Page 2 of Little Girls Sleeping
Her eyes grew heavy and she shut them again. Since joining the army, she had rarely slept more than a few hours at a time, never the luxury of seven or eight continuous hours, and was used to frequent catnaps to gain renewed energy. Most times after she closed her eyes, she relived the many patrols she had experienced over the past two years, the unmistakable sights and sounds ingrained in her memory.
Revving engines.
Gunfire leaving a foul taste in your mouth.
Extreme dust clouding your vision.
Every footstep in brutally hot conditions, and the long, exhausting hours of stress were permanently etched into her DNA. She had already recalled those days and weeks hundreds, if not thousands, of times.
After Katie’s initial seventeen weeks of intensive training, she had become part of a working K9 team. Her primary duty was to find explosives. She usually took the point position and led the others forward to complete their assigned orders, which meant finding bombs and gathering intelligence, as well as searching out explosive devices.
Katie and Cisco, an eighty-five-pound black German shepherd, who was assigned his second tour with her, were the only thing keeping the soldiers from being blown up or ambushed. As such, they were often targeted specifically.
Being part of a military dog team was something Katie had always wanted to do. Even as a young girl she had trained her own dogs, and daydreamed of helping others someday—finding the bad guys, or locating missing people. It was so important to her that she took an open-ended leave of absence from the Sacramento Police Department to travel across the world into unknown enemy territory to fulfill that dream. The sudden death of her parents had left a raw void in her life, so it was more important than ever to step out and do something to serve others.
The airline pilot interrupted her thoughts, announcing in a deep, well-rehearsed voice over the intercom, “We should be out of this weather in another few minutes and begin making our descent into the Sacramento International Airport. Thank you for your patience. Please remain seated until we come to a complete stop. Our destination is a mild sixty-nine degrees, with winds at fifteen miles per hour.”
Katie’s excitement and enthusiasm for going home was mingled with growing anxiety the closer the plane got to the airport. She felt caught between two worlds—civilian and military—something she had never experienced before. Things were different, changed, and no matter how hard she tried to make herself believe it was okay, nothing would ever be the same.
The aircraft changed gears, the engines raced, and there was a grinding underneath the belly of the cabin before they began the steady descent toward the airport runway. Katie stared out the small window, watching the familiar landscape. Buildings, cars, and the outlines of recognizable geographical features came into focus.
She heard a sigh and looked at the passenger on her left. Now that he knew he was almost on the ground, he appeared to have managed to calm his nerves, leaning back and releasing his death grip on the armrests.
For the first time, Katie felt conspicuous wearing her army pants, combat boots, and olive-green T-shirt, even though everything was freshly laundered, with precise creases. It had never bothered her before, but now, as she looked at her masculine boots, she realized it made her an outcast. It represented being different—not in an empowering way, but in a distancing way.
The sudden urge to run to the exit to be the first to escape overwhelmed her. Instead, she smoothed her long dark hair back into a neat ponytail. Everything she had trained for and experienced counted for something, and she was determined to make her skills work in a positive way to move into the next aspect of her life.
The landing gear touched down with a quick, uneventful rumble as the aircraft decelerated along the long runway, the engines slowing its speed until the plane taxied to the appropriate gate. As it came to a complete stop, passengers readied themselves for the usual mass exodus. Katie remained seated, staying in the moment, as others grabbed their carry-on luggage and pushed their way into the aisle, forming a bottleneck in the process.
She was going to wait, happy to be one of the last to exit, but an older man with sparse gray hair stopped and smiled, then backed up a bit to allow her to merge into the line. She returned his smile and quickly grabbed her backpack from the overhead compartment. It was obvious that the man had served in some area of the military; it was common for those who had shared these experiences to extend polite courtesies.
Finally out of the plane, Katie followed the other passengers through the plastic tunnel towards the baggage area. Then, loaded up with her backpack and duffle bag, she made her way to the airport entrance, where crowds of people were rushing about in a myriad of directions.
Standing near the sidewalk, waiting patiently, was a tall, striking man of moderate muscular build, with a grayish speckled crew cut, and a neatly trimmed mustache. His face instantly lit up when he saw Katie exiting through the automatic doors, and he moved toward her, giving her a big bear hug.
“We’ve missed you so much,” he whispered. “We prayed every day that you would be safe. Your parents would have been so proud. You know that, right?”
Katie nodded while emotions welled up inside her.
“We’reallproud of you,” he added.
“It’s great to see you, Uncle Wayne,” Katie said, relief filling her voice. It comforted her to be in her uncle’s arms. “Where’s Aunt Claire?” she asked, looking around.
“She wanted to be here to greet you, but she had an emergency with the women’s auxiliary club. You’ll see her later.”
“So how did you get the department to let you come in person?” she asked curiously.
He picked up her duffle bag and said with some humor, “That’s one of the perks of being the sheriff.”
“Of course, I almost forgot,” she said. She grabbed her backpack and followed her uncle to the short-term parking area. The fresh, crisp air and the familiar distant rolling hills soothed her. She was finally home.
Her uncle stopped suddenly. “Oh, I have a surprise for you.”
Katie was puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“You know… asurprise?” he emphasized.
“Uncle Wayne, I’m not ten anymore. What is it?”
