Finding Out (Addie/Open)

[Stephen Colly]

Country: Northern France, Allied-held territory, Allied HQ
Current Time: 13:30
Weather Conditions: Clear with mild cloud cover, and a nice, warm, early spring day. There is a pleasant breeze blowing over the landscape.

It was now getting on in the day, it was 1:30 in the afternoon, Stephen had been leading a young girl by the hand all the way to the HQ base, he had got looks at from some of the soldiers at the entrance to the HQ, and he had ignored them and pulled the young German along.

They reached one of the nearer entrances, Stephen stopped, and the soldier on duty eyed the young girl. ”Who’s this Private?”
”Young girl I found, she is the daughter of Rhys Bevan.” Stephen said, the duty soldier’s eyes widened and he nodded, letting them pass through the gates. Stephen walked briskly on, soldiers were everywhere, marching, looking at maps, the place was busy and Stephen clutched on to the girl’s hand as they walked, making sure she wasn’t going to get lost.

Stephen side stepped a tank that was coming straight for them, pulling the girl into a building, another soldier was sitting behind a desk, looking at some paper work. ”Sir.” Stephen said, letting go of Adelheid’s hand and walking up to the desk. ”I’ve found a little girl, she has a picture of Rhys Bevan, she claims that he is her father…was her father.” the soldier behind the desk looked over at the young girl, ”Really Private?”
”Yes sir.” Stephen muttered, glancing back at Adelheid.
”Wait here.” the soldier stood up from behind the desk and walked out of the door quickly, Stephen turned to Adelheid and smiled, trying to lighten her mood and make her not too scared with all the noise.

[Heidi]

The place was big. And busy. People were running back and forth, all shouting and barking at each other in a language foreign to Adelheid, their voices a cacaphony of different accents. Scared but spellbound at the same time, the child's black eyes gazed at the sights before her, filled to the brim with wonder. Everything was...so...so different...so powerful-sounding! No wonder soldiers were loud; they probably had to yell over all this noise all the time!

The girl could not help but yelp as something that looked like a mix between a truck and a house rolled by, green-brown in colour and with a long, tube-like thing sticking out of it, a few men riding on top. Clinging to Herr Stephen's side like a scared cat, she swallowed hard, and managed to get her breathing back to normal. That rolling...house-thing...was not new to Adelheid. They often rumbled through the fields nearby, and on her travels, she'd nearly been run over by one, twice.

She and Herr Stephen finally stopped in an office, where Herr Stephen said something to another man, who eyed Adelheid with interest. He then got up from the desk and left, Adelheid's eyes following him on the way out. Herr Stephen's smile went unnoticed for a moment, the girl pressing nervously against his side now that they were alone, but then she looked up and shyly smiled back at him.

Adelheid wasn't quite sure what was going on...but Herr Stephen was kind. He wouldn't let anything happen to her...right?

[S.SGT David Bevan]

David pressed his foot down hard on the brake pedal causing the jeep to come to a screeching halt meters from the main gate. He tossed his Lee-Enfield into the back seat and stepped out of the vehicle.

"See you later" David shouted over his shoulder to Sergeant Evans who was sat in the passenger seat. The two had just returned from a reconnaissance mission. Nothing interesting had happened and no enemy activity was found. David jogged over to the guard on duty before producing a log book from his pack.

"I need to take this to the Captain" he said simply. The guard nodded and stepped out of the way.

David walked through the gate and waited by the side of the dirt track as a column of armoured vehicles left the compound. When the vehicles had passed he crossed the road and headed towards the room where he would find the captain.

The Captain left the office on his way to another building. David ran after him and shoved the log book into his hands.

"David wait. Private Colly has a little girl with him. The girl says Rhys is her father" said the Captain loudly above the noise of the vehicles.

David saw Private Colly through the door to the office and stepped in without a word in reply to the Captain. Inside he saw a small girl clutching the Privates hand. The girl bore a striking resemblance to Rhys.

"Who's the girl"? asked David to Stephen.

[Stephen Colly]

Stephen could feel Adelheid's hand tighten as she stood next to him, he muttered a few words of comfort to her and straightened up, raising a hand in salute to the staff sergeant who appeared at the door, the man asked him a question, sharply and quickly.

