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“That said, I am a man of reason I follow the facts Woe almost but not quite as effective as the her rate And we’ve got the new proble in the family way, or at least cl

ai they have so they can catch the bus hoists On the other hand,” he says, pursing his lips and frowning, “the fehts, catch a lot less clap, and never desert, at least not for long”

Rio adopts a deliberately blank expression, concealing her guilt at the hts

“As for you, young lady, Corporal Richlin, I have the great honor to infornized for valor”

Rio doesn’t knohat he means by this, but she feels certain it demands a “Thank you, sir”

“Don’t thank me” He pushes his plate away, hauls a leather briefcase up onto his table, fiddles with the buckles, and then searches through papers within And finally says, “And here it is” He lays the paper down and taps it with his forefinger “Don’t thank eants who have all attested to your actions in Africa, in Sicily, and now here in Italy”

Mystified but staying cautious, she says, “Yes, sir”

Then he s, do you? Your kind never does Richlin, by order of the President of the United States, you have been awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action And by God, having read the record on you, I don’t doubt you deserve it” He stands, and so does she He sticks out his hand, and she stares at it for a few seconds before reaching, alhtened, to shake it

“Sir, IThe platoon, the whole outfitStick, I eant Sticklin”

He waves her to silence “Like I said, your kind never does understand why they’re getting aout a few such, and I’ve never yet had one where the soldier didn’t try to throw all the honor onto his brothers” He dipped his head “Sisters too, now”

She nods and means to say Yes, sir, but a lump has formed in her throat, and, to her horror, there are tears in her eyes

“This is the first time for one of your, um, sex You and a couple others They want to make a bit of a show out of it, I’ for you to take transport to England, and there you can have the whole kit and caboodle”

The dreaded tears spill and run down her cheeks, and Valdosta, noticing, says, “Well, so you are still a female, I see I suppose I’m old-fashioned I’m used to female tears, but I freely confess I had not known females had it in them to be so fierce: I’d have been much more cautious around Mrs Valdosta and not slept nearly so soundly back in Missouri”

Rio can’t help but smile at that

“You’ll be eant, of course, probably should have been by now, but better late than—”