The Last Heroes (Men at War 1)

‘‘ ‘Reserve officers,’ ’’ he began to quote, ‘‘ ‘serving on active duty, will exercise all the—’ ’’

‘‘Suit yourself,’’ Bitter cut him off. ‘‘It’s about a mile from here to The Lodge, if you insist on going.’’

‘‘I wouldn’t miss Tara for the world,’’ Canidy said.

What he had begun to quote was the navy regulation that stated that reserve officers on active duty had equal rank with regular officers. He had graduated from MIT and been commissioned an ensign two days before Bitter had graduated from the Naval Academy. His automatic promotion to lieutenant, junior grade, after two years of satisfactory commissioned service had consequently come two days before Bitter’s automatic promotion. Lieutenant (j.g.) Canidy outranked Lieutenant (j.g.) Bitter, and it was sometimes necessary to remind him of this, for Bitter had a tendency to give orders.

They had walked about half a mile when a Ford station wagon came down the road toward them. When it reached them, it stopped and a trim, attractive woman got out.

‘‘Well, I’ll be damned,’’ she said. ‘‘Look who just dropped in out of the sky.’’ She advanced on Ed Bitter, grabbed his arms, and gave him her cheek to kiss.

‘‘Aunt Genevieve,’’ he said. ‘‘May I introduce my roommate, Lieutenant Richard Canidy? Dick, this is my aunt, Mrs. Brandon Chambers.’’

‘‘How do you do, Mrs. Chambers?’’ Canidy replied formally.

‘‘Oh, call me Jenny,’’ she said. ‘‘Eddie, and maybe his father, are the only stuffed shirts in the family.’’

‘‘He would make me call him sir,’’ Canidy replied. ‘‘But I outrank him.’’

‘‘Oh, I’d like to be in

a position to order him around,’’ Genevieve Chambers said, laughing. ‘‘Now, what’s this all about? I don’t think it’s a social call, dressed the way you are in those overlarge boys’ rompers.’’

Canidy laughed. He liked this woman.

‘‘I had a little engine trouble,’’ Ed said. ‘‘I’m going to need some tools, and then the telephone.’’

‘‘Hop in,’’ Jenny Chambers said. ‘‘That’s no problem. I’ve got Robert with me. Robert can fix anything with a coat hanger and a pair of pliers.’’

The house was even larger than it looked from the air.

‘‘Is this where they made Gone With the Wind?’’ Canidy asked innocently.

‘‘Of course,’’ she said. ‘‘Clark Gable made us a deal on the house when they were finished with it. It comes apart for shipment.’’

Canidy was aware that he was getting another of Ed Bitter’s looks of shocked disapproval. He smiled at Jenny Chambers.

‘‘Actually, it’s quite old,’’ she said. ‘‘Antebellum. My husband’s father restored it.’’

‘‘It’s gorgeous,’’ Canidy said.

‘‘It’s a shame that no one lives in it,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s just a vacation place. My husband hunts from it, and the wives and children get to use it when there’s no hunting.’’

Robert turned out to be a very large black man in a pin-stripe suit.

‘‘Hello, sir,’’ he said. ‘‘Was that you scaring hell out of the chickens?’’

‘‘How are you, Robert?’’ Ed Bitter replied.

‘‘Robert,’’ Jenny Chambers said, ‘‘this is Lieutenant Canidy. He’s Eddie’s friend, and his commanding officer. He can actually tell him what to do.’’

‘‘Oh, I’d like to be you,’’ Robert said. He shook Canidy’s hand.

‘‘Robert’s been taking care of me, keeping me out of the clutches of evil, since I was a baby,’’ Jenny Chambers said. Robert beamed with affection at her.

‘‘I understand you might be able to come up with a wrench for us,’’ Canidy said. ‘‘I’ll settle for a pair of good pliers.’’

‘‘They’ll probably send a maintenance crew from Mobile, ’’ Bitter said.