Hello, everyone! Enjoy in chapter 7! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Band of Brothers. This is purely of entertainment. It is based on the HBO miniseries and no disrespect is meant towards the real men of Easy Company.
Chapter Seven: I'm Gonna Need It
I couldn't sleep that night.
After hours of turning in the cot, I spent my time in a rickety chair by the window. As I was sitting there, I clasped my hands and silently prayed for the sun not to rise. I knew I was asking for a miracle, but I almost desperately needed one now. Perhaps someone would hear me up there and make sure my flight was postponed for good.
Did you ever have a dream, where you thought that everything would be alright, and then you suddenly wake up? Well, I was feeling like that right now.
This might sound a bit strange, but, since I had met Bill that day, I was happy. Talking with him and trying to figure out his Philly jokes made my life less difficult than it was. After a long time, my troubles seemed small and far enough from me. But, all of it turned upside down when lieutenant Winters came, announcing that the "jump" was near.
I clenched my fists, struggling to calm down my shaking hands. Aye, I was afraid and there was no way I could hide it. I kept recalling the moment when the commander of Bill's company climbed on the Jeep and read my name from that paper.
And his name is… J. M. Prichard.
Unfortunately, I couldn't just stroll to his tent and tell him there had been a mistake. There was nobody who could replace me, because the Yanks had already hired all the pilots around. That also included the lads from the farm, where I had learnt how to fly. Although I wished that things were different, I was stuck here, appointed to fly with a part of second platoon of Easy Company.
And my objective?
It was right across the Channel, in Normandy.
I had received all the instructions at a meeting yesterday, with the rest of the pilots. An intelligence officer there told me that I had to assist in transporting the lads to France. I also had to make sure they landed in their drop zone in time, under the cover of night. Don't get me wrong, taking off and flying wouldn't be a problem for me. But, taking part in an invasion definitely would.
Even though I was only a co-pilot, the lives of twelve men in my plane would depend on me and my skills. Once I got up in the sky, there would be no room for messing things up. However, that could be difficult, because messing things up was something I did quite often.
Now you know why I was still awake.
After some time, I got up to my feet and begun pacing around the small room where I had been billeted. As a back room in one of the barracks, it was warm and quiet. But, in this moment, I had a feeling that its walls were slowly closing in around me.
I had to get out, if only for a few minutes. I needed to reach the other side of the door and get some fresh air. With that on my mind, I pulled out my boots from under my cot. I was about to slide my left foot into one, when I heard some strange murmuring behind me. I snapped my head to the left and saw Mike in the other cot.
Even he was bound to fly with one of the companies. Not long after the news about my assignment, a truck had pulled up at the airfield and the pilots I knew from Aldbourne hopped outside. They had been plucked and brought here without a single warning.
"Jess?", Mike barely opened one eye and yawned. "What… is it time yet?"
"No. Not yet." I somehow mustered a smile. "Go back to sleep."
When he turned his back on me, I quickly changed into my shirt and old, baggy trousers. And then I sneaked outside, closing the door behind me.
I made only a couple of steps before I stopped.
Where should I go now? Hand on heart, I had no idea. The only things I could see were barracks and rows of tents, covered in pale moonlight. Behind the furthest tents, one of the runways was stretching over the flat ground, until it eventually faded away in the darkness. All in all, there weren't many places where I could stop by.
Maybe I should just walk around for a while and get back. Aye, that sounds good. A stroll like that should clear my head eventually. Tucking my hair under my cap, just in case, I went along the nearest track.
I wasn't quite thinking about where I was going. After some time, my feet led me past a small building, with a flag hanging above the door. When I took a closer look, I found out that it had a red cross painted on it. This was probably the place where the medical supplies were held.
There shouldn't be anyone inside at this hour.
However, someone didn't agree with that.
The lights were still on inside. A warm, yellowish glow was emerging from the small windows, tearing its path through the night.
Perhaps walking over there and checking who was inside wasn't a good idea. Firstly, I was alone. If I got into trouble, there would be no one nearby to help me escape. But, I did it, nevertheless. I raised my hand and knocked on the door.
That was when a familiar voice answered. "Yeah? Come in."
I gently pushed the door open, revealing Eugene alone in the room. He was standing among the many shelves and crates, with a mug in his hands. Truth be told, I had often seen him exhausted, but never like this. He had dark, almost purplish shadows under his eyes, while his face looked ghastly pale.
"Jessica, whaddya doin' so late at night?", he asked.
"I was about to ask you the same." I made a step inside and looked around. "Is Ralph here, too?"
"Nope. He's sleepin'."
I furrowed my brow slightly. "You're all alone here?"
"Yeah." He went silent for a moment, before he asked: "Care fo sum coffee? Or tea?"
