Page 30 of Prisoner of War
“Stop what?” Calli whispered back
Carmen held up her hand. “Let me listen.”
“As long as you translate for us later,” Calli shot back. “No one else here will do it.”
Carmen looked around the tent. Everyone else crowded around the womanwas male. She looked Calli in the eye and nodded. “I will.”
Calli drew Minnie outside.
“You trust her to tell you?” Minnie asked.
“Believe it or not, yes.” Calli looked at her watch. “Eleven a.m. on a Sunday. Mama Roseta is at church.” She grinned. “The kitchen will be empty. You know what I’ve had a huge craving for the last few days?”
“God knows. What?”
“Chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate.As homemade as apple pie.”
“It’s ninety degrees!” Minnie exclaimed.
“So what?” Calli punched her arm. “C’mon. I know where there’s some chocolate stashed.”
* * * * *
Just over ninety minutes later, Carmen’s arrival in the kitchen was again punctuated by the slamming of the screen door at the back entrance. This time, though, she stood in the doorway sniffing.
“Ohmigod...chocolate chip cookies!Tell me you made chocolate chip cookies.”
“We made chocolate chip cookies.” Calli held up the plate of cookies she had placed on the table between them.
Carmen rushed over, the cat-walk stride noticeably missing. “Oh please, please...?” She held her hand out. “Just one? My roommate in college used to buy them from a homemade cookie store every Saturday morning, fresh out of the oven. I’d nevertasted them until then. You can’t get them in Vistaria—not like you get in the States.”
Calli offered her the plate and Carmen took one and bit into it with an expression that was possibly the most truthful one Minnie had ever seen on her face. She looked rapturous.
“There’s hot chocolate too,” Minnie offered. Her offer was reluctant. It surprised her that Carmen had reported back as promised.Her arrival at least deserved an acknowledgment. The hot chocolate was the best she could do.
Carmen peered at it. “Does it have ginger in it?”
“Ugh. No.”
“Pity. Thanks, but no.” She nibbled the cookie.
Calli pressed her hands together. “What happened with the woman?” she asked.
Carmen shook her head. “Men,” she said, around a mouthful of cookie. Minnie realized that even with her mouth stuffedfull of food, Carmen looked glamorous. It just wasn’t fair.
The tall girl sat on the table. “They should have had other women there to comfort the woman. My God...”
“I’ll mention it to Nick, but there are three full-time registered nurses working there. They’re just not there at the moment.”
Carmen frowned, then her brow cleared. “Right, it’s Sunday, isn’t it?”
“And her story...?” Calli coaxed.
Carmen took another bite, nodding her head. “I have to ask you something,” she said to Calli. “You’re sleeping with Nick, so I figure you’ll know the answer.”
Calli blinked. “Well, if you put it that way...”
Carmen waved her hand impatiently. “Lady, you were plastered across the front page of the Vistarian national newspaper, buck-naked and in his arms. I saw the pictures. So, don’t start playingcoy, please.”
