Rocko was shocked to see that in the corner of the cabin was a fireplace! It was very ornate with a black and gold painted grill that swung open to put the small logs in. There was a lip around the opening so as to keep the fire from spilling out while in bad weather. A tall mahogany mantel stood above it and over that was a painting of the Roman Coliseum. Over the bed was a fixed electric reading light while three more were stationed about the room. Rocko went into the washroom and was happy to see a claw footed tub. It was fixed to the mosaic tile floor and across from that was a commode. Opposite the toilet was a pedestal sink with an ornate mirror fixed to the wall above it. There were two electric lights above the sink, and next to the sink was a radiator with thick white bath towels on it. The walls were all decorated in the same blue and white of the main room including the cherubs playing and tossing down petals from flowers. Boy, he thought, when it comes to creating a comfortable cabin you have to take your hat off to the Italian designers.
He sat on the bed as he said to himself, “Wow, no wonder Bill takes all of those overseas trips. This is fantastic!” He saw a menu lying next to the color brochure and picked it up. He saw that lunch was at 12 noon and the meal was Lasagna. Rocko kissed his fingertips and blew it up to the sky, an old Italian expression for ‘fantastic.’ “My favorite!” he said, “I wonder if it’s as good as mom’s?” he thought a moment then answered his own question, “Naw. Never happen.”
Rocko hung up his uniforms and shirts and put the rest in the dresser. The time traveler looked at his watch and thought, 9:35, better give Bill a call and make sure the communications are working. He took the innocent looking hairbrush out of the suitcase, flipped it open and typed on the keyboard: HI BILL, ABOARD THE SHIP AND GETTING READY FOR A STROLL ON THE DECK. THANK MATT FOR THE ACCOMODATIONS HE SET UP FOR ME, THEY’RE FANTASTIC! BUZZ ME BACK FOR A COMM CHECK. ROCKO.
Two minutes later his unit beeped telling him that he had received a message and he pressed the blinking red light to read it.
GREETINGS ROCKO. GLAD ALL IS WELL WITH OUR COMMUNICATION SYSTEM. GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY THE TRIP. BILL.
He put the hairbrush in a small compartment in his suitcase, locked it and put it in the closet. He grabbed his overcoat and stepped out onto the deck for a stroll. It was cold and windy so he pulled up his collar as he walked to the ship’s stern, almost losing his cap twice. Even though he wore gloves, he stood with his hands deep in his pockets when suddenly the ship’s whistle sounded. Knowing they were about to shove off, Rocko walked to a spot on the deck that overlooked the dock and watched as a group of men tossed off the thick manila ropes that kept the ship tight against the dock. Once free of its ties, the ship became alive with sailors pulling in the manila ropes and storing them inside the ship’s hull as others signaled a tug just off the ship’s stern. Seeing the tugboat getting ready to assist the large ship, Rocko walked quickly back to the stern and watched as the tug expertly slid it’s thick nose against the rear of the Principessa Mafalda and started to push it upstream as it backed out of its slip. The white frothing foam coming from the tug’s screws told him that the tug’s captain was using full power to move the ship’s rear against the flow of water running downstream. Finally, the Principessa Mafalda was out in the middle of the Hudson River, facing downstream towards the Atlantic Ocean. The tug’s captain suddenly stepped out of his wheelhouse, took off his white cap and waved it towards the Principessa Mafalda as he blew the tugboat’s whistle. Rocko looked up at his ship’s wheelhouse and saw the captain waving his white cap back as he sounded his own whistle.
Wonder if they do that, in my time, Rocko thought as his ship slowly followed the downward flow of the Hudson River. Looking towards the front Rocko suddenly saw some of his fellow passengers: U.S. Army Troops. They stood by the rail and watched the New York skyline pass by as they left the U.S. for Italy. Rocko was about to walk towards them when a voice from behind him said, “I suggest you wait awhile, captain.”
Rocko turned to see an army officer facing him. As he was a captain like Rocko, they didn’t salute each other. Instead the man offered his hand,
“Captain Sam Hooker.”
