His Aunt Carole had delegated him to act as the absolutely gorgeous, as opposed to merely sensationally beautiful, Corporal Svetlana Anderovna's escort to a wedding, and she'd objected to using his nickname. Instead, she'd insisted that her pet name for him would be George. That wouldn't have been a problem. He'd been called worse things. However, her comment-some might even call it a joke, but in his experience, Corporal Anderovna didn't do jokes-neatly paraphrased the Abominable Snowman character from the Bugs Bunny video she'd just been watching with Aunt Carole's daughters. Anybody familiar with the video, and his cousins had made sure plenty of people were made familiar with it, could easily make the connection between Corporal Anderovna's throwaway comment and the Abominable Snowman's speech. That had been the source of a lot of male envy. Most guys would be happy to have Corporal Anderovna pet and hug them.
What most of them probably wouldn't know was the source material for that cartoon was John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, and any pet falling into the character Lenie's hands tended to be petted and hugged to death. He hadn't bothered to bring that up, because he knew the response would have been "but what a way to go."
For a brief moment the memory of the wedding night surfaced. That had been great. Waking up alone in Svetlana's bed the next morning hadn't been. Not that he'd been surprised that she'd left. She'd probably been too embarrassed to talk to him. She'd certainly done her best to avoid being alone with him for the rest of his leave. Ah, well, he'd never really believed such a gorgeous girl could really be interested in him.
August 1635, Grantville
Sveta lay on her bed in her tiny room in the woman's quarters and waited for the nausea to fade. When it did, she carefully slid off her bed. She was supposed to be meeting her friends after work, but the way she felt, she'd rather not. Unfortunately, if she didn't turn up they'd come looking for her. Even a locked door wouldn't stop them-Diana had demonstrated how insecure her room was just last week by picking the lock in less than a minute.
When she joined her friends, Julia swept Sveta into her arms and hugged here. "You look like death warmed up," Julia said.
"Julia," Janie protested.
Sveta savored the comfort of the hug, something else that had been lacking in her life until . . . okay, she admitted it to herself, until she met John Trelli and his family. She gently pushed Julia away so she could greet Janie and Diana. "I almost didn't come, I felt so sick after work."
"You really don't look too good," Janie said.
Julia pouted. "That's what I said."
"Have you vomited at all?" Diana asked.
Diana was on the medical program, training to eventually become a doctor, so Sveta forgave her the technical language. "No, I haven't puked. I just don't feel well. It's probably something I ate."
"I guess that means no night on the town, so how about coffee and a roll at Cora's?" Julia asked.
Sveta was all for that. "I'm sorry I'm such a party poofter."
"Pooper," Janie corrected. "It's party pooper, and you aren't. You can't help it if you don't feel well."
Sveta let Julia drag her back for another hug before they joined Janie and Diana on the short walk to Cora's.
She managed one step into Cora's before the smell hit her. Diana guided her into an alleyway where she puked up her guts.
"Is she all right?" a breathless Julia asked.
"It depends on what you mean by all right," Janie said. "What was it, Sveta, the smell of the coffee?"
"Coffee with milk," Sveta said. Even the memory of the smell had her trying to puke again.
"What's the matter with Sveta," Julia demanded.
"This is purely a guess mind you," Diana said, "but, I suspect Sveta is suffering NVP."
"What the heck's NVP?" Julia asked.
"Nausea and vomiting with pregnancy," Diana explained. "It's not something you're likely to meet in your veterinarian training."
"Morning sickness? You're saying Sveta's pregnant?" Julia asked.
"In the balance of probabilities, it is a definite possibility." Diana put an arm around Sveta and hugged her. "Could you be pregnant?"
Sveta swallowed. Yes, it was possible. She nodded.
"Do you know who the father is?" Julia asked.
Sveta's head shot up. "How dare you . . ."
"I'll take that as a yes, then. Next question, is it Jabe?"
Sveta glared at Julia. She, like the other two girls, knew Jabe was the man she loved. But Julia's face only showed sympathy. She ducked her head. "No."
