"Listen up!" yelled Lieutenant Harry Welsh to Easy. "It will be dark soon. I want light and noise discipline from here on. No talking, no smoking," he continued before pointing at Luz, "and no playing grab fanny with the man in front of you, Luz. We're taking Carentan. General Taylor is sending the whole division. We follow Fox company."
Luz grinned, puffing on a final cigarette. "Remember boys - give me three days and three nights of hard fighting, and you will be relieved!" Luz shouted in his best Taylor voice.
Margaret laughed with the others. They began to march, and she lined up directly behind Luz. She nudged Toye next to her who nudged Guarenere. Quickly, most of the group waited to see what would happen next.
Luz continued his impersonation. "Another thing to remember boys, flies spread disease. So keep yours…yow!" Luz yelped, jumping forward and grabbing his backside, bumping into Randleman. Luz looked back at Margaret, her hand pulling quickly back from here she pinched his butt, hard.
Welsh turned, shaking his head. "Luz, what did I say about playing grab fanny?"
Luz gaped, "Sir, I…" pointing wildly at Margaret.
She interrupted him, her eyes innocent. "Sir, we'll make sure to control him. Sorry, sir," she said apologetically. She turned to Luz, "George, come on, quit it."
Welsh nodded and turned his back on them. Luz looked at Margaret, still gaping. Her chesire grin wider than he'd ever seen it. The boys around them snickered. He narrowed his eyes to her, but he froze when she mouthed to him, Just wait.
Usually Luz would turn a comment like that and make it crude, but he shivered and turn his back again on her. He didn't know what was more frightening - the Germans or Margaret Henry still hell bent on her promise for revenge for the dance incident.
Margaret winked to Roe, who winked back. They marched together towards their next mission in Carentan. After only a few days to recuperate, Easy company was being sent to lead the next attack.
Eventually, all soldiers arrived to their rendezvous point, even after several delays when Easy kept losing sight of Fox company. Winters led them down the main road leading into the town before ducking below a hill.
"I want you to move first. I will be right behind you with 2nd and 3rd platoon," Winters whispered to Welsh. He looked at his watch. "Go!"
Welsh and 1st platoon rose and scampered quickly towards the town. Winters ran to the others and waved for them to follow. Almost immediately, shots were fired towards Easy.
The men of 1st platoon ran forward, caught in the middle, several killed in the process with a few reaching the temporary safety of a building's side. The rest of the troopers from 2nd and 3rd ducked into side trenches next to the road for cover instead of following their comrades.
Strayer and Winters shouted to them to move. "Get up out of those trenches! Go! Go! Go!" Winters cried.
"But we're out in the open, sir!" someone yelled, ducking farther from the flying bullets.
Exasperated, Winters screamed, "Get them going, Buck!" before trudging forward to check on 1st platoon.
Compton stood, waving for them to move. They both continued without much luck. "Move out! Move!"
Margaret stood, pulling Hoobler to his feet with her. "Let's go, Don! We have to go!" Hoobler staggered but remained standing. She quickly moved to the next man.
"Our boys are out there!" she screamed. "We need to help them! Get up! Take my hand, let's go! Edward! Shifty! With me!" She yanked at each of them, helping Compton and Winters pull every man to their feet.
"We have men getting killed! Out of that trench! Let's move! Out of the trenches!" they chanted. Finally they were on the move, splitting between two groups as they ran to the town.
Margaret ran behind Lipton, followed closely by Guarnere and Tipper. Lipton peered around the corner of a building to see where the kraut could be. Then, a sniper hit the man next to her before she could blink.
"Guarnere, clear that house. Henry, with me!" Blocking any emotion, she nodded and followed Lipton as they crossed the street. They spotted Shifty, who gave the thumbs up that he was OK. "Shifty, clear those windows!" Lipton pointed to above a scaffold. Nodding, Shifty took it out easily.
Lipton nodded to Margaret, and she understood his silent command. She climbed the fire escape until she could creep to the third floor door. Exhaling, she removed a grenade, took its pin, and then she threw it inside, killing the group of Germans inside. She sighed, but her relief was short lived. From her viewpoint, she saw an explosion from behind another house.
She screamed, "They've got us zeroed! Spread it out! Spread out now!" Soldiers separated from their groups and scattered. She hurried down the stairs to meet up with Lipton.
He ran into the street. "Get the hell out of here! Get out of the street! Go! Go!" he screamed, waving them away. Suddenly, a shell exploded just in front of Lipton, blowing him back several feet. The blast was so strong, Margaret felt herself being pushed back into the staircase, knocking her helmet off.
"Shit!" Margaret exclaimed before running to Lipton's side. She attempted to drag him slowly from the open, absently feeling pieces of crumbled concrete falling on them. Talbert thankfully arrived and helped her move Lipton to a wall. "How are you doing, Car?" she asked, stroking his face.
