Hanging on

wet and shiny. The nipples were larger than he had ever seen them.
        He spat out some water. "Okay," he whispered back. He looked up at the bridge, and looked questioningly at her.
        She came closer. Her jugs squashed against his chest as she leaned over and whispered in his ear. "You didn't yell. They heard nothing."
        "I don't love you," he whispered.
        "Same here."
        "Not at all," he said.
        "Not the least little bit," she said.
        They smiled at each other.

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    8
        
        Because he was the slimmest, darkest, and quickest man among them, Vito Angelli was given the job of taking the spool of wire and the T-plunger up the sloped ravine wall to the rear of the village store, which was the nearest cover he would find up there.
        Major Kelly sent all the others out into the river, then drew the private close and risked a whisper. "Remember, there are two krauts guarding the eastern bridge approach. When you go over the crest, you'll be passing within ten feet of them."
        Angelli nodded his head vigorously. He was drenched and shivering, and he looked like the classic drowned rat. He was badly frightened.
        "If they see you and challenge you, don't play hero. Drop everything and run. To hell with blowing up the bridge. If you're seen, it won't matter any longer."
        Angelli nodded his head. He understood. Or he had palsy.
        "You see the T-plunger?" Kelly asked, pointing to the device where it stood on the shore.
        "Yeah," Vito said, teeth chattering.
        "Here's the wire." Kelly gave him the spool. "Make sure you hold it like this, so it continues to pay out. If you hold it wrong, it'll be jerked out of your hand, or you'll be tripped up."
        Vito nodded and started for shore. Then he turned and came back, leaned close to the major. "If I buy the farm… tell Nurse Pullit my last thoughts were about her."
        Kelly did not know what to say.
        "Will you tell her, sir?"
        "Vito-"
        "Promise, Major."
        Overhead, one of the SS guards laughed heartily at a Kamerad's Joke, and jackboots thumped on the board floor.
        Looking into Angelli's dark eyes, the major suddenly realized that the private's affair with Nurse Pullit was his method of hanging on. Kelly had his cheap philosophy, and Angelli had Nurse Pullit. One was no worse, no crazier than the other.
        "I'll tell her," Kelly said.
        "Thank you, sir."
        Angelli went ashore. He picked up the T-plunger and started up the slope, sliding sideways in the mud.
        Still shocked by his insight into Angelli's condition, Kelly turned away from the shore and the bridge and waded out into the river where the others waited. The men were so fascinated with Lily's bare, wet jugs that they did not even see him until he thumped each one on the shoulder. He lead them south again, the way they had come.
        They had no time to waste. If Vito made it, then there was no use watching him go. If he failed, they would not be able to help him, and they would become targets themselves.
        Lightning speared the earth and glazed the surface of the river and made them stand out like ink spots on a clean sheet of typewriter paper. Each of them waited for the chatter of guns, the bite of a bullet in the back…
        Major Kelly thought of brass beds.

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    9
        
        Six men and three nuns struggled out of the ravine at the same place where they had gone down nearly two hours ago. They were wet and muddy and worn out.
        Major Kelly led them northward along the ravine crest until they came back to the hospital bunker. The others went down the steps and slipped inside when Liverwright opened the door to them. The major continued north toward the rear of the village store.
        Angelli was waiting there. He had made it.
        "Never mind giving my last words to Nurse Pullit," he whispered happily. "I'll tell her myself."
        "Yeah," Kelly said. "Now let's get the job done."

PART FIVE
        
    Hanging On
    Dawn - Dusk July 22,1944

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    1
        
        Dawn tinted the horizon even as Major Kelly and Vito Angelli were tying up the loose ends of the operation. And on his way back to the rectory, the major was forced to lie low while a Wehrmacht squad marched up and down St. Ignatius changing the sentries at the intersections. By the time he reached the churchyard, Kelly knew it