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By 2330 hours, Easy Company and 2nd Battalion reached Carentan, where Colonel Sink had established Regimental headquarters. Winters spent the next forty minutes making sure his men were bedded down inside buildings before finding a place for his Officers to rest. A hotel, the same hotel that had halted Easy's advance into town not too long ago, when a MG-42 had blasted its bullets down the intersection. Welsh thought it was hilarious, and he even poked his head outside the hole he had created from his grenade. And to celebrate, Welsh decided to get drunk and forget about the horrors he had seen so far in combat…
The hotel offered them beds, with mattresses, pillows and a nice blanket. And while Winters lay down on a soft bed, he soon noticed his bedroom door open and the corner of a mattress poking into the room. Nora followed behind the mattress, as she pushed it into his room. A tiny chuckle escaped Winters's mouth at the scene. Of course, she wouldn't want to sleep alone, and Winters didn't mind the company. Once Nora set the mattress down by Winters's bed, she left the room to retrieve pillows and a blanket from next door…
"Nora". Buck greeted as he walked down the corridor, heading for the stairs.
She stopped and turned to watch the Lieutenant. "Where are you going, Buck?"
Buck stopped at the top of the staircase and replied, "I'm 'gonna bunk with the fellas".
"Oh…". Nora smiled small with a nod. And she asked, "Will you see Hoobs?"
"Maybe?" Buck gave a shrug. "I was planning on hanging around with Toye and Bill".
"Okay, it's…". Nora gave a wave of her hand, as if dismissing herself. "It's fine, then". She cast Buck a smile, "I hope you sleep well, Buck".
"You too champ". Buck smiled back. While walking down the stairs, Buck cursed suddenly, which caused Nora to stop in her tracks. "Shit…Harry".
Frowning, Nora moved toward the stairs and soon spotted Welsh passed out at the bottom of the staircase. Buck had to step over the Lieutenant, in order to get by. Nora sighed and walked to the bottom of the stairs, where she began shaking Welsh's shoulder…
"Sir?" Nora called out to him, "Are you okay, sir?"
Welsh made a grunting sound and then mumbled, "Go 'way…".
"Yeah, fine". Nora let go of his shoulder and turned to head back up the stairs again…
"Wait". Welsh mumbled, "Don't actually go…".
Nora sat down on the step above Welsh but sat opposite the Lieutenant, so she could watch his face. "Okay then". Nora said, "I'll just sit here, sir".
Welsh huffed and opened his eyes, staring at Nora. "You hate me, huh?"
"No". Nora replied with a shake of her head. "I don't hate anyone, sir".
"Not even the Krauts who killed your brother?" Welsh asked without thinking.
Nora's eyebrows twitched, creating a tiny frown. She could feel her hands curl into fists, Nora appeared visibly tense now. Welsh didn't look apologetic by his upfront and insensitive question; he was too drunk to register just how harsh the question was. But he was right. Nora shrugged and said, "I don't think about them, sir".
Welsh remarked, "I would…".
"I'm not you, sir". Nora's voice had a sharp edge to it, "I'm nothing like you".
Welsh looked pleased with himself, when he said, "See…you do hate me". He added, "Don't worry. A lot of kids hate me…I was a teacher – history teacher. I'm used to it, kid".
Nora drew out a quiet sigh as she scooted down onto the step next to Welsh. There, she told him once more, "I don't hate you, sir".
Welsh pointed out, "We don't talk much, huh?" He said, "Maybe we don't have a lot in common or something…". He sighed and closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Are you good with clothes?"
"Good with clothes?" She questioned.
"Yeah…like style and shit…you see, I'm trying to decide how I'm 'gonna pay for a wedding dress for Kitty, you know? They're expensive". Welsh said, "I figured we could use my reserve chute – the silk, you know?"
Nora nodded along with him and said, "That could work, sir".
"So…". Welsh opened his eyes and smiled at Nora. "You are good with clothes".
Nora snorted out a faint laugh and shook her head. "I don't think that's how they'll remember me, sir".
"How would they remember you?"
Nora shook her head again and rubbed the back of her neck, feeling uncomfortable by the question. "I don't know, sir".
Welsh rephrased his question, "How do you want them to remember you?"
Nora sighed quietly and said, "Just somehow who tried, I guess".
"Someone who tried…". Welsh repeated with a smile. His eyes closed once more. "Can't go wrong with trying, huh? Cause at least you tried".
