylight hours. What kind of environment is this? Permissive? Uncertain? Hostile? They’ve got a gun, so I guess that makes it hostile. Two noncombatants, one requires medical assistance. One…how should she describe man from the bank? What was his name? David? She looked over at him slumped on the floor with his knees drawn close to his chest, fingering a tear at the knee of his trousers. A bankrobber is holding us hostage and he’s worried about torn pants? What an idiot! Is idiot a category of noncombatant? Ineffective. That’s the term. One unconscious. The other is an ineffective.
Standard: Trainee will plan and execute a swift insertion of a force, temporarily occupy the objective, and a controlled withdrawal upon completion of the mission. Task includes providing combat service support functions of emergency medical treatment, transportation of noncombatants, and administrative coordination with civilian law enforcement agencies on scene. Civilian casualties and collateral damage are not permitted. I guess that means don’t break any pickle jars.
“My pills…” Mrs. Bolling stirred, opening her eyes. She tried to sit up, but Bridie held her shoulder.
“Shh…” Bridie whispered. “The gunmen are right over there. You passed out, fainted.”
“I need my Nitro. In my purse.” Mrs. Bolling turned her head trying to find her purse. “It’s my heart. It’s not so good anymore. I need a Nitro.”
Bridie verified the gunmen were still across the room. She eased Mrs. Bolling’s head off her lap and crept over to retrieve her handbag. “They haven’t done anything yet. They’re just talking. The older one is hurt pretty bad. It looks like he’s shot in the leg. He’s bleeding. The other guy, he just looks scared.”
“I need to…help me up, please.” Mrs. Bolling struggled to get her arms under herself and push up. Bridie settled her against a stack of boxes.
“Let me see if I can’t get you a soda or something to take that with.”
“The nitro…it goes under my tongue for dissolving. But I need some drink for after.”
Bridie looked over at the gunmen again. Still nothing. With a quick look toward the front door and then back to the gunmen, she stood up and inched her way to the cooler across the aisle. The younger gunman whirled around and yelled something in Spanish. His partner raised the gun and swung it in Bridie’s direction.
“She needs something to drink, for her medicine.” Bridie held up her hands to show them she wasn’t a threat, but she didn’t back down. “I’m just getting her a soda.” She continued to the cooler. It didn’t seem like he knew how to hold the gun, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t fire it accidentally. You could die from an accidental gunshot just as easily as one aimed at you, the range sergeant told them. Bridie slid open the cooler door and pulled out a couple cans of soda. She crossed back to where Mrs. Bolling sat with her eyes closed, Nitro pill under her tongue. Bridie knelt down, opened the can, and set it on the floor next to the woman. Then she passed a can to David, who shook his head without saying a word.
Mrs. Bolling opened her eyes and took a sip. “My name is Lillian.” She pronounced it lil-EYAN.
“I’m Bridget, but everyone calls me Bridie.”
“Ah, a warrior. Goddess of fire.” Another sip.
“Not really, it’s just a name. I’m not even a real soldier yet. I just graduated Basic Training last week. I start my training at school here on Monday.”
“Names are very powerful. They are not wrong.” She sipped the soda. “You have strength you do not know yet.”
Across the room the wounded man moaned and shifted. His partner leaned over him, speaking quietly. He looked around the room, at the front door, at the hostages and then back to his friend. He seemed to be pleading with him.
“Did you need a drink?” Bridie stood holding the can toward the robbers. “He needs fluid. His leg…with all that bleeding. He should drink something to keep his fluids up.” She mimed drinking and pointed to the wounded man, and set the can down next to him. As she stood up to back away, she saw the blood seeping between his fingers. Bridie had never seen a gunshot wound before. Blood ran down his leg, dripped on the floor into a spreading puddle. “You should get a bandage on that, apply pressure…” She stopped. They didn’t understand what she was saying.
The man was going to die, right here in the store if he didn’t get to a doctor. This man…he was just a boy really, probably the same age as she was, looked as scared as she felt. The other guy, the younger one, was only 16 or maybe17. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. These guys were the enemy. They had killed someone, the bank guard. Should she even be helping them? Was this giving aid and comfort to the enemy? But he was just a boy, and he was going to die, right here, unless she did something. What am I supposed to do? She couldn’t just let him die right here, could she?
Stop the bleeding. Apply direct pressure to the wound. Next step, apply pressure to the nearest pressure point. Last step, apply a tourniquet, if necessary. “I need a first aid kit, with bandages or wait! Sanitary napkins.” Bridie remembered a story the range sergeant told her platoon during night operations. His unit was pinned down, taking heavy fire. The medic treated his buddy’s wound by wrapping Kotex napkins on his leg. “Ain’t nothin’ better at soakin’ up blood,” he said.
She ran down the aisles until she found the feminine hygiene display, grabbed a couple of boxes of napkins and returned to the wounded man. “We need to get these on the wound.” She ripped open a box and pushed the man’s hand aside. Blood spurted in the air, spraying across her chest and face. Bridie flinched and wiped her sleeve across her face. She took a deep breath, and got herself under control. She pressed a pad across the worst part of the wound and gestured with her head, “Give me another one.”
Trying not to look at the gun pointed at her, she accepted another pad and added it to the wound, pressing hard with both hands to slow the bleeding. The wounded man moaned and tried to wriggle away. “He’s going to die if we don’t stop this bleeding. I need you to press here,” she said to the younger man, her hands guiding his to keep direct pressure on the wound. Bridie reached up to find the pressure point at the wounded man’s groin, and hesitated. I can’t touch him there. It’s too close to. . . I just can’t.
