Official Report

British Intelligence

Code: 3986

Kathleen Winfred

The next morning I dragged myself out of bed and trudged to the office, expecting to see Freidrich already there.

He wasn’t.

He came in two hours later, looking as though he were much better rested than I was.

He glanced at his watch once he had entered the office, and frowned. “I really did take your command to sleep quite seriously…” He looked up at me. “But, as I recall…We had a deal that you’d get some sleep as well.” He crossed his arms and studied me.

“I couldn’t get to sleep,” I muttered, not willing to tell him that he was half the reason for my struggle. “Too much on my mind,” I added.

He nodded, before entering his office, only to come out moments later, something in his hand.

“I did some thinking last night…” He said, coming to stand next to me. He looked at the object he was holding before holding it out to me.

His Iron Cross.

“I think you should do the honors,” he said, as I took the medal in my hand.

I took it, and stood, my hands suddenly feeling shaky at realizing how close together we were now that I had stood. “I’ll…stick you with pin…” I mumbled.

“You’ll do fine,” he said, giving me a small, reassuring smile.

So I nodded, and began to work at attaching the pin to the breast pocket of his uniform jacket.

Fumbling with the medal, I dropped the pin back and watched it fall to the ground. “Sorry,” I muttered under my breath, quickly bending to pick it up. “Bloody thing…” He laughed slightly, almost breathlessly, as if he had been holding his breath as much as I had.

Finally finished, I smoothed my hand over the medal before stepping back. “There,” I said, keeping my hands stiff at my sides.

He held out his hands in a gesture of question. “Well?” he said. “How do I look?”

I was caught off guard by his question.

Stately, I thought. Brave. Commanding. Stoic. Dashing. Strong. The picture of an officer.

Handsome.

 “Good,” I managed to get out.