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The patrol was to take off close to Dog Company's position, so, the men settled inside the basement of Dog's CP, where they were treated to a hot meal and coffee. Soup was served – magot-less soup. Sitting herself down between Babe and Jackson, Nelly grabbed her spoon. Lieutenant Speirs was present – he was making his rounds on the men, making sure they were okay and knew what they were doing. Nelly knew exactly what she was doing – she was staying far away from Jones and Webster.
"What boat are you on?" Babe asked.
"Yours". Nelly replied.
"That's the third boat, right?"
"Yes".
Rolling his eyes with a sigh, Babe asked, "What's wrong?"
"Why? Do I look…annoyed?" Nelly mumbled.
"Yeah!" Jackson and Babe both said.
Setting her spoon down, Nelly told them quietly, "It's David".
"Right". Babe sounded angry, "What the fuck has he done now?"
"Maybe…I am stupid sometimes". Nelly said, "But…he knew that…and he…he told Jones about Donnie being tired and stuff".
Jackson sent her a frown. "Oh, you're not stupid". He expressed kindly.
"It's okay…I know I am". Nelly's voice softened. "I have…strengths and stuff…but like…people make me stupid".
"Bricks – "
"listen…". Nelly looked between them. "They…conspired behind Donnie's back…that's not okay. And then…David said Jones could lead…Jones can't lead…he never could…so why? Why did he suggest that to him?"
Jackson sighed and said, "I don't know, Nelly".
Standing behind his cousin, Speirs looked between the three of them. "Everything alright?"
Babe sent Speirs a tight smile, "All good, sir".
"Yeah, we're swell, sir". Jackson added.
"Hey, sir?" Babe asked.
"Yeah, Heffron?"
Babe joked, "How come Regiment can't go over and get those prisoners themselves, huh?"
Jackson's eyes widened slightly with horror.
But Speirs chuckled and shook his head, "We should ask them".
Babe smiled. "I'll make a note, sir".
Turning around slightly, Nelly looked up at Speirs. "I'll bet…you want to come too, sir".
"I thought about sneaking on one of the boats". Speirs said to her with a tiny grin. "Is there any room for me?"
"You could swim again, sir?" Nelly said and her eyebrow raised softly.
Spiers hummed out an amused noise. "Suppose I could, huh? Get another Purple Heart".
Nelly looked serious, "I was…joking. Please don't do that again".
Speirs smiled. "Kid, I was joking too".
Babe leaned forward and reminded Nelly quietly, "We talk about sarcasm, Bricks. Remember?"
She briefly looked at Babe. "I remember".
"And I know, we 'gotta lay it on thick for 'ya but sometimes, that ruins the joke".
Giving Babe a nod, Nelly looked back up at Speirs. "I'm glad…you won't swim again, sir".
A fond smile reached Speirs's lips. He clapped Nelly's shoulder. "Eat up, Nelly".
"Yes, sir".
Speirs left the three of them and moved on to the next set of Paratroopers. Nelly dipped her spoon inside the soup and brought some of the watery broth out. She wasn't hungry. But she didn't feel overly nervous either. It was Webster and Jones; they were pecking around in her brain like morning birds looking for worms. She'd hate to think that Webster was being fake toward Nelly – that his kindness and friendship weren't real. Because she did like Webster – Nelly wanted to be his friend.
Setting her spoon down, Nelly rose to her feet.
"Where 'ya going, Bricks?" Babe asked.
"I'll be…right back".
As she approached Webster, Nelly found he wasn't alone. He was sitting with Jones. Standing a few feet away from them, her fingers rubbed together nervously. Nelly had every intention of speaking with Webster and getting to the bottom of things. But the man was with Jones, Nelly would rather stick needles in her eyes than approach Webster while he sat with Lieutenant Jones.
Nelly thought back to seeing Webster again on the truck. He was kind and genuine. And there was no hidden motive behind that – as far as Nelly could tell, anyway. Nelly thought life was a lot easier when she had a group of best friends. Now, she had to start new friendships and find out again, who would remain friends and who wouldn't. She'd always have Malarkey, but he had friends outside of Nelly. And she had Babe. And most of the men in her squad. But no one could ever come close to what she had with Malarkey, and what she had with Alex, Skip and Toye.
