Page 2 of The Christmas Ring
“Some village.” Finnie opened his backpack and pulled out a canteen. The others did the same. Water could mean the difference between life and death.
Not until the canteens were put away did Bill realize that every one of his guys was injured. The worst was Woodsy to his right. Bill grabbed a roll of bandage from his bag and cut off a long piece. He wrapped it over the gaping bullet hole in Woodsy’s leg. Then he nodded. Woodsy would be fine. He had to be fine.
Bill settled against the base of the bush and closed his eyes. How had this happened? Easy Company had flown in low from the west, a part of the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Georgia boys. American through and through. The army’s bravest. Easy Company’s Screaming Eagles.
Strapped with eighty-pound packs, Bill figured they would drop almost rocklike to the ground. No time tobe shot at. Instead, with the wind and weather, they had bounced around like barely weighted balloons.
The goal had been to land near the target: the Cotentin Peninsula just off Utah Beach. Commandeer it from the Nazis and prepare the way for the land invasion coming at daybreak. Instead, they were trapped in a bush somewhere in the French countryside with a battle raging all around them.
Bill still didn’t know how they’d survived this long.
With morning still forever away, Bill did what the others were doing. He closed his eyes again and tried to find the peace he needed to survive the night. What was that speech the captain had read before they boarded the planes before dusk yesterday? Words from General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bits and pieces darted through Bill’s mind.
“You are about to embark on the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you... Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained... He will fight savagely... The tide has turned! The free men of this world are marching together to Victory!... Let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking...”
Explosions popped off not far from them, and then the sound of more men being wounded, more men lost to the battle. Bill blinked. Lights from the falling bombs were visible through the branches of the bush where they were hiding. Reds and silvers and golds.
Like Christmastime.
Would he be home for Christmas this year? Would he make it out of this bush?Home.Ever since he’d landed inEngland, it had become his favorite word. Bill let it fill his head and heart.Home.He held on to the feeling and images it brought to him.
Christmas hadn’t been the same since Pearl Harbor, but it was still his favorite time of the year. As long as he was home.
Gunfire rang out, closer this time. Bill shifted.I’ll never be home again.Not for Christmas. Not ever.
His backpack slid out from beneath him and he started to go with it. Without making a sound, Bill dug his fingers into the soft dirt and tried to straighten his bag. Tried to get it to cooperate. And that’s when it happened.
The tips of his fingers on his right hand brushed against something buried in the ground, something cool and solid and metal. Bill turned and made more of an effort. When his gear was again straight against the base of the bush, he found the spot in the dirt. Whatever was there, it had been buried long ago. Another try and he pulled the item free and stared at it. Still encased in mud its shape was hard to make out, but it felt familiar. Like a ring.
He brushed it against his army pants, pushing away the encrusted soil and polishing the metal over and over. Finally in the dim light of the distant bombs he could see it. A deep gold band and a ruby-red stone. The jewel was ringed with a circle of glimmering diamonds.
Bill stared at it. Where had the piece come from and how had it wound up buried here beneath an overgrown shrub? He checked his buddies. They were half asleep, bleeding, and scared. One of them took another sip from his canteen. Bill stared at them. Who would still be alive in the morning?
He leaned against his backpack again and clutched thebauble tight in his hand. Somehow the ring gave him hope. Like God hadn’t forgotten him and the other guys from Easy Company. The red ruby was a sign.
Images filled his head, flashes of his future, maybe. He could see himself being rescued from France and helping the Allied forces win the war. And in time he would meet the sweetest girl and they would fall in love and get married. Then he’d take her home. Home to his parents and his sisters and their first Christmas together.
They would have a family and—
An explosion rocked the earth beneath him. Bill sheltered Woodsy. His leg wasn’t bleeding out anymore, but it wouldn’t be long. Would any of them live to see the morning? To be rescued?
Sleep finally won out. Bill had no idea how much time had passed, only that when he opened his eyes, the sun was shining and distant gunfire filled the air like a hailstorm back in Columbus. A few of the guys were awake, shivering, holding on to each other.
The land invasion had begun.
But where were they hiding, and what had happened to the peninsula? Bill peered through the bushes and there on the bluff was an old church. If they could make it across the field, they might find shelter until US troops came for them.
“Hey!” The voice was American. Hands tore the branches away and a face stared at the six of them. “Let’s get out of here. We need to get you boys to the medic.”
Bill noticed the flag on the man’s uniform. It was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
“Woodsy, wake up.” Bill helped the group grab their gear and crawl out of the bush. “Finnie, come on.”
The soldier led them to a truck and suddenly they were headed away from the war and straight to an Allied fortress where they could be treated and cared for.
They had survived. They were free.
Not till they were climbing out of the truck did Bill realize he was still holding the treasure he’d found in the dirt. He studied it for a long moment. This single object was proof God had been with him all along. He must’ve seen what Bill was going through and known what Bill was feeling. How badly he was missing home.
