Pitschen ma en gamba - Small, but powerful [A Band of Brothers Story]

Climbing the Eagle's Nest

The mood was exuberant, for lack of a better word. Easy Company was pushing up the Obersalzberg to reach Hitler's mountaintop stone retreat.

Ella was part of the scouting party – hand-selected by the CO and all Toccoa veterans– which was ahead of the slow-moving convoy that crawled up the hairpin curves.

Almost as soon as they had set off, they were barrelling up the mountain without any real formation. They cheered and laughed, completely exhilarated, their joy echoing off the rock walls.

Somehow, the scouting party had quickly turned into a race to see who was on point. Malarkey, More and Grant were constantly overtaking each other, Popeye and Speirs very close behind. The youngest of their group could easily have taken the lead, but she was happily running between her friends, their laughter music to her ears.

"Hi-ho Silver!", Malarkey hollered, his cry resounding from their comrades in the trucks who waved and shouted at them, cheering them on.

The brunette laughed, along with her friends, feeling so free and happy. Taking point while her boys slowed down to wave down to the others, she beamed, triumph swelling inside her.

Racing up this hill, it reminded her of the countless times they had run up Mount Currahee in basic training, a lifetime ago. They had come so far. The small medic's grin widened. She had come far.

A lightness overcame her that she hadn't felt in a long time. It was like the fear, the uncertainty, the sadness, was all washed away.

Ella stopped, turning to face the convoy slowly making its way up the winding path. "Currahee!", she yelled, fist punching into the air. The company motto thundered through the air as every single member of Easy responded, roaring and their chests puffed out with pride.

Her exhilaration burst out in another laugh as Malarkey reached her, slamming into her with an enthusiastic hug, nearly toppling them both over. Grant and More joined the exuberant hug a second later, each of them steadying the others.

Their cheers were echoed from their comrades, the air full of the joyful shouts.

They untangled themselves and resumed their run, Popeye ruffling the girl's hair. Speirs took the lead for a while as they weaved their way up the mountain.

In a bout of either temporary insanity or innocent roguishness, Ella picked up the pace and caught up to the CO. As she passed him, she lightly slapped his shoulder and called, bold as brass: "Tag! You're it!"

Then, she dashed off like greased lightning, nearly shrieking with laughter. Speirs chased after her, the rest of the scouting party hot on his heels.

***

They reached the Eagle's Nest long before the trucks. Before entering the stone retreat however, they took a short break, catching their breath and quenching their thirst.

"Remember how you pissed off Sobel?", Popeye asked out of the blue, a bright smile on his friendly face as he looked at the young medic.

She giggled and retorted: "Which time?", making the original Toccoa men hoot with laughter.

"How about the time you grinned at him while running Currahee?", Grant suggested gleefully, taking a swig from his canteen.

"Yeah or the time you enjoyed the obstacle course way too much and laughed while covered in pig's guts", More added.