Chapter 18. Fairground

1916 The Somme. France

The cold squalling rain had finally stopped.

With the 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 soldier's 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 I think others

might need your help more than me."

Flares lit the gloom overhead.

"I'm just waiting here for a friend. I want to surprise her."

Ithaniel patted Achilles as an artillery barrage shook the

ground. "So in the mean time, I'm enjoying the show."

Achilles licked his face and moved on.

Ithaniel watched the red cross dog criss-cross the shell

cratered ground looking for wounded Allied soldiers.

In broken english, a dying German soldier caught

in rolls of barbed wire beside him asked for help.

Ithaniel turned and looked at the soldier.

"That dog has been trained to know the different uniforms

worn on the battlefield. It's hard to believe, but he knows

one side from the other."

Ithaniel scraped some mud off his helmet.

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

intention of helping you. A bit like me really - although

to be fair, I couldn't care less which side your are on."

The soldier 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.

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.

Ithaniel burst into flame and walked towards where

he thought Achilles might have fallen.

*

Author's Note

I will post the remaining chapters of this story in the next

few days and weeks. I am doing a bit of re-editing.

Thank you for reading what I have written so far.

Any suggestions or feedback you would care to give

would be appreciated.