Alice's Soldiers

By Robert T. OShea

This story is about a Princess named Alice who was born blind and can only see when her Prince named Robert is nearby. As babies, for their protection they lived in the country called 'Brooklyn,' which seceded from the city of New York, in 1947. Soon it became apparent these tiny children were from a world of Kings, Queens, and Castles. How did they get to Brooklyn? Where did they come from? How did they get to rule the world? These questions are answered in this novel. Prince Robert chased Princess Alice for years and years, Alice chased Robert for one hour.
They are guarded by Second Chance Soldiers. These indivduals were scheduled to die in battle, or by a accident or by natural causes but didn't. Someone or thing gave them a second shot. Who gave them a chance and why?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543959321

Book preview

Forty-Seven

Introduction

This novel is about a Princess named Alice who was born blind and can only see when her Prince a baby named Robert is near. As babies, they lived in the country called Brooklyn, which seceded from the city of New York, in 1947. Soon it became apparent these tiny children were from a world of Kings, Queens, and Castles. This novel tells you why they are in the new Country called ‘Brooklyn?’

Second Chance Soldiers guard them. These men and women were scheduled to die in battle or by natural causes but didn’t. Someone or thing gave them a second chance to live. This novel tells you who and why they got another shot.

I don’t understand how the Earth could spin around at over a thousand miles an hour, and I don’t fall down.

My name is Robert; I love Alice Marie DeVan. Chasing her is my passion, protecting her is my life. Alice has been blind since birth. I never mentioned it, and I never intend to.

Chapter One

Second Chance Soldiers

It is not right for some to perish before their time. For example, a sixteen-year-old soldier who never got a chance to do anything except die. In this novel, the soldier doesn’t die.

The Cobblestones were slipperily forcing the two young girls to hold hands so they wouldn’t fall. They were wearing ‘Nanny Uniforms,’ making their Mother the happiest person in the town, of Manchester, England. The taller one said, Don’t worry I will always be next to you, while the shorter, cute one said, Did you see that O’Brien boy, staring at me?

No, said the taller sister gigging, I saw An ordinary looking fellow standing in donkey poop. Great, mom will not only be able to see your new boyfriend he can now smell him too, said her sister.

It was the year 1916, Maggie was standing by the new Post Office, in Manchester, England watching with delight as her two daughters climbed onto the bus to Liverpool. The girls were scheduled to leave on a Ship to North America during the evening.

Their mother, Maggie was watching her children while trying to hide her grin because the condition of her teeth was humiliating. A few of them were chipped, and none of them were as bright as a smile wanted. The youths, Janet and Emily, declared they would write the minute they got on the Ship. The girls graduated from Norland College, with honors thanks to their mother and an unknown beneficiary. They were immediately hired by a Noble to take care of his two children.

A postal clerk, Maggie’s friend Rose, came out of the Post Office to also watch the girls. Rose was loud, she didn’t mean it, but she was embarrassingly gaudy, screaming at the top of her voice Goodbye Emily goodbye Janet be careful of those handsome American boys.

The girls wore warm new overcoats. The Norland school supplied their uniforms. Their outfits were a mark of achievement because the School was the best in the world in training young girls on how to take care of babies. With its light brown woolen blouses trimmed in dark brown borders and long fitted skirt ending in dark brown boots, the uniform turned everyone heads. Especially the name Norland calligraphy on the uniforms’ breast.

Maggie was thinking about her girls; the tall one was named Emily after her aunt. Laughing to herself, she thought That Emily would end up marrying to a noble because she was so smart and careful in her ways. A strong pretty face with a surprisingly cute smile, that one did not forget. While her sister Janet was the opposite, beautiful, aggressive and a little bit of a tease, like my mother her namesake. Maggie said, God knows who she would end up with?

Although the distance between the two cities was only 100 miles, the highways were dangerous due to poor or no upkeep, ancient age, and the unknown. Some smaller bridges went back to Roman Inc. Maggie didn’t want to think about it. The old bus did break down a few times on its way to Liverpool, but the girls were so excited they could have cared less, and their mom had put enough food in their bags to kill a horse. A woman named Violet (With a sign) would be waiting for them at the bus terminal in Liverpool. After dinner, she would take them to their ship.

Their mother, Maggie somehow using pure willpower, moved her young family out of the coal mines to a city that had hope. Her brother found a one-room apartment near the center of Manchester for them. Her mother had died and left Maggie some money. With her inheritance and the money, she had somehow put aside; they moved to the cold-water flat. What made Manchester so incredible was its free Grammar School system. A very rich and powerful Englishman had granted a fortune to the city for a free boys grammar school with the best teachers. Therefore the town’s women forced the men to open one for their young girls.