"Tea would be nice."
He nodded and went to the corner of the room, vanishing among the shelves. In a couple of minutes, he was back with another mug in his hand. The tea inside was steaming, letting white wisps float and curl in the air.
I carefully grasped the mug. "Thanks, Gene."
"Yo welcome."
Taking a sip from his own hot drink, he sat on the nearest crate. There was no chairs around to sit on, so I made myself comfortable on an old trunk. But, then I noticed something peculiar. Only a few steps away, Eugene was giving me a long look. He didn't say anything. He let the silence flood the supply room again, while his eyes refused to move away from me. Unfortunately, the look on his face wasn't revealing anything.
"What is it?", I asked.
"Oh, you know…" He stopped for a moment or two in hesitation. "I still can't believe that we'll be in da same plane, headin' fo da same place."
"Honestly, I didn't see that one coming, either."
A corner of my lips curved for a bit. Except him, only Ralph and Nixon knew who J. M. Prichard really was. The rest of the company had no idea that the letter "J" actually stood for "Jessica", and not "James" or "Jack". I secretly hoped that nobody would find that out. I had enough things to think about already. Facing the stunned and disbelieving looks of the lads shouldn't be added on my list.
"You're having trouble sleeping?", I assumed.
"Yeah." Eugene slowly nodded. "You?"
"Me, too."
"You're worried 'bout yo flyin' tomorrow?"
"I'm not worried", I said quickly. However, shortly after that, I felt a lump forming in my throat. "I'm bloody terrified."
With a short screech of his crate, Gene got up and walked to me. I blinked in surprise when he sat beside me, while the sleeve of his shirt brushed against mine. He looked me in the eye before he said:
"You're gonna be fine."
"Oh, really? And why do I doubt it so much?"
"You'll just have ta take us to da drop zone an' fly back ta England. You'll be home befo' you know it. Unlike us…"
That was when he trailed off for one more time. I could see his face becoming paler by the minute. He pursed his lips into the thinnest possible line as he turned away and stared into blank space. Unlike mine, his task for tomorrow didn't involve staying in a plane.
Poor thing. In less than twenty-four hours, he would have to jump out of a perfectly functional plane and land on foreign soil – which was guarded by an entire German garrison. The sheer thought of it made shivers climb up my spine. I could only image what was going through Gene's head right now.
I wanted to say something comforting to him, but nothing came to my mind. There was nothing I could think of that would sound good enough. And so I reached out with my free hand and slowly placed it over his. When he turned around and looked at me again, I knotted my fingers through his and gave his hand a short, but reassuring squeeze.
He seemed slightly confused at first. A pair of red hues even appeared on his cheeks, reminding me how shy he actually was. However, that expression of his soon changed into a smile. It might have been small, almost invisible, but it was there.
And then, he suddenly let me go and started searching through his pockets. He had a look as if he couldn't find his house keys or something similar.
"What are you doing?", I asked.
"There's somethin' I almost forgot…"
He stopped in the middle of the sentence, making me frown. He placed his hands in front of him, closed into fists, as if he had hidden something in them.
"Choose one."
I blinked in bewilderment. "What?"
"Choose one."
"Oh. All right…" I glanced at his left, and then at his right hand, searching for any tell-tale signs. "The right, then."
Eugene slowly opened it. However, nothing was there.
Well, that narrows down the choice. "Then the left", I said.
He slowly moved his fingers, revealing one big… nothing. I gazed at his palm, riddled with thin lines, before I looked up again and asked:
"Is it something invisible?"
A corner of his lips curved. "No."
Where's the surprise, then? I was about to ask him that when the answer came. Reaching into his back pocket, he took something out and slipped it right into my hand. Whatever it was, it seemed very cold. Perhaps it was something metal. Just a second later, Eugene moved his pale fingers away, revealing the mystery object.
I was right. It actually was something metal. It was a thin chain, with two small silvery sheets attached to it. They felt strangely smooth as I ran a finger over them. But, it didn't last long when my brow furrowed one more time.
"Your tags?" I glanced back at him. He was still smiling in the meantime, which confused me even more. "Eugene, you can't just give them away like this…"
"They ain't mine."
One of my eyebrows slowly raised. I lifted the chain, letting the tags dangle in the air. The light of the lamps caught them for a moment, causing them to glimmer.
I didn't see Eugene's name on them. Actually, there was no name embedded on their surface. There wasn't any numbers there, either. As I looked closer, I heard Gene's peculiar accent saying:
"I wanted ta buy you a gift, but… there wasn't much in da shops. So, I had this idea to make somethin' instead."
I took the sheets with two fingers and turned them around. And the real surprise came into my sight. What I saw there and then made me almost lost for words.
