A Midnight Clear: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

a proper drool. Sorry, Father Mundy, I know not what I do; just testing out a possible quick Section Eight.
    “Sergeant Knott, I want you to move into that château with your reduced squad. Take two jeeps, one with the fifty caliber mounted; also a week’s rations. Take a 506 radio and keep in contact with us here at regiment.”
    Is this it? Is Love telling me we’re going to live in a château? I wait.
    “Lieutenant Ware, you maintain radio contact with Sergeant Knott. We’ll hold the other recon squad here at regiment for any additional patrol work.
    “Sergeant Knott, your squad will either be relieved by the end of the week or additional rations will be sent out, according to operational conditions.”
    Ware sort of halfway pulls himself to attention.
    “When do you want these men sent out, sir?”
    “Tomorrow morning at o-eight-hundred. They’re to keep an eye on any enemy outposts in the area and man posts to surveil the bridge and road going past the château.”
    Love turns to me.
    “Well, Sergeant Knott, your squad can’t complain about this one. The Whiz Kids can live like kings.”
    “Yes, sir. Sir, is there any evidence of occupation at the château?”
    “That’s one of the things you’re to find out, Sergeant. Here’s a chance to use our ‘intelligence’ in a little ‘reconnaissance’ for a change.”
    He smiles his undertaker’s smile, ghoulish anticipation.
    “Yes, sir.”
    Always a hooker. Six guys in two jeeps rolling up to a château in the middle of somebody’s (nobody’s sure whose) forest and inviting themselves in. We can always dog it if things look bad. Most of us have wagging tails, floppy ears and the mange from dogging it during times like this. We are not the best choice for I and R work.
    Love’s finished with his after-toilet before-breakfast military operation. We go through the whole saluting dismissal routine and I break clear of Ware fast. I need advice from the squad. Maybe this might be the chance we need to quit the war. A whole week with nobody looking.
    That’s rot! We’ll do it. For sure, we’ll baby-sit Love’s château in the middle of a frozen forest filled with people trying to kill us.
    I don’t know what makes us think we’re so smart. Just because we can take tests, do crossword puzzles, play bridge, chess and other games; just because we read too damned much, we think we’re something special. Shits like Love or Ware are the real smart ones if you look at it objectively. They stay alive. That’s intelligence!

2
    The Longest Night
    It snowed during the night, but lightly; temperature’s dropped at least ten degrees. The first snow fell in the Saar for my nineteenth birthday.
    I was on a full-day artillery observation post with the squad twenty-power scope. I’d spent the morning peering through drifting whiteness, trying to keep from breathing on the lenses. It was beautiful, even the black blossoms of mortar; they were far enough away. I’d pick a spot and wait till it happened; you can do this when you get to know the patterns. Now, when I look at the Brueghels in Vienna, I remember my nineteenth birthday.
     
    Here, this morning, going out, there are frozen leaves and pinecones on the ground when we pass through K Company and drive into the forest. The road’s just two hard ruts; the light, new snow’s blown into them. No sign of other traffic; rough riding, slippery, cold. Miller’s driving our jeep; Wilkins and I, in back, take turns on the fifty caliber. I’m up; it’s miserably cold sitting there in the icy wind.
    As we go deeper into the forest, huge pines loom dark on both sides. Some light is coming into the sky. We drive along not saying much; absolutely beautiful sniper targets.
    Gordon’s driving the other jeep, with Father Mundy and Shutzer; I look back to see if they’re still with us.
    Wilkins taps me and I slide down. He uses the handhold to climb up and crouch behind the sights. Wilkins looks scared, but we’re all