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June the 20th found Easy Company back on the line south of Carentan. Dug in behind tangled hedgerows, Nelly expected to see those Platoons of Germans again, but she didn't, they were long gone now. However, what Nelly did remember was the sniper who shot Burges down – he had been hiding inside a farmhouse. Nelly soon came to realise they were two miles from the same farmhouse. She wondered if it was still occupied. As they settled into their new positions, Toye joined Easy again. His hand was no longer infected. And the man was happy to be back. He checked up on Nelly first, and she told him everything that happened.

There was a short pause, where Toye processed everything. Then he asked, "Did you catch some hell from Winters?"

Nelly nodded.

"Well, you won't get none from me then". He sent her a smile. "Good job on the counterattack, by the way". Toye added, "Smokey told me what happened at the aid station. He's going back to England".

"I couldn't have done it without Smokey and Mellett". Nelly admitted.

"I would've made the same call". Toye said, "You pulled back, had a think and went to where you were needed most".

"I know". Nelly smiled small up at him. "I know you would've done the same...that's why I did it".

Grinning now, Toye gently clapped her shoulder. "The Toccoa guys from our squad ain't happy with me".

She frowned softly. "Why?"

"I picked you to take over while I was gone". Toye said, "It would've been Jim in command of the squad but the fellas in hospital – you were the first person I thought of". He added, "And cause he still ain't back, you're acting Corporal for now".

Nelly let out a tiny sigh. "They all hate me".

"Jackson don't".

"He's not here". She said, "Or Tommy and Richie...".

"Liebgott don't hate you". Toye pointed out, "The crazy sonofabitch cut your hair".

Nelly smiled small. "He owes me a mohawk".

Toye pulled a face. "You ain't getting a fucking mohawk, kid. Not while I'm still alive and breathing".

Ignoring that, Nelly said to her Sergeant, "I need to see Nixon".

"Why?"

"I think we're close to an occupied farmhouse". She said, "A sniper was in there, he shot Tommy". She added quietly, "Plus, I need to say I'm sorry to him".

"He's with Winters". Toye said, "Winters's CP is just along there...". He gestured beyond one of the hedgerows. "Behind the other hedgerow".

"Thanks, Joe".

Toye gave her shoulder a squeeze and let go. "I'll be with the fellas".

Walking away from her Sergeant, Nelly moved along the hedgerow. Between both hedgerows was a gap, concealed with tangled branches and a shrub. And dug in front of each hedge, were their outpost. A few guys were already on OP duty, keeping watch of the tree line in front of them and a series of other hedges. Nelly was sick to death of hedgerows – Normandy had plenty of them. The hedgerows were so thick, that mortar shells struggled to break through them. Only a shell from a powerful tank could destroy those hedges.

Approaching the Company Command post, Nixon and Winters both turned to face Nelly. She was soon standing before the Officers, saluting them. They saluted her back and ended the salute after a few seconds. With a small knot in her stomach, Nelly looked up at Nixon. Taking in a deep breath and then exhaling, she told him very softly.

"I'm so sorry, sir". She said, "I should have left when you told me to and I...I shouldn't have lied to you, sir".

Winters cast a look toward Nixon. And Nixon nodded slowly. "Water under the bridge". He said to her eventually. "You did good out there, I stand by that".

The knot in her stomach dwindled. Nelly gave Nixon a small smile. "Thank you, sir".

"Anything else?" Nixon raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah".

"What?"

Nelly pointed toward the hedgerow they were dug in behind. "Two miles that way is where Tommy got hit by a sniper in a farmhouse, sir".

With a twitch of his eyebrows, Nixon picked up a map. "Oh, really?"

Curiously, Winters peered down at the map. "There's that gap again". Winters said, "Between the railroad tracks and La Taute".

"And in that gap...is a farmhouse". Nixon mumbled, "Perfect position for an outpost".

"What do you 'wanna do, Nix?"

Nixon snorted softly. "I need to gather intelligence. That's what I need to do".

"Prisoner?" Winters questioned.

"If one of your guys could snatch a prisoner, sure". Nixon said, "But the prisoners we've had so far have been useless. I'd rather rely on an American eyewitness".