"If Jabe's not the father, then who is?" Julia asked.
Sveta kept her head bowed. She didn't want to admit anything about that night.
"Come on, it has to be someone," Janie muttered. "Oh, hell . . ."
Sveta met Janie's eyes. Why was she looking at her like that?
"Puss?" Janie choked out.
"Puss? You think Sveta did it with Puss?" Julia demanded.
"You did it with Puss? Why?" Janie asked Sveta. "You told us you barely know him."
"After the wedding. I was upset, and John escorted me home."
"And you made love with Puss?" Julia demanded. "Even though you were in love with another man? How could you do that to him?"
Sveta didn't like the accusing looks being sent her way. "He was the one who took advantage of me. I didn't know what I was doing." She all but shouted the last sentence.
"Are you feeling better now?" Diana asked.
The voice of reason penetrated, and Sveta relaxed. She did feel better. "Yes."
"Then I suggest we move this little discussion to somewhere other than right outside Cora's."
That was an exaggeration, they were actually in the alleyway beside the cafe that was the gossip capital of Grantville, but Diana's point was well made. Sveta knew there was going to be enough talk about how she bolted after putting one foot across the threshold. "Where?"
"Lacking the other interested party, I think we should drop in on Auntie Sue," Janie said.
"John's mother?" Sveta shuddered. Frau Trelli knew her story. She knew that being escorted to Jabe's wedding by John had been a face-saving exercise. What was she going to think of her?
Janie nodded. "His mom and dad are going to have to be told at some stage, unless you intend getting a termination . . ."
It took a few seconds for Sveta to mentally translate the meaning of the English word. She looked at Janie aghast. "I'm not a baby killer."
"Then we go to Auntie Sue's."
Sveta slumped, defeated. "Very well."
"Hey, it's not as if you're going to your funeral. It's just bad luck that you got pregnant. You must be a real Fertile Myrtle to conceive first time," Julia said.
"Julia!" both Diana and Janie cried.
"Well, it is unlucky," Julia protested.
Sveta made eye contact with Janie for a moment, then dropped her head. It was if the other girl was reading her innermost secrets.
"On the other hand, if they did it more than once, without contraception, they were playing with fire," Janie said.
Sveta ran her tongue over suddenly dry lips. She couldn't bring herself to say the words, so she gave a single nod.
"Was he any good?" Julia asked.
The eager curiosity in Julia's voice shocked Sveta. How could she ask such a question at a time like this?
"Julia O'Reilly, how could you ask such a question?" Janie demanded.
"You want to know if he learned anything from Donetta, just as much as I do."
"Still, you shouldn't ask Sveta a question like that!"
"All right then, how would you ask her?"
Sveta stared at the squabbling girls. Who was Donetta, and what was her relationship to John?
On the Saxon Plain, somewhere near Zwenkau
Puss was feeling particularly unloved. His patrol had been assigned to directing incoming troops to their forming up areas for the battle everyone knew would happen tomorrow. It had been a long and dusty day as thousands of men and horses kicke
d up the dust as they walked past his checkpoint.
He stepped away to let a wagon proceed and fumbled for his water bottle. He shook it gently as he pulled it from his belt webbing-about a third full.
The first mouthful was used to rinse away the dust. Then he drained the bottle. He wiped the moisture from his lips with the sleeve of his combat jacket while he fumbled the canteen back into its pouch. "What a lousy day."
"Just think of what tomorrow'll be like, Sarge," Corporal Lenhard Poppler said.
Puss scanned the landscape. If it wasn't for the crushed grain, trampled down by thousands of men and horses, it would be a beautiful scene. By this time tomorrow it would be completely different.
Grantville
"Surely I should wait until I'm sure?" Sveta protested as Julia hammered on the door of John's parents' home.
"You've showing the same symptoms Alice and Judy did when they were at about the same stages of their pregnancies," Janie said, naming her sister and sister-in-law.
