Chapter 17. Fairground

The Somme, France.

The cold squalling rain had finally stopped - but with heavy

cloud cover, dawn appeared to be hours late breaking over

the battlefield. A red cross dog walked over a tangle of

bodies and sniffed at a soldier lying still and caked

in mud. It pawed at his shoulder and licked his face.

When it picked up the soldiers' helmet to return to the lines

for help, Ithaniel rolled over, wiped mud from his face

and smiled. "Hello there."

The saddle bags the dog carried contained medical supplies

and water, and had a name written on it.

"Achilles, is that your name?"

Achilles wagged his tail and dropped the helmet.

"You are very good at what you do, but there are others

who need your help more than me."

Ithaniel patted the red cross dog.

"I'm just waiting for a friend you see, and I'm sure she'll

be along any day now." There was a burst of flares and the

sound of an artillery barrage close by.

"In the meantime, I'm taking in the sights and enjoying

the show."

The dog licked his face one more time and moved on.

Ithaniel watched as Achilles criss -crossed the shell cratered

ground looking for fallen Allied soldiers to assist.

A badly injured German soldier who was snarled in rolls of

barbed wire nearby gasped and moaned.

Ithaniel turned and looked at him. A shrapnel shell had

caught the soldier and his patrol in the open.

"The interesting thing is," Ithaniel said,

"that dog has been trained to know the difference in uniforms

worn on the battlefield. He knows one side from the other."

Ithaniel adjusted his helmet strap.

"He would of sensed you were alive, but he had no intention

of helping you. A bit like me really - although to be fair,

I don't care which side your on."

The soldier opened his eyes and spat blood at him.

Ithaniel laughed.

"That's the spirit. Maybe the rats will save you."

There was a gunshot and the unmistakable sound of

a dog whelping. Then a second and a third shot.

Ithaniel scowled. He stood up and his body began to glow

like molten metal.

A bullet hit him in the jaw and made his head twist to the side.

He smiled and burst into flames.

*