For God and Country by Mark Bowlin

Author:Mark Bowlin [Bowlin, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-612548-14-2
Publisher: Brown Books Publishing Group
Published: 2012-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

1645 Hours

Gildardino Farm, Italy

The decision had been made to stay overnight at the Gildardino farm. Mr. Gildardino had assured them that another storm was blowing in, and the sleet of the morning was nothing more than a prelude. He was right.

During the early afternoon, heavy snowflakes began to fall, and within an hour, an inch had accumulated. The winds coming off the mountaintop over two thousand feet above them picked up dramatically, and the whine of the wind was ceaseless.

Sam had gone out with Angelo and brought one Holstein milk cow, four Chianina heifers, and two steers of the same breed into the barn. Angelo spoke excellent English, and he explained that his uncle normally maintained a herd of nearly a hundred head of the Chianina cattle plus two milk cows. “It was a prize herd—the Chianina is the tenderest beef in the world, and we would sell to the best restaurants in Rome, Florence, and Venice for bistecca alla fiorentina. The Germans bought most of the herd last month. They paid in Reichmarks, of course, so we’ll never actually be paid.”

Sam was heartbroken for the family. It would take a long time to build the herd back. “Why didn’t they take all of them, and your draft horses as well?” Sam asked.

“They took what they needed. If they need more, they’ll come back.” he said simply. “There’s just not many Germans in the mountains. Besides, these soldiers are reservists from the North Sea. They’re sons of fishermen and shopkeepers, and most of them had never seen a mountain before. They call themselves Gebirgsmarine—mountain navy—as a joke. They don’t like to climb the hills. They don’t like to herd cattle. We only see them from time to time, and they just leave us alone.”

“Damn. You’re gonna have to get a bull up here for them heifers.”

“All these heifers will calve in the summer. That’s why Uncle saved them. We’ll miss the other milk cow, though. Still, we’re better prepared for the coming months than most.” Angelo shook his head sadly. “We’ll get by off these steers for a while. We have a good stock of flour. We press our own oil and cider. We make our own wine and apple brandy. Uncle has a hen house and a brooder house that the Germans left alone—maybe they are afraid of chickens—and we have driven the pigs to the far side of the farm. We have a smokehouse here, but we hid the hams a long time ago. Mama let the Germans buy some sausage and smoked trout with their worthless money, but we kept the good stuff. I think they were homesick and they really wanted the fish most of all.”

Mr. Gildardino came into the barn, and he smiled when he saw Sam spreading straw onto the floor of the barn with a pitchfork. He said something to Sam in Italian, and Angelo translated it: “Our guests have tried to help, but they’re not farmers. I watched you bring in the cows, you’ve done this before?”

Sam laughed.

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