“Let him die,” David said. “He killed that guard, he just shot him. Let him die.”
“He’s a human being,” Bridie replied. “We have to do what we can to help.” She took a deep breath and shoved her fingers against the crease between his thigh and torso, hoping she had the right spot, but too scared to feel around to be sure.
“Maybe a tourniquet?” the older woman ventured. “Like in the movies, with his belt?”
“This doesn’t seem to be helping much. You’re probably right. I need a belt and something like a stick to twist it. A ruler maybe? From over there in the school supplies.” She pointed with her head, keeping her hands pressed against the man’s leg.
“David, take off your belt,” Lillian directed. When he started to protest, she silenced him with a stern look and a raised finger. He stood, unbuckled his belt and tossed it in Bridie’s direction. “And get her a ruler.”
As Bridie wrapped the belt around the top of the man’s leg, she raised her eyes to look at his face. Smooth skin, a few stray hairs at the corners of his upper lip. He’s even younger than I thought. She slid the ruler under the belt and twisted it once to tighten the tourniquet. “Hold this here,” she said as she stood up and wiped her bloody hands against her uniform trousers. She raised the man’s injured leg a few inches and placed on his partner’s lap. “Keep it up here. Keep it elevated, like this.” She returned to her place across the aisle by Lillian and David.
“Gracias, senorita.” The younger man’s voice was barely a whisper.
“What’s taking so long? Why haven’t they come to rescue us?” David whined.
“The police don’t really know the situation in here. They—“
“They know the murderers are in here! They know they’ve got a gun. They know they’ve got hostages. What are they doing out there? Drinking coffee?” he continued.
“Look. They’ve got to make a plan. The police need to know the layout of the store, how many people are in here, where we’re located, where the guys with the guns are, fields of fire. A lot of things go into making the plan. They’ll come. Don’t make the situation any worse by panicking,” Bridie said.
“Shouldn’t you be doing something? Aren’t you a soldier?” he asked. “Those badges on your uniform, don’t they mean you’re trained in something besides first aid?”
“I just finished Basic. I don’t know anything yet. My marksman badge means I can shoot an M-16, which I had to leave behind at Fort Leonardwood. This one’s for grenade training. You see any grenades around here? I don’t.” Bridie’s exasperation with this man started to overshadow her fear of the gunmen.
Lillian Bolling took another sip of soda. “It’s just like when the Nazi’s come to our town in Belgium. When I was a little girl.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. “My brothers and I, we hide in the trees. When the Nazi soldiers go to the houses, we throw the rocks at them. We run away farther into the trees. They don’t see us in the trees.”
“Well, I don’t see any rocks around here either,” said David. He leaned back against the shelf of vegetables.
“Asparagus,” said Lillian. “We have cans.”
The plan was simple. Bridie estimated their chances at slightly better than even. The intruders were young, didn’t seem to be that experienced, and one was severely wounded. Her job would be to throw cans at the gunmen distracting them, while David helped move Lillian about twenty-five feet across the open aisle and out the back door. “Remember, when you’re withdrawing from your position under fire, you can use hand grenades to cover your movement. You don’t have to worry too much about accuracy. Closeness counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The goal is to keep the enemy pinned down and distracted, while your team escapes,” SFC Barrett told them at the grenade range.
One, two, three. . . Stop it! There’s no time for that now! Bridie forced her attention to Lillian and took a deep breath. “Are you ready?”
The older woman nodded slightly. Some color returned to her face and her breathing seemed stronger. “Remember to move in short bursts, from one shelf to the next. Try to keep some cover between yourselves and them at all times.” Both women looked at David.
“I still don’t see why we have to—“ he started.
“We go,” Lillian interrupted. She laid her head back against the wall and moaned loudly. “My heart. . . “
Bridie jumped up and moved into position blocking the gunmen’s view of the preparations. David slid across the aisle to the women, squatted beside Lillian and began stacking cans on the floor out of sight of the gunmen. Bridie slid Lillian to the floor, making a show of adjusting her position, and checking her pulse. “Mrs. Bolling? Mrs. Bolling? Can you hear me? She’s dying!”
Upon hearing the code word, David grabbed the woman’s shoulders and yanked, pulling her body behind the cover of the shelves. He helped her stand and supported her weight while Bridie dropped her knees, spun around and began throwing cans of vegetables at the men. “Run!” she yelled. “Go for it!”
David and Lillian ducked and made their way across the aisle to the back door as quickly as her weakened condition allowed. At the sound of the Bridie’s shouting, the wounded man sat up and turned in their direction. The gun slipped in his bloody hand, sending his first shot into the wall near his feet, startling both men. The recoil from the shot threw his hand up and his second shot shattered the window at the front of the store.
“Shots fired! We have shots inside the store!” An anonymous voice on a megaphone shouted outside. “Go! Go! Go!”
When the first can sailed over the shelf toward their position, the robbers ducked and covered their heads. Bridie heard the sound of the steel security bar thrown back as she continued to rain cans down on the enemy position, keeping them pinned down.
More glass shattered as the assault team stormed in, guns drawn. “Everybody down! Now! Get down!”

