Alice's Soldiers

by Robert T. OShea

  You were whispering as fast as you could to Robert. Before we could get to you, a black color car pulled up, and two men got out and pointed guns at us. We stopped in our tracks. They knew where you two were and ran right at you.

  Lily Kemble jumped out of the undergrowth and ran at the men with her jaws ready to bite. The man pulled the trigger on his gun somehow Robert got between the revolver and the dog and took the shot. He flew back about three feet in the air from the hit, and we thought he was dead.

  Alice, you came flying out of the bushes and before they could do anything you bit the man on his hand. He dropped his weapon. The other fellow slapped you away. Grabbed your hair and pulled you towards their automobile.

  “Everyone on the block was now shouting at the two men; we could hear the police sirens in the background. The creep was dragging Robert to the car while shaking his injured hand. We saw something that was incredible, Robert snatched the man’s pistol that was lying on the ground, when the criminal was dragging him.”

  Your Grandma Marie was chasing the car when two shots rang out. Then somehow Robert jumped out of the moving vehicle. He pulled you out with him. You landed on top of him, and he didn’t move.

  The black car turned around and was rushing at you two while you were lying helpless on the ground.

  Alice, when you saw the speeding car, you took the gun from Robert’s hand and tried to fire it in the car.

  Everybody including the children was trying to get to you two, but Grandmother Marie and I stopped them we didn’t want to see any more of our babies murdered.

  Robert woke up grabbed the gun from you, Alice. He then shot the driver three times in the head causing the car to veer off to the right, into a tree. I screamed and fainted.

  “Marie told me in the hospital that everyone was yelling or praying when Robert killed the dude.”

  We didn’t know where Clare or the Soldiers were. Later she said she ordered the soldiers away for the day. It was her property, and she can do what she wants to.

  Marie also told me that Robert had enough left to crawl over to you and pull down your skirt that had rolled up.

  “Later you got up and punched him. Robert was lying on his back chuckling. You were holding the wound which was bleeding. He closed his eyes. You were crying.”

  Alice, you and Robert went into an intensive care unit. Only Uncle Joe could see you two, no one else was allowed. That night you two were taken to an unknown location by Elizabeth.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The troopers were afraid of the Sergeant. But they knew Martha was the boss. His soldiers loved her as their mother. The Sergeant knew it, but he could care less. They have no children. They wanted to go to an Army Fort in San Antonio, TX to retire. Most of the military men and women retired in this part of the country.

  “Martha told him he would have to get another job. A few local companies were waiting for him. One company would pay him twice the amount of money he makes now. This corporation also has company housing. They would have a beautiful casa with horses, goats, and sheep.”

  “Martha said she planned on adopting a few dogs. Also, she wanted to work at a local animal care facility. Having their friends over for a barbecue, a few beers, a lot of laughing and a card game. Sitting back and enjoying life for the first time in forty years sure made her sleep good.”

  The big day came, and the Sergeant handed in his retirement papers, followed by a major party at their house. The party ended about two in the morning when Martha put the Sergeant to bed. She was sitting at the kitchen table with an enormous smile on her face, planning their final moves. She felt the Army had never appreciated her husband’s value. He gave them everything he had for thirty years. Now they are leaving to start a fresh life.

  Around three in the morning, there was a polite knock on her kitchen door. Martha laughed thinking one of the party-goers forgot a purse or a coat before they left, as she opened the kitchen porch door. A Major General was standing on her porch in the pouring rain. Martha knew him when they were stationed in England during the war. He was a Colonel and the Sergeant’s boss. He didn’t apologize for visiting so late or the rainwater dripping all over her floor. The General gave her an envelope addressed to her husband. He then turned to leave. Martha stopped him and said what is this as she pointed to the letter? The General said, “I don’t know its way above me; I’m just the mailman, then he left.”

  Martha left the letter on the table and joined her husband in bed. As she fell asleep, she couldn’t think of anything the government could do to them. When Martha marched into the kitchen the next morning, the Sergeant was sitting at the table drinking coffee with a few men in civilian clothes. “He shocked her when he said we had been reassigned to an Army hospital in West Virginia. These men are here to help us move.”

