Strawberry Red

Chapter 25 Buck

When Christmas rolled around everything was covered in a thick layer of snow. The POWs were freezing more than ever despite their coats and blankets. The holiday was taking a toll on Buck. He and Ruby had already made plans to go to London and see her grandparents. Then after they'd spent New Year's Eve in London watching the fireworks. But now he was slowly freezing and starving to death in Germany.

It had been over a month since he arrived, and he was already slowly losing his mind. The only thing which kept him sane was knowing he wasn't alone. He had his best friend who he could count on. But like Buck Bucky was also slowly being driven insane by the Stalag. Bucky had started playing imaginary baseball out in the snow. He'd shout into the cold air, and he'd act as if he was a star player. Only he didn't have a team nor a ball to actually play.

Victor had moved into Buck's barrack a week ago since his was burnt down by one of his mates. They wanted to roast some sort of animal they found and during the process of cooking it, they accidentally set their barrack on fire. All inhabitants were split up and taking in by other barracks. Much to Bucky's dismay, the others of the 100th had taken in Ruby's brother. They said they owe it to Ruby to take care of him. It was a sweet gesture, but Bucky got into a fight with him at every chance he got. Victor had said a lot of nasty things to his sister and Bucky felt overprotective.

Buck and Bucky walked in the cold to get water. A German officer filled up their jugs, then they moved out of the line. On their way back to the barrack they saw a cat lingering around the barracks.

"Ruby would love that cat," mumbled Buck. He paused for a moment to look at the orange cat. It looked severely underfed. The cat saw that Buck had stopped and slowly walked up to him. Then the cat stroke around his legs.

"Yeah, she would've," agreed Bucky. Buck had handed him his jug and lifted up the cat into his arms.

"Oh, we've been looking for you," said Charles and grinned when he saw the small cat in Buck's arms.

"Don't Buck! Don't give the cat to Charles," pleaded DeMarco. He had quickly caught up to them. "They want to cook it."

"It's protein," shrugged Charles. "We don't know when those red cross parcels show up. Until then we have to keep ourselves fed."

"Not like this!" exclaimed DeMarco. "Come on, Buck. Ruby wouldn't do this even if she was dying of starvation. We're all still alive, there's no need to kill an innocent cat."

"Let's bring it inside to warm up," suggested Buck. DeMarco was right, it was unnecessarily cruel to kill an innocent cat. He'd never be able to look Ruby in the eyes again knowing he killed an innocent being. During their time on base Ruby had often tended to stray animals and made sure they got a good home. Now he wanted to do the same for the orange cat which reminded him of Ruby. Maybe the cat was sent to him for a reason.

"Anyone spare some water?" asked Buck. He had made a bed out of his blanket for the cat and put it down to rest. Bucky handed him a bowl with water. The cat greedily drank water and then curled up to sleep.

"It needs a name, doesn't it?" Bucky was watching his best friend who tenderly took care of the orange cat. "What about Strawberry Red in honour of Ruby? We could nickname it Red."

"I think that's an excellent idea." Buck smiled at his best man.

"You're naming a stray cat after my sister?" questioned Victor angrily and jumped down from his bunk bed. "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"Hey, calm down," demanded Bucky. "We're just honouring Ruby. There's nothing wrong with that. She would've wanted that someone took care of little Red."

"I can't believe this," scoffed Victor and stormed out of the barrack.

"What's his problem?" piped Crank in.