"I found her being chased by a few French farmers, she claims to have a photo of the deceased Staff Sergeant Bevan, she claims that he is her father, I've seen the photo sir and it does look a lot like him...but, to warn you sir, she doesn't speak a word of English, she speaks German sir but that is it." Stephen said quickly, his voice sounding less quiet and more soldier like as he spoke to the man who he looked up to.

He glanced down at the young girl, giving her a smile and squeezing her hand to make sure she was alright, and not to run away, "Don't worry." he muttered at the girl, grinning at her and giving her a reassuring smile.

[Heidi]

OOC - For future reference, I believe the posting order is Kitty, me, DBev, then Mac if he comes in. We'll just add names in order of arrival after Mac if this thread gets any bigger.

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When more people started coming in, Adelheid gave a little, "Eeep!" and scurried around Herr Stephen, hiding in front of him from the other man. He looked...similar...to the "Rhys" man, but unlike the "Rhys" man, his hair was light, and he had a scraggly beard of sorts. She pressed herself against Herr Stephen, giving a tiny whimper as she peeked out to the side, eyes widening like spilt ink in fear.

"Don't worry."

The girl glanced up, Herr Stephen taking her hand again and squeezing it to reassure her. His smile seemed genuine, and Adelheid smiled a little herself, although only for the briefest of seconds. She looked back at the newcomers, wondering what would happen next.

[S.SGT David Bevan]

OOC: Ok I have god modded that Adelheid gives me the picture but i will modifiy if I need to.

David listened to the Private and noticed the girl cowering behind him. He crouched down slowly hoping not to scare her even more. He knew a fair bit of German. He was almost fluent.

"Kann ich das Bild sehen?" he asked with a terrible attempt at a German accent.

The girl handed him the picture of who she thought was her father. David stood up and held the black and white photo in the light from the lamp on the desk. The photo was battered and creased in many places but David could tell the man was his brother.

David could not think of who the mother was. The only girl friend Rhys had that he was aware of was a nurse who was now dead. If it were the nurses child she would speak English. He the remembered before the war that Rhys had been friendly with a German who had come to their area. But he didn't think she was his girl friend.

"Wo Ihre Mutter ist"? asked David quietly to the little girl.

He then handed the picture back to Adelheid carefully and awaited her answer.

Translations

Kann ich das Bild sehen? = Can I see the picture?

Wo Ihre Mutter ist? = Where is you're mother?

[Mac Bargett]

“Yeah, yeah, yeah I’ll find him. Just keep that record out for me when I get back.”
Mac closed the door he had stuck his head into and jumped the few steps before walking a leisurely pace towards the front gate. Today had been a good day. The sun was shining, the wind was a slight breeze, lunch had been a warm meal, and the most strenuous mission today had just been given to him a minute ago, find SSgt Bevan and give him the papers Mac now had tucked under his arm. Actually, that had been his only order today. Mac had spent today’s leave hanging out with some guys in intelligence. One of them had just receive a new record from their folks back home and they had been listening to it since lunch, until their superior arrived and gave them the report to give to David Bevan. As the guest in their quarters Mac had volunteered to deliver it him once he returned from his recon mission, which should have been just about now.

As he approached the checkpoint, Mac tried to remember the words to that song on the record, and to quietly recite them under his breath,
“And we heil, bhzzzzzzzzzzzzz. heil, bhzzzzzzzzzzzz right in…”

The guard gave him a funny look and Mac frowned at him, “Don’t be looking at me, son, you should be checking out for fifth columnists and collaborators. But as long as I have your attention, I need to know if Bevan has returned from his patrol yet.”

“Yes sir, you just missed him, he was looking for the Captain, and he’s in his office.”

Mac gave the guard a, “Thank you private,” before he dashed off towards the Captain’s quarters, hoping to catch Bevan before he goes off to someplace else. He did, and caught sight of the Staff Sergeant just as he closed the door to the office. Mac walked up to the door, knocked, and entered.

“Sir, I…” He noticed the little girl David was speaking German to, “What is this? I didn’t know this man’s army had bring you’r child to work day.”