Shortly after starting classes, the School administration advised Maggie and her husband that their Girls have a beneficiary who will pay for boarding and, a monthly allowance that will give the children more time to study their occupation, nursing. The beneficiaries plan on hiring the girls upon graduation.

Maggie husband, Branden found employment as a Postman while she scrubbed floors part-time for the rich. More than once she was astute enough to return the coins, she found left under the carpets. The wealthy people loved to scatter a few cents under a rug to catch a poor slob stealing.

Janet and Emily as mentioned earlier found employment promptly when they graduated from school. The school specialized in midwifery, prenatal care, delivery, infant care, and nursing babies their future employers were a Princess and a Prince who resided in North America. They gave them new clothes and overcoats. Their girl’s salary started when they received two puppies to take care of for the noble family. The baby’s father wanted the dogs to guard his children as they both grew up.

A year earlier, Maggie’s husband Branden joined a soldier battalion with his pals from the city’s Post Office (Pal Battalion). It was near the end of the ‘War,’ and the British needed additional volunteers to slaughter. The money wasn’t too bad, and if he remained in the Army, his spouse could go with him. Their physician told him that moving Maggie to a sunny, and drier climate could be important for her health.

Meanwhile, Private Branden and his Post Office Pals’ Battalion were about to attack the Germans at the battle of Somme. They had trained for a year before they were transferred to Northern France to prepare for trench warfare. The Allies artillery barrage started on a Monday morning and continued nonstop for two weeks. The bombs were concentrated on the German’s position and the no man’s area between the German and the English lines. When the English High Command decided that everything was dead in the enemy position, the attack order was given.

Harry and Fred, Branden friends, were excited as he was about attacking the Germans in the morning. Harry told, a gathering crowd of soldiers that this fight was a lock because our long-range batteries have been plastering the Germans positions for weeks. Fred said, he heard from a pilot that there is nothing alive between the Germans in the English lines so what’s the big deal, let’s go get the German Beer. The Englishmen were given a few pints of beer that evening, so it wasn’t an utterly horrible night. The men laid on the frozen ground waited to die.

Before Maggie left for home, she went into the Post Office and asked: Rose, if the mail from the front line had arrived? Maggie had already passed around twenty women who were standing in front of the mail center waiting to ask the same question. Rose said, No honey the mail was running late, but not to worry everything was going to turn out alright.

Maggie had to rush home and get the puppies ready to leave. A lady named Elizabeth contacted her and said, She would be at her flat around six o’clock to pick them up. Maggie knew the dogs were brother and sister. At night they slept on top of each other and the family though, that was adorable. The female cried when she saw the young girls packing last night, so Maggie held the small female puppy in her arms this morning as she did some light housekeeping. Maggie stopped for some flu medication to fight her cold. She had thanked God that her husband and daughters were not at home, because the Black Death was not only coming it was here."

Maggie planned on going to bed, Because she had a few beautiful day-dreams to work on, like her husband walking down the street in a parade with his buddies singing on how they beat the Germans. Also, soon she would be receiving letters from the girls describing their great adventure, and the encounters with a few good looking boys. Maggie’s husband getting in their bed would be the best thing that could happen to her. The second thing would be a few pictures of the children with the Royal babies.

Thank God Maggie missed the mail drop from Liverpool. Because the mail contained twenty-seven letters from the ‘War Department’ addressed to various inhabitants of the City of Manchester, England. The mailing reported the murder of their Husbands, Siblings, Fathers, and friends.

The German’s killed every member of the Pal’s Postmen group from Manchester. Twenty-seven men were shot dead, on the first day of battle. Their horror stories were over in minutes. They never got to discharge their weapon or even to see the enemy. The Soldiers didn’t have a chance; they prepared for months for nothing. The (Pal) friends sang songs as they died in a stupid, stupid march into the fog.

The English boys climbed out of their trench, as instructed when they hit ‘No Mans Land’ they found an eerie hell of dead bodies and unexploded shells. The place had a deadly quiet to it: no wind, no noise like they just stepped into a silent movie scene. The only fear that had been hammer into their head was to make sure they keep pace with the soldiers to the right and left of him. Even when he was shot dead, his only worry was that he lost a step. The English boys from Manchester, England perished without seeing their enemy, but the formation held. As they died, another band of soldiers replaced them. They too perished, then another, and another.