"Besides, Diana says you're pregnant," Julia said.
Sveta was about to question the logic behind that statement when the door opened.
"Hello, girls. What brings you round this way?" Suzanne Trelli asked.
A strong hand grabbed Sveta's wrist and dragged her up the steps. "Sveta's got something to tell you, Auntie Sue," Julia said.
"Then you'd better all come in. I'll just put the kettle on."
"No coffee," Julia called out to Suzanne's back.
"No coffee it is," Suzanne called over her shoulder before hurrying off.
"Why did you have to say that?" Sveta demanded of Julia.
"Do you want a repeat of what happened at Cora's?" Julia asked. "You know, throwing up at the smell of coffee."
She shuddered at that memory. "No, but what is Frau Trelli going to think?" Sveta asked, wringing her hands.
"Under the circumstances, Sveta, I think Auntie Sue might just think that you're pregnant," Janie said.
"You really should thank Julia for preparing the ground for you," Diana added.
She was hustled into the house and along to the kitchen where she was seated between Julia and Janie.
Suzanne placed a plate of dry crackers in front of Sveta. "Try some of these, you might find that they help."
Sveta stared blankly at Frau Trelli. How were dry crackers supposed to help her? She glanced around at her friends. As she made eye contact with them, each in turn smiled and nodded. Unfortunately, Sveta had no idea what message they were trying to communicate to her.
"I'll make it easy for you. You, or at least our budding doctors, think you're pregnant."
Sveta swallowed. Guilt had her starting to blush. She dropped her head in shame.
Suzanne lifted Sveta's head so their eyes met. "And the reason you want to tell me you're pregnant is because John is the father, yes?"
She didn't actually want to tell Frau Trelli that, it was more a matter of having to.
"Oh, you poor thing." Suzanne reached down and pulled Sveta into her arms. "And John so far away when you need him."
It was too much. Sveta burst into tears in Frau Trelli's arms. Later, when she emerged from her crying jag, she discovered she'd been abandoned by her friends.
"I sent them home. It's not as if you need their moral support anymore."
Sveta dipped her head back into Frau Trelli's shoulder. This time she felt the damp and backed away. "Oh, I've made you all wet."
"I won't rust," Suzanne said, pulling Sveta back into her arms. "Let's make ourselves a nice cup of catnip tea and find somewhere comfortable to sit and chat."
That sounded good to Sveta. Achat sounded a lot friendlier than a talk. She helped Frau Trelli load a tray with a teapot, some cups, saucers and spoons, and the plate of dry crackers, and then followed her into the living room.
Somewhere near Zwenkau
Puss snuggled inside his sleeping bag, inside his bivy-bag, under the star filled sky. Beside him, Corporal Michael Cleesattel was snoring quietly under a couple of military issue blankets.
Puss was having trouble getting to sleep. Everybody believed there was going to be a great battle tomorrow, and you could write a book about all the battles he'd managed to miss for one reason or another.
He hadn't graduated until 1632, so he missed everything before that. When he tried to enlist to fight he'd been given some rubbish about the needs of the service, and sent to train as a military policeman. Okay, so at nearly six foot, he was significantly taller than most down-timers, and he had earned a junior black belt from the martial arts school in Fairmont where Sensei Karickhoff-the then head instructor of the army's unarmed combat school-had taught, and he could ride a horse, and he was a pretty good shot with a hand gun and rifle, but they weren't good reasons for assigning him to the military police.
To make matters worse, he'd graduated from training and immediately been posted to Erfurt, just in time to miss the Croat raid on Grantville. All around him people were getting combat experience and being promoted because of it. Heck, he'd even managed to miss the big battle at Ahrensbok because he'd been posted to the backwater that was the Wietze oil facility, and then he'd been away escorting an oil shipment to Magdeburg when the French raided the place.
With his luck, he was likely to miss tomorrow's battle as well, although he didn't know how Murphy was going to arrange that, not with them being so close to the front line.