CASUAL DUTY - Chapter Two

Chapter Two
March 1981
Scotty’s Pub
Twin Lakes, WI

Bridie pushed the tip of the scissors under the edge and squeezed with both hands to crack the shell. She pulled the meat up, pinched the shell closed, spread the flesh and fins neatly, then stacked the tail on the baking sheet. Split, crack, pull, fan -- another row completed. She reached into the box for another tail and bumped Sophie’s hands.

“Watch it,” Sophie warned as she tossed another lobster tail on the stack. Smoke from her cigarette curled around her face and then dashed into the exhaust fan. She averaged two or three tails to every one of Bridie’s. “He sign them?” she asked with her lips pressed around her cigarette. A timer buzzed, startling both of them.

“Those potatoes have been in an hour. They should be about done.” Bridie stood up and reached over the shelf to punch the button. She grabbed a couple of pot holders and bent down behind the counter.

“I asked you, did he sign them yet?”

The oven door clanged shut. Bridie rested the edge of the pan on the stove. “You think one pan will be enough, or should I put in a second? I don’t want Millie running out at 9:00 like last week.” She dumped the potatoes into a box under the counter and turned to go into the storeroom. “I think I’ll go ahead and put in another pan, just to be sure.”

“I know you heard me. Being afraid is no reason.”

Bridie ducked into the storeroom, returning with another bag. “He doesn’t listen, and he gets angry.” She dumped the potatoes into the pan and spread them into an even layer. “It won’t do any good to ask him, anyway. He’ll just tell me no.” She slid the pan into the oven, slammed the door, and tossed the hot pads on the counter.

