...
Hunched over a field manual at the desk, Nora worked through a slight headache from drinking one too many beers last night. Shortly after breakfast, Winters put Nora back to work while he attended church. Winters wouldn't be back until later in the afternoon, he had arranged to meet with an elderly couple at their home for lunch after church. Winters had met Mr and Mrs Barnes, the elderly couple, one morning at the graveyard. According to Winters, they were quite fond of him and enjoyed his company. The couple had lost their only son during the Battle of Britain. In many ways, Winters helped them cope with their grief. And with Winters not around to hover over her shoulder and make sure Nora was working, she found it hard to focus. Nora's eyes were constantly looking out of the window, where she watched golden leaves fall from the trees and Officers walking leisurely around the garden. Nora didn't have a garden back in Amsterdam, they lived in a flat…
Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open, and Nora almost fell into a deep panic. Rising quickly to her feet, she spun around and spotted Sobel standing there. He didn't look happy; his anger was directed at Nora, and she tried to think what she had to apologise for. But before Nora could think of anything, Sobel spoke…
"You. Come with me, now". His voice was sharp and cold.
"Yes, sir". Putting her pencil down, Nora quickly made her way toward Sobel. But her pace wasn't quick enough…
"Hurry!" Sobel snapped.
So, Nora practically ran toward Sobel. Once reaching his side, Sobel roughly took the girl's arm and began pulling her down the long corridor toward the stairs. Nora tried to keep her mouth shut, she tried her best not to question Sobel's intentions, but the act had her worried. So, she asked him, "What's happening, sir?" Nora didn't get a response, and her mind drifted back to somewhat similar moments with the Nazis – where they'd drag her out of bed and force her to follow them into an unknown but always terrifying situation. Nora could feel her heart beating wildly against her chest, threatening to bust through her skin. And a horrible, nauseating feeling began to fester in her stomach…
Sobel let go of Nora's arm when they reached the dining hall. "Set the table for Sunday lunch. Colonel Sink is joining us". He ordered. "Don't break anything. And don't mess this up". It was a threat. Sobel even looked threatening. And Nora cowered slightly at his stare and warning tone.
"Yes, sir". She got out between rapid breaths.
Sobel didn't say another word. He left and slammed the door behind him. Nora was glad he took his leave. Back pressed up against the wall, she soon slid down onto the floor and stared out in front of her, with wide and terrified eyes. Nora tried to slow her breathing down. Eyes closing, she could feel a build-up of tears under her eyelids. It was a horrible feeling, to be made to feel as though you had done something wrong when you hadn't done anything at all. Guilty of nothing. Nora was no stranger to those feelings. Captain Sobel probably just wanted to keep Nora on her toes and stop her from becoming complacent. But he had terrified the girl, and he brought back a huge amount of trauma. Nora couldn't possibly work whilst in freeze mode…
But she had to get on with it.
Rising to her feet, Nora cleared her throat and approached the glass cabinets where the plates and silverware were kept. Her hands shook ever so slightly as Nora began setting white plates down upon leather mats on the table. It was easy to set a table, Nora had done it plenty of times. And sat on its own in the centre of the table, was an empty crystal vase. An idea suddenly came to mind. Once the plates and cutlery were set, Nora exited the dining room and went through the backdoor. In the garden, she searched for flowers to pick. It was mild outside, and Nora took her time walking around the garden. She walked by other Officers, who were sitting at a picnic table and enjoying a cigarette. They didn't take notice of Nora as she walked by. She passed them as if she were a ghost or a breath of wind.
There was one Officer, however, who did take notice of Nora. He was alone and sat down on a wooden bench near a gathering of yellow flowers. When their eyes met, Nora quickly broke the stare, only to look at the flowers. Hands somewhat nervously rubbing together, she approached the bench and knelt by the yellow flowers…
"I wouldn't pick them if I were you…". The Officer warned her. And while speaking, Nora had quickly risen to her feet to face him. He raised an eyebrow at the girl. "They've been planted. You shouldn't pick flowers that aren't wild in a garden".
Nora explained herself. "They were for the vase, sir…in the dining room".
"We don't care for flowers, Lieutenant". He said, "We're men".
"Oh, sorry…". Nora said, "I just…I thought they would look pretty, sir".
He snorted and gave his head a faint shake. "We don't care about that either…not unless it's a pretty woman".
Nora bobbed her head. She wasn't sure how to respond to that…
"You must be Clopper, right?" He asked. "They put you in Easy Company then?"
"Yes, sir". Nora replied.
"You're young". He observed. "And they made you a Lieutenant…".
"I'm treated more like an enlisted, sir". She said, "The ranks only for my protection".
"I see…". His dark eyes looked Nora up and down. He asked, "And you're coping with all this?" He gave a vague gesture around him.
