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either.
 Never mind Endicott or Bunce, Lex said gruffly.
 Let s enjoy ourselves.
It was a good party. They danced a long time, then
strolled out to the terrace. They challenged  Ding and
Gwen to a fast game of backgammon. Later they joined
a laughing, chatting group before a roaring fire.
Cherry thoroughly enjoyed herself. She almost suc-
ceeded, as Lex had suggested, in forgetting Endicott.
But Cherry wondered, as she sipped her punch and
laughed with the others, if Endicott was really some-
body who could be dismissed so easily.
chapter v
On Bivouac
 step on it! sergeant deake shouted over the
heavy tramp of feet and rumble of gun caissons.  Only
one little mile more! Then we bivouac! Ladies, you can t
fail me now!
Cherry sighed, shifted her heavy musette bag and
her heavy helmet to more comfortable positions, and
kept on plodding. They had been marching all morning
and it was now early afternoon. All around her marched
her fellow nurses, and ahead of them and behind them,
endless columns of infantrymen and artillerymen. This
was the long-awaited bivouac, grand wind-up of Cherry s
training. Everyone wore a tan arm band. These warriors
were the Tans; the eight hundred enemy Blues were ad-
vancing on another road. They were going to fight a sim-
ulated battle.
88
ON BIVOUAC 89
Some tank boys went roaring by on their enormous steel
monster, which they had affectionately named Baby, rais-
ing clouds of dust. Cherry swallowed the dust, wet her dry
lips, and looked longingly at a roadside stand before a farm-
house. It was piled high with glass jugs of rosy liquid and
the sign read:  Ice cold cherry cider All you can drink
Ten cents. Right in front of the stand, Sergeant Deake, in
response to a hand signal from up the line, yelled,  Detail,
halt! Up and down the road, the order was signaled and
repeated, and the long winding line came to a stop.
 Yoo-hoo, Sergeant Deake! Cherry yelled, as respect-
fully as is possible at the top of one s lungs.
He fell behind to Cherry s column.  You want some-
thing, Miss Ames?
 Yes! Cherry said. She shook dust off her field
coveralls.  I want a drink. Over there.
Sergeant Deake looked at her reproachfully.  D you
think the Commanding Officer s going to let you
break ranks for refreshments? Maybe you d like a taxi?
Honestly, Lieutenant Ames, I m surprised at you.
Cherry had to smile at his softened manner.  Don t let
me catch you taking a drink out of your canteen, either.
Not after all this sun and exercise.
Cherry was about to mutter that she did not want
lukewarm water anyhow, when Captain Endicott rode
up beside the nurses ranks. He halted his jeep and
spoke at length to Sergeant Deake.
90 CHERRY AMES, ARMY NURSE
Just then the farmhouse door flew open and a little
girl of about ten, with fair sunburned hair, came run-
ning out. She was crying and there was a bloodstain on
her faded cotton dress. She stumbled as she ran toward
the road. Suddenly she stopped and stared at the Red
Cross arm band.
 You re nurses, aren t you? she cried in a thin little
voice.  You are nurses please somebody help my little
brother  
Cherry and the other nurses looked at the frightened
child in concern. But Cherry, like the others, hesitated
to act outside of her Army duties especially with
Captain Endicott watching coldly.  Oh, please! the
little girl begged.  Can t you help my little brother?
 What s wrong? Cherry asked her gently.
 Jack he we were out by the silo playing on the
corn cutter and Jack, he s only four, he didn t know
any better he got his arm cut! And he s  the child s
face screwed up as she wordlessly held out her stained
dress.  Please come! Somebody come!
Cherry looked around for Sergeant Deake. This was
a ten-minute break and Sergeant Deake would be
generous enough to relax the rules and let her go for
five minutes. But Sergeant Deake had gone up the
line. Only Paul Endicott was here, sitting stiffly in
his jeep.
 May I leave for five minutes, sir? Cherry asked him.
ON BIVOUAC 91
 Certainly not.
 But this child needs  
 I heard her, Lieutenant Ames. Let her call a doctor.
The child, clinging to Cherry s side, cried.  We we
haven t any telephone! And anyway, our Dr. Gillis in
Milltown is in the Army and went away. And Pop
hasn t enough gasoline to drive all the way to Center
City to  
 That s too bad, but it s not our concern, Paul Endicott
interrupted.  This is not a civilian nursing corps.
Cherry managed to keep her voice calm.  Captain
Endicott, I could give first aid in five minutes three
minutes!
 No.
Cherry blew out an angry breath, then looked down
at the anxious child.
 What s your name, dear?
 Sally. And my mother s in the hospital!
 Well, Sally, you tell me about Jack s arm.
Sally described her brother s wound as well as she
was able.
 All right, Cherry said soothingly.  Here is what you
must do. And she explained, very clearly and carefully,
how to stop the bleeding, how to clean the wound and
bandage it.  Do you understand now? Good, you re a
brave girl. I know you can take care of your brother, she
reassured her.
92 CHERRY AMES, ARMY NURSE
But Sally, though calmer now, was still badly fright-
ened. Cherry glanced at the name on the mailbox:
Johnson. They were farmers, without a phone or gasoline
or much money. Cherry realized that no distant doctor
would be summoned to treat the boy. The sister s first
aid would not be adequate. She made an instant, reck-
less decision, not with her mind but with her heart.
Dropping her voice very low because Paul was suspi-
ciously listening, she said,  You do what I said and I ll
come back tonight and take care of Jack.
 You will do nothing of the sort! Captain Endicott
snapped out. So he had heard!  I expressly forbid you
to leave the Army area for any such purpose!
Sally s worried face clouded again and she looked
up at Cherry with unhappy eyes. Cherry s fingers tight-
ened around the small shoulder. She determined,
Endicott or no Endicott, broken rules or no broken
rules, to get back to these children tonight! The little
boy needed help! Especially with his mother away. And
Cherry was not going to let that four-year-old risk a
serious infection for the sake of a petty taskmaster like
Paul Endicott!
The column started off again, and Cherry marched
away reluctantly with her platoon of nurses. She felt
Sally s pleading eyes following her. But she had to trudge
on, a part of that long, winding, tramping column of
soldiers under full pack.
ON BIVOUAC 93
 I d better think of something cheerful, Cherry
decided,  and stop this useless brooding about those [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]