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  CIRCLES IN THE SAND

  shadows in my heart…

  D.Sallen

  CIRCLES IN THE SAND

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover photo by Justin Banks, available under a Creative Commons license

  Copyright © 2005 D.Sallen

  All Rights Reserved .This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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  ISBN: 978-1-4689-0860-2 (ebook)

  TABLE OF

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  1. Secret Mission? XXX

  2. NCO is Site Commander! XXX

  3. Like hell you bomb my cows! XXX

  4. Wear civilian clothes? Yes! XXX

  5. Price is $100. and…your nuts! XXX

  6. Lorena is off-limits! XXX

  7. Ha! If I aim…you full of holes! XXX

  8. Hurting your feelings is no crime. XXX

  9. Bomber drops timber? XXX

  10. All of you…under arrest! XXX

  11. Dead! Shot in the back! XXX

  12. So where is your rifle now, Sergeant? XXX

  13. Done to my daughter? I›LL KILL YOU! XXX

  14. A Jeep and an airplane…head to head. XXX

  15. He got me pregnant! XXX

  16. Invites the ‹simple› boy to the bunkhouse. XXX

  17. Busted his airplane…damaged a B-36 XXX

  18. We not queer. It›s all right to like a man. XXX

  19. What if he›s nothing at all? XXX

  20. That SOB! Driving with no lights! XXX

  21. You learn a secret? I›ll have to shoot you. XXX

  22. Do you have a pregnant girlfriend? XXX

  23. Buzzards! At a staked out human! XXX

  24. Your choice…death or castration! XXX

  25. Oh my God! He did it to my son! XXX

  26. Insane thoughts drive a man to this horror? XXX

  27. Not my fault…she raped me! XXX

  28. Do you have designs on my virtue? XXX

  Epilogue XXX

  In the pale light Miriam’s skin appeared almost silver. She lay on her stomach with her head on her arms and silently gazed back at him. Clint›s eyes, followed by his hand, slid lightly down her body to caress her buttock. Then his hand moved up to the small of her back and softly stroked the silky skin in the inverted curve there.

  “Not again?” she said.

  Clint chuckled and snuggled closer.

  “You horny rascal! Perhaps I’ve been wasting my time with officers all these years.”

  “If I’da been around … I coulda told ya that. They got too many other things on their minds…to give a woman what she really needs.”

  “Oh is that so? And I suppose you as a Sergeant know what a woman really needs?”

  “Nooo … I as a man know what a woman needs …”

  “Hah! If you think that thing … is all that matters ….”

  “Oh, no babe … that’s not everything … but it’s important.”

  While they talked, his hand played over her skin, sometimes in long sweeping strokes, sometimes probing dimples or examining curves, but always delighting in her soft feminine smoothness in gentle circles with his finger tips.

  “Then … what is everything?”

  Clint gently pulled her up on her side to face him and expanded the scope of his explorations.

  “A man. All of a man. The feeling that she is the most important thing in the world to him … that no matter what he is doing … she is always in the back of his mind.”

  Miriam shivered and tried to peer into his eyes. “Your wife must have been a very happy woman.”

  Clint, a widower, considered her statement, knowing it was also a question. Then he simply said, “Yes.” Letting it go at that, he gathered her closer and increased the tempo of his attentions. Miriam eagerly responded and Clint knew that his words affected her. He continued softly talking to her, but only of her, of how she made him feel, of how desirable she was, not only physically, but as a total woman, as a person who was important to him.

  Continuing his foreplay, Clint brought Miriam to a shuddering climax before he entered her.

  The phone’s insistence finally nagged Master Sergeant Clint Greybull’s eyes open. Annoyed, when he wakened enough to recognize where he was, Hell, not even my phone. Inhaling her perfume, he nudged the blonde laying beside him. “Hey, Miriam. Hey! Hey! Hey!”

  “Hunmph?” She was deader than he was.