Rocko shook the captain’s hand and said, “Captain Rocko Perna. Nice to meet you, Sam.”
“Same here, Rocko. I didn’t mean to tell you what to do but there are three hundred and twenty-six soldiers aboard and if I’m right they’re all pressed up against that rail. Should you go past them, you are going to have to do an awful lot of saluting.” He shook his head as he rubbed his shoulder; “All of that saluting hurts a man’s arm for a day or two. Best to let them break up before we go that way.”
Rocko laughed, “Great advice, Sam. I’ll wait right here.” He noticed that the military branch insignia pinned to Sam’s lapel was a staff with a pair of serpents wrapped around it and two wings at the top. “Are they all attached to the Medical Corps, Sam?”
Sam removed his hat and rubbed his very short sandy brown hair as he said, “Yep! We’ll be the first American medical group in Italy.” He then said as he pointed to the twin signal flags on Rocko’s insignia, “So, Rocko, what’s your job in the Signal Corps?”
“Actually it’s a new branch that the army placed under the Signal Corps because they didn’t know where else to place it. I’m part of a small number of officers that go from army station to army station and check out their morale. The top brass back in Washington want to make sure our men all share the highest morale possible.”
“Hmm, that’s a new one but it makes sense as there have been cases of some of our allies actually going on strike right in their own trenches. I’m sure the government doesn’t want that. Are you traveling with your group?”
Rocko grinned, “That’s a part of their not knowing what to do with us, Sam, I’m traveling alone.”
“That’s great! I insist that you have lunch with my men and me. Dining room at noon?”
“Thank you, I’ll be there.” Seeing that the cold wind chased the enlisted men back inside, both captains decided to do the same.
At five minutes of twelve, Rocko left his cabin and walked to the ship’s dining room. He opened one of the double doors and was struck with the history he saw depicted before him: The huge room’s walls were filled with paintings of Rome when she was the world power. Besides the Coliseum there were the Temples of Castor and Pollux, Saturn, Vesta, Antoninus and Faustina and Caerar. Flowers and green ivy flowed over the arches of Septimius Severus, and Titus. There were pools depicting beautiful women and handsome men relaxing, soldiers on parade, famous roads such as Clivus Capitolinus, Via Sacra and Vicus Juganrius and much more.
On the other side of the coin were the long wooden tables and bench seats that filled the room for the soldiers. There were no fine dinnerware and cut glass goblets settings, instead each soldier lined up at an open kitchen and shuffled along holding his tin dish out for the men behind the portable counter to scoop up some food and deposit it on the dish. At the next station, he had his tin cup filled with black coffee and then took a seat at the first table with a seat available. No assigned seating here, thought Rocko as he looked around. In the corner of the large room, he spotted Sam and two other men sitting at the same type of table, but much smaller. Sam noticed him and waved him over. Bill went to the table and Sam pointed to the seat opposite him.
“Captain, please sit with us.”
Seeing that the two men with Sam were Lieutenants, Bill understood why he was addressed as captain from Sam.
“Captain Perna,” Sam said as he introduced him, “Lieutenants James Schaeffer and Conrad Pines.” They all shook hands as Sam said, “I heard the lunch was Italian food.”
“Yes,” added Rocko, Lasagna according to the menu in my cabin.”
Just then a short, thin man with a thick mustache and wearing an apron approached the table. With a big smile he said, “Buona giornata, signori, posso prendere il tuoi ordine?”
The three officers looked at him and Sam shook his head, “Do you
speak English?”
The man shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, “Mi Scusi?”
“Well gentlemen,” kidded Lieutenant Pines, “today we start our diet!”
The three men looked with dropped jaws as Rocko said to the waiter, “Buon giorno, Signore. Comprendiamo che la lasagna è il menu di oggi. È quello giusto?”
The man smiled as he heard someone speak his native tongue and answered with a flourish of hand movements, “Ah, sì, sì. È corretto Signore. Ma c'è anche melanzana disponibile e forse ti piacerebbe qualche vino rosso con quello?”