That night at the portable (Travels with the battle) country club, the soldiers of the command staff were beaming about how magnificently their troopers died. It was said, That almost no one broke formation unless they had to tiptoe over a deceased soldier or step over an unexploded bomb. There were many toasts to the brave Englishmen who died today during the Germans defeat. It will take years for these men to realize that they were brainwashed and the Germans were not defeated that infamous day and they were responsible for thousands of young soldier’s death.

Fifty feet behind the large tent the officers were celebrating in; twenty English troopers were drinking themselves into unconsciousness. They had been told to clear the battlefield of the English dead. They used wooden carts to remove the bodies. The privates filled the carts with dead bodies and pushed them into a staging area located in the rear of the Engish lines. They emptied the carts into a pile of bodies and then return to the battlefield to pick up some more. They did this until it was too dark to proceed. The soldiers were physically and emotionally exhausted; it took a few years, but eventually, every one of them went mad.

No one said anything, including the newspapers. On the first day, sixty thousand soldiers were murder by the Military Command’s utter stupidity. Fifty percent of the bombs fired at the enemy were found to be duds. The next day the English tabloids could only shout about a ship out of Liverpool being torpedoed, with all its passengers missing.

Two women were waiting for Maggie when she showed up at her apartment. She unlocked her door and welcomed them in; two jumping puppies met them. A few family pictures and some handmade dollies holding local souvenirs dominated the oversize, heartwarming room. The women sat down at a small table. Elizabeth found one of her girls scarf, forgotten on the floor; Maggie picked it up with a tear in her eye and a sigh in her throat.

The beautiful woman introduced herself as Elizabeth. She said, this is my Mother Lily. They had stopped by to pick up the two puppies for her son, who were play fighting, but stopped when Lily walked up to them. She said, Kids we must get our stuff together you have to go home for a while. A few toys and two small dog beds were collected and placed in a carrying bag.

Elizabeth said to Maggie Here the money we owe you for taken care of the dogs and a small bottle of medicine from my Doctor for your cold. If you don’t feel good tonight, please take some. Now tell us how your children weathered leaving home for the first time?

Over a cup of tea, they had a good laugh how happy the children appeared to be leaving a one-room flat for a suite on a major cruise ship while trying to tell their mother they wanted to stay in Manchester.

Lily remarked, how neat and tidy her apartment was. Maggie answered with laughter saying its only one room. The two visitors said goodbye and kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. Both Lilies seemed to be crying when they left. The male dog couldn’t wait to go on to a new adventure while the female wouldn’t.

Maggie picked her up kissed her and gave the dog to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth "held the female puppy and baby-talked to her as she left.

Maggie somehow got the fire going in the small stove. She got ready for bed, drank the little potion of medication Elizabeth gave her. As she lay in bed, she day-dreamed about: her daughters looking over the Ship’s railing out at the boundless ocean and her victorious husband marching home in a parade from the war.

As Maggie was falling asleep, she had to double check the dog’s sleeping pillow because she swore, she heard the female puppy snoring.

Chapter Two

The Country of Brooklyn

Alice’s story takes place in a Country called Brooklyn. During the early Fifty’s a kid in Junior High School, P.S. 162, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NYC, turned in a homework assignment suggesting the possibility of Brooklyn becoming a ‘’State,’’ based on the premise That no one likes us. The teacher agreed (She lived in Queens) and dispatched the one-page handwritten paper to Washington DC for their opinion. The Government formed a committee. After two days of consideration, they asserted that:

Nobody likes anyone or anything in or from Brooklyn, NYC.

The people (That no one likes) spoke an unknown language (Maybe Alien).

Many linguistics who tried to speak Brooklynese failed. These scholars were so despondent on their inability to accomplished, such a simple chore they either hung themselves or cut out their tongues. Therefore, since no one can comprehend what the inhabitants are saying; thus, making their speech impossible to translate or sometimes even to record.

In conclusion: Brooklyn’s lost souls packed their few possessions and walked to Queens. The remaining souls became homeless Brooklyn Dodger fans, who were forced to beg for food from the tourist boats and dove for coins thrown by the visitor’s little fat kids. There was a rumor that one passenger fell off a ship and was eaten by a local man, a Mr. Nathan.

There were few assets left in the land known as Brooklyn. The New Yorker’s took most of them; with little value left in the new Country, it was hard to stay there.

The New York State and Washington, D.C. politicians agreed, with the Government’s findings. They have hung this extensive and expensive research project, with its definite stated conclusions up in the ‘Hall of the Brooklyn Congress,’ which was in a Coney Island Bar.