"What about you, sir?" Nora asked, "How do you want to be remembered?"
Welsh said, "I don't 'wanna be remembered, kid. I just 'wanna marry Kitty and start a family with the woman I love".
Nora smiled softly at his reply, "That's…very possible, sir". Her soft smile slowly dwindled as she thought back to Welsh's first question, about his brother's killers. "I want to hate them so much, sir…but I just feel sad, whenever I think about Boris and what happened to him".
Welsh was quiet for a moment, as if his drunken mind was trying to process Nora's confession. Eventually, he said, "It would kill me inside if I saw someone, I love go down like that, kid".
"I just…". Nora sighed heavily. She gave her head a faint shake and said, "I don't think about it all the time. When I think of Boris, I try to think of the memories we had together".
"What's your favourite one?" Welsh asked.
Nora thought for a moment before giving an answer, "Whenever we went to the movies, and he'd laugh at something funny on the screen…". She smiled, "Or when he'd pretend to be Mr Stufface and…".
"Mr what?" Welsh cut her off with an amused look. "Stufface? Who the hell is that?"
"A monster". Nora replied, smiling still. "I would hide under the covers from Mr Stufface and then he would…jump on the bed and try to get me".
Welsh huffed out a faint laugh and closed his eyes, "Tell me something else, kid…".
"Well…". Nora said, "Boris had the best stories. My friend and I, we would sit at the table in the kitchen after school and Boris would make us a snack…and he would tell us about the little folk who lived in clocks. Boris had us believe that tiny people would turn the clocks – every clock in the whole world".
"And you believed him?"
"Yes, sir…I was seven". Nora came to her defence.
"Nora, Harry?" Winters was standing at the top of the stairs…
Nora stared up at the man and immediately apologised, "I'm sorry, sir…I've been gone a while".
"It's okay, Nora". Winters assured the girl before facing Welsh. "Harry, we have perfectly good beds up here".
"For the last time…I'm engaged". Welsh remarked with a smirk.
Winters rolled his eyes at the remark and said, "Get upstairs, Harry. You're creating a fire hazard".
Welsh stumbled onto his feet and was escorted into a bedroom, where he promptly lay down on the soft bed and fell asleep. Nora was quite comfortable on her mattress on the ground, she was happy to be near Winters. After blowing out the candles, Winters crouched by Nora and gave her hair a gentle ruffle…
"You 'gonna be okay down there, Nora?"
"Just fine, sir". Nora assured him with a tiny smile. "Lieutenant Winters?"
"Yeah?" Winters's hand smoothed back Nora's untidy fringe. "You need a haircut…". He commented quietly, as Nora thought of how to word her sentence.
"I'll get Sonny to cut it tomorrow". Nora said, before telling Winters, "I was wrong about Lieutenant Welsh, sir".
Winters hummed thoughtfully, before telling the girl, "I was wrong about him as well, when we first met. I read his file, about his transfers…he was a hothead, kept on getting into fights and demoted back to Sergeant".
Nora was surprised by that new information. "Really?"
"Lieutenant Welsh is taller than you, but he's shorter than most of the men…". Winters said with a shrug, "I guess he had to stick up for himself a lot and fight off the bigger guys".
Nora huffed softly before commenting, "We have that in common…".
"Yeah". Winters said softly, with a gentle smile. "But you both have a lot of people fighting beside you now".
His comment caused Nora's stomach to pool with warmth. She smiled small and said, "I am very thankful for everything, sir".
"We're all thankful right now, kiddo". Winters's nose twitched when it picked up the stench of both him and Nora. "Gosh…". He chuckled. "We really need to shower".
"I stink, sir?" Nora faked surprised. "And you let me walk around smelling like shit, sir?"
"Hey!" Winters smiled with another chuckle. "Cut it out with the cussing, huh? You never used to curse".
"I'm sorry". Though, Nora didn't appear very sorry with an amused smile on her face. She quietly chuckled and then with a sigh, the chuckle ended.
"Get some sleep, Nora". Winters said while rising to his feet. "I'll see you in the morning".
Nora rolled onto her side, eyes closing. "Goodnight, sir".