  “Yer dad-blamed phone is ringing!”

  “Hunh? Oh. What time is it?”

  “About five. For cripes sake, answer it so I can go back to sleep!”

  Miriam gasped, “Clint! What if it’s Bernie?”

  Clint snorted, “Be sure an tell ‘im I’m here.”

  Miriam snatched the phone, and then tentatively said, “Hello?” Pain crossed her face. “What?” She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. “Oh damn! It’s for you!”

  It was his turn to look pained. “Who the heck is it?”

  “I don’t know. Some Sergeant Detrick.”

  Clint swore and took the instrument from her. “Yeah?…you gotta be kidding!…yer not? Damn, I’ll grab my stuff and be right out!” He threw the covers off of him.

  “What is it?”

  “Gotta go.” He rapidly dressed. “Serious trouble in some remote location…I’ve been designated to go TDY…to an unknown place…for an unknown period of time. I knew it was coming. Plane on the way in to pick me up. Got to be out to the airfield in an hour.”

  “Clint…how did that sergeant know you were here?” Anxiously, she reached for him. “I mean, you told me nobody knew about us… and if Bernie ever finds out…oh God! He’ll kill me…and you!”

  “Don’t sweat it, sweets. I’m on stand-by. Detrick doesn’t know anything. I just gave him a phone number. As for Bernie, it’s a long way from Korea to Montana, and… yer cuttin’ out before he gets back. He’ll never know the difference.” He kissed her and headed for the door.

  Miriam jumped out of the bed. “Wait! Don’t go out there until I check!”

  “Ahhhgh. No one around this early.”

  “Oh yeah. You are. And you may not be the only one. Oh I’d just die if someone saw you leaving now!” After peering through the peephole she inched the door open and cautiously checked the hallway. “Okay, you can go now, but don’t use the elevator on this floor.”

  In her haste, while he still affectionately patted her rear, she closed the door on Clint’s arm. At this instant the door diagonally across the hall opened, and a man backed out. In 1951, Air Force Officers still wore Army ‘pinks.’ His eyes met Clint’s. Frozen, the two men awkwardly stared at one another. Clint heard a horrified gasp behind him as his arm was forcefully ejected. The door snapped shut.

  Recovering his aplomb, Clint realized the officer was more embarrassed than he was. “G’morning, Major,” he said, and coolly headed for the elevator.

  The Officer hesitated, glared at Clint, and sourly replied. “Morning.” Instead of following Clint, he took off for the stairwell like
his fuse was lit.

  On the way to the parking lot Clint thought, Miriam won’t have to worry about him…cripes, that hi-rise must be a regular switching shed.

  At his own place, Clint had selected his apartment mates from among friends in other units. He could move out with no problems about the lease. His buddies would just find someone else to move in and take his place.

  Technical Sergeant Robert Maynard said, “Hey, speaking of broads, what ya gonna do with that blonde I saw ya’ out at the Club with?”

  “That’s a good question. I been thinking about it. One things sure, I’m not donating her to you!”

  “Aw, I’d take good care of her for ya’ till ya’ got back.”

  “Sure ya would. It’s not that I don’t trust ya old buddy, I just don’t trust her.

  “Besides,” Clint said, “If that paratroop husband of hers don’t get himself killed, he’s gonna be back here one of these days…and you don’t wanta be around then.”

  “Jees! I didn’t know she was hitched. That’s bad news, Clint.”

  “Thought that’d cool ya down. On top of that, her ol’ man’s a nut. Keeps volunteering to stay in Korea…jumping out of airplanes. Guess he figures to make Major that way.”

  “An officer’s wife! Clint you must be outa yer gourd ta play around like that!”

  “Hell, I didn’t know until after I was in her pants. I don’t go around lookin’ for married officer’s wives.”

  Maynard whistled. “Maybe it’s a good thing yer leaving.”

  “Yeah, I been thinking about that. Guess I better call her.”