  “I will oversee security for a new hospital in Fort Barlow, West Virginia. Her husband told Martha to look at who signed the letter before she says anything and then you can start packing; we are leaving today.”

  Two days later the Sergeant with his new Master Stripes was being shown around the new Fort Barlow Hospital. The one-star General who was presenting the Sergeant to his new responsibilities didn’t seem to care about losing his job. The Sergeant asked him where he was going next? I am staying here to help you. We live next door to you. My wife told me she has already talked to your wife, Martha.

  The first thing the new boss did after the walk around was to review his Trooper’s personnel files. In minutes he realized his staff was way over-qualified for their positions. They were all outstanding and should be working at a place like Washington, DC. Not walking up and down with a rifle in the mountains of West Virginia.

  He couldn’t figure out why the Army wanted him at this Hospital. The Sergeant called his wife and told:” her he didn’t understand why they assigned us here.” Martha muddled the waters even more by telling him their new quarters are three times more spacious than their last army housing residence. It has ten bedrooms, four bathrooms: a huge kitchen and a large backyard. Also, we are receiving a cost-of-living allowance that equals your pay.”

  The Sarge said something huge is up, there are Soldiers all over the place. We may have some valuable guests. The Soldiers have always let the Sarge and Martha see them. After a while, the Sarge didn’t think anything about it.

  Over the telephone, Martha was crying; the Sergeant asked what is wrong honey? There are unwrapped teenage pajamas, and clothes in the bedrooms. The Sergeant said” it looks like we may be raising some children, it about time. He was looking at the hospital’s interior floor plans; the Sergeant decided to look at a section that was blank.”

  There was a Soldier on duty in front of the Ward in question. He unlocked the door for him. The ward’s walls were not painted green or gray; they were yellow, blue, and pink. Pictures of balloons, bunnies, ducks and baby bears were watching the Sergeant. The floors were covered with carpets, the Sergeant could see a fortune in savings by cutting out all this foolishness, but he said to himself it must be a hospital ward for the Nobles’ Families children.

  Than out of nowhere, a dog walked up to him and stood at attention. Well, that broke the camel’s back. A scream resounded down the hallway,” whose dog is this?”

  “A beautiful young girl, in pajamas, jumped out of a room and yelled Dad ‘Lily Kemble’ is our dog. She had long black hair tied up in the back like a homemaker, small dark sunglasses, and stupid looking pajamas, with too many butterflies on them and a smile that could stop a horse.

  The Sergeant stopped walking and yelling when he saw the cane and realized the child was blind. He almost fell when the child found him in a second and kiss him, and said: “where’s my Mother, Martha?”

  The Sergeant knew there was a Soldier behind him. He knew a lot about them, and right now he knew they worked for him. He stopped for a second and said “corporal tell your buddi
es to get my wife over here right now. Tell her I think I know what is going on.”

  Dad, you don’t remember me, my name is Alice, and you saved my life. Alice had her arms around his neck as she had them ten years ago. She jumped off him and pulled him into a patient’s room and showed him a young boy, around fifteen, in a plastic bubble with many Iv’s sticking in him.

  Alice wouldn’t let go of Sergeant’s hand, and he didn’t want to give it up. Dad this is Robert. He was a sturdy looking, boy, he looked dead, but his unseeing eyes were still stuck on the Sergeant.

  The Sarge said to himself he remembers now. It was in the year 1944; he was standing up in a sewer in France with a baby in his arms. He was the only one left of his squad. Fifteen of his men had been pulled apart by some dead men walking thing. His men only wanted to save a baby. He had a couple of bullets in him, but he would keep the little thing alive. She was wrapped in a Royal Robe. The Sergeant was having a horrible time trying to run and hold the baby at the same time. If only he could get her to hold on to his neck, it may save the day.