Nelly shrugged before telling them, "I could do it".

Both Winters and Nixon peered over the map and looked down at the girl. There was an apprehensive look about Winters, however, Nixon was smiling – he seemed to like the idea of sending Nelly on another recon mission. Despite its flaws, she did well on the last one. Winters looked back at Nixon.

"What's the cover situation like over there?"

But Nelly replied, "We have one large opening, sir". She said, "But they have hedgerows lined up and leading up to the front of the farmhouse".

With a small frown, Winters looked back down at Nelly.

And she reminded him softly, "This is...is why I'm here, sir".

Nixon agreed with her, "It's why Colonel Sink agreed to have her in the first place – for recon".

"Enemy line starts one mile from our position". She said, "And then, after another mile, you reach the farmhouse".

"She's right". Nixon said, "And if it were me, I'd send Murray".

Winters sent her a somewhat stern look. "One night, Murray. That's all you get out there – just one night. And then you come back".

"Yes, sir". Nelly complied.

"I'm giving you Joe Lesniewski and John Sheehy – from your squad".

Nelly doubted they would gladly go along with her, not after the first recon mission.

Winters faced Nixon. "I'll give you a recon mission and a prisoner".

And Nixon smirked. "Oh, lucky me".

"Toye can get a prisoner". Said Winters.

After saluting the Officers, Nelly left and walked back to her foxhole. Thankfully, Lesniewski was good friends with Alex and Skip – otherwise, he might have disliked Nelly. John Sheehy, however, wasn't happy to be going on a recon mission with Nelly. Lesniewski arrived in Easy Company while they were stationed in England. His parents were originally from Poland. So, Alex instantly became Lesniewski's friend. They could both speak Polish. And they often spoke to one another in Polish.

Lesniewski looked down at Nelly and smiled. "I hope you learned a lesson".

Nelly nodded. "I did". She whispered.

"Then I don't have a problem, maluch". The big Polish man gave Nelly's cheek a pinch.

Nelly huffed out a tiny laugh. "Okay...". She said slowly, "Thanks...I think".

...

They sat eighty yards behind the farmhouse, covered by a hedgerow. Using small gaps in the hedge, the three troopers used those small openings to spy on the house ahead of them. Nelly made sure they each had a pair of binoculars. Officers could be reluctant to give their binoculars away however, Buck, Welsh and Winters didn't mind letting the Privates borrow theirs for a night. Activity in the farmhouse was practically non-existent. Nelly was beginning to think the Germans moved on and occupied another building. But no one mentioned the "q" word – that word was a curse. As soon as someone said, "it's quiet", something would happen.

"It's – "

"shh!" Lesniewski hushed Nelly.

She wasn't aware of the cursed word. Nelly frowned. "What?" She whispered.

"That's a bad word". He explained.

Still confused, Nelly asked again, "Why?"

Moving away from his binoculars, Lesniewski faced Nelly. "You'll jinx it, maluch".

Realisation sunk in for Nelly and she nodded. "Right – I get it now".

"Good".

"Thank you".

A smile reached Lesniewski's face, and he pinched Nelly's cheek gently.

John Sheehy rolled his eyes at the pinch. "She's eighteen, Joey".

"She is". Lesniewski confirmed. "Just a kid".

"Yeah...a deadly kid". Sheehy remarked with a snort. "She almost killed Tommy and Richie".

A frown settled on Nelly's face. Raising her binoculars, she looked through them. Lesniewski sent Sheehy a glare. "I trust this kid". He said, "Joe trusts this kid".

"Maybe Joe's not thinking straight". Sheehy muttered. "Maybe he feels sorry for the kid and he's only telling Murray that, to make her feel better".

"That's not nice". Lesniewski commented. "You have some serious issues with a kid, John".

"Shut up, Joey".

Quietly, Nelly said, "There". She said, "He's there". Through her binoculars and in the darkness, Nelly spotted a lit cigarette from the top window of the house. "Top window – second on the right".

Soon, Lesniewski and Sheehy were looking through their binoculars, following Nelly's quiet instructions. And they saw the lone German smoking a cigarette. Sheehy grabbed his rifle and prepared to fire but Nelly stopped him.

