A Small Ray of Hope

Since Mike's return to camp, Jack hadn't had much to do with him. The tension in the air was palpable whenever they came near each other, so, by mutual and tacit consent, they tended to work as far away from each other as possible. At the moment they were both busily engaged in preparing for their group's return to the USA. The route had been discussed, and although Jack did his best to convince his superiors that a short layover in Paris would be beneficial to the entire group, they received a directive informing them that a truck convoy would be heading west sometime in early October, and that it would be cheaper and more practical for their small group to hook up to the convoy and drive nonstop to Le Havre. Immediately after reading this formal death sentence, Jack telephoned Marianne and explained the situation to her. As he had expected, she was devastated. He made a tremendous effort to keep his voice steady and to be as upbeat as possible, while, at the same time, feeling his body shatter into a million small pieces that only Marianne would be able to put back together. After that call, he left his office and walked back to the Cordonnier's. Though Jérôme greeted him warmly and obviously wanted to chat with him in English, he ignored the child and climbed two steps at a time to his room, locked the door behind him, threw himself on the bed and, forgetting he was a man, wept like a child. Mme Cordonnier knew something was wrong. He could see it in her eyes. Jack did everything he could to conceal his true feelings. He washed his face, put on a new outfit, brushed his teeth, wet his hair down to unwrinkle it from lying on the bed, and even practiced smiling in the mirror. He was nevertheless convinced she knew. At dinner she observed him closely and asked him all sorts of probing questions. He had informed the family weeks ago that he would be moving out in October, and he had even accumulated an assortment of gifts for father, mother and son. They had treated him like a member of the family, and he would be forever grateful to them for that. On the following days Mme Cordonnier continued to sound him out while M. Cordonnier shied away from all open discussion of feelings. Jérôme, not knowing what to think of his American soldier friend, Jack, sat puzzled while Jack, feigning feverish preparation activities, totally ignored him. His European sojourn was quickly coming to an end and, as it did, his emotional life was unravelling. He was torn between the strong desire to go home, to see his family again, to find himself once more in familiar surroundings and the equally strong wish to be near the woman he loved, the source of all his happiness, the pivot around which his life seemed destined to revolve. He became moody. He was often depressed and sulked around the office ready to growl at whomever approached him the wrong way. Most of his colleagues guessed at the origins of his transformation and went out of their way to console him, but only in such a way that he wouldn't catch on. After all, men know how men feel about such things. The night before their departure date of October 5, the Cordonniers prepared a special dinner for Jack and his friends. At the conclusion of the meal, champagne was passed around, and M. Cordonnier offered a warm and sincere toast to their future success and happiness. The whole group of them was on the verge of tears as the military men departed. Jack lingered downstairs a bit longer, reminiscing over his two-month stay with this warm-hearted family. Then, he, too, said his formal farewells and walked sadly upstairs to his room