Nora said, "It's a lot easier than back home, sir".
He huffed. "Yeah…I'll bet". He placed a cigarette between his lips. "I'm Lieutenant Speirs. From Dog Company". He said, "I think it's nuts they've let a girl enlist. But I'm sure Colonel Sink accepted you for a reason. I hope you'll prove yourself useful out there, and not some kid who can't handle it".
Speirs appeared to be very direct. Nora wasn't so sure about his approach. She gave a faint shrug and admitted, "I'm not the bravest there is, sir…but I hope I can help in some ways".
"You've 'gotta be brave out there". Speirs sounded as though he was speaking from experience and Nora almost thought he had already seen combat. "But what do I know? This is my first war; I've never seen combat before".
Nora said, "It's my first war too, sir".
Speirs reminded her, "But you already know what it's like. We don't".
Nora somewhat disagreed. "I know what some of it's like, sir…but I've never been a soldier or a Paratrooper in combat before". He wasn't trying to be mean, but Speirs's tone said otherwise. Nora didn't want to stir up a disagreement between them. "We'll both have to wait and see, sir".
"Yeah". Speirs mumbled. After taking a drag from his cigarette, he gave the flowers a nod and told Nora. "I won't tell if you 'wanna pick them".
A tiny smile appeared on Nora's lips. "Thank you, Lieutenant Speirs". Kneeling on the path, she began picking yellow flowers for the vase. Perhaps Speirs wasn't so bad after all…
Speirs remarked, "I hope they enjoy the flowers, Clopper".
Smiling once more, Nora rose to her feet. "So long, Lieutenant Speirs".
"Yeah, bye".
Once her task was completed, Sobel ordered Nora to her room with a sandwich while the Officers had lunch with Colonel Sink. She wasn't invited, apparently. The sandwich had a thin slice of watery cold meat and a tiny amount of butter spread onto one slice of bread. Nora had suffered with worse meals. In Poland, Nora was only given a bowl of watery soup for supper – it was her only meal of the day. During a short lunch break, they had coffee. And for breakfast, they had coffee. Nora hated coffee now, it made her sick to her stomach. Once she had polished off her sandwich, Nora was hunched back over her homework…
Had it not been for Winters arriving just three hours before supper, Nora might have stayed in her hunched position until her body decided to stay that way forever. Cracking her back, Nora looked over her shoulder and sent the Lieutenant a tiny smile. Winters greeted Nora back with a smile of his own, he appeared to be very happy. Shrugging off his jacket, Winters grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from the desk. Crouched by the desk, he took a corner and used it to lean against. Nora watched him with mild confusion, but she never asked what had him so happy. Before Winters began jotting down any words, he looked at Nora.
"Are you happy here?"
Nora gave a nod. "I am, sir".
Winters asked, "How would you feel about living in another house?"
She frowned softly. "You…you don't want to stay with me anymore, sir?"
"Oh, no – quite the opposite, Nora". Winters assured her with a kind smile. "Mr and Mrs Barnes have offered us a room in their home. It'll be good to stay with them. It's crowded here and we'll have more space".
Nora smiled and nodded. "That sounds fine, sir".
"Excellent". Winters stared down at the piece of paper and began to write a letter. "I'm going to send this to Major Strayer after supper. Once he signs it, we can leave".
At least Sobel couldn't barge into the room anymore and frighten Nora. Leaning back against the chair, Nora placed the end of her pencil against her notepad. Nora thought it could be great living in a family environment. The Barnes's certainly had Winters's approval, so, they must have been good people. It was comforting to know, there were still good people around. Nora's eyes looked out of the window, where she watched the sun slowly begin to set. It looked like the sky was on fire, as it blazed with orange and red from the setting sun. Fire made Nora feel uncomfortable – for a long time, it was a fear of Nora's, to have the house catch on fire. But soon, Nora would be confronted with fire many times in Poland. Only, there was a terrible stench which followed the roaring flames…
"There!" Winters smiled. "All done".
Taking in a breath, Nora briefly closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she faced Winters and sent him a faint smile…
"Are you alright?" Winters shot Nora a frown. "You look pale. Are you sick?"
Nora gave her head a shake. "I'm fine, sir".
"Good". Winters smiled softly at her. "I'll hand this over to Strayer after supper. He'll probably agree, so, I'd start packing if I were you, Nora".
"Yes, sir". Pushing the chair back, Nora rose to her feet and wandered over toward her bed. Grabbing her old duffel bag, Nora began to fold away her nightclothes and PT gear. She could feel Winters's stare on the back of her head. But then his eyes soon moved toward her arm, where he noticed something for the first time…
"What is that?" Winters approached Nora and looked down at her forearm. "Is that a bandage? Are you injured?"
