Page 26 of Trapped

Chapter Six

Cash wanted to shift in his seat, but he managed to stay still as a rock.

“I did dream about Afghanistan last night,” he said, his tone measured as he watched the doctor’s expression turn eager.

Leading the man on a little more, he said. “There were brown hills. I could hear gunfire in the distance.”

He stopped, pretending to remember.

Now it was the doctor who shifted in his seat.

Cash let the silence stretch, waiting him out. Finally, Montgomery spoke,

“And then what?”

“Then Lieutenant Calley came striding into the village.”

The doctor blinked. “Who?”

“You know—that guy who was court-martialed for murdering civilians in Vietnam.”

“Oh. Right.”

Cash floated a hypothesis. “So, the dream couldn’t be about anything that really happened?”

The doctor shook his head. “It could—if you’re using him as a metaphor for reality.”

Cash stroked his chin, struggling to keep his face sober when he wanted to grin as he plotted his next move. “I don’t remember what Calley looked like in real life. In the dream, he was in his mid-twenties—maybe. Clean shaven. He had blue eyes. And his teeth were very white and even. He had on a non-standard uniform. Maybe what they wore back in the Sixties. But I can’t be sure.”

“What he looked like isn’t all that important,” Montgomery snapped.

“You’re sure? Okay.”

“Go on.”

Still making it up, Cash continued. “Well, what happened in the dream was that Calley had a big bag slung over his shoulder.”

The doctor sat forward. “And?”

So, Montgomery was interested in the bag. Why?

“And he started pulling out stuff. At first it was toys and candy and things for the kids. Fun stuff. But then he got serious. He had food rations—powdered milk. And big bags of rice. Meat in neat plastic-wrapped packages like it came from the local grocery store back home.”

He stopped short when he saw Montgomery eyeing him with mistrust.

“You’re saying he came to help the people?”

“Yeah. And make their lives more comfortable.”

“Okay. What else?”

He’d been enjoying himself, and he could have manufactured some more of the tall tale, but he wanted to make another point.

“That’s it. I had the feeling something else was going to happen, but before it could, someone woke me up.”

“Who?”

“A guard came down the hall, opened my door and shined his light inside. I couldn’t see his name tag, so I don’t know who it was. Do they do that on a regular basis? It disrupts a guy’s sleep.”

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