Eugene had carved something on them. My lips parted when I spotted a butterfly on each tag. They were different, but so beautiful that I could barely describe them. It seemed as if an elderly artist had copied them from his painting. I had a feeling that they could jump from the silver sheets at any second and fly away.
Oh, my goodness…
"You don't like 'em?", Eugene asked quietly, frowning in concern.
"Don't be silly. They're amazing!" As my smile turned into a grin, I stood up and gave him a hug. "Thank you, Gene! Thank you."
He soon hugged me back, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. "Yo welcome."
"Now I have to give you a present in return."
"You don't need ta. Jus'…" All of a sudden, he trailed off again, leaving his thoughts unsaid. I carefully got out of his embrace and looked at him.
"Just what?"
His doe eyes gazed at me in a strange way. I could clearly see that he was hesitating about something. He soon swallowed thickly and answered:
"Jus' don't forget me."
That made me smile again. "How could I forget someone like you?"
"I dunno." He shrugged. "Maybe Spina's more interesting…"
I couldn't help, but snigger. Eugene tried to stay serious, until he eventually gave in and let out a chuckle. We soon smiled at each other, as if everything was okay and that we weren't going anywhere. However, that moment had to fade away sooner or later. Eugene's smile began to falter as he said:
"Thanks, Jessica… fo da support."
His expression became more serious as he let me go. Making a couple of steps back, he looked through the nearby window. Following his gaze, I felt my hands trembling. The moonlight was slowly being replaced by the dim, grey light of dawn. A new June day was treading into Uppotery.
So much for my prayers… I pursed my lips and moved away.
"I should get back." I turned my back on the window. As I caught glimpse of Eugene, I added: "Good luck out there."
Grasping his tags tighter in my hand, I went to the door. However, I barely managed to touch the door knob when I heard the medic's voice:
"Good luck ta you, too."
"Thank you." Smiling a bit, I glanced over my shoulder. "I'm gonna need it, you know. Especially when I take off with you lads."
XXX
Mike and I received our gear a few hours ago. And, truth be told, I quietly thanked the heavens for that. I couldn't fathom what the blokes would say, if they saw their co-pilot in trousers with myriads of patches.
"You're really… smiling, Jess. I have to say that's a change."
I peered out of the small bathroom, where I was changing into my gear. Meanwhile, Mike was doing the same in our room. He was just about to put on his shirt, when he saw my head emerging behind the door.
To be honest, one of my eyebrows arched as his shoulder muscles flexed. Aye, the once scrawny lad called "Stick Figure" Sullivan was long gone now.
"I remember something odd from last night", he added, glancing at me, "You sneaked out somewhere didn't you?"
"That was nothing", I replied quickly, "I just needed a walk."
He slowly nodded in return. "You're right. It definitely sounds like nothing." But, then he tilted his head slightly. "Did that 'walk' include a certain Yank?"
I suddenly dropped my socks. "What?"
"The bloke you worked with. His name's Eugene, isn't it?" He sniggered until he saw the look on my face. Shortly after, he raised his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, I just want to say that I'm happy for you! How are things between you two since the pub?"
"Ummm… what pub?", I asked, pretending to be clueless.
"I think you know. That's the place where you kissed him."
With no warning, heat begun picking up in my cheeks. In that second, I was certain that my face had the same shade as a beetroot.
"How do you know about that? I didn't tell Neve, let alone…"
"I was your wingman, Jess. It's my job to know."
"Nothing happened last night, okay?", I lashed out, picking my socks from the floor. "We just had some tea, talked a little… bloody hell, Mike, you sound like a gossipy fishwife!"
"A gossipy fishwife?" He blinked, suddenly taken aback. "For chrissake, Jess, I was only joking! There's no need to be so touchy…"
I moved behind the door again, getting my red face out of sight. Trying to focus my thoughts on something else, I snatched my gear and got myself into it. But, as I was checking my braid in the mirror, something came to my mind. And that made me stop and sigh.
"I wonder how Neve is."
"Don't worry", Mike said from the other side of the door, "I'm sure she's fine."
Maybe you're right. On his suggestion, she had moved to his house. Until we got back from France, she would stay with his parents, brother and sisters. That didn't seem so bad – she wouldn't have to be alone, like in my factory days. However, in spite of everything, I couldn't stop thinking about what she was doing now. Was she outside with her friends? Or was she sitting near the Sullivans' ancient radio, waiting for any news from the airfield?
When I got out of the bathroom, I noticed a glimpse of green with the corner of my eye. Taking a closer look, I found out that it was my favourite shawl. Mike was holding it while he stood beside me.
"Speaking of Neve, she asked me to give this to you." He reached out towards me. "I think you should keep it, for good luck."
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. "Isn't it a bit strange for a co-pilot to wear a shawl like that?"
