Get back here with that milk! [Open]

[Heidi]

Country: Northern France, Allied-held territory
Current Time: 12:30
Weather Conditions: Clear with mild cloud cover, and a nice, warm, early spring day. There is a pleasant breeze blowing over the landscape.

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Sister Burr had always been a stickler for keeping things in place. Her creed was the commandment, "Thou shalt not steal." Every time one of the children tried to steal a treat from the kitchen, every time somebody took another's toy without the other's permission, Sister Burr would get on their backsides like never before. Adelheid had only felt the wrath of the woman once; that had been when the girl had stolen a few marbles from one of the boys to test out as slingshot ammo.

"RÉCUPÉREZ-ICI AVEC DU CE LAIT VOUS PEU DE RAT DE RUE!!"

And the reason was simple: thieves got punished, whether by a yardstick to the hands, or worse, a well-aimed metal pipe from an angry farmer.

Tearing down the unpaved main street of the small French village, Adelheid panted heavily, holding a bucket of milk to her chest that was sloshing and spilling all over the place. Behind her, a red-faced farmer - somewhere in his early sixties - was gaining speed, brandishing in his hand the aforementioned metal pipe. Adelheid had snatched the bucket off the ground while the man had been in one of the stores, but before she could make a clean getaway, a woman in the store had noticed and yelled. Although Adelheid knew only German, she was sure that the Frenchwoman had recognized her from somewhere, hence the pointing and the look on her face.

That wasn't good.

More and more people joined in the chase of the little child, who was now almost gained upon by the farmer. Her black, shoulder-length hair whipping in the wind, eyes wide and looking like two pools of ink spreading, she put on an extra burst of speed. This milk would've been her first real meal in four days; surely the Lord - and the farmer - could forgive her...right?

"ATTENDEZ JUSTE JUSQU'À CE QUE JE COLLE CECI VERS LE HAUT QUELQUE PART VOUS NE FAITES PAS POUR VOULOIR SAVOIR!!"

...Right?

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Translations:

GET BACK HERE WITH THAT MILK YOU LITTLE STREET RAT!!

JUST WAIT UNTIL I STICK THIS UP SOMEWHERE YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW!!

[Stephen Colly]

12:30 in the afternoon, it was a pleasantly warm spring day; the sun was being slightly hidden by the clouds that seemed to stay in the sky for ages. This sort of day reminded Stephen Colly of the days on the farm, sowing the crops for the summer, the trees in the woods had begun developing leaves after the cold winter.

Days like today made Stephen miss his home even more, memories of country life before the war were always painful, ploughing, milking, feeding; everything had a routine, like the army in a way. The streets of Allied occupied France were getting back to normal after weeks of fighting. It was odd to think that there was a war going on, everyone was going about their daily business; even a few shops were open. The British had captured this town a couple of weeks ago, Stephen hadn’t been in the fighting, he had been drafted in to help with the citizens; some were still scared of the troops.

Stephen walked down the street, his rifle on his left shoulder; people were walking around, doing this and that. It was all calm until the noise of people shouting and yelling in French was heard a little way down the street. Stephen glanced up from staring at the ground, and saw a black haired girl running towards him with a mob of angry looking Frenchmen and women running after her. A red faced farmer was gaining on the little girl, Stephen saw that she had a bucket of milk or some other liquid in her hand, it was slopping every where.

Stephen saw the slight fear and terror on the girl’s face as she brushed past him. Stephen frowned; he wasn’t going to let this little girl get hurt, she looked awfully pale and hungry. ”Arrêtez, cela est un ordre.” Stephen shouted in a rubbish French accent, the farmer stopped short as Stephen stepped in front of him, the farmer was much older and taller than Stephen who glared down at the boy soldier with annoyance and anger.

The farmer started to shout in broken English and French, Stephen rolled his eyes. ”allez, allez” he said shortly.

Translations

“Stop, that is an order”

“Go, go”

[Heidi]

”Arrêtez, cela est un ordre.”

In all her panic, little Adelheid's mind took the order as well (even though she didn't understand it), and her feet planted into the dirt in an attempt to make her stop. Unfortunately, one foot caught on the other, and with a yelp, the German orphan fell. The stolen milk bucket went flying, watery white splashing everywhere in front of her, the bucket hitting the ground with a loud bong.

The farmer, furious at Stephen for allowing such a thing to happen, grabbed the soldier by his shirt. "YOU ZEE ZAT, YOU DOG!" he bellowed, pointing at the little girl sprawled out on the dirt. He pulled Stephen closer, their faces mere centimetres apart, breathing heavily down the young man's neck.

"Zat is week's worth vood, RUINÉ! Little wretch vike her, she belong in jail! She nothin' but filthy menace, zat vittle WITCH!"