[Stephen Colly]

Stephen was surprised how much the man spoke German, it was hard for the staff sergeant, his brother was the subject of the talk now, he had died, it had been awful. Adelhied was scared shitless the poor thing, she was hiding in front of Stephen now, she kept looking up at him, her face scared but she did smile for the briefest of seconds.

He smiled back and looked up suddenly as the door opened and Sergeant Bargett came in, an American. Stephen saluted smartly to the man, "This girl sir, she claims to be the deceased Rhys Bevan's daughter sir." he muttered to the man as to not let the girl hear even though she couldn't understand.

"Sergeant Bevan is questioning her." he muttered, as he kept hold of the little girl's hand as the sergeant spoke in German to her.

[Heidi]

"Kann ich das Bild sehen?"

At last...at last...a German speaker! His accent was ridiculous, yes...but he knew the language. The girl immediately complied, and stuck her hand in her pocket, searching around for a few minutes for the picture. Eventually she found it, glancing at it briefly before holding it out for the man to take.

Bitte hacken Sie meine Hand nicht weg von…

The "Rhys"-like man took the photo from her, just as quickly as she had pulled it out of her pocket. She watched with slight apprehension as he walked away, bringing it over to the nearby desk and smoothing it out. A light flicked on, and the man studied it for a minute, then turned around to her.

"Wo Ihre Mutter ist?"

"...Mutter?" the girl asked quietly, once again tilting her head to the side like a puppy, just as she had done with Herr Stephen earlier in the day. It had been the second time she had been asked that, and once again, she wasn't sure how to respond.

Well, it was a good a time to ask as any...

"Was ist eine 'Mutter'?"

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Translations:

Please don't chop my hand off...

What's a 'mother'?

[Mac Bargett]

"This girl sir, she claims to be the deceased Rhys Bevan's daughter sir."

Mac returned Colly’s salute and began to give his automated response before he totally understood the full mean of what Stephen had said, “I’m not a sir, I’m a serge… What? You mean his late brother?” Mac stared at David for a moment. Mac was an only child, but he knew the pain of an important family member dying. When his grandfather died, Mac had become distant to that side of the family and got rid of everything that reminded him of him to try and heal the wounds. If David had done the same thing, the discovery of his dead brother’s daughter could bring back the pain. Mac knew he should tread lightly. He should try and choose his words wisely.

Mac put his papers down on the desk and stared at the child as Bevan took the photo, “You know, we should try and find out some things about her.”Mac watched as the Staff Sergeant asked the child about her mother, but when she said she didn’t know what a “Mutter” is, Mac crouched beside David and dug in his pocket as he looked up at Colly, “Are you sure German is her first language?” He looked back at the girl and held out his hand, in it was an unwrapped peanut butter cup.
“Wie heisst du?”
Unlike the Staff Sergeant’s mangled translation, Mac’s German was smooth, with an accent from one of the German states bordering France, although it was in reality Pennsylvania Dutch.

-----------
“Wie heisst du?”
What is your name?

[Stephen Colly]

”Sorry serge.” Stephen said apologetically, he never had known the difference between the two names. ”Yes sir, she claims to be Rhys Bevan.” Stephen said once again, clutching Adelheid’s hand as she gave the picture to David Bevan who was asking questions in a very bad German accent. Stephen watched, feeling sorry for the girl who had been put through so much in the last few hours.

Sergeant Bargett was now speaking to Stephen who listened in, ”Yes serge.” Stephen said, nodding at the sergeant, which would be a good idea. A very good idea if someone could speak German. ”Yes German is her first language serge, she doesn’t speak any English, it was quiet a hard job trying to talk to her, getting information out of her.” Stephen muttered, remembering.

Ah, finally someone who could speak German, his accent was very good, better than Stephens and Sergeant Bevans.

[Heidi]

The other man approached her now, and Adelheid scooted around to the side, trying to hide beside Stephen as one would hide behind a tree trunk. Talking in the language the other soldiers seemed to be using a lot, his hand went to his pocket, Adelheid watching with a mix of curiosity and fear. Seconds later, he produced something round at the top and narrow at the bottom, wrapped in shiny tin foil. It glinted in the light coming from the lamp and doorway and windows, and Adelheid leaned forward slightly, transfixed.