Nora explained, "An old wound, sir…from work". She said, "I don't like looking at the scar, sir".
"Does it cause you any bother?"
"No, sir". Nora quietly replied. "None at all, sir".
…
With Major Strayer's approval, Winters and Nora planned on leaving for the Barnes's the next day. Just after supper, Nora left the schoolhouse and hopped over the fence to visit Joe. Only, it was different now because more of the enlisted men were familiar with Nora. She received smiles and nods as she walked across the field and toward Joe, who was sitting outside his Nissan hut. It was getting cooler now at night. The sun had long set and the air was cold. Nora wore her jacket and shoved both hands into her pockets while sitting next to Joe on the step…
"Lieutenant Winters found us a place to stay…". Nora began explaining to Joe. "He got us a room with an old married couple. They live above their store".
"That sounds nice". Joe commented. "Are you happy?"
Nora gave a casual shrug. "I'll be further away from you…".
Joe sent Nora a smile. "You'll be fine, Nora".
"Yeah". Nora drew out a quiet sigh and stared up at Joe, checking for any new cuts or bruises. He appeared fine. Nora hoped he was finally settling in. Satisfied Joe's face was fine, Nora faced out in front of her again.
"When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow". Nora replied. "Lieutenant Winters had me pack before supper".
Joe said, "He's a good man".
Nora agreed, "He is". She mentioned in a light voice, "Lieutenant Winters gets very excited when they serve ice cream".
Joe smiled. "A man of good taste". He asked, "What's your favourite dessert?"
Nora took a moment to think, but every sweet treat came to mind. "I cannot make such an impossible decision, Joe".
Joe chuckled and said, "Yeah, fair enough…everything's pretty good, huh?"
Nora said, "Maybe someone will love me…as much as Lieutenant Winters loves ice cream". When Joe chuckled again, Nora smiled. She faced him. "Have you ever loved someone?"
The chuckle died on his lips and was replaced by a smile. Joe nodded. "Sure…I've fallen for a few girls. But I was a kid, you know? Just a dumb teenager in love…". He snorted. "Those girls must've broken my heart a thousand times, but I still wanted to search for love again".
"Why?"
Joe gave a shrug. "Because it's probably the best feeling in the world, that's why". He corrected himself, "In fact…I know it's the best feeling in the world".
Nora's stare lingered on the side of Joe's face for a moment before facing the front again. "Do you think that's why we want to live so badly, so we can fall in love?"
"I think it's the perfect reason to stick around". Joe said, "But love is in everything, Nora. Even in your desserts and Lieutenant Winters's ice cream".
Nora smiled small at Joe's comment. "That's why chocolate brings people joy, Joe".
"Exactly". He cast her an amused smile. But then Joe's smile softened, and he gave Nora's hair a gentle ruffle. "Don't worry about falling in love and shit right now, okay? We've got a war to win".
Nora's insides warmed when Joe gave her hair an affectionate ruffle. The gesture reminded her of someone back home; someone who had loved Nora a lot. With a blithe smile, Nora stared off into the distance and thought about that person for a moment. But memories of them didn't stay happy for long, they turned dark and traumatic when Nora remembered the day, she lost them. The smile had run away from Nora's face when she remembered that day…
Joe gave Nora's side a gentle nudge to prompt her up. "You should head back, Nora. It's getting late".
"Yeah, right". Nora rose to her feet and turned around to face Joe. "I don't think I'll be back here tomorrow after supper, Joe…Mr and Mrs Barnes live by the church".
"I'll be fine". Joe sent Nora a friendly wink. "Take care of yourself, alright?"
"You too". Nora sent him a faint smile. "So long, Joe".
"See you around, Nora – goodnight".
Hopping back over the fence, Nora began following the gravelled road up toward the large schoolhouse. Behind her, she could hear faint conversations coming from the men in Easy Company, who were enjoying their last moments of freedom before lights out. It had been a short visit; Nora had spent less than half an hour with Joe. She would miss their talks after supper, but Nora looked forward to being in a somewhat normal environment again with the Barnes's and Lieutenant Winters. Normal. Nora forgot what normal felt like. Living a day-to-day life in the army wasn't normal and neither was Nora's life before Easy Company. But at least she was much safer with Easy Company. Safe, wasn't a feeling Nora was used to, but she was slowly learning to accept the feeling. Still, Nora couldn't help but look over her shoulder a few times. Worried someone might be following her, intending to cause Nora harm…
…No one was following Nora, she was alone. Hands back inside her trouser pockets, she faced the front and continued following the gravel path toward the schoolhouse. Entering the home, Nora spotted Major Strayer standing with Welsh under the chandelier. She saluted both officers before quietly slipping past them and walking up the stairs. The Officers barely took notice of Nora, and she ascended the grand staircase like a ghost secretly haunting its place of residence.