From behind the soldier, Adelheid gave a tiny whimper, inching away from the crowd with tears threatening to fall out of her eyes. Her slingshot and pebble-ammo had fallen out onto the street, and she hastily picked them up, swiftly stuffing them back into her pockets. The farmer made no move to go after her - the soldier was armed, after all - but he did point a finger at her.

"Vous devriez juste sortir, enfant. Soyez HEUREUX je ne suis pas votre père; Je vous battrais insensé dans a battement de coeur pour cela!!"

Adelheid didn't know what the man had said, but his tone was harsh, and she flinched. She staggered to her feet, facing the crowd and the soldier, not moving because the soldier might say something. Hopefully, it would be in German. All of this talk that sounded like someone breathing with a straw through their nose was giving her a headache.

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Translations:

You should just get out, child. Be GLAD I am not your father; I would beat you senseless in a heartbeat for that!!

[Stephen Colly]

The farmer had now dared to step right up close to Stephen but Stephen didn’t budge an inch. He heard the little girl fall and the milk falling on the ground. The farmer had grabbed Stephen by the shirt, shouting at him in broken English.
Stephen’s eyes narrowed darkly as the farmer pulled him closer, so close that Stephen could feel the man’s breath down his neck. Stephen would not be spoken to like that. He grabbed the man’s shirt as well, prising his fingers off his own shirt. ”Don’t you dare call me that.” he spat, his eyes flaring, he had a sudden spirit in him that he never had before. ”Looks like you are going to have to milk some more cows then.” he spat, letting go of the man’s shirt and pushing him away from him.

”Don’t you dare call that innocent girl a witch.” Stephen said, turning around to see the girl facing them, he gave a weak smile and turned back to the crowd, taking his gun from his shoulder, people scattered. ”Clear off.” he shouted, the crowd hurried away, the farmer giving a dirty look to the young girl before staggering off down the street.

Stephen turned to the girl, kneeling down so he was now at her own height, putting his gun back on to his shoulder. ”Oh Jesus.” he muttered, smiling. ”Err…you speak Français? Deutsch?” he asked her, holding out his hand to the young one.

[Heidi]

The soldier approached her, and Adelheid stepped back a little, afraid. He had made the farmer and the crowd go away - that was a good thing - and now, he was at eye-level with her, smiling a little. He muttered the name of Jesus Christ, causing her to give him a small look, but then he made up for it by asking her a question.

"Err…you speak Français? Deutsch?”

FINALLY! A German speaker! He didn't have a swastika on his arm, either...so he must have been with...the other army...what was it called again...?

"J-Ja," the girl replied quietly, taking the man's hand gingerly in her right one and giving it a small shake. "Ich spreche Deutsches, Herr Soldat."

The girl gave a nervous smile, and then released the man's hand, drawing hers back. Although he seemed to be nice enough, looks were always deceiving. The soldiers...they could be especially deceiving. One particular memory came to mind - it had been a week earlier, when she had been hiding in some bushes and some...not-Nazis...had raided a poor farmer's house. They seemed to be just as bad as the Nazis when that happened, so she had to be careful. This man might be the same.

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Translations:

Yes, I speak German, Mr. Soldier.

[Stephen Colly]

The girl was afraid; Stephen could see that from the look in her eyes. Well, who wouldn’t be if they had just been chased down a street by angry French people? She gave him a look when he cursed out loud but her face turned into a smile and she spoke back in German.
Oh Great. Stephen thought to himself, he only spoke a little bit of German, French was his language and she obviously didn’t speak French. ”Err…good, ja.” Stephen muttered, she had taken his hand and was shaking it but then let it go limp by her side once more.

”What’s your name? Um..” Stephen began to say, then started pointing at himself, saying loudly ”S T E P H E N.” he then pointed a finger at the girl, raising an eyebrow; he bloody well hoped she got the idea because this would not go well and it would be a waste of time for both concerned. ”Sie?” he asked, encouraging the girl to speak back to him for this wasn’t going to work if she didn’t.

He sat back on his knees, watching her closely. Please…please get what I mean. he thought to himself as he bit his lip and waited.

[Heidi]

Adelheid could not help but flinch a little when the man pointed at her; it was obvious that she was flighty, and not just because she had had an angry mob chasing after her. Still, she got the point, and her smile grew a little more. The man was trying to make himself approachable, even though it seemed he just barely knew the language.

"Mein Name ist Adelheid, Herr Stephen," said she, doing a polite little curtsy just for the heck of it. Adelheid then mimicked Herr Stephen, pointing a finger at herself and saying slowly, "A-D-E-L-H-E-I-D. A-del-heid. Adelheid." It was not meant to be an insult - the man did not speak her tongue, and she did not speak his, so she had to give him a little help if either of them were to communicate.

"Sie sprechen nicht Deutsches, tun Sie, Herr?" the girl added, turning her head slightly to the side, childish back eyes staring into the brown, soft pair the soldier had. She then waved her hand back and forth, as if to say no.

