Read Online One Man's War by Lindsay McKenna - Free Book Online

him, and he permitted them to hang around him.
    â€œYou’re a bunch of little ragamuffins,” he told them.
    They looked up at him with wide smiles on their faces.
    â€œPoor rug-rats,” he added.
    More smiles.
    With a grimace, Pete dug into the pocket of his flight suit and threw out five packs of gum and some chocolate bars. As the gifts hit the red dirt, the children scampered after the treasure.
    By the time he got to Tess’s hut, Pete was alone. Behind him, he heard the screeches, laughter and shouts of the children vying for the cherished gum and candy. He tried to ignore the good feeling his lousy little present to the kids had created.
    â€œTess? It’s Pete....” He pulled the orange curtain aside. A frown gathered. She wasn’t home, but then neither were any of the gifts he’d given her. The same old worn rice mats were on the floor, and the sides of the hut were just as breezy as before. What had she done with the supplies?
    Turning, Pete spotted Tess coming into the village, her black cotton pants rolled above her knees, her legs and bare feet glistening with water. She’d just come out of a rice paddy, no doubt. Even in that god-awful bamboo hat she insisted on wearing and her baggy Vietnamese clothes, she looked lovely in his eyes. Her red hair was caught up in a ponytail. He watched with studied intensity to see what kind of expression she’d have on her face when she realized he’d come to see her.
    â€œPete!” Tess’s heart leaped wildly, and she automatically raised her hand. He stood uncertainly by the opening of her hut, a frown on his handsome features. With a laugh, she moved into a loping trot, covering the distance more quickly. As she drew near, Tess took off the bamboo hat and ruefully touched her hair, sure to need a brushing.
    â€œHi, there!” she greeted warmly, coming up to where he stood. Under one arm he had a package. “This is a wonderful surprise. When did you get here?”
    Hungrily, Pete drank in Tess’s open, glowing features. Momentarily, he lost his voice. How could she possibly have grown more lovely in these two long, miserable weeks? She had. All the sourness he felt washed away beneath her welcoming smile. He wanted nothing more in life than to taste those deliciously curved lips.
    â€œHi...just a few minutes ago.” He jabbed a thumb toward her hut. “Hey, where’s all that plywood and stuff I brought to you? You were supposed to take them for yourself.”
    With a laugh, Tess ducked into her hut. “I did. Come on in for a moment.”
    Grudgingly, Pete followed her. Tess set her hat down on a rice mat and then knelt before a large, rusty tin bowl. She poured water in it from a chipped ceramic pitcher and sluiced the liquid over her face, neck and arms. She used the towel—if the cotton rag could be called that—to pat her skin dry.
    â€œActually,” Tess said, glancing up at him as she dried her cheek with the towel, “all of it has been used.”
    â€œNot here,” he protested.
    â€œOthers needed it a lot worse than I did, Pete.”
    Unhappily, he sat down cross-legged on one of the rice mats where he could watch her. Each of her movements was economical; there was no wasted motion about Tess. “What about you?”
    â€œI get along fine with what I have here. Don’t look so unhappy, Pete. The comforters were distributed to six mothers with babies. The Snoopy blankets went to several families who had nothing.”
    â€œAnd the plywood?”
    â€œRemember? I told you we’d use them to start building a school?”
    Glumly, Pete nodded. He handed her the sack. “Here, this is for you, not these damned people.”
    She quickly dried her hands and hung the towel up on a nail driven into one of the main beams of the hut. The paper sack was badly wrinkled and she smiled.
    â€œWhat have you scrounged up now?” Tess came and sat down