Love Like Ghosts - Band of Brothers

Chapter 11

NANCY, FRANCE
August, 1932

Her eyes flickered underneath their lids, her skin tingling under the sunlight, and any lingering sadness or anxiety that harbored within her soul was broken up and gone with the wind.

The ground beneath Jo's stagnant, but lounging, body was hard but the long willowy grass made up for the discomfort.

"I can't believe Maman said that to you." Henri shook his head. "You should've kept quiet, Jo."

Jo inhaled, still with her eyes closed, and pretended to be asleep.

Her brother looked in her direction with a slight frown. Then he shook her shoulder quickly.

"Alright, I'm up! I'm up!" The girl scrambled, sitting up, and huffed as she glared at her counterpart.

"Did you hear me?" He asked.

"Unfortunately! I was trying to sleep, Henri." She groaned at the loss of the satisfaction of relaxing.

"And?" Henri leaned up against the tree behind them.

The two looked out on the horizon, the landscape of yellow flowers and green grass wavering in the late summer breeze.

"And what?" She pestered, returning her gaze to him.

"Don't you care?" He inquired, his turn to look at her.

Jo sighed and looked back out at the nature scene before them. She bit her lip deep in thought before she answered him.

"Of course I do, Henri."

—

HOLLAND
October, 1944

"Why don't the Krauts just take off?" a replacement asked from inside the basement where the battalion was located for the meantime.

Josephine scoffed and continued to wash off the dirt from her face. Her hands trembled slightly as she brought the damp cloth to her cheek, probably from the lack of food for the past twenty-four hours. The girl was sure that she rubbed her skin raw from trying to get off all of the grime. She couldn't wait until she could shower again.

"How're you doing?" Winters asked turning his head to look at the girl who sat beside him. He had been ripping the extra cloth from his paratrooper's jacket to hand to her.

"Fine, sir." She stated, still wiping off the remnants of dirt.

Lieutenant Winters glanced at Jo as he halted his movements.

"When was the last time you wrote home?" He asked.

Jo dropped her hand, looking down where her boots were below her.

"A few weeks, I think."

Winters nodded at that, sat up slightly, then got up - seemingly to retrieve something. Jo furrowed her eyebrows with confusion as he came back with a small box in hand. He opened it and revealed an ink quill and some papers - blank papers.

"Sir?" She asked the man.

"Listen, I know you've been going through a rough patch recently. And I don't want to harp to much on it," He began, quickly speaking so he wouldn't get a reaction from her as he indirectly brought up her grieving, "But I know this one thing for sure."

"What is it, sir?" Jo asked.

"That once you're out here, you lose the war for yourself." Winters said.

Josephine sat up straighter, intently listening to what he had to say.

"It's not just some big political squabble that you're here for is it?" Winters asked, surprising Jo with how forward his words have been. She could only wonder where he was going with this.

The only response she could give was the shake of her head - prompting a 'no.'

"See that's what I thought, Jo. You came here for-" He started up again.

"Hope." She finished quietly. That word that hung in the air between them sounded to foreign. It was such a strange feeling from her tongue that she hadn't realized just how nostalgic it sounded. The last time that word registered in her mind was back at Fort Bragg, maybe even back in England.

"Hope." Winters repeated, a soft look spread over his features like he was waiting all along for her just to say it.

There was a small sliver of silence then he continued.

"You've been giving so much of yourself out here that you haven't reserved any for you." Winters explained. "I felt that way too, you know. After Nuenen, I think..."

"Schoonderlogt?" Jo inquired.

"Yes, when I was moved to Battalion Headquarters, when I left the men." He added. "You don't feel like yourself anymore, like there's nothing to hold onto. But, there is Josephine."

Her eyes burned, feeling tears already start to prick at the corners.

"You've given so much of yourself, so now you can take some from the others. I know this might not be the best term, but we're a brotherhood, when we're together."

"With a sister." She joked with a small smile.

"With a sister." He added.

There was a moment where Jo just stewed in his wisdom, wondering what the next couple of months could look like if she didn't harbor all of her pain just by herself.

"The point I'm trying to make, Lambert, is that even when you feel like there's no more you can give, you can take from us around you. Let us help ease your load, you're not alone out here." Winters concluded, patting her shoulder before walking off.

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