Sophie set down her shears, took a long drink of her tea and wiped her mouth. “Don’t forget the timer,” she said pointing above the stove. One last drag and she stubbed out her cigarette on the side of the trash can. “You’re gonna wake up one day, forty. You’re gonna wake up married to a bartender, or worse – divorced, and you got kids.” She stood up, lifted the tray of lobster tails and walked toward the cooler. “You’re gonna wake up and find yourself sittin’ on a bucket cutting lobster tails in someone else’s kitchen. Ask him. Today.”

Bridie swallowed her comeback and hid behind the refrigerator door. She pulled out two jars, one each of cocktail and tartar sauce, and pushed the door closed with her hip. Red, red, white, red, white, white. She sorted the sauces, arranging the cups into a tight formation, refilled empty cups and three, four, five…Stop it! Bridie slammed the spoon down on the counter, splashing cocktail sauce in all directions. She doesn’t understand. Nobody does. He puts out there like he’s everyone’s best friend, everyone’s buddy, but that’s not him. Not like he really is. If they saw him away from the bar, upstairs, they’d know what he’s really like. Bridie slid the tray back into the fridge, wiped up the mess and carried the empty buckets to the sink. Another timer rang.

“Breads up!”

* * *

The door swung shut behind her as Bridie tore through the kitchen, past the cooks, and ran into the storeroom. Sophie found her cramming towels into the washing machine as the tub filled. She put her hand on Bridie’s back and said, “Well, I guess I don’t have to ask.”

Bridie stood up. “He was behind the bar. Before I could even open my mouth, he wants to know did I wash the bar towels yet. He didn’t even give me a chance to ask.” She measured the detergent, added a good splash of bleach, and dropped the lid with a clang. “I told you…”

“Bridg?” Her father’s voice interrupted.

“You need to find a way,” Sophie said.

“Oh there you are, Bridg. Could you cut the fruit for the bar, darlin’? And not so thin with the limes this time. They’ve got to stay on the picks.” He put his hand on her arm and guided her back toward the kitchen. “I’ll be right up, honey,” as he dropped back to talk to Sophie.

“Dad? I need to … The woman from the financial aid office…She said-- .”

“Not now, Bridg.” He turned toward Sophie.

“The deadline, she said they can’t extend it again. The papers have to…”

“Bridg, the fruit? It’s on the counter.”

Bridie watched him bend to whisper to Sophie as he shut the door behind her back. Sophie’s asking him, she thought with a smile. Behind the bar, Bridie found the bag lemons, a couple limes and an orange set out next to the paring knife. Placing the first lime on its side, she sliced it in half lengthwise and placed the flat side down. She trimmed off the ends and made five cuts across. Holding the slices together, she cut down the middle. Twelve neat wedges. She reached for the other half, and started again.

As she finished the last piece, she heard the front door open behind her. Charlie Sideburns limped in and hung up his jacket. Charlie Burnsides, she corrected herself. A quick look at the clock, 4:15. The pub didn’t open until 4:30, but the door was never locked when her dad was downstairs. “Never turn away a dollar, Bridg. Aye, that’s the secret.”

Charlie settled his bulk onto a stool near the middle of the bar and greeted Bridie with a smile. “Afternoon, lass. Is the Earl of Aberdeen working today, or is he out back burying his schillings?”

“Hi, Mr. Burnsides. You mean Glasgow, and he’s in the storeroom. He’ll be right up.” She placed a pint of Guinness on the coaster in front of the elderly gentleman. “The fish tonight? Dad got some nice halibut in yesterday.”

“Oh aye! With neeps and tatties?” His blue eyes twinkled.

“Tatties, yes. Neeps? ‘fraid not. Millie hates the smell of turnips in her kitchen,” she said over her shoulder as she scribbled his order.

“Order in,” she yelled above the roar of the fan. “Charlie Sideburns wants fish and chips, please.” She passed the ticket stub to Millie, the fryer cook. “Is my dad still in the storeroom?” She walked toward the storeroom door.