Talbert wrapped a bandage around Lipton's scratched arm. "You're going to be fine, Lip." They both follow Lipton's eyes to where they were locked on his bloody groin. Talbert started, but quickly ripped a hole in his pants near the wound. Margaret looked away, trying to soothe Lipton with soft words of comfort.
Talbert smiled softly. "You're going to be OK, Lip. Everything is right where it should be. Come on, upsy daisy." He pulled Lipton to his feet, heaving him over a shoulder and leaving Margaret behind. She quickly left to run into Malarkey, picking up a spare helmet along the way.
Together they shot towards unclaimed buildings until grenades could complete the job. They then hid behind some pillars of a church, looking for the next enemy. Before moving on, they both became stunned at what they saw next.
Father Maloney was calmly walking the street through the rubble to bless each and every fallen soldier. If it wasn't completely insane, Margaret's heart would probably break. "Don, do you see this?" she motioned to Maloney.
Malarkey shook his head in disbelief. "Crazy fools, the Irish," and he took another shot.
Margaret came beside him and fired twice more. "We would know." They grinned at each other before moving forward once more. They heard machine gun fire from above them. The Germans were retreating Carentan. The mission was complete.
Roe wiped some ointment on the cut and then started to clean the rest of the blood away gently. "You're lucky. This isn't too deep and it's along the hairline. You won't even notice the scar," he murmured to her.
Margaret rolled her eyes impatiently. "Yes, that's exactly what I was worried about, Eugene." Roe gave her a dark look before adding more ointment. She sighed turning her head to look at him, but he clucked his tongue and forced her head back to the side so he could continue to work.
She sighed. "Can I go now, Eugene? I told you it was just a small cut. A scratch even."
Roe rolled his own eyes. "Scratches don't typically need stitches, Maggie."
She pursed her lips before giving up. "Two stitches," she muttered. "Only two." He reached for a piece of bandage, but her hand stopped him instantly by grabbing his wrist. "Come on, Eugene. Let's be reasonable. Save the clean bandages for those that need them."
Roe's eyes narrowed at her, but she held her own against his glower. "At ease, troopers. The battle is over," Winters said, limping into the aid station.
Roe ignored the humor and walked quickly to Winters, helping him onto the table. "What happened, sir?" Margaret asked.
He looked at the wound on his leg as Roe examined it. "I believe a ricochet. Nothing Doc can't fix, I'm sure."
Roe sighed and stood. "You're lucky it's something I can treat, sir." He turned to get supplies and glowered at her again. "You are both lucky."
Winters and Margaret watched him leave for the supply room. He looked to her. "What did you do?"
She rolled her eyes again. "I stopped him wasting a clean bandage. I don't think he's pleased with me."
Winters chuckled and started to roll his pants leg. He paused a moment, glancing at her, before continuing the task. "You know, Margaret, I want you to know that you're doing an excellent job. Buck and I were just commenting about it."
Margaret beamed with pride. "Thank you, sir. That is very nice to hear."
He smiled to himself a bit before continuing. "Buck passed along his compliments to Colonel Strayer today." She raised her eyebrows. "Combined with my previous notes of your good work, Colonel Sink is very pleased with your dedication, endurance, and strength."
Margaret was very confused. "Your notes, sir?"
Winters nodded. "I have to report everything to him after every mission. The paperwork is a nightmare as you can imagine." She smiled.
He looked at her, a serious expression in his face. "Margaret, between your leadership today, your bravery at Sainte Mere Eglise, and not to mention saving my and Hall's lives on D-Day, the Colonel quite agreed to promote you to Sergeant."
Margaret stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. Winters waited. Finally he added, "Sergeant Henry, I don't think I've ever seen you so quiet."
She closed her mouth and opened it again, but no sound came out. Winters lifted an eyebrow. "Margaret?"
Finally, she blinked and looked at him. "Me?"
Winters smiled crookedly. "Yes, you. Your work in the battlefield speaks for itself, not to mention the morale boost you give to your fellow soldier off the field. They look to you for comfort and direction."
She blinked again before sliding off her table and standing in front of him. "Thank you, sir. I'm honored. I won't let you down, sir. I don't know what to say. It's all so much," she babbled. Winters' smile grew. She noticed her incoherent nonsense and sighed heavily. "I just...I just didn't expect it, sir."
Winters held out his hand to her. She shook it immediately. "Congratulations, Sergeant." She beamed.
Roe came back with his arms full of supplies, including what suspiciously looked like a complete head wrap. Margaret's happy demeanor darkened instantly. She pointed a finger at Roe's arms, her eyes shooting darts. "Eugene Roe, don't even think about coming near me with that!"