"Nelly?"
Blinking out of her trance, Nelly's eyes shifted to who called her name.
Martin sent her a tiny smile. "You good, kid?"
"Yeah". She replied quietly. "Johnny?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you ever…hear from…". Nelly couldn't even say their names.
"Bill?" Martin guessed.
She nodded.
"I did actually". Martin said, "I wasn't there when it happened, and he wrote to me – telling me everything…every last detail". His voice lowered, "I was at Battalion HQ at the time, this was in January, the 12th…anyway, Winters and everybody wanted me to read it out, you know?"
Nelly nodded – showing him she was listening.
"Well, I…". Martin almost appeared embarrassed. "I burst into tears – right in front of them. I just ran right out of HQ". He said, "And I wrote to Bill and told him, and he couldn't believe it". Martin let out a sigh and said, "I made him promise not to tell me about his leg again".
Frowning a little, Nelly squeezed his arm.
Martin sent her a kind smile. "Anyway, have you heard from – "
"no". Nelly cut him off before Martin could say his name.
"He wrote to Malarkey". Martin said, "But I'm not sure what he said".
"I'll ask him…one day". Nelly released Martin's arm.
"You should". Martin said to her softly. "It might help".
"Oh…I'm okay".
The smile on his face saddened. "Ah, kid – you ain't okay".
"I am…". Nelly argued weakly.
"You and Donnie are the same". Martin said, "You both bottle shit up. Sometimes that works but sometimes it doesn't". He shrugged. "After I read Bill's letter, I felt a little lighter somehow. Just do yourself a favour – don't run like I did". Martin clapped her shoulder.
"Right". Nelly said quietly.
"One more thing – no helmets tonight, it's a full moon". He said, "Nothing rattles, nothing shines".
"Okay, Johnny".
Martin then gestured toward the bench, "And eat your damn soup, kid".
...
She hated the water – mostly because she couldn't swim. But as it was nearing 0100 hours, she had no other choice but to go now. Nelly sat on the grassy bank with the rest of the patrol. Stare lingering onto the seemingly calm water, she watched the reflection of the moon dance gingerly against the ripples. Nelly wasn't the only person who couldn't swim – Sisk couldn't either. Two non-swimmers on the same patrol – it didn't sit well with Nelly.
"Alright, let's go". Martin ordered at exactly 0100 hours.
Everyone got inside their boats and grabbed a rope, which they'd use to drag them across the river. With a grimace, Nelly got into the rubber boat, sitting just behind Babe with Shifty, and Jackson behind her. Each passenger pulled the boat along with the rope, ensuring they moved quickly but very carefully. However, as Nelly neared the centre of the river, the boat behind her capsized. All four passengers were dumped into freezing water – Cobb, Sisk, Garcia and Alley.
Sisk struggled not to drown. But luckily, Cobb grabbed him and got Sisk back to shore.
The rest stayed focused and continued to pull themselves across the river.
When they bumped against land, Babe got out and steadied the boat for the rest to get out safely. Nelly was second to step onto the grass verge. On her stomach, she moved up to meet Martin and McClung at the top. McClung was lead scout because apparently, the man could smell Germans – Nelly doubted that rumour but believed him to be a great lead scout. The grass was cold and wet from the melting snow. But once at the top, she saw dark buildings and open fields ahead of them. And in the distance, she saw the three-story building they'd soon enter.
There were a few traps along the way – small alarm systems that would alert the Germans should the Americans ever decide to step into their line. But Martin and McClung easily took care of them with wire cutters. Nothing the Germans set up so far was serious, just barbed wire with cans tangled through. If they stuck to a path, they wouldn't step on any mines.
One noise and it would blow their cover.
It was incredibly tense and frightening.
The men took cover along the way – behind carts and sheds. They moved up in twos. The closer they got to the German OP, the tenser it became. Nelly ducked behind a shed with Babe and her eyes flickered toward the full moon. She could almost see their covering fire across the calm river. Babe gave her arm a tap and they moved up toward a stacked pile of logs.
The whole patrol took cover behind the logs.
Martin looked up from left to right, making sure everyone was present. "Powers, Wynn. Secure the left flank". He then turned to Jones, "Lieutenant, take Grant and Heffron, secure the right perimeter and crossroads".