"Kein sprechender Deutscher?"

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Translations:

My name is Adelheid, Mr. Stephan.

You don't speak German, do you, Mister?

No speaking German?

[Stephen Colly]

This was getting confusing, dam the girl spoke German and by the sounds of things not a word of English either. The girl flinched when he pointed his finger at her; she was a flighty little number. This really wasn’t going to work…he needed a translator, but no one he knew spoke German and the locals probably wouldn’t help him, he would have to make do with trying to use a little bit of English and German at the same time.

So her name was Adelheid, she curtsied and then did an impression of himself telling her his name. Little monkey! ”No, I don’t speak Deutsches.” he said, giving a small laugh and shaking his head, that stare she gave him seemed recognisable but Stephen couldn’t put his finger on who she reminded him of.
He took out something from his pocket; it was a bar of chocolate. He stretched out his hand to the young girl, waving the thing in front of her face.

”Chocolate.” he said, smiling, he didn’t want it, she looked hungry so she should have it, she looked like an orphan, too young to be on her own. ”Take it.” he muttered.

[Heidi]

The man laughed at her - it was a nice laugh. It reminded her of the jolly old Sister Kiel, who was like a mother to the orphans more then anything; she wasn't as stony-faced as the other nuns, and the tone she often used sounded a lot like Herr Stephen's. Maybe this was a sign...

Without warning, something was waved in her face, and when it stopped, it revealed itself to be a bar of something. Curious, the girl hesitantly took it, sniffing it a little. Her black eyes widened, and she licked her lips as the man told her what it was.

Chocolate.

Or, in Adelheid's tongue, schokolade.

Grubby fingers tore open the packaging in an instant, and between grateful, happy mutters of, "Danke! Danke!" she chewed wildly. Yes, Adelheid did look like a stray dog, the way she was wolfing down the yummy treat, but she was hungry! And...and the chocolate...it was so good!

When she was done, the girl licked her fingers cleaned, then stuffed the packaging into her pocket. Licking her lips, wiping her mouth with her sleeve, her shyness dissapeared as she leapt forward, giving Herr Stephen a great big hug. She smiled, nearly crying with joy.

"Danke!" the girl cried again. "Danke, Herr Stephen! Danke!"

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Translations:

Danke - Thank you

[Stephen Colly]

Stephen watched the girl eat it, bloody hell she was eating it fast, she was like a dog eating a bone or something, the way she bit into the bar and swallowed it down as fast as she could. Poor thing probably hadn’t had any food in weeks.
Her eyes lit up and she kept saying danke…danke…that must mean thank you, he noticed her fingers, they were grubby and un clean.

The girl had finished in almost three seconds flat and was licking her grubby fingers clean. Stephen smiled, watching her. Suddenly the young girl leapt forward, nearly knocking Stephen to the ground as he was unbalanced, and gave him a big hug, she was smiling, crying and shouting to the sky, she was obviously very grateful for the treat.

It was lovely to see a smile so big as the one the little girl had, there had been so many grumpy and upset and dying faces over the last couple of weeks that Stephen had had enough of the war, but it lifted his spirits to see a young girl so happy in just getting a simple bar of chocolate that cost Stephen nothing at all. ”It’s ok.” Stephen said, patting her back, slightly surprised and taken aback by the delight shown. ”You like that.” he muttered, more to himself then to see as she probably wouldn’t not understand what he had said…

”Er…do you have a…what’s the word…. Mutter? Vater?” he wanted to know if the girl had a home and if she didn’t then he would take her back to HQ, most likely the officers there would send him away and say that there were too many children like this one on the streets.

[Heidi]

The man was nice.

Very, very nice.

God had obviously forgiven her, and now, he had brought a nice man to keep her company. Herr Stephen was patting her on the back, saying something to himself in his language that the girl couldn't understand, but it didn't matter. He was much more gentle then most of the people Adelheid had come across, and from what her gut feeling was saying, she could trust him.

”Er…do you have a…what’s the word…Mutter? Vater?”

"Hmmm?" little Adelheid asked, pulling back slightly to look at the man, wiping her face with a sleeve to look a little more composed. She blinked, turning her head to the side again like a puppy, a look of confusion her face.

"Mut...ter? Va...vater? Was ist das?"

The words were foreign to her, although the nuns had called their leader the "Ehrerbietige Mutter"...or something like that. As far as Adelheid knew, a mother and father was something you didn't have if you were in an orphanage. The only "Vater" kind of person she knew was the man in the photo...Rhys...

"Sie bedeuten dieses?" the girl asked, her hand going to her pocket. She slowly pulled out the photo of the "Rhys" man, and showed it to Herr Stephen, waiting for an answer.

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What is that?

"Reverent Mother"

You mean this?