A special commission (Two Women) declared that the landmass known as Brooklyn was a toxic territory. They turned it over to the Navy for bombing practice and deadly chemical testing.

Within seven days the people of Brooklyn fought back and made the following changes:

Brooklyn became a new Country. The President of the new Republic was Jackie Robinson.

The Vice President was Gil Hodges.

The Attorney General was Carmine DeVan (Alice’s Uncle).

It was legal to Wager (Bet Money) on anything.

A two percent Wager tax was collected on all bets.

Catholic men and women can divorce and still enter Heaven. All divorcees will receive a notarized certificate stating as such.

A boyfriend and or girlfriend can call each other honey if they are drinking whiskey (Seagram Seven) while in the back seat of a car, parked in a drive-in movie.

The President of Brooklyn requested the new Country received twenty-one-million dollars from the Marshall Plan.

The citizens acted: One hundred landlords were hung on street lamps throughout the new Country. Under the directions of the new Attorney General Carmine DeVan, all the prisons cell was open. The prisoners were taken to and checked into Northern New Jersey motels and left there.

Unknown to the outsiders, all the Brooklyn people understood and spoke English, which they learned from watching TV. The local Government ordered all Brooklyn Citizens to avoid talking to outsiders.

Chapter Three

The Story Begins.

Alice

The mesmerizing snoring sound was soft, hypnotic and peaceful: it was coming from a happy, healthy dog named, Lily Kemble. She was a fifty-pound brown short haired West Rhodesian Ridge-back, with a purple tongue (tired eyes) and a ridge of hair ready to spring up when it was time to go into battle. Two of her paws were pressed into the sleeping star of this story, Alice Marie DeVan.

Alice didn’t act like it, but she was a beautiful woman. She had a prominent Roman nose, a perfectly shaped face; her eyes were a deep green, Alice’s skin was soft and felt like silk. Her long, pitch-black hair ran down her shoulders and back. Her dimples looked good. She stood and walked tall because she was a Princess.

Today is Alice’s Twenty-First Birthday, and according to her best friend ever, Gloria, there will be a ‘Birthday Party’ this evening, (No big secret) at ‘The Diner.’

Meanwhile, Alice laid on her bed snuggling with her pet trying to find a reason to stay there. Right away she had two; she didn’t want to wake up Lily Kemble, and then both would lose out on the dog’s relaxing snoring. She wanted to lay in bed and think about last night encounter with a young man, her Prince. I always hear Johnny Mathis singing when my Prince arrives, Alice said to herself, she continued I wonder how he does that? He sits on my bed kisses my face, and we make out until I fall asleep. It’s about time, every night I have had to listen to one of the three pigs, made up adventures with their boyfriends. I know it’s my knight because he always unbuttons my pajama top.

A couple of years ago Prince Robert and Princess Alice were living happily in the Bleecker Street house. He slept on the third floor, and Alice stays in her bedroom on the first floor. Robert was busy with Soldier’s, stuff, and Alice was finishing her residency at the military Complex her friend Joeann was taken her back and forth from the hospital, where she was attending school herself.

Two years ago to date, Alice was hypnotist into thinking that Robert didn’t exist and she had been blind since birth. What is terrible is that Alice was supposed to get engaged to Robert today. Back to the story now.

Alice has been having horrible nightmares, so Grandma Lily has ordered Alice’s three girlfriends to move in with her (Alice). Their jobs would be to take turns sleeping with her; if the nightmares get too bad, they must wake up Grandma. Their duties also call for them to help with Alice’s dress, make-up, and hair in the morning. Then take her to The Diner for breakfast.

Alice’s adoptive Mother, Clare had caused this mess. She left Alice alone again. Therefore, Grandma Lily had to come over to the Bleecker Street house to help take care of Alice. Clare hates the family and especially her ex-husband, Freddy DeVan. Claire had been a good mother until Alice was around ten years old and then her life (Clare) began to fall apart. Freddy was gone all the time working the families businesses with Lily. Meanwhile, the strain of eight children, two grandmas, and two mothers, living in her house and the demands of running a large restaurant finally broke her back.

Freddy said, Clare is a drug addict. Her family is one of the largest crime families in the world. They operate out of Sicily. A couple of times a year Clare goes back to Italy to restock her drug supplies and to work as a prostitute. She returns to Brooklyn so that she can maintain her guardianship status over Alice."

Clare was pissed off at all the DeVan’s because during one of her Drug Vacations, Freddy got a Brooklyn Divorce (A Catholic can get a divorce and still get into Heaven) and married Grandma Lily. Freddy and Lily lived at the Bleecker Street house when Clare left the country so they can take care of Alice.