  Maynard’s words crystallized Clint’s thoughts. A clean break would be better for everyone. He wondered how she would take his leaving. He dialed her apartment.

  There was a long silence after he explained the situation to her. When she answered, her voice was low and weak. “Just like that? You can’t even see me before you leave? I can’t believe it! Clint, you won’t be gone forever, and I thought we…well you know I’m getting a divorce and…”

  “I know, baby, but I just don’t know when, and if…could be in the war zone, y’know.”

  “Ohhh Clint, this can’t be happening. Oh my God! Clint! Will you be anywhere near Seoul?”

  “Don’t know the place where I’m going,” he lied. “What’s to get excited about?”

  “Bernie! Bernie’s unit is just outside of there!”

  “So what. Even if I get to Seoul, I’m not gonna socialize with any Army Captains…and he don’t know about us anyway.”

  1“He does know, Clint. He does know!”

  “What? Jesus Christ!” The skin on the back of Clint’s neck rippled in goose-pimples. “How the hell did he find out?” The phone was exasperatingly silent. “Miriam, you didn’t…yer not crazy enough to…”

  “I had to, Clint. It’s the only way he’d give me a divorce. I had to do it for us, Clint.”

  “For us?” She is crazy enough.

  “Yes, Clint, don’t you see? He’s so jealous he’d never let me go otherwise. But if he knows I’ve already… slept with another man… Oh God! He really would kill me if he was here!”

  “What makes you think he won’t when he gets here?”

  “Time and distance, I hope”

  “Didja hafta?”

  “Don’t you want me, Clint?”

  “Sure, baby, but.” He nervously eyed his watch. The sweep-second hand seemed to speed up. “What’s the rush?”

  She was silent. She sighed. “I couldn’t go on with you …without doing something…wrote a letter. I had to tell him. I had to get it off my mind.”

  “So you had to confess.” Lord deliver me from women who’ve got to make their husbands share their guilt. He felt very weary. “How’d he react?”

  “I…I don’t know yet, but I can imagine.”

  So can I, he thought. And it was his turn to feel dirty. Hell of a thing to do to a man in combat. If he was nutty before, what would this do to him?

  “Look, baby. I’ve got to go. If I can’t call ya’ from Grand Eclipse Air Force Base, I’ll write as soon as possible.”

  “Clint, I really do love you. Please remember that.”

  “Yeah, me too. Play it cool sweets, an’ I’ll be seeing ya.” He hung up with a sense of relief. But, damn. She’s thinking marriage. We’ve had some really good times together, but long term? I never said anything about that. Maybe I just gave her that impression…an’ she jumped to a conclusion. Aww Jeez.

  Instead of the C-47 Clint expected, the pilot flew a high-wing single-engine L-20 ‘Beaver,’ with seats for five. Clint was the only passenger. The pilot, a 20 year old Second Lieutenant didn’t look old enough to be out of high school. He assured Clint that he already had over twenty hours in the L-20. “I wanted to be a fighter pilot,” he said. “Luck of the draw, I get a hedge-hopper. But it’s fun to fly.”

  “OOMph.” It may be fun to fly, but it damn sure aint fun to ride. “Hey, Lieutenant, don’t believe my stomach is qualified for highway hedgehopping.”

  “Yeah? You barf in here, you clean it up.” One look at Clint’s green face and the pilot reluctantly pulled up to three thousand feet.

  Two hours out, 2/Lt. Byers said, “Hey, you want to fly it, Sarge?”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, nothing to it. Just keep it straight and level. Watch this altimeter and don’t drop the nose. Just keep her going. You won’t have to make any turns. Just keep the nose up.”

  Clint figured, what the hell. I can do that. He put his hands on the wheel and his feet on the rudder pedals. Byers released his grip. “I’ve got it trimmed for straight and level. You won’t have any problem.”

  “Yeah? Straight and level?” Clint swallowed. He still felt queasy. “How can I keep it from bucking up and down like this?”