“What you need in there, hon?” Millie asked. She darted in front of Bridie and opened the cooler door, blocking her path. “I’ll get it for ya.”

“Just tell Dad Charlie’s here. He’s looking for him.” As Bridie turned to go back to the bar, she saw the door open. Her father breezed past her and out to the bar before she could speak to him.

“Charlie! My good man, you’ve come to buy an old friend a dram to wash out the dust! God bless ya.” His brogue became more pronounced behind the bar. He poured himself a glass of scotch and topped it off with a splash of Drambuie. “What’s the good word?” He raised his glass in salute, sipped and set it down underneath the bar.

“Dad? The forms for college?”

“Get they ashtrays, will you?” he said pointing down the length of the bar. “And see if you can’t find any fish in that kitchen for Charlie here.”

Blinking back tears, Bridie scooped up the ashtrays, dumped the butts in the trash, and wiped the trays with a rag.

“Fancies herself going to college, this one,” he said taking another sip. “Cannae keep her own room clean, but she wants off to university, she does.”

“I’ll leave them here on the bar for you to sign when you have time. I have to turn them in tomorrow.” Bridie placed the stack of forms on the end of the bar and went back into the kitchen to find Sophie. She found her leaning against a stack of boxes, smoothing her hair, rubber band in her teeth.

“Did you ask him? What did he say? Is he going to sign them?”

Sophie rebanded her hair. She raised her head and looked Bridie directly in the face. “It ain’t all about you, kid,” She brushed past and returned to her station in front of the broiler.

* * *

Bridie shaded her eyes from the sun’s glare and stumbled to the kitchen to start the coffee. It was just after 6:00 and she needed to get the yeast going so she could make the bread. She stopped at the end of the bar and straightened out a stack of menus, placing them in the slot under the counter. She looked under the menus, next to the cash register and on the shelf with the packing slips. Maybe he brought them back upstairs, she thought. She picked up a crumbled napkin and tossed it in the can behind the bar. She froze, then looked back into the trash can.

The neon in the tubes surrounding the advertising flip clock on the wall above the cash register hummed in the background of her thoughts. The clock featured handwritten ads painted in fluorescent colors that flipped at timed intervals. Hum. Click. Flip: Tastee Freeze Ice Cream. Click. Flip: The Fairview Inn. Click: Barber Shop – Open Sunday. Click. Flip.

The phone rang. She fumbled under the bar to pick up the receiver, closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “Good morning, Scotty’s Pub. This is Bridget. May I help you?” she mumbled.

“Good morning! This is Staff Sergeant Jeffrey Lang of the United States Army. I’ll be in Twin Lakes tomorrow to speak with some of your neighbors about the opportunities the Army has to offer young women like yourself. I’d like the chance to sit down with you and to discuss your plans for the future. Will morning or afternoon be more convenient for you?”

CASUAL DUTY - Chapter One

CASUAL DUTY
Chapter One
Lydia’s Quick Mart, May 1981
Outside the Main Gate, Fort Huachuca, Arizona