[Stephen Colly]

Stephen waited, she said the words again and then added something on to the end, was ist das…that meant what is that…or something along those lines. She put her head side to side, a look of confusion; she did look very sweet when she did that, like a puppy! Stephen had owned a puppy when he was younger, but the poor thing had been killed, it had got kicked by one of the plough horses on his farm a couple of years ago and Stephen had been mighty up set, he had cried himself to sleep for nights on end afterwards.

The girl then took out a photo, showing it to Stephen who took it in his hands, staring down at the face that was so familiar to him…”Shit.” Stephen said out loud, staring at the man who was now dead…Rhys Bevan, a great friend of his. ”Holy Shit.” he said, a look of horror coming across his face, it was a much younger Rhys Bevan than Stephen remembered him…the man had never known that he had had a daughter, he had at least never mentioned it to Stephen when they had met each other in the pub of an evening, he had had a brother but Stephen didn’t know what had become of him, a younger brother, around 14 or so, last Stephen had heard, the boy had gone missing.

”Oh my god.” he looked from the picture, to the girl and then back, seeing the similarity, that was where he had seen this young girl before! ”Jesus this is even more difficult now.” he muttered under his breath. He handed the photo back to the girl, taking out another from his pocket, it was one of only two pictures Stephen kept on his person at all times, the other was of Joey his horse, this one was of a group of happy, smiling men. Rhys Bevan, Edward McMillan, Stephen, Nathan Knight and Daniel Brennan, all standing together smiling at the camera. It had been taken just before Edward had gone off to France to get himself killed, Stephen pointed at Rhys and then to the girl, showing it to her.

”That’s him, isn’t it.” he said, he knew she couldn’t understand him, he was in slight shock. How the hell am I going to break it to her? he thought as he stared at her, awaiting a reply.

[Heidi]

Adelheid jumped backwards when the man started swearing, his face suddenly a look of horror. The girl gave a tiny gasp, fear rising up in her chest; had she done something wrong? Was...was there something not right about giving him the photo? And why was he using the Lord's name in vain, again?!

The man fumbled around in his pockets for something, and the terrified young Adelheid brought her hands to her chest, trying to make herself look smaller. Something was wrong, and she had started it. Adelheid felt like an idiot; she barely even knew the man, why had she shown the picture?! He was a soldier, though, and they were like the police now...or something...she was just trying to answer his question...

He held the picture out for her to take, and she snatched it back, stuffing it hastily into her pocket. Another picture was soon out in the open, this time belonging to him, and he pointed to man standing amongst others, including Herr Stephen.

It was the Rhys man. He looked older, but it was him. Looking slightly shocked herself, Adelheid's head snapped up, and she nodded vigourously.

[Stephen Colly]

The girl looked frightened, ”Hey, don’t be scared.” Stephen muttered as he saw her trying to act smaller than she was. Stephen had done that at Edward’s funeral, he had tried to make himself smaller and smaller, trying to shrink away into the ground to get away from the horrors of the death, and it hadn’t worked.

What terrified Stephen even more was that the girl had nodded to the photo, so that was Rhys’s daughter, bloody hell. Stephen took the photo back and pocketed it. He stared around, trying to think of what to do. Standing up, straitening up, he looked around at passers by. ”Anyone speak German? Come on, someone must here!” he said to the locals. People ignored him as they walked on, ”Anyone speak German!” Stephen said again, more panicked then before.

A woman had started to walk towards the soldier and child; she was carrying a basket full of vegetables and was nodding. ”I do.” she said as she looked down at the child. Stephen nodded, the woman was watching him closely, ”Can you please tell that girl, her name is Adelheid, that…that…” he trailed off, the woman waited.

”That…her…father….was a soldier…and…” Stephen stopped, this was going to be hard, he wasn’t going to tell it straight to the girl that her father was dead. ”Would she like to come with me.” Stephen said finally deciding on a question.
The woman nodded and started to speak in German to Adelheid. ”Ihr Vater war ein Soldat, wurde Sie mögen mit diesem Mann kommen?”

[Heidi]

The man's attempt to soothe her didn't work. She had no idea if he was saying that it was her fault or not, so she just continued to try and bunch herself up, a tiny sob escaping her lips. Her instincts were wrong...something wasn't right, and for all she knew, this man could be mad at her. From experience, she knew that when soldiers got mad, bad things would always happen.

Suddenly, the man starting yelling, and Adelheid started crying. It was just like when the boys were teasing her at the orphanage, yelling at her in...not-German...and calling her stupid when she couldn't understand them. She didn't notice the woman walking over, but when said woman began to speak in Adelheid's tongue, the girl looked up. She sniffled, rubbing her watery eyes, and swallowed hard.

"I…das ich nicht kenne, dass…er…ist er wütend ist?" Adelheid asked quietly.

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Translations:

I...I do not know...is he...is he mad?