Genesis: the Beginning and the End | Band of Brothers

【Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ １３ － Ｓｐｙ】

Chapter 13 - Spy

Shoving the paper back inside, she ran round the front of her house and opened her suitcases on the doorstep. She didn't need both. There, outside, she unpacked and repacked her suitcases so that she had all the essentials in one. Then she reached through the letter flap to find the chain with the key, bringing it through the flap to unlock the door.

A huge cloud of dust came forth, making her cough and splutter and screw her eyes shut.

The house was dark, and smelled musty, and faintly damp – that would be a fun surprise to come home to once she'd got all this sorted – but she didn't stop to look, dumping her spare suitcase, and locking up again.

Then she was running for the bus stop, squinting at the map and timetable, the next bus seemed to be going in the right direction. As she sat, her heel hammered and tapped anxiously against the floor, and the hand not holding a suitcase handle was clutching the envelope so tight she was in danger of screwing it up.

She was standing and ready to get off the bus before it had actually stopped 20 minutes later.

During the hour's bus ride to Swindon, she was sure she was going to vomit. A kind old man squeezed her shoulder, and it eased her a little, enough for her leg to stop spasming. The envelope felt like it was burning her hand, the words seared into her mind, ensuring she never had to read her orders again, protocol being to burn them once read to prevent them falling into the wrong hands.

2 hours, and she was there, in Aldbourne, after taking 3 buses. She stepped off the final bus – which she'd almost missed in Swindon – by a pond in the centre of the village. It was pretty, and fairly quiet as it was about...10am on a Monday. Across the pond she saw The Crown Inn, and rushed towards it.

Bursting into the inn, she rattled off some excuse for needing to drop her bags there (one that actually contained some truth, she did urgently need to find a paratrooper officer) and was taking off again, searching here and there for a hint of olive uniforms.

It wasn't proper for her to be running everywhere, and she was tired so she decided to walk briskly instead. That pace was easier to keep up anyway.

After a good half hour of finding no ODs, a wolf whistle – directed at her I might add – drew her attention. It was on the outskirts of the village, and she was on her way to investigate a farm she'd been pointed towards.

She wanted to laugh. They really had no idea, did they? Fucking clueless they were. She never got his name, but she was fairly certain that the guy who'd whistled, and drawn his friends' attention to her, was the very same man who thought she was afraid of needles. He was coming over, grinning. Well, he was going to get a shock when he reached her. As it was only polite, she waited for him to get to her.

"Hey beautiful, on a scale of one to America, how free are you tonight?"

All her composure was nearly lost there and then. Was that how Americans talked to women? Remaining silent, she raised an eyebrow at him,

"Right, sorry. I'm Joe, Joe Liebgott, and y-"

"Well I'm glad I finally know your name. Congratulations on the promotion, and by the way, not afraid of needles."

She'd never seen a man more confused in her life, but she waited patiently for it to dawn on him. After a moment, he glanced at his sleeve and muttered a quiet ohhh then looked confused again. She could almost hear the cogs turning. He was wondering how she knew about the stripes being different. Then it clicked, and he had his light bulb moment. Ding!