Jones nodded.
"Clear?" Martin asked. After a short pause, Martin ordered, "Security out, go".
The fire team moved out quickly and the rest filled the gaps they had left behind.
"Come on". Martin kept his voice low, "Let's go".
McClung led the way toward the German's OP. It was a fast but careful advance toward the farmhouse. The ground under their boots was muddy and wet – the snow and ice from the harsh and unforgiving winter were beginning to thaw. Nelly's boot slipped a few times, but she never stumbled or fell. Though, she was beginning to feel nervous.
Once reaching the house, they moved to the side and got down.
Martin assembled the rifle grenade.
Behind her, Nelly could hear Vest breathing heavily. And in front of her, she saw Jackson take out a grenade he'd eventually toss threw the basement window. In her musette bag, were the charges – it was Nelly's job to set them up and hide them in the house. The charges were carefully concealed inside a small, green satchel.
Moving away from the wall, Martin got down on one knee and faced the side of the house. After a few seconds, he set the rifle grenade off and fired into the top window. And in the blink of an eye, Jackson got up and raced toward the side entrance of the house.
"Jackson!" Martin hissed and began to follow after him, "Wait!"
Baffled by Jackson's actions, Nelly followed Martin. Jackson raced up the steps, unclipped his grenade, kicked the door down and the grenade went off. Nelly's arm raised toward her face, to guard herself against flying shrapnel – Martin did the same. When the explosion died down, Martin and Nelly raced up the steps and found Jackson lying down part-way inside the house.
There to greet them were two stunned Germans and one wounded.
Martin stepped over Jackson after checking on him and raised his rifle. "Keep your hands where I can see them!"
Jackson was unconscious. Which was good because the grenade had gone off right in his face. It must have felt incredibly painful. A large piece of shrapnel was digging into his brain and part of his face was melting off – Nelly had never seen wounds like it before.
Grabbing a hold of Nelly's arm, Martin pushed her forward. "Set up those charges!"
Their security team opened fire – the Germans were now very aware of their presence.
Moving away from Jackson, Nelly stumbled forward and walked under an archway and into a kitchen. Behind her, Martin was barking out orders. The Germans were yelling – crying out that their friend was badly hurt from Jackson's grenade.
"Keep those Krauts quiet!" Martin snapped.
Setting the satchel down on a counter, Nelly began wiring the charges up to set a time delay on them. She had to be nimble about it and it was hard when her hands were shaking. It was noisy – too noisy. The Germans were yelling, Vest was sobbing over Jackson and Martin's barking and loud commands weren't helping. And to top it all off, Jackson was seriously hurt. Nelly could feel herself struggling to remain calm and stay focused. Whenever Nelly felt that much stress, she'd lose her cool.
Slamming a hand down on the counter, Nelly looked through the archway.
And she screamed, "Shut the fuck up!"
The silence only lasted a few seconds. It was more or less, a stunned silence.
Martin said to Webster, "Help Nelly!"
The noise came back again, and Nelly's hands continued to shake. And Webster took over. Nelly's hand rubbed her forehead while she took a step back to give Webster room. She could feel her chest and throat beginning to tighten. Now wasn't the best time for a "shell shock episode". It was chaotic and Nelly's insides felt like a mess. Hands dragging across her eyelids, Nelly then opened her eyes and moved through the archway toward Martin because he had called for her.
"Ramirez! Pick Jackson up! We're moving out!" Martin barked. His head sharply turned to the left and he looked toward the archway. "Webster! Are you ready?!"
"Almost!"
Martin grabbed a hold of Nelly's arm, and he looked down at her. "You stay with me".
Nelly gave a sharp nod. She was breathing heavily. Eyes wide and dancing quickly around the room. Her stare landed on Jackson again. Vest was screaming. And Ramirez had Jackson over his shoulder – ready to move out at Martin's command.
"McClung!" Martin yelled over at him, "Get the two Krauts to carry their buddy – Webster, tell them that!"
Outside, the fire intensified.
It was only a matter of time before the Germans brought out heavier weaponry.
"We all move out together!" Martin yelled, "Are we ready?!"
They were ready.
"let's go!"