"Well, maybe." Mike frowned a little. But, after some time, his face lit. "Wait… I got it."
He came closer and wrapped the shawl a few times around my arm. When he tied a knot in the end, it looked more like a green band instead of a shawl.
"Nice." Mike observed my arm from a few angles. "That'll do the trick."
"What if someone asks about it?"
"Just say that you're half-Irish and that this reminds you of home."
"Good idea." Watching the green fabric for a while, I sighed again and glanced at my watch. "Now we only have to fly across the water, dodge some fire from below and get back home. Lovely isn't it?"
Mike's smile seemed to have stiffened. Nevertheless, he made one step closer and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He didn't say anything, but I could tell that he was as afraid as me. However, I also noticed a small spark in his eyes when he said:
"Take care, Flygirl."
I placed my hand over his, knotting our fingers together. Although my stomach was tying into an extra knot, I forced myself to look at him and smile back.
"I will… Wingman."
XXX
The night almost descended when we reached the runways.
It seemed as if yesterday evening was happening all over again. Men from various companies were gathering in front of their planes, which had a reddish glow in the setting sun. Supplies were carried around and gear was being adjusted for one more time. However, one thing was a bit different. The chatter from yesterday was missing. Without the men's voices and short chuckles, the silence seemed almost intimidating.
Perhaps this thing wasn't going to be put off again.
"This is my stop", Mike nodded towards some blokes in the distance. "I'll see you back here."
He patted my shoulder and, without any more words, approached his plane. There was nothing left for me to do now than to find Gene and the other lads. Clenching my hands into fists, I weaved my way among the men, until I reached the place I should be in.
The lads were already there. They were still sitting there in silence, and in full gear, with their faces smeared in dark camouflage paint. Even though I had played basketball with some of them, I could barely recognise those blokes now. It took me literally a few minutes to notice Liebgott's serious look, the curve on Joe Toye's nose and Malarkey's worried brown eyes.
I didn't see Bill among them – and I wasn't sure if I should feel relieved or terrified. However, I saw Eugene Roe. He was sitting on the edge of the group, holding his bag with medical supplies in his lap. His lips were pursed into a thin line, while his gaze was fixed on something in the distance. And then, like he had felt who was coming, he turned around and looked at me.
In spite of the lines painted on his face, I saw a corner of his lips curving into a smile. In the meantime, the others didn't bother to even glance in my direction. They were utterly clueless who had received the task of flying with them.
If they only knew…
Luckily, if I came closer, they wouldn't find out who I was exactly. I was tall and lean, while my curves were quite hard to see under all this clobber. As for my hair, it was tied into a braid and hidden under my cap.
I tried to walk past the lads with long, confident steps. However, that was easier said than done. With every step I made, my heart would accelerate a bit more. In the end, I could almost feel it pounding against my ribs. Struggling to keep a composed look, I shortly nodded to the lads' lieutenant, who was standing nearby.
"Good evening… sir", I muttered in a deep voice.
"Good evening", he replied.
Swallowing hard, I came closer to our bird. It was a large Douglas C-47, with wide, dark-green stripes spreading over its wings. The sheer sight of it made my eyes widen in amazement. But, in the same time, that sight scared me.
I scratched the back of my neck, feeling the chain of Gene's tags under my fingers. I might have been scared, but I actually had no reason to be worried. Firstly, I wouldn't be the one dealing with the plane. A pilot, much more experienced than me, would be beside me the whole time. Perhaps everything would be all right… eventually.
Holding my breath, I went past the serious looking lads. I almost left them behind me when Winters – I think that was the lieutenant's name – suddenly spoke.
"Second platoon, listen up."
Turning around, I saw that he had walked to the front of the group. He was concerned, but he was trying not to show that to his men. For now, he was doing a bloody good job. His voice was surprisingly calm, almost solemn, when he added:
"Good luck… and God bless you." He paused for a moment, with his gaze still focused on the lads. "I'll see you in the assembling area."
I bit my lip again. Moving my gaze from them, I went towards the plane door.
And then I slipped.
I know, something like this shouldn't happen, especially not now. But, unfortunately, it did. In one moment, I was walking down the runway and, in the next one, both of my legs leapt into the air. A heartbeat later, I was on my back with a thud, staring at the blue sky high above me.
What mattered worse, Winters was there, looking at me.
"Are you alright?", he asked.
I quickly nodded. He reached out towards me and helped me get back to my feet. It didn't last long when he asked:
"Anything hurt?"
"Just me pride, sir", I replied, trying to make my voice hoarse enough.
He shortly smiled. But then, like a candle that had just gone out, his smile vanished. His eyes soon widened in complete shock. That meant only one thing.
He recognised me.
It would be really sweet if you review :)
