One Woman War | Inglourious Basterds/Original Story

Chapter 7

As soon as I stepped into the quaint and welcoming cabin a bright, crackling fire on the far side of the room caught my attention; its warm and cozy atmosphere drawing me in, making me want nothing more than to curl up and fall asleep in front of it.

"Found another one." the man said from behind me as he shut the door after himself and set his gun down on the floor so it leaned against a small cabinet. 

A woman, whom I had just noticed, spun around from where she was tending to a pot of something on the stove and smiled wide. "Hello." she greeted me as the scent from whatever she was cooking began to make my mouth water. "My, you look like you've been through a lot."

"Yeah..." I nodded as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, unsure what to do with myself. "Um, thank you again so much for helping me. It's been a while since anyone has shown me much kindness."

"Of course, dear." the woman, who looked a few years younger than the man with patches of grey in her light brown hair, approached me. "I'm Louise and that's my husband Raymond." she gestured to the man who was setting himself down in a chair in front of the fire. "Well, you can put your stuff down by the door. We have some water in a pale out back if you'd like to wash up. Dinner will be soon—just waiting for the kids to make their way back."

A small smile spread onto my face as I set my bag and rifle down by the door beside the gun that Raymond had had pointed at me minutes before.  "You have kids?"

"Three." she said as she returned to the stove and used a large spoon to stir the contents of the pot. 

I looked forward to seeing the children as I hoped it would help me miss Micah a little less. Micah would kill me if he heard me call him a kid, but to me, he would always be my little kid brother. 

Taking Louise up on her offer, I quickly excused myself and headed through the back door and out towards the pale of water. The water was extremely cold but still felt pretty refreshing as I washed my hands and splashed it over my face and neck. As I scrubbed at the dirt between my fingernails, a chorus of laughter erupted from the darkness before three kids, two boys and one girl, ran through the bushes and into the house without even stopping to acknowledge me for a second.

A small chuckle, the first one in a long time, escaped my lips. Using the clean patches of my dress to dry my hands and face, I made sure I was as presentable as possible before stepping back through the door and into the warmth of the small home. 

The kids were already sitting at the large wooden table, the bowls in front of them being filled with a hardy looking soup by Louise as she made her way around. It felt a little weird to be sitting down for dinner with a group of people I didn't know, but the grumbling in my stomach overpowered the awkwardness. 

After the last bowl had been filled, I took my seat next to the girl on the closest side of the table and waited for both Raymond and Louise to sit before picking up my spoon. The kids dug in right away, shoveling the soup into their mouths like they hadn't eaten in days even though by the looks of them, they were being well taken care of. 

As soon as the soup touched my tongue and slid down my throat I felt the warmth begin to spread inside of me. I wasn't sure what kind of soup it was exactly, but it tasted good and made me forget about the cold night that lingered outside. 

"How many soldiers were there?" Louise asked her husband.

Raymond shrugged before looking to me. "Do you know how many were chasing you?"

"Three," I answered, slightly confused by the conversation topic. 

Louise nodded as she ate another spoonful of the soup. "That's not too bad. I suspect they should be gone by now anyway. They don't wander this way on their own too often."