  “Aw, just turbulence. Don’t sweat it. Nothing you can do about it.”

  “Yes Sir, If you say so…Can you put me in for flying pay?”

  “Sheesz. Only five minutes and wants to get paid for it. Shoot. Since you’re non-rated I can’t even log instructor pilot.”

  “I’ve heard there are some enlisted pilots.”

  “Yeah, there’s some in the Air Force…a lot of them in the Marines. A flight of four Marine Corsairs landed at Grand Eclipse. All four pilots were Technical Sergeants…Made me see green. Man would I ever like to fly one of those F4Us.”

  “Can’t you transfer to the Marine Corps?”

  “And straight to Korea? I’ll wait until they send me.”

  “Well, Sir. That might come up sooner than you think. The reason Air Div is sending a Master Sergeant to command this bomb scoring site is because of a lack of available officers. Maybe you ought to volunteer to take my new job away from me.”

  Byers turned a troubled face to Clint. “Ohhh, I don’t know. That doesn’t sound like a flying job to me.”

  “True. Not only no airplanes. Not much of anything. That’s why I’m on this trip…to find out what is there…and what I need.” And why me? Why the hell couldn’t even a brown bar Lieutenant do it? Instead of me?

  “You’ll know pretty soon. We’re almost there. I’ll take over.”

  Byers descended to twelve hundred feet and circled over the teeming metropolis of West Layover. “Looks like you’ll have a hard time getting lost in this burg, Sarge.”

  “You know it too, Lieutenant. Not many sidewalks to roll up.”

  Turning north, they soon crossed over the runway. “Longer than I expected,” Byers said.

  “Well they trained WW II bombers here. Forty-two hundred feet from my info.” Greybull took inventory of the rest of the facility: A few Quonset buildings; no hangers, no barracks, no control tower, a couple of shacks that hadn’t fallen down. Off to the side of the r
unway he spotted a large paved circle. He pointed it out to Byers. “Take-off ramp for target drones.”

  “And you have to build your own base here, Sarge? Wow. Talk about starting from scratch.”

  Yeah…and I don’t even have an itch for it.

  “Well, I don’t need all of this runway.” Byers landed on the taxi ramp a short way from the nearest building. “How’s that for saving gas?”

  “That’s a good question, Sir. I don’t see any gas pumps.”

  Watching a pick-up truck approaching from the direction of town, Byers said, “Looks like you got a welcoming committee, Sarge. Arrival of a plane is probably a big deal around here.”

  A man with a Sheriff’s badge on his belt jumped out of the dusty truck. “Howdy strangers.” He offered a hand to Byers and Greybull in turn. “I’m Hector Radecker. What can I do for you fellows?”

  Byers said, “Glad to meet you, but I’m leaving right away. Sergeant Greybull is staying here. Probably could use a ride and some information.” He climbed back into the L-20. “See ya next time Sarge.” He took off from the taxiway.

  “Well, I’ve got ya a ride any way, Sergeant. Hop in. You can tell me what you need on the way in to town. You got folks around here?”

  “No. My duty is going to be here. I’m supposed to set up a bomb scoring site on the old gunnery range out here.”

  “Golly, not much out there other than sand and sagebrush.” He turned to look at Clint. “You got quite a job…for a Sergeant. (Is he hostile?) How many people you gonna have out there?”

  “Don’t know for sure. I’m just on a scouting trip…trying to get an idea of what’s needed. Probably have to depend on some things from the town.”

  Pulling into what appeared to be the main street of West Layover, Radecker said, “You might be pretty good news for some of the folks here. Town about dried up after the end of the war.”

  Looking up the street at mostly decrepit buildings, Clint guessed the sheriff was being generous. He should have added, ‘about to blow away.’

  “I’ll give you a little tour of all our fine facilities. Most of them right here on main, except Olivia’s Boar-Pen. It’s over by the Possum River.”

  “Boar-Pen?”