Rocko turned to the three officers and said, “Yep, lasagna is on the menu but he also has eggplant and he has wine if we want some.”
“Darn right we want it!” said a happy Sam.”
Rocko asked the group, “Okay, so who wants lasagna and who wants eggplant or both?”
All four men decided to have both and the wine.
“So,” asked Sam as he sipped his wine, “where did you learn to speak Italian, Captain?”
“I grew up in a mixed neighborhood where you could learn any language you wanted just by sitting on a stoop.”
“Excuse me, Captain,” asked Schaeffer, “but what is a stoop?”
Rocko cringed, thinking that he had spoken of something that wasn’t around at this time, but then remembered that a stoop was as old as the buildings of New York.
“A stoop is a set of stone steps that bring you to the entrance of a building. In Brooklyn, where I grew up, every building had a stoop. A stoop was where the tenants sat to get fresh air, mostly during the hot days and nights of Brooklyn. If you walked down the street every stoop had its own gathering.”
Lieutenant Pines asked, “And that’s where you learned to speak Italian?”
Rocko shook his head making his longish black hair flop in front of his eyes, “Actually, beside the stoops, I grew up with Italian parents and that was my second language since I was a baby.”
“That could be very beneficial where we are going,” added Sam. “Sure wish you were in our group.”
Rocko and the others enjoyed the lunch and as they emptied their bottle of wine, Pines looked at his watch and said, “Sorry to have to leave but its feeding time.” He stood and said, “Pleasure meeting you, Captain Perna. See you for breakfast?”
“Nice meeting the three of you, and yes I’ll be here for breakfast.”
“Sure hope so,” said Schaeffer patting his stomach, “or else we’ll all starve.”
Sam turned to Rocko and asked, “Captain, would you like to inspect our cargo? It is feeding time.”
A perplexed Rocko shrugged his shoulders and said, “I guess so. Lead the way.”
The captain stood and walked to the door that opened to the ship’s interior. They walked down a long hall that surprised Bill with beautiful paintings on both sides of the hallway. The floor was linoleum and mimicked the stone streets of early Rome and the lights that lined the hall were replicated torches held by wrought iron grips and each torch glowed softly. The time traveler thought, as he took in all the beauty on display throughout the ship, It truly is a beautiful ship and I’d love to take a cruise on her some time after the war.
At the end of the hallway, they went down an ornate stairway that could fit six across and ended on the next deck. They walked down three decks before Rocko caught a whiff of something that he recalled was from early New York City.
“Here we are,” said Sam nodding to two troopers on guard duty. He used a key he had to open the door and the odor hit the men as they went in. Strange sounds reached Rocko’s ears and then it hit him: Horses! The stomping and snorting gave him reason to smile, Horses! Of course! Even though the automobile and truck were around, horses were still a main form of transportation. There was a huge wooden holding pen where there were at least sixty horses walking or trotting about. He watched as the two Lieutenants addressed a group of troopers who fed and rubbed down the horses. As they said, it was feeding time and the horses were each getting a feedbag placed over their heads.
“Do they get seasick?” asked Rocko.
“Never heard of one getting seasick,” answered Pines as he scratched one behind its ear. As Rocko watched, the enlisted men brought out four saddles and Sam and the two Lieutenants hefted one and headed to the open gate. Sam looked back, “Captain, care to join us?”
“No thanks, Captain. I’ll just watch.”
The three men grinned as they saddled a horse and easily hopped up onto their steed. They were entirely comfortable as they walked the animals around the large pen. Rocko watched and was impressed by their horsemanship. Thirty minutes later they left the hold and Rocko asked Sam, “I thought the army used motor cars for ambulances these days?”
“They do in France but parts of Italy are so hilly that they decided to use horses and a few mules.”
The four men went to their cabins to wash up and change.
“I’m going to see if there’s a gym aboard to work out,” said Rocko.
“Why?” Sam asked. Physical gymnastics are scheduled for 1600 hours. Just bring your sweats.”
