ORIGINAL FICTION: "Climbers" (Chapter Twenty-Three)

armies. Some might argue that all armies are offensive, but that is not always truly the case. Some nations' military powers have always made a name for themselves- for better or worse- as either primarily a good offensive army or a good defensive army. The English had distinguished themselves as primarily a defensive army. No doubt about it. Likewise, the Germans were a grand offensive unit. Once this war had ended, things would change. Fast.
Captain Jack knew he would return to South Africa. It was home. Resigning his commission, he would have to find gainful employment. While the opportunity to serve as a guide for big game safaris was the most obvious choice- it wasn't his. The good Captain found that he enjoyed the search far more than the actual bagging of any sort of game, large or small. Once shot, it was yours. You had to lug the bloody mess back to camp, gut it, clean it, cook it and eat it. Maybe life in London had spoiled him a bit. He preferred to just eat out and avoid all that mess and effort. But he did not mind simply observing. Less effort involved. Would there be a market for a guide for people who were content to merely observe the animals of Africa? Or did everyone on the planet want to take a shot at them? Tough questions in the early winter of 1944. Captain Charles Hanson Jack (Captain Jack, soon to be known as Mister Hanson) was trying to get a feel for what he did, and did not, want to do after the war.
Arthur Smith Crutchfield (soon to be registered in a hospital in the country as Arthur Smith) was not nearly so astute in matters concerning the future. Carpe Diem? Perhaps. More like, Carpe Carpe Diem. Seize seizing the day. Really get into it. Don't even think about tomorrow. War on, remember? Arthur hadn't given his future a passing thought. He was now sixteen years old. By the time the war ended the following year, young mister Crutchfield would be a young adult who could passably read and write and do basic mathematics but: He lacked any sort of marketable skills or talents. His education had somewhat slid by the wayside to make way for the war. Perhaps his father had intended to resume Arthur's education after the war. More than likely, he just fell through the cracks. What future he may have had as a result of his father's position with the government was about to evaporate with Arthur's published insistence that there was something out there, in the trees. Carpe Lunatium? Seize the nut? That would come later.
With his own future in mind (and certainly not with Arthur's), Captain Jack gave Arthur the first grain of an idea: Would Arthur be interested in writing a book on the subject of climbers? Arthur was most decidedly the leading expert on the subject, wasn't he? And he had kept notes on all that he had seen, had he not? Then perhaps, with the help of his good friend, Captain Jack, Arthur Crutchfield could write a book on the subject and have it ready to go to print just as soon as this annoying war thing was taken care of. Would that be something Arthur might be interested in? Unfortunately, it was. He did not readily agree at the first mention, of course. Captain Jack spent the better part of the early winter- right up to New Year's- to convince Arthur that not only should it be done, but that he was just the man to do it. With the Captain's help, of course. It would be a secret project for now. Just the two of them. Tell no one. And Arthur didn't.
Perhaps if Arthur Crutchfield had mentioned the project to his parents, the outcome might have been different. A little less involuntary hospitalization, maybe. But his time was his own and his parents were still busy with the war and all that went with it. Arthur was making a bit of real money doing cleaning and maintenance at the U.S.O. It was a good job with great benefits- for a sixteen year old. He got to meet American entertainers he had only heard about before. Great legends past through that hall during the war, and most of them met Arthur Crutchfield. He was also kept hip deep in Hershey bars and Coca-Cola-