"Wie heisst du?”

This man spoke German, too, although he was far better at it then Herr Stephen and the bearded, Rhys-like man. The accent sounded familiar, too - it was from one of the eastern states...

"Mein Name ist...ist Adelheid, Herr Soldat, Sir," the girl said quietly, somewhat nervously. Her hand reached forward, accepting the shiny thing that the man held, and swiftly drew itself back. Adelheid was surprised to find the shiny thing squishy, and she slowly unwrapped it, the contents revealing themselves to be...

MORE CHOCOLATE!

"EEEE!" squealed the little girl, quite loudly compared to the tone she had used beforehand. In five seconds flat, she wolfed down the miniscule treat, and then proceeded to lick her lips and fingers clean.

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Translations:

My name is...is Adelheid, Mr. Soldier, sir.

[S.SGT David Bevan]

David watched as Sergeant Bargett entered the room. The sergeant was surprisingly good at speaking German. The girl Adelheid was responding well to the questions she was asked. She she still looked scared. That's what made David suspicious. He thought she would feel safe now that she was in a military head quarters.

He thought that maybe the girl was a German spy. She only spoke German when they had found her in France. A German speaking child found in France conveniently outside an Allied military base. It was to coincidental. She said she didn't even know what a mother was. It was obvious she just hadn't thought up that part of her cover story.

"Mac ask her where she got the picture" ordered David.

David knew she could have found the picture anywhere. There wasn't much of her story she could prove. If she was an AXIS spy David would not be impressed. He might even kill her himself.

"Stephen how old is she?"asked David.


David had to watch her eyes when she answered Mac. He knew that her eyes would move different positions depending on whether she was telling the truth or lying.

[Mac Bargett]

((OCC Thanks Dbev, now I have to redo some of my prewritten post so it’s not like I just repeated what you said.))

“Well, at least now we know her name is Adelheid, and she really likes chocolate. Should I ask her anything else?” Mac glanced up to Colly then to Bevan, and when the Staff Sergeant told him to ask about the picture, Mac got another Reese’s from his jacket.

Mac turned back to Adelheid, but hid the chocolate as he spoke in German, “Sie müssen formell nicht sein. Rufen Sie nur mich… Onkel Mac, und es gibt Onkel Stephen, und er ist… Onkel David.” Mac thought about that for a second. If her The Guiding Light-esque story was to be believed, David was really her uncle, and probably her closest living relative. That is if she wasn’t some Hitler Youth that was given a back story about a dead Brit father and sent to France to be found by some Allies to sponge information off of them and send it back to Germany. Mac would have to be careful with what he said around her. But for the time being, there should be no problems in believing her story, he’ll just have to remember that loose lips sink ships.

Mac held the peanut butter cup to Adelheid, “Jetzt, Addy, Onkel David möchte mehr um den mann in der fotografie wissen“.

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“Sie müssen formell nicht sein. Rufen Sie nur mich… Onkel Mac, und es gibt Onkel Stephen, und er ist… Onkel David.”
“You don’t need to be formal, just call me… Uncle Mac, and there’s Uncle Stephen, and he’s… Uncle David.”

“Jetzt, Addy, Onkel David möchte mehr um den mann in der fotografie wissen.”
“Now Addy, Uncle David would like to know more about the man in the photograph.”

[Stephen Colly]

Stephen took a few steps away from the girl so that she could be questioned probably and she looked alright now with Mac talking German to her. He heard Bevan’s question and turned to the sergeant.
”I would say she is around 10 or 11 maybe older, she didn’t tell me her age.” Stephen said to the man looking over at him to see his expression.

He raised an eyebrow as Mac started to say to Addy to start calling them all uncles, Stephen let out a smirk, biting his lip as he thought of him being an uncle…yeah, that would never happen.

He hoped that Bevan didn’t think this girl was a spy, for she wasn’t, well Stephen didn’t know that but he bloody well hoped she wasn’t as he had found a soft spot for this girl, she was so sweet and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her, having said that he hadn’t wanted anything bad to happen to Edward McMillan and look where that got him…