  As soon as he said that to himself the baby climbed up to his shoulders put her tiny arms around his neck and put a death grip on him. To get his mind off their imminent death, he told the baby everything he knew about his girlfriend, Martha. How much he loved her. How great she was and how she threw herself into everything thing she did. He said he wanted to marry her. But, most of all how much she would love a baby like you. The Sergeant thinks he felt an additional pull on his neck.

  That settled it; he would keep on moving, if a two-pound baby could hold on, he would not stop. He heard someone talking into his ear as he was running now with the child hanging around his neck which he now loved beyond its definition. A mysterious voice said not to worry. At first, the sergeant believed he was going insane, but the voice calmed him down and said, he and Martha will have a long life together. The Sergeant turned a corner as directed by the voice. There had to be fifty huge Soldiers with good looking firepower waiting for the ‘Treasure’ he was carrying.

  Things got a little crazy afterward. A beautiful woman with one blue eye and the other brown thanked me and took the baby. She said the baby was safe now as she put a Royal Gold necklace around my neck. The solid gold chain had a plain medal attached to it. For some reason, there was no Royal sign on it. He remembers the hospital and the doctors and at last a bed in England with Martha.

  Back to the Hospital.

  Martha arrived in twenty minutes. She had a whispered conversation with her husband while petting a beautiful ‘West Rhodesian Ridge Back’ and staring at Alice.

  A beautiful woman wearing a nurse’s uniform came into the room with a small child walking behind her. The child was wearing a nurse’s aide outfit with an adorable cape. Martha, my name is Elizabeth the big kid in the hospital bed is my son, Robert. This young lady is Alice. When she was a tiny baby, your husband saved her from death. He got himself shot a few times in the French Sewer System saving her life.

  Queen Sandra thanks your husband for saving the Princess. The Doctor will explain to you the mental and physical connections between the two children. Joeann is the third child. She has spent her life next to these two, they love her, she loves them, and the King of Kings does not want the three of them separated.

  In 1944 when your husband was holding the Princess, he whispered to her how much he loved you, Martha and told her how beautiful you were. He was trying to take his mind off the creatures that were chasing them because he couldn’t stop them. Even at that age, she understood everything. So, she considers you guys her Mom and Dad. But Alice knows who her birth mother and father are.

  Many people want them dead. So, the children will stay with you two until they heal. Please love them as they will love you.

  Elizabeth said, “The sweethearts have asked me if they could call you mom and dad.” They are both ten. But as you can see Robert and Alice are immense for their age. Thanks to the Royal tutors the Prince and Princess have already graduated from college. Joeann is being home-schooled by Alice. The latter will be attending medical school this Fall. Joeann will go with her, and help, remember Alice is blind. Robert will go to a Soldier’s Graduate School in the Fall.”

  Elizabeth said, “they will be free in the afternoon to play together.” All I can say is ‘God Bless’ you two and Fort Barlow with these three running around.

  Elizabeth said “it is time for Alice to go to bed. She sleeps next to Robert so that the children can create energy for each of them.” Again, the Doctor will explain how it works.

  She holds on to his nightshirt at night. Please believe me, I have seen it work. Robert was a sickly baby until Alice held his shirt at night. On the other side, Alice’s nightmares have stopped. So dear Martha, please don’t get upset if they must sleep together. Not to worry, Joeann always sleeps next to them. Also, nurses are watching them twenty-four-hours a day.

  Martha to sum things up, we think this would be the perfect place for them to live for the next few years. Then, we would like them to come back each summer. Also, you will be seeing a lot of visitors from the Brooklyn families.

  During the first two weeks of Summer, they stay with their Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary’s at their beach house in Coney Island. In Fort Barlow we want them to get summer jobs and help around the house. The ‘Training Woods’ would be the perfect place for the three of them to play. Would you mind if the children call you Mom and Dad?

  Of course, not my Queen, we would be honored, said Martha. The Sergeant said I know who you are my Queen as he fell to a knee and that Robert, your son would be a Prince to King John, the Royal Leader of the Soldiers.

