Amazing. Patton went through the mountains to Palermo like a hot knife through butter after your visit with that Mafia fellow. I'm not saying it was all due to your efforts- Georgie and his boys are doing a fine job-but not having to stop and clear out every mountain crossroads has saved us time and lives.'
'That's what I told Don Calo.' As I said it, I wondered about Signora Patane and whether the tubercolosi had taken her yet. Was Signor Patane pressing the dried herbs in the kitchen to his nose right now, remembering the smell of them on her hands as she tied them?
'Did it make a difference to him? Saving Allied lives?'
I knew Uncle Ike didn't mean to leave out Sicilian lives. American and British were the ones he was responsible for, the lives he thought about every day. To add to them the burden of civilian lives in an enemy country was more than I could bear to think about.
'Yes. Yes, it did.'
'William, are you sure you feel all right?'
'Yes, sir. I'm OK. A good night's sleep and I'll be ready to go.'
'I'm sure the past week has put a lot of stress on you. Major Harding has you set for a medical exam tomorrow. Let the doctors check you out and tell me what they say. If you need a rest, you can stay here a while. Take Miss Seaton to the beach, go for a swim. How does that sound?'
'Great, Uncle Ike. Thanks.'
He rose and placed a hand on my shoulder and stared out the window. It was something he did often, whether it was at Grosvenor Square in London, the St. George Hotel in Algiers, or here in Amilcar. It was as if he were watching for a sign or a judgment. I couldn't tell which, or if he hoped for or feared it.
'We've come a long way, William, since London.'
'Yes, sir.' I didn't think he meant the two of us.
'We've occupied enemy soil and toppled Mussolini. The King of Italy has appointed Badoglio prime minister. Italians are surrendering everywhere. There's a good chance they'll come into the war on our side. All because of our success in Sicily. And you played a vital role in that, William.'
'Yes, sir.'
'You've already done more than most of my generals. I wish I could promise you more than a few days' rest. You've proved your worth to me, William. But it's still a long way to Berlin, and I'm going to need you to help us get there.'
'Every day, a little closer to Berlin, General,' I said, remembering what I had told Remke, and trying not to think about what the future held for me. It came out choked, like a line you rehearsed a hundred times but blew when you tried to say it.
'That's the spirit, William. The harder we work at this, the sooner more of us will be home again.'
'Yes, sir.' I noticed he didn't say all of us. I thought about the Me110 bullet grazing my arm. How much longer would my Irish luck hold out?
'Now, you be sure to write your mother,' he said, looking me in the eye with an uncle's admonition. 'I sent a note telling her you were fine and how proud I was of you. The invasion news may alarm her, so be sure to write soon. That's an order, William.'
'Yes, sir, I will,' I said as I rose from the chair and looked Uncle Ike in the eye. He nodded, and walked me to the door.
'Come for dinner tonight with Miss Seaton. We 're putting on the feed bag for General Alexander and some of his group. Have some good food, enjoy yourself.' He put his arm around my shoulder and smiled. I thanked him and walked down the hall, remembering how Kaz had looked when I put my arm around his shoulder to buck him up. I was glad there wasn't a mirror handy.
I saw Diana on the balcony, turned away from everyone, touching up her lipstick, her eyes focused on the mirror in a gold compact. She clicked it shut, slid it into her uniform pocket. She glanced around the group gathered on the veranda, but didn't notice me coming up the stairs. She looked incredible. Her light brown tropical-weight FANY uniform fitted her perfectly, which meant she'd regained some weight since I'd last seen her. Her face was tanned, giving her a healthy, robust look. The honey-colored hair tucked under her FANY cap had been tinted blond by the North African sun, which lit the people on the veranda now with a glowing, horizontal light, making them look like characters in a painting. She waved to someone and smiled, and at that point I couldn't wait a second longer. I went to her and she turned, her face lighting up with a smile.
'Billy,' her lips said, without making a sound. We embraced, forgetting for a moment that the highest-ranking Allied generals in the Mediterranean were watching us. We forced ourselves apart, and she sheepishly looked at her shoes. We clung to each other's arms like dancers.
'You look great,' I said, feeling like a shy schoolchild.
'You look like bloody hell,' she said. 'What's this?' She felt the bandage on my arm under the shirtsleeve.
'A few stitches, that's all.' I touched my forehead, where a bruise had spread from my hairline. 'And a bump, nothing much.'
Diana ran her hands over my chest and arms. She bit her lip, tears leaking from her eyes.
'You're a terrible liar. Come with me,' she said, linking her arm in mine. We walked down steps inlaid with colorful tiles to the beach. White sand and palm trees stretched along the curving shore, a cool evening breeze blowing at our backs. It felt clean and fresh after Sicily.
'I want to hear about it,' she said.
'I don't know where to start.'
'General Eisenhower told me what you managed to do. He's quite proud of you. But what I want to know is, what happened to you? You were injured and lost your memory, that's all I know.'
Her grip tightened on my arm as she spoke. We stopped.
'I knew who you were. I remembered you. Not your name at first, but you came to me in my dreams. When I couldn't remember anything, you were there. I thought of you as the woman of my dreams. Then one night, I dreamed I couldn't find you.'
We leaned into each other, foreheads touching, hands clenched together. I felt tears on my cheeks, and I was embarrassed.
'I had the same dream,' she said. 'I waited for you somewhere, and you didn't come back, from somewhere. You know how it is in dreams. I tried to find you, but I kept getting lost.'
I put my arm around her waist, and we walked through the soft sand.
'When I was trying to figure out who I was, I ran into a Sicilian doctor. He told me about amnesia and said I was the most fortunate of men because I was about to discover who I was. He told me some philosopher once said the unexamined life is not worth living, and that I was being given the opportunity to examine mine.'
'How did he know you'd get your memory back?'
'He had studied amnesia. He called mine psycho something and was sure I'd remember everything in time. The last thing to return, he said, would be the event that had caused it. He's a smart guy. I brought him back here with me.'
'Why?'
'Listen,' I said, 'It's a long story. Right now I want to tell you something else.'
'What, Billy?' She stopped and put one hand on my arm, the other to her breast, as if holding me back and protecting her heart.
'He was right. I did learn who I was. Some of it was a shock, mostly about how I treated you.'
'What do you mean?'
'After Villard,' I said.
Then I started over. 'After Villard raped you, all I wanted was revenge. But it was for what he'd done to me, not to you. I thought going after him would help, but it didn't.'
'I wanted him dead too,' Diana said, her lips clenched.
'I know. And he deserved it. But I should have let you know that what he did, whether he was dead or alive, it made no difference. It wasn't about us.'
We walked again, and she was silent for a while.
'Does it?'
'What?'