Freddy must start baking the bread at daybreak to stock the bakery at The Diner. As soon as the kids are up and at it, Grandma Lily is on her way to her office to run the family’s businesses. So, the three girlfriends are responsible for a lot, such as cleaning, cooking, and shopping." They love to take Alice food shopping and put strange things in their cart. At checkout time they usually run like hell and leave Alice with the mess. But, she has wised up by switching the responsibility to Gloria. Now Joeann tells the checkout clerk that Alice was blind and slow and that she and Sarah were challenged, leaving Gloria in charge.

As information, the three piglets, Gloria, Sarah, and Joeann have been my girlfriends since about birth. They all embellish their love life, I hope. I don’t know why they don’t get married. They have been going out with their boyfriends for years. But things are going to change because a few days ago the guys returned home from Military Service for a month leave. There will be a few engagements announcements tonight, at the party?

Today is Sunday, and it is Gloria’s turn to help Alice get up and going. Lily Kemble, the dog, heard Gloria coming, so she jumped off the bed and out the bedroom window and was barking to the world like she has been up guarding for a few hours.

Gloria swung the bedroom door open and announced: Fatty it’s time to roll out of bed. She continued Your room is such a mess I can’t find my hands. "Today is a big day so its time for your monthly bath’’ Gloria said as she closed the door and walked away.

Gloria only got three steps before Alice caught up to her and said: I may be blind, but I can hear people walking, especially if they have giant feet. Gloria, I have waited all week for today. So please try to be good. I plan on spending the day with my family, including my girlfriends, at Church, at my house for coffee, then at The Diner for my birthday party and watching three losers get engaged. And, finally, a knock out drunk party. Maybe I will even end up in a bed with a cute boy since I will be twenty-one tonight?"

The sound of a woman’s voice froze Gloria and Alice in place, both of them slowly turned. Yes, they were dead, It was Grandma Lily she had captured Joeann and Sarah as they were climbing out a window. Grandma said, You four have one hour to put this house and yourself in a mint condition that means Alice too. Her church dress is in her closet; her party dress is in my closet. Also, birthday girl you can forget about the cute boy in your bed idea.

At Church, Alice said, I will sit between my adopted Father, Freddy DeVan and my Aunt Joan. My family usually take up the first pew. Grandma Lily (Freddy’s wife and my stepmother) sits in the back of the Church with her two grandsons Billy and Robert who I don’t know and hate. The dumb sitting arrangement has something to do with Freddy’s divorce. The beautiful Catholic Church we attend is only a short walk for the family.

Since my body now has a few curves in it and I finally got a bust, the public has started to make cruel comments Like, who would marry her Or, who would even go out with her, except to have sex? The problem is I can read other peoples minds. Recently I (Alice) overheard someone at the hospital saying It should be against the law for me to have children. The nasty comments never seemed to stop like, how do you know she is even blind? Or, we should set her up with my Uncle Sheldon, he divorced now. She could take care of his children. But he runs around, so what, she can’t see. Their laughter made me cry."

Life goes on, one of the best things of the day will be the walk to Church with my girlfriends. When I am with them, I turn off my mind-reading abilities. I keep my mind on at all other times to protect my Family and friends from harm. Alice laughed with her friends when they outranked (Make fun of) each other during their walk to church. Like, Gloria would say, Joeann, did you crack the sidewalk when you stepped on it? No, Gloria, I think it was from your last date when you slammed him to the ground because you couldn’t wait to find a bed.

Also, on Sunday she would get to see her Aunts, Mary and June. Alice is around six feet four while the Aunts are not. But somehow these two women could pick her up and crush her with love and kisses. Alice could tell who was who by their perfume.

Alice never prayed for sight. Each night, she kneeled at the side of the bed folded her hands and prayed to ‘God’ for health and happiness for everyone, especially for Grandma Lily and Elizabeth.

One night as she was listening to the night-birds ordering other birds around and scaring insects, she hit on the idea of asking ‘God’ for three wishes. If she did: (One), Alice would fly her aunts, grandmas, and girlfriends, their mothers and Elizabeth to Paris for a lavish meal at a ‘Michelin Star’ restaurant. (Two) Afterward, with an unlimited amount of money to spend, they would visit the French Perfume Shops. She would use her last wish to find the ‘man’ that has been in her dreams.

She told Gloria about the wishes.

Gloria got all nervous and yelled out Alice you have the hottest boyfriend on this planet and you can’t even remember him, as she rushed off