Grantville
Sveta snuggled under the covers of her bed in the woman's quarters and let her hands drift down to her belly. Was it really possible that a new life was growing there? That she was really pregnant? If she was, there would finally be someone of her own to love and be loved by. She'd never again be alone and unloved.
The crack of dawn the next day, somewhere near Zwenkau
Puss walked out of the briefing tent ready to swear and curse. He held on to his disappointment until he joined his patrol. "We're assigned to road watch around the field hospital."
Corporal Lenhard Poppler looked westward, towards the area where the field hospital was still being set up. "That's what, two miles behind the lines."
"About that," Puss confirmed.
"Great move, Sarge. How'd you manage to score us that assignment?"
"Just lucky, I guess."
"I like your luck, Sarge," Michael said. "Long may it last."
With the rest of his patrol nodding their heads in agreement, Puss choose not to voice his opinion of his luck. Murphy had struck again.
Grantville
Sveta was dragged out of a deep sleep by someone knocking on her door. It was way too early to be her wake up call. Then she realized it wasn't the manager's voice asking if she was awake, it was John's mother. "Coming," she called as she slid out of bed and grabbed a bathrobe. She was still fumbling with the waist tie when she opened the door.
"Oh, good, you're awake," Suzanne said as she pushed past Sveta into her room.
Suzanne's husband leaned against the door frame and smiled sympathetically at Sveta.
"You can't stay here," Suzanne announced. "Felix, why are you standing at the door? Put the cases on the bed."
"Suzanne's decided that you should move into John's old room," he explained to a confused Sveta.
Suzanne looked around Sveta's room before turning to her husband. "If you'll wait outside, I'll pack Sveta's things while she dresses."
The door closed behind Felix and before she knew it, Frau Trelli had splashed some water into the washing bowl and was pushing Sveta towards it.
"Now you just follow your usual routine, and we'll have everything packed in no time."
"But you don't want me to move into John's old room," Sveta protested.
Suzanne rested her hands on her hips. "You really think I'd make the effort to drag Felix here at this hour of the morning if I didn't want you to live with us?"
Herr Trelli had seemed very relaxed about being dragged about at this time of the morning. From her limited knowledge of
family life, the mothers of illegitimate progeny of the household's male members weren't exactly welcome in the family home. Frau Trelli however, took her silence as agreement.
"Right, so what's your problem?"
Sveta tried to blink away the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. "John and I aren't together."
"You're having John's baby. You can't get any more together than that." Suzanne reached out and dragged Sveta into an embrace. "There, there, it's not so bad. John'll do the right thing by you."
The "right thing" was marriage. Sveta knew that. But she didn't want to marry a man she didn't love. She wanted to marry Jabe. But that wasn't going to happen. She wanted to try and explain how she felt, but Frau Trelli's kind eyes stopped her.
Suzanne pulled Sveta close, and she buried her face in Suzanne's shoulder. A hand held the back of her head while another gently patted her gently on the back. "Come on, we have to finish your packing before Felix gets tired of waiting, and you still need to get dressed."
Later that day, somewhere near Zwenkau
Puss took off his wide-brimmed hat and wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve before replacing it. Then he took off his dark glasses and admired the dust that had collected on them since he last cleaned them. He'd long since stopped cursing his luck, and moved on to thanking whatever entity was responsible for keeping him away from the battlefield. The sight of wagon after wagon of wounded men rumbling past had cured him of ever wanting to be caught up in a battle.
A medevac wagon was approaching from the hospital. Puss put his glasses back on and stepped out onto the road to stop the traffic so it could join the flow of vehicles heading for the front. As it rumbled away, Corporal Thomas Klein handed him a mug.
"Fresh brew, Sarge, you drink that while I take a turn."
Puss was happy to step off the road and savor his mug of coffee without too much dust getting mixed with it. His eyes followed the long column of vehicles threading into the distance. It was a pity he wasn't an artist, because that long column of vehicles approaching the field hospital under a red sky would make a brilliant memorial to the battle.
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