Women of War - A Band of Brothers Story

S.S. Samaria (Pt. III)

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for not updating yesterday. I was so busy with summarising the contents of the lectures on French grammar I have this semester that I completely forgot. And then my internet crashed, so...

Well, as always, thank you so much to all of you who take the time to read this story, vote on it and even leave me a comment. You are awesome!

The rumour mill was working overtime already, speculations buzzing in the air as Easy company had dinner in the galley. Despite not knowing any details, it hadn't taken the men and women long to figure out what had happened.

Catherine, who was feeling a lot better after spending a bit of time up on deck, quietly filled in the senior NCOs. Maxine and Louise helped her by informing the rest of the women and their closest friends among the guys.

Their reactions ranged from pure, unbridled rage to shock, concern and sympathy.

"Where's Theresa and Mia?", Jessica wanted to know, craning her neck to try and see if she could spot them.

"Down below", Maxine answered. "Theresa is pretty shaken and Mia stayed with her."

Talbert frowned. "Shouldn't somebody be with them? Just in case?", he questioned, plucking at his lip in thought.

She acknowledged his doubts, but dispelled them with a shake of her head. "Lipton said it's fine."

Elizabeth piped up: "Yeah, they'll be okay. Mia's really good at staying out of sight anyways."

A few tables further down, Catherine was sat snuggly between Bull and Johnny Martin, eternally grateful to the guys for striking up a conversation that had nothing to do with the incident.

She smiled when Popeye asked about her kids and happily launched into telling a few stories about her little rascals, which had the men either cooing and awing or in stitches.

***

Meanwhile, Louise was standing in line for her own portion of whatever the kitchen served that day. Fish stew. Again. Joy.

She grabbed her tray and moved down the rows of tables to plop herself down in a seat across from Liebgott. Reaching for her spoon, she paused and her eyes narrowed. "Why is your cheek bruising?", she questioned.

"He was in a fight", Alley helpfully pointed out, cheerfully ignoring the glare he got from his friend.

The sniper sighed and muttered "What is it with today and fights?" before demanding a more detailed explanation.

"Guarnere called Sobel a Jew", Joe said with a scowl.

Louise heaved another sigh. "And you took offense to that", she finished.

Understandable. Nobody liked to be compared to Sobel like that and having one's religion or culture insulted this way wasn't something to just brush off.

Bill, who was sitting only a few seats away from them, leant forward and called over: "But we settled the matter!" He was sporting the beginnings of a bruise on his jaw.

Liebgott nodded his agreement. "Yeah. Especially since we got bigger fish to fry."

"Damn right", Bill confirmed. "No-one messes with our girls."

Her expression darkened, the seething anger inside her rising to the surface again. "Those bastards. Fucking cowards", she grumbled. "Hope their crown jewels fall off."