Rattlesnake eggs? Bridie picked up the small brown envelope and read. CAUTION: Do not expose to direct sunlight. Do not allow package to get wet. Not intended for use by children under the age of three. What would someone do with a package of rattlesnake eggs, she wondered. Eat them? Raise them as pets?
She turned the package over. The top of the envelope flapped open. Curious, she pinched the sides and…BRATATATATATATATAT!
The envelope flew from her hands as she jumped backward into a display of breakfast cereal, scattering the boxes in all directions. “They’re alive!” she yelled, pointing at the envelope flitting across the shelf. “The rattlesnakes are alive.”
The other soldiers laughed at her surrounded by the mess of cereal boxes. Julia, the petite blonde, tossed her hair and turned her back to Bridie as she whispered to one of the guys. More laughter. “Dumb-ass. You see her jump?”
Bridie’s face burned crimson with the sound of their jeers. She looked at the mess she’d made and rubbed her thumb against the inside of her ring finger. One, two, three, four, five, ….Stop it! She commanded herself. It was just some kind of joke. She stared at the envelope, unable to move toward it.
“They’re not real. Everyone who comes in here does the same thing,” said the clerk as she fished the envelope out of a display of scorpion paperweights. “See, it’s just a rubber band and a paperclip inside.” She pulled out the clip to show Bridie, twisted the band several times to reload it, and tucked it back into the envelope. “It was funny the first hundred times I saw it. I just wish Lydia would let me move it away from these displays.” She placed the loaded envelope back on top of the stack with the flap down, ready for the next unsuspecting victim.
Bridie’s heart raced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I thought…” She didn’t want to say what she had thought. She’d thought she was going to die. She knelt beside the woman to help her restack the boxes of cereal, hiding her face. The strand of bells hanging from the front door jangled as the noisy group from the bus left. Bridie blinked back the sting of tears as she watched them cross the street and disappear into the bar on the corner. She knew they were still laughing at her, especially Julie and Tracy, the girls from the hotel room last night. She shook her head and finished straightening the last box. The bells jangled again and Bridie looked up to see an older woman enter.

“Hello, Mrs. Bolling.” The clerk stood and greeted her new customer. “How’s your granddaughter doing? She coming to visit you this summer?”

Bridie pushed herself up, tugged her uniform jacket into place and twisted her arms to settle her sleeves. Sweat dripped down the back of her neck and dampened her blouse, despite the artificially-frigid air. Her hands ran a quick check of her gigline to make sure all her buttons were still buttoned, and then straightened her collar. Searching around on the floor for her handbag, she noticed the scuffs on the toes of her low quarters. How could she report in to her new base with her shoes looking like this? She retreated to the back of the store and pulled a few inches of nylon stocking out of her pocket to quickly buff the polish back into shape. Uniform restored, she checked her watch. The bus driver told them to be back at ten till one. She still had fifteen minutes to wait. He had also told them not to go into The Outlaw, but that hadn’t stopped the others. She glanced out the window where she had seen them disappear. ”You got enough to worry about taking care of yourself, Private Traynor.” Isn’t that what Sergeant Barrett used to yell at her?
Bridie took a deep breath and turned down the first aisle, toward the door. Maybe she could run…just slip away and disappear. Then she’d never have to face them again. Hear them laughing….One, two, three….Stop it! Stop counting! One foot in front of the other. Just keep walking, she told herself. Tide, Clorox, Downy. She concentrated on reading the names as she passed the shelves. Shampoo, conditioner, cleansing cream. Picking up speed, she turned to go up the next aisle past the rack of postcards. She paused and selected one with a picture of a giant statute: “Welcome to Fort Huachuca, Arizona! Home of the Buffalo Soldier.” Buffalo Soldier? Like the cowboy song, “Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam?” That kind of buffalo? The next one read, “Sierra Vista, Arizona – Where visits last a lifetime!” I’m not so sure that’s a good thing. She replaced the card in its slot and spun the rack. More cards depicting the local critters – tarantulas, scorpions, desert tortoises and something called a jack-a-lope? We’re not in Wisconsin anymore, Toto.
On the television set behind the front counter, she saw the hourglass depicting the sands of time. She hadn’t watched the soap opera in months. She wondered what catastrophe Tom and Alice Horton faced today. Another glance at her watch, ten minutes. On her way down the next aisle she overhead the clerk discussing with Mrs. Bolling the menu for her party next week. Real people, she thought. How long had it been since she’d been around real people, wearing normal clothes, talking about everyday things like granddaughters and spaghetti sauce and bread crumbs?
A newscaster’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Coming up next, preparations continue for the annual desert warfare training exercise at Fort Huachuca. We’ll have Police Chief Schrader with us in the studio to talk about possible road closures and other issues that may impact local business owners near the base. We’ll be back after these messages from our sponsor.”
A woman singing a happy jingle about her shiny kitchen floors replaced the newscaster’s voice. Bridie made her way past the rack of fancy skin care products and stopped in front of the soap display. Ivory, Palmolive…there it is. Tone soap. She picked up a box and sniffed, closing her eyes. Home. Her own bathroom. Fluffy yellow towels. Butterflies on her shower curtain…
“Excuse me, please?”
Bridie snapped back and opened her eyes. It was Mrs. Bolling, the woman who was making veal parmigiana for dinner next week.
“Could you please…I cannot reach the asparagus. Up there…the white,” she pointed, her fingernails flawlessly polished red. “I need two cans.”
As Bridie passed her the asparagus, she caught a flash of the woman’s diamond ring and her gaze traveled up her arm past her gold bracelets, to her sparkly diamond earrings.
“Thank you. It’s for my granddaughter. She’s….”

BAM!
The steel door at the rear of the store burst open and slammed into the back wall. A man in a gray suit stumbled in and tripped over the duffle bag he dragged. Two men wearing dark clothes pushed in behind him, kicked the door shut, and slid the security bar into place. One man rested against the wall, gulping air. The other turned, pointing his gun at Bridie and Mrs. Bolling. “Nobody move.”
Bridie stood frozen, her hand suspended halfway between herself and Mrs. Bolling. She had never seen a gun up close before she’d gone to Basic, and didn’t know what kind this one was. It wasn’t an M16. It was some kind of handgun and the barrel looked like a cannon pointed at her chest. She dropped her arm to her side, forced herself to take a breath keeping as still as possible. One, two, three…She rubbed her thumb.
The only sound came from the air conditioning unit dripping condensation into a bucket, and the man on the floor whimpering with his hands over his face. Two days ago at her graduation ceremony, she stood with her classmates confident and ready to take on an entire Soviet Infantry Division armed with just her M16 and a bayonet. Standing here in her Class A uniform armed with her purse and beret, she just wanted to pee.
Jangling bells broke the spell. Every head turned to the front of the store as they watched the clerk run off down the street, the front door swinging shut behind her back. The gunman pointed to the door and barked an order in Spanish. The second man ran forward, twisted the lock and shoved a stack of boxes in front of the glass. Satisfied with his makeshift barricade, he returned to the back where Bridie still stood next to Mrs. Bolling holding the asparagus.
“El dinero,” the gunman pointed the barrel at the man on the floor. “Traigemelo.” The man on the floor recoiled, curling himself into a tight ball. The gunman’s partner pulled the bag across the aisle as ordered, and then helped his friend to an open area near the coffee counter. From this position, they could see both the front and rear door.
Bridie watched as the gunman slid to the floor next to the duffle bag leaving a bloody smear down the length of the wall. He’s bleeding. A leg wound? she wondered. Bright red blood. The two men huddled together, whispering in Spanish, ignoring the hostages for a moment. One, two, three, four, five, six… The sound of the cans hitting the floor startled her out of her comforting ritual.
Mrs. Bolling slumped over. Bridie lunged and caught her just before she hit her head. She eased her down into in a crumpled heap on the floor. “What are we going to do?” she whispered to the man in the suit.
No answer.
“We need to do something! She’s unconscious!” Again, no response.
What had Sergeant Barrett taught them about treatment for fainting? Bridie knew what to do for a compound fracture, sprained ankle or a sucking chest wound, but fainting? She searched her memory for the first aid checklist.
‘Remember your ABCs…A is for airway.’ Bridie straightened the woman’s neck and head. Airway is good. Check.
‘B is for breathing.’ She lowered her ear to just above the woman’s nose and mouth and felt a tiny puff of breath against her cheek. Barely, but she is breathing. Check.
C is for circulation. Bridie fumbled for the woman’s wrist and felt ….. nothing. She shifted her position and reached up, placing her fingers on the side of her neck….There it was, a faint pulse. She heard her drill sergeant’s voice. “Once you’ve established your ABCs, always treat for shock.”
“Help me lay her down,” Bridie said to the man in the suit. “We need to elevate her legs.” Ignoring the gunman, Bridie rolled the woman onto her back and scooted down to straighten out her legs. The man still cowered against the wall.
Bridie raised her voice. “Listen to me! We need to get some blood flowing back up into her head, now! I need you to get me a couple of those boxes.” She pointed at the display of detergent behind his head. “She may be going into shock.”
Loosen any restrictive clothing, she remembered, untying the woman’s laces and slipping off her shoes. “Put the box on its side, right here. Good.” She raised the woman’s feet and placed them on the carton.
The two intruders remained huddled against the back wall. It sounded to Bridie like they were arguing. The gunman pressed one hand against the wound on his upper thigh. He looked like he was in a lot of pain.
“We’re back with Police Chief Schrader in the studio this afternoon. Chief, what can you tell us about preparations for…” A loud squawk and burst of static interrupted the newscaster’s polished delivery. “Chief?”
Bridie watched as the policeman stood up, disconnected his microphone and left without an explanation, radio pressed against his ear. The newscaster shuffled her notes and recovered her composure. “Chief Schrader has apparently received some sort of an emergency call. We’ll see if we can’t catch up with him later to finish our interview.” She looked back at the camera and pushed out a smile. “In other news this afternoon,” she started and then immediately paused. “Wait a minute.” She pressed her finger to her earpiece.
“I’ve just been informed about a developing situation. Two men entered the . the Cochise Bank and Trust moments ago and robbed the bank. Shots were fired. One guard was hit by gunfire. His condition is unknown. The gunmen have escaped and are on the loose. We have a news crew enroute, responding to the scene. That’s all the information we ….” She strained to hear through her earpiece, then added “The two men are armed and considered to be dangerous.”
No shit, thought Bridie.