  You are right, sir. As soon as Robert can walk, he will be released from the hospital; he will then go to your house because of Alice and Joeann. Alice is blind without Robert. He loves her, but he will deny it when asked.

  But your question is ‘Who is Alice?’ According to the Royal Family, Alice will be the next Queen of Queens, and the ruler of four billion people and Robert will be her King and the Commander of a million troops.

  Joeann went home with the Sergeant and the dog. She had a ball with the new Father. He soon realized how friendly and polite Joeann was. She made up her bed, and fixed the dog’s basket, wrote a list of things to pick up at the commissary, made her Dad a sandwich, her Mom some soup to be heated. She took the trash out, fed the dog, and stopped to say goodnight to the Soldiers. After supper, pajamas on; one-hour TV, one goodnight kiss (To Dad and Dog), one jump into bed and one fell right to sleep.

  The Sergeant lit up a cigar and drank a can of beer happy as shit. His dog sat next to him on the front porch watching the strange calls of the firefly.

  Back to the Hospital.

  Being a new Mother, Martha moved Alice as far away as possible from Robert. Robert had a secured partition on the bed. A Doctor came in to check out Robert’s vitals, put him on his stomach and removed the restraining wall. He didn’t listen to Martha’s complaint about Alice’s being too close to a male.

  Martha wanted to watch these two, so she found a small couch and dragged it into their room. Laid down and watched the monitors. A half an hour later the lights on both monitors were flashing. Then one of them (Alice’s) stopped flashing meanwhile Robert’s monitor was going crazy.

  “Martha screamed the baby was dead.”

  A nurse came in and laughed don’t worry honey, Alice is visiting Robert. That means he is up and at it. Now both monitors are moving what does it mean asked, Martha? The nurse said “they’re sleeping. But it is not good; it’s just their imagination.”

  The doctor came in to calm Martha down he told her what happened to Robert and Alice. Two gangsters tried to kidnap Alice and kill Robert. They shot Robert in the chest. Then they beat-up both children. Robert pulled Alice out of a moving car, causing some broken bones. They are both recovering from significant surgeries and still have bone
and muscles bruises. The nurse opened the bed took off Robert’s shirt and pulled Alice over to him put her on her stomach and her hand on his sweatpants. She said this helps with their pain.

  Martha said, “my daughter doesn’t need anything like that.”

  The nurse said to give it a minute.

  Sure enough, the monitors showed they both returned to their bodies. Soon they were both sleeping with Alice crawling into a ball.

  A few months when by and Robert vanished from the hospital. Alice knew right away, and she told Martha that Robert escaped from the hospital and is hiding in the woods.

  “A Soldier woke up the Sergeant “and said “Robert got passed them. He’s much faster than we ever believed anyone could be.” The Soldier had a portable monitor, and he was able to show how Robert escaped to the Sarge. The video displayed Robert wakening up, pulling out the Iv’s, climbing out of bed removing his restraining cords as if they were ropes were made of candy cane. Robert took the cleaner’s uniform from an earlier escape, which, he had hidden in the closet.”

  The Soldier continued, Sergeant, we have hidden two tracking devices in the cleaners’ uniform plus we have buried power feed ten feet from the fence and gates around the Fort, we should be able to track him down and find out if he leaves the Fort.

  Alice said he is in the woods, naked. He has given me till eight o’clock tomorrow to tell me if I will run away with him? He also said we would come back for Joeann.

  The Sarge went out to the porch to smoke he told the dog, “Lily Kemble, to stay with Joeann.” Martha continued to prepare breakfast.

  The Sergeant had the three (Including the dog) of them march into the Kitchen, as Martha hid her smile. Breakfast was going along fine, but Alice would stop every, few minutes and stare, at the empty chair. She eventually broke down sobbing and went running to her room, after bouncing off a few walls. Alice grabbed her dog, and she took her to the bed.

  Sarge told his wife not to worry, no one on this Fort is going near Robert, everyone knew even with a bullet to his chest and beaten up, Robert still put three rounds into the gangster’s head, who was trying to kill him and Alice.