"No". She whispered. "No shooting".

"He's right there". Sheehy argued. "Let's take him out".

"Then what?" Nelly said, "We fight the Germans inside the house and around us too? We are in no position to start a fight".

Lesniewski smiled. "That's why Joe trusts the kid, John".

"Whatever...". Sheehy muttered and lowered his rifle.

Looking back through her binoculars, Nelly still wasn't sure if the house was filled with the enemy or not. So far, they could only see one German soldier. Of course, it wasn't the same man who shot Burges – Hughes shot that sniper. But it seemed the Germans wanted to keep the farmhouse. Behind the lone soldier, Nelly caught a dark shadow passing him.

"One more". She whispered.

"I don't see him". Lesniewski whispered back.

"Sure it wasn't just your imagination?" Sheehy grumbled.

"Pretty sure it wasn't...". Nelly mumbled with a small frown. Sheehy was beginning to anger her, but Nelly had to remain calm during a quiet recon mission. "I saw his shadow".

"Two occupying a house?" Lesniewski said quietly. "I don't think so...there must be more".

"They'll need a patrol". Nelly said, "Or they could just blow it up".

Lesniewski smiled. "I like the way you think, maluch". He said, "I second the blow-up option".

A small smile reached Nelly's face. "Me too, Joey".

"You call me, Papa". He said, "Everyone calls me, Papa". He added, "I have a little sister, Flory. She's a few years older than you. The rest of my sisters are older than me...oh, they used to drive me crazy". Lesniewski sounded amused. "Boys...all the time, they always talked about boys. But not you, maluch. You talk about missions, guns and Germans".

"Why does everyone call you, Papa?" Nelly asked.

"I'm not really sure". Lesniewski admitted. "But Skip and Alex...they started to call me that when we first met". He said, "I'll bet it has something to do with our group".

Nelly looked interested. "A group?"

"Yeah...I've got a songbook of Western songs". He said, "I play the guitar, and we all sing".

She looked mildly surprised. "Really?"

Lesniewski nodded and smiled. "We're okay".

"I don't know a lot of songs...just one and maybe some...Scottish songs".

"I can teach you, maluch". He smiled. "You can join the group".

A large smile spread across Nelly's face. "Okay". She whispered eagerly. And then Nelly told him softly, "I'm sorry we didn't talk before, Papa...but I'm happy we're talking now".

And while Lesniewski smiled, Sheehy pulled a face. "Pass me a bucket to spew into".

"Ah, John...". Lesniewski sighed. "You know I'm a boxer, right?"

That silenced Sheehy.

Nelly looked up at Lesniewski and chuckled quietly.

Lesniewski sent her a friendly wink in return.

Not a lot happened during their recon mission – not right away. Sheehy slept, Nelly and Lesniewski stayed awake and kept a close eye on the house. She found her new friend to be an interesting sort. He was a gentle giant, much like Toye but there was something else about him that Nelly was familiar with. But she didn't need to ask him. Nelly could work it out by herself. Like her, Lesniewski thought outside the box and had a certain mindset when it came to combat. He wasn't an agent, but he was something along those lines.

"You know I was an agent, right?"

Sending her a smile, Lesniewski nodded.

Nelly continued, "Where were you?"

"Do you know General Andres?"

"Yeah". Nelly replied, "He's head of the Polish armed forces. He was imprisoned. And then released by the Russians to create the Polish army".

"Yes". Lesniewski confirmed. "I met him...along with five other guys who could speak Polish. We trained thirty miles from London, and we become a part of the Office of Strategic Services. And we were told we were going to jump into Poland and help the Polish Resistance. But our mission was scrubbed, the Russians had overrun our drop zone. So, we were sent back to Northern Ireland. And an Officer asks the five of us where we'd like to be – I said the Airborne. And they placed me in the 506th and Easy Company".

Nelly felt a smile tug on the corners of her mouth. "I knew we were...similar".

He made a hum of agreement and then said, "You dropped into Holland. Do you know anything about Poland?"

Nelly did – Dieter gave her some information. However, Nelly didn't think now was the best time to share the disturbing news with Lesniewski. So, she lied. "No...sorry, Papa".