Edith twirled the pencil stub around her fingers as she ran the numbers through her head. They needed one more shipment of mortars to make up for the shortage the 101st had seen during the siege. Other than that, she'd been happy to see that the men's desperate need for winter clothes met.
She tapped the end of her pencil on the clipboard where it lay on a tower of boxes. The early afternoon had been quiet in town. Biting her lip, she fought back the thought of the boys near the German line.
Does the Colonel know you are here?
With a sigh, Edith rested on a nearby crate and surveyed the large room they used as a supply dump. She hadn't lied to Alex. She only hadn't answered the question. Her father was too occupied to notice her absence when she made her trips down to the line. He had told her to stay in Bastogne and leave the supply runs to her men. But she was reluctant to do so.
It was her job and she didn't trust anyone to do it other than herself. The thought of giving the reins over to one of the runny nosed Privates was out of the question. Besides the fact that if she had been male, it wouldn't have even been an issue.
Still she wasn't stupid.
Edith glanced over her shoulder. She eyed the armor enforced field jacket folded on a collapsible table. Though surprised it hadn't been issued yet, Edith wondered if it would be missed if she borrowed it. It couldn't hurt to have around just in case. She picked it up and held it to her torso. It would swallow her even in all the layers she already wore.
The men must have been for all those weeks without their winter issue of clothes. The cold was penetrating, filling the bones like marrow. Edith wore woolen underwear, a woolen uniform, a thick sweater, two pairs of socks and a thick lined trench coat. But the deadly chill plagued her all the same.
Another layer would be nice for when she made her way to the front. Picking up the jacket, she slung her arms into the oversized sleeves.
"Edie."
Her father marched into the room, rubbing his gloved hands in the relative warmth of the indoors. She knew he wouldn't mind if she borrowed the coat. In fact, he'd have encouraged her to take it and given her the armor enforced overalls to go with it.
"Sir." She rose to her feet.
"I have a favor to ask. Could one of your boys bring some photographers and cameramen down to the line?" The colonel wiped his brow of the fast melting snowflakes.
"Of course. We're delivering another shipment of K-Rations down to Dog Company's position in an hour. Is that soon enough?"
"Should be, I don't care when they get down there. They are filming the men to help with morale back home-" Colonel Dixon waved a hand with a smirk and then paused, eyeing her. "Did you say we are delivering to Item's position?"
Edith checked herself with a relaxed smile and amused eye roll, "Yes, Colonel. We as in my little troop, not me…specifically."
She dug her thumbnail into her palm. Edith had never outright lied to her father, especially in a professional environment.
"Good." Colonel Dixon took it hook, line and sinker. "I don't have to remind you that my superiors forbid it in the terms of allowing you this deep into Europe. Also your mother would skin me alive."
Edith gave a brief, forced chuckle. She glanced over his shoulder to see one of the Privates working under her at the door. She let out her breath, relieved to have an interruption, "Come in, Grable. It's all ready to go."
"I'll leave you to it." Colonel Dixon held his daughter's eyes. "I'm trusting you to take care of yourself, remember."
"Of course, sir. Everything is under control."
"Lieutenant." Her father swiveled away, his boots clicking against the scuffed hardwood floor.
Edith's face warmed. She hated that Private Grable had seen her scolded by her father. Again, she sliced with the thought that it never have happened if she had been his son. Edith swallowed down the guilt for being deceitful not only Alex but now the Colonel. She returned her attention to her duties.
The two camera men were waiting by the jeep as she emerged onto the street. Tugging her helmet over her knitted cap, she approached them, "You men the ones headed for the line?"
One of them glanced up from fiddling with the lens on his equipment, "Sure thing, Miss-"
"Lieutenant Dixon. I will be the one accompanying you."
"Aw, say it ain't so." The other one crowed, pushing back the lip of his helmet as he studied her, chewing on the end of a toothpick.
Edith ignored him, putting on her gloves as she strode to the other side of the jeep. Private Grable met her there with another paratrooper with his arm in a sling.
"Lieutenant Dixon?"
"Yes?" Edith got into the jeep as the Cameramen loaded their belongings into the back hatch.
"This is Sergeant Rodriguez. He's with Item Company," Grable explained, "We knew each other back in the States. I was wondering if it would be possible for him to catch a ride with you back to the line?"
Edith narrowed her gaze. She honed in on the young man's bandaged arm, "Rodriguez, you're wounded. Have your doctors given you leave?"
He shifted, his brown eyes skittering to the frozen ground, "You see, Lieutenant Dixon-"
"You are going AWOL? After all you’ve been through and you want to go back out there even with a legitimate excuse?" Edith suppressed a grin.
Rodriguez shrugged, "I want to be back with my company."
The simplicity of the statement left her winded. She felt more in awe of these men every day. Her thoughts drifted towards Captain McKay when she had seen him the other evening. His dark eