Predator's Picnic by Bernard Veale

Author:Bernard Veale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adventure, mystery, military, fighting, double-crossing, romance
ISBN: 9781782341970
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
Published: 2012-08-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

We marched back to the hangar and spent the rest of the morning in comparative ease. The Sergeant had hurried back to reorder his magazine and the Colonel and Dubois left in the van to ‘take the wounded men to hospital’.

Lion was ordered to arrange for the burial of the dead and he opted to use his own team for this purpose so that I and my team were left to our own devices. Whilst my men lounged around enjoying the unaccustomed luxury of having nothing to do, I headed for the kitchen in the hope that Cherie would have arrived to prepare the next meal.

Our timing was perfect. She was just backing her car up to the door when I arrived.

“Er, hello Tiger.” She said looking around to see if anyone could be watching us.

“There’s no-one around.” I told her happily, “Let me help you to get the supplies inside.”

I unloaded the car and carried everything into the kitchen while she held the door open for me. Then she threw herself into my arms and kissed me eagerly. “Oh darling, how nice it is to get this opportunity and in the middle of a working day too!”

“Your god-father the Colonel has given the survivors a holiday.” I told her lightly.

“What do you mean survivors?” she asked suspiciously.

“I am afraid the Colonel is not sane.”I told her gently as I held her to me.

“Darling! Stop talking in riddles! What has been happening? I passed the van on the way here. The Colonel and Dubois were in it. What can be wrong? Where is my father?”

“Easy now, calm down, Cherie; your father is fine except that he is worried. He’s over at his magazine now. It is the Colonel that is the problem. He told us to choose which men we wanted to take with us on the mission. When we had chosen he ordered those men to the top of the knoll behind the shooting range and then sent the ones who had not been chosen up the hill to attack them. Four men were killed and two were severely wounded.”

She shook her head disbelievingly, “This can’t be so. The Colonel would never treat his men like that. Do you think that my father would have given his loyalty for thirty years to such a man?”

“Cherie, the Colonel is sick: mentally sick. He needs help. I’ve spoken to your father about it and he agrees. The only thing I cannot persuade your father about is that this mission should be stopped. Your father believes that the French Government has given the Colonel this task and that it must be carried out ‘all costs’ even if the Colonel has become deranged.”

She shook her head slowly and in obvious disagreement. “He couldn’t be deranged. I spoke to him only last night. He was his usual, brilliant, intelligent self. Why I even spoke to him about the mission. He said that it was imperative that the mission be carried out for the greater glory of France.

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