…
To give himself time to heal, Winters placed Welsh temporally in charge of Easy Company, while he gave his injured leg a well-deserved rest. Nora did what she could to ensure Winters got the rest he needed – she would fetch him food, water, and anything he required. Winters never did ask for any help, Nora did it because she wanted to. And when Nora wasn't tending to Winters, she was with her friends. The most fun Nora had was searching through buildings with Hoobler, where they'd look for food, alcohol, or anything of use…
"Holy shit…". Hoobler dropped to his knees in front of a pile of rubble and picked up a pair of baby-bootees – a knitted, pink pair.
Nora stood behind Hoobler and frowned down at the item of baby clothing. "Do you think she's alive?"
It took Hoobler a few moments to respond. "Yeah". Though, he didn't sound very convincing at first. "Yeah, of course, she is". Hoobler said, with more confidence. "They probably left and went someplace safe".
Nora and Hoobler weren't the only ones who decided to search through buildings and houses. Alton More and Malarkey were both eager to find a bag of chocolate that was rumoured to be around Carentan. The two friends wondered over to Hoobler and Nora, curious as to what they had both found. At the sight of the baby bootees, More dropped to his knees beside Hoobler and tears began forming in his eyes…
"We 'gotta get the hell out of here, Malark". More's voice was almost inaudible. And he broke down, sobbing into his hands.
"Oh, Jesus…". Malarkey sighed sadly, while Hoobler wrapped an arm around More's shaking shoulders.
"Take it easy, buddy". Hoobler soothed the crying man…
More sniffed wetly, breath hitching. "You don't get it…". He sobbed. "It makes me think of my family back home".
"Nah, we get it". Hoobler said, "We understand, buddy".
"Your family are safe, pal". Malarkey reminded More. "They're back in Casper, Wyoming, waiting for you to get home".
Nora swallowed down a tearful lump and looked away from More, before she started crying with him. More had a wife and a baby back home, praying for his safe return. Malarkey and Hoobler were right, More's family were more than safe back in America. Still, it was hard seeing the dark reality of war. When Malarkey eventually got More back onto his feet, they moved on from the scene and headed back to their billets. Hoobler got up, the bootees still in his hands. He cast Nora a sad smile and blinked, to rid the stinging sensation in his eyes…
Nora took the bootees away from Hoobler's hold and said, "We should bury them".
"Where?" Hoobler quietly asked.
"I think I know of a place…".
…In one of the gardens, there was a patch of earth dedicated to wildflowers. Nora found a shovel inside the shed and got to work, digging a small hole next to a colourful bunch of flowers…
"You don't think she's alive". Hoobler's comment wasn't a question. "But maybe she is, right? Maybe they got out of here".
"I hope so, Hoobs". Nora said, "But just in case, we'll put her shoes by the flowers". Covering the pink bootees with dirt, Nora took off her helmet and rose to her feet. The two young soldiers stared down at the make-shift grave, feeling all sorts of emotions.
After a few moments of silence, Hoobler said, "It's quiet here".
Nora put her helmet back on, "It's weird, right? Wasn't that long ago when it was really loud".
"Hey, pal?"
"Yeah?" Nora stared up at Hoobler.
He smiled small, "You think that ball I kicked into the Channel, made it to England?"
"I guess we'll find out when we get back". Said Nora.
"You think we'll get back?" Hoobler questioned, "You think we're 'gonna survive this?"
"I hope so". She said softly, "I miss mince and potatoes".
At the comment, Hoobler snorted out a faint laugh. "You're weird, you know that?" The laugh quickly ended, when Hoobler stared down where Nora had placed the bootees. "George's coffin was so tiny, you know". He mentioned quietly. "I couldn't believe my brother was in there".
Frowning softly, Nora stared up toward the side of Hoobler's face…
"I was worried about him". Hoobler admitted. "Cause you know…he'd be alone down there in the dirt, inside this tiny coffin. Not much room to…". He sighed. "Well, it wasn't like he was 'gonna be moving around but…I 'dunno". Hoobler scratched the back of his neck. "He was all alone when he died…I wasn't there…".
Nora grabbed a hold of Hoobler's hand, and he stopped talking for a moment to stare down at her hand holding his. There was a great rush of warmth while they held hands, a moment of true love and friendship. Hoobler had never had a female friend, and he liked being Nora's friend. She brought him a sense of comfort and Nora filled a hole in his heart that had been missing since George died…
"I'd hate to be alone like George". Hoobler confessed to Nora quietly. And he raised his eyes away from their hands, to stare back at the girl.
"You won't be alone. Not ever". Nora promised him.