A Soldier of No Importance [ Band of Brothers ] 1

FIFTY SEVEN

Twenty four hours. Alice had twenty-four hours to prepare mentally for her next jump. As she stood out by the road and lamp post in front of the Bratt house, she sucked in the smoke from a Lucky Strike. Her back leaned against the small wall and fence that divided her lawn from the one housing Ron Speirs. The sun had yet to rise. Just on the horizon, light began to flood the sky casting around gold, blue, and pink hues like a watercolor painting.

Her left arm hugged her chest, and her right elbow balanced on it as she held the cigarette to her mouth. She sighed. The white smoke blew out into the air around her. Not far, she heard a rooster crow. Her thoughts wandered.

She'd been given what Intel the Allies had on the Dutch resistance in Holland. Names filled the page, all Dutch, mostly male. She knew some of them were probably fake, just code names used to protect themselves, their organizations, and their families. Most belonged to the Raad van Verzet, the Resistance Council. They were poets, sculptors, priests, citizens.

A few were female. Alice had never heard of Jacoba van Tongeren. She had, however, heard of "the girl with the red hair." Yet even in the documents provided to her, she had no name to associate with the phrase. Evidently the girl with the red hair had friends, though, as two other girls were referenced.

As Alice stood smoking in Aldbourne, she wondered what they would find in the Netherlands. She remembered fields of green, tulips and flowers abundant across the countryside. She remembered the people. She remembered how she'd heard some of the Dutch speaking out against the antisemitism coming from their neighbors in Germany.

But she also remembered being a silly little girl of sixteen, visiting her cousins in the outskirts of Arnhem. She'd complained endlessly to her mother about the way Elsa wouldn't stop following her. All she wanted to do was go explore on her own, not be followed by a five year old girl. She got enough of that from her younger sister. Why couldn't Elsa go follow Bernadette?

Alice sighed. She took the cigarette out of her mouth one last time. With the spark gone, she dropped it to the ground and crushed it beneath her heel to make sure it would stop smoking. As the sun peeked over the row of houses across the street, Alice took a deep breath. She turned away.

Staring up the path at the Bratt house, she stopped again. Millie said she'd have breakfast on the table by 0800 if Alice could make it. And she could. Or, she had the time. But she wasn't sure she wanted to. Her unease started turning into anxiety with every moment that passed.

Instead of going inside to get ready for breakfast, Alice turned away. She looked down the road into Aldbourne. After another brief moment of hesitation, Alice set off. Her feet took her through the center of town. Few people moved about, those that she did see usually being shop owners preparing for the day.

After buying an apple, she headed towards Headquarters. The sun had finally risen. Soldiers moved around in a hurry. Today they'd prepare their gear. Tomorrow they would jump. The days that would follow remained a mystery.

Moving towards the stairs of the Regimental Headquarters, she stopped as the door at the top opened. Nixon and Dick took the stairs down in surprisingly high spirits. The latter smiled as Nixon snickered around a new cigarette.

"Good morning," she said.

"Hey! Good morning to you, too!" Nixon moved to the side to let a few more officers past. He smirked. Taking out his cigarette, he stood taller. "What's different?"

"With what?"

Dick rolled his eyes, but Nixon just continued on. "With us."

As she tried to figure out what he meant, she frowned. Their hair looked the same. Liebgott clearly hadn't gotten a hold of them recently. Nixon still smoked. Dick still didn't. But then she saw what he meant.