That evening. I watched with anticipation as Schlabach built us a small cook fire. Mom cooked our supper over that fire, and as we ate, my eyes never left the fire. I watched it burn to ashes and wished it would hurry up and die out. I could see that Siegie watched it too. Mom seemed distracted, but I knew she would get over it once the raid started.

Finally, we finished supper. As Mom cleaned the dishes, the Colonel scooped some black ash into his hand. He went to the rear-view mirror on the fire...