CASUAL DUTY - Prologue

Prologue

In the distance over the Mule Mountains, soft white clouds tumbled together to form angry towers with flat, gray bottoms promising rain. Sheets of virga streaked the sky, rain dissipating before reaching the thirsty desert floor. The late afternoon wind whipped through the canyon teasing the leaves of the creosote and sage, releasing their heavy perfume into the night air.

She sensed the vibration in the ground long before she heard their footsteps. She scuttled back further into the burrow, away from poking sticks and the dust clouds raised by their scuffling feet. Tucked around a slight bend, she waited, watching. Many feet this time, she thought. She closed her eyes and waited, her breathing slowed. Static electricity tingled in the air.

The narrow path divided her world, the burrow, the muddy wash, and the scraggly patch of lupine, goldfield, and jimson weed. At night she heard them, the voices, the shuffle of footsteps, sometimes the creak of a wagon wheel. Each night she waited, well hidden until the dust settled and the night quieted before she ventured out, creeping down the slope for a few sips of water if it had rained.

She pushed herself forward, inching her way to the edge. She heard a squeal, then loud voices and branches breaking. A slap. A muffled cry. Grunting. She froze, waiting, eyes closed, instinctively knowing that if she moved, they would see her. After a long while, the grunting stopped. Voices murmured again. A laugh. Footsteps faded away.

The dust settled. Gradually, the night sounds resumed. She opened her eyes and sniffed. Moisture in the air promised rain. She picked her way across the clearing, a few inches at a time, until she came to an unfamiliar object lying in the path. She stopped and looked. Curious, she sniffed. She didn’t recognize the scent. It felt warm, like the rocks in the early evening, but she didn’t know what it was. She backed up and turned herself around to plot a new course that would take her around the obstacle on her way to the wash.

She crawled across the rocks nearly as large as she was and down the embankment to the flat bottom of the wash. No water again.

She nibbled a few leaves of gilias and goldfield and debated venturing further away from the safety of the burrow. She waited and cocked her head, hearing nothing but the night songs of crickets and desert toads. She turned, inching her way around the length of the bundle, past the unblinking eyes, the open mouth, and crept back to settle in for the night and wait for the rain.

The Dickens Challenge

I took the plunge and jumped into the pool with eight other brave souls on Tim Hallinan's weblog, The Blog Cabin. I will be posting chapters here and on the Dickens Challenge Forum. And it won't hurt. Since Tim started talking about the possibility of doing this challenge, I started writing again. The other day I sat down and 3000 words fell out of my head. Last night, while the Bears were getting their butts kicked on Monday night football, I spent two hours revising my Prologue.

Flow . . .

Monday I will post.