“Actually I seem to have lost my sweats. Is there a place I can get a set?”
“Sure! My quartermaster will see to that. Come along and I’ll speak to him.”
The quartermaster, like the quartermaster in every army, seemed to have an extra pair of everything and anything that a soldier needed and that included a pair of sweats for the Captain’s friend.
After changing into his new sweats, Rocko joined the group at 1600, or four o’clock, in an empty dining room for what would be called in his own time, ‘PT or Physical training.’
It was an hour of intense, sit-ups, jumping jacks, running in place, squats, and duck walking. It left Rocko satisfied that he could still do the exercises. He went to his room, took a bath and at six o’clock was seated in the dining hall with the hundreds of troopers all thinking the same thing: what’s for dinner?
The four officers sat at their table as the troopers lined up with their tin plates and cups at the ready.
The same waiter came to their table and bowed deeply to Rocko.
“Saluti, amico mio. Il menu è spaghetti e polpette, ma c'è una piccola porzione di carne di vitello e linguine disponibili. Si tratta con anti-pasta, pane e vino. Se fossi in te avrei fatto il vitello come ho cucinato io stesso e invece di cucinare per poche centinaia di soldati figurati gli ingredienti per quattro. Capire il mio amico?”
The three officers looked at Rocko and Schaeffer asked, “Can you translate for us, sir?”
Rocko grinned, “Verbatim?”
All three looked at each other and said in unison, “Yes!”
Rocko grinned, “It was along these lines: Greetings, my friend. The menu is spaghetti and meatballs, but there is a small portion of veal and linguini available. It comes with anti-pasta, bread and wine. If I were you I would have the veal as I cooked it myself and instead of cooking for a few hundred soldiers, I figured the ingredients for four. Understand my friend?”
“I’ll have the veal,” said Schaeffer quickly followed by the other two officers.
Rocko turned to the man and said, “Signore, sembra che tutti desideriamo gusto avrà avuto la tua cucina quindi il piatto di carne di vitello di noi quattro.”
The wine came first and all toasted their Italian hosts. Next came the anti-pasta followed by the main course.
The waiter was like a mother hen standing around just out of hearing range and if a napkin dropped he was there picking it up for them. They had only to make eye contact for him to approach their table to help.
Rocko palmed a five dollar bill and said to the waiter as he slipped him the money, “Il mio amico, è possibile per me per l'acquisto di una bottiglia di vino per camera mia questa sera?'”
The man’s smile told Rocko that he understood and would provide him with a bottle of wine for his room.
When they finished, Rocko invited them to his cabin for some wine and cigars.<
br />
The three men entered and all were in shock at the beautiful room.
“Wow,” said Sam looking around, “Either you have some pull in Washington or I better learn to speak Italian.” The two lieutenants nodded in agreement.
Rocko shrugged, “What do you mean? Aren’t you three in the same type room as this?”
“Not me,” said Sam testing the bed, “and both Pines and Schaefer bunk in the same room.”
“And it’s nothing like this, Captain,” offered Pines.
“Well,” said Rocko passing out fine Cuban cigars, “Washington works in funny ways.” They drank wine and smoked their cigars as Rocko inwardly thanked Matt for his accommodations.
The next morning the four officers sat at their table and Schaeffer quipped, “I wonder what the captain’s going to get us for breakfast?”
As usual the troops were lining up for their breakfast when the waiter approached Rocko and said with a bow, “Buon giorno, amico mio. Vi auguriamo di porridge caldo che è nel menu o forse sarebbe piaciuto uova, salsiccia e funghi?”
Rocko turned to the waiting officers and said, “Oatmeal or eggs, sausage and mushrooms?”
All except Pines opted for the eggs, sausage and mushrooms.
“I was raised on oatmeal,” he exclaimed.
As they waited for their meal, Captain Hooker asked, “Captain Perna, can you tell us what type of questions you will ask the men of the station you are heading to?”
“Just normal, everyday questions like: are you getting good food; how are the barracks and such.”
“Captain,” asked Pines, “What base are you going to?”
Book X Page 14