The Land Beneath Us (Sunrise at Normandy #3) - Sarah Sundin Page 0,95

death.

But Leah. His tingling lips bent upward. His muse. This pain, this delay in his home-going was worth it for the joy she’d brought him.

Clay bumped, and pain reverberated in his chest.

“Careful!” Gene barked.

Clay opened his eyes to a partly cloudy sky.

“First you say, ‘Faster,’ and now you say, ‘Careful.’ Can’t have it both ways, pal.” A voice Clay didn’t recognize.

A plywood wall to his right. A rising and falling sensation. Was he in a landing craft?

Seated to his left, Gene shielded his eyes. “I want him to get to the battleship, but I want him to get there alive.”

“Battleship?”

Gene grinned at him. “There you are.”

Clay nodded, but the movement pulled on his chest wall and made him wince. His body felt like lead. He couldn’t even move his arms. Oh, he was strapped in a basket litter under a brown blanket. “Doc Block wouldn’t give up, would he?”

Gene’s face clouded. “It—it’s been touch and go with you all day.”

“All day?” Clay only remembered a haze of pain.

“Yeah. We’ve been calling for reinforcements and evacuation all day, but these two LCVPs were the first boats to make it to the point. It’s 1500.”

“The Rangers?” His chest felt tight, his breathing compressed and rapid.

“We’re holding on. We took the observation post at the tip of the point, and the LCVPs brought in sixty Rangers from Omaha. That’ll help a lot.” Gene grimaced at his leg. “I wanted to stay, but Doc put me on this boat. Guess I’m not much good for fighting with this leg.”

“You did all right by me. More than all right.” Each word cost.

Gene waved him off. “You were the hero. Rudder says you’ll get a medal for it.”

He wanted to shrug, but it wasn’t worth the pain.

The landing craft engine noises changed, and the boat turned. Sailors in dungarees and life vests and helmets moved about and called out orders—something about heaving to.

“This man first.” A sailor grabbed the end of Clay’s litter. “Doc says he needs surgery.”

Metallic clanks around him, and ropes swished into and out of his line of vision.

Gene leaned over. “See you on board, buddy.”

Clay smiled although he wouldn’t see Gene again. His symptoms indicated he was in shock and had a lot of blood in his lungs.

A jerk on the litter, and Clay winced. Sailors shouted and turned the litter in the air.

Then he rose, swinging gently, climbing the steep gray cliff of the battleship’s hull. Too bad the Rangers didn’t have a winch to hoist them to the top of Pointe du Hoc.

The whir of the winch stopped, the litter shuddered to a stop, and hands grabbed the litter and swung it over the side of the ship and onto the deck.

Half a dozen faces stared down at him, each capped with helmets.

“G’morning,” Clay said.

A sailor laughed. “Good afternoon to you. Let’s get you to sick bay.”

More metallic clanks as they unhooked the litter from the ropes.

“Say, what ship is this?”

“The fightingest ship in the West—the USS Texas.”

“My home state. Only fitting.” Coming home to die.

43

CHICAGO

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 1944

Mama Paxton opened Juanita’s front door and helped Leah carry the baby carriage up the steps. “Come in. I have a surprise for you.”

It was far too early for news about Clay, and Leah had released her hope to be united with her sisters, leaving her both depleted and strangely replenished. “A surprise?”

Mama scooped up Helen and motioned Leah into the living room. “You have visitors.”

A couple sat on the couch and stood when Leah entered.

“Mrs. Demetrios!”

“Hello, Thalia. It’s good to see you again.” Mrs. Demetrios clasped Leah’s hand. “This is my husband, Dr. Lukas Demetrios.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, Dr. Demetrios.” Leah shook his hand. “You—you knew my father.”

He tipped up a sad smile topped by a neat gray mustache. “A good friend and a fine scholar.”

“Leah, would you like some tea?” Mama asked. “Dr. and Mrs. Demetrios, would you like some more?”

Leah managed a “no, thank you,” sat in the armchair, and set her purse on the floor beside her. “I’m glad you came, Mrs. Demetrios. I rushed off yesterday, but there was so much I should have asked.”

“I’m glad you gave me your address.” Mrs. Demetrios cradled her teacup in her hand. “Did you find your sisters?”

“I did. They’re beautiful.”

A gasp, and Mama peeked back into the living room.

Leah gave her mother-in-law an apologetic look. “I stood outside their house and watched them walk to school. They are beautiful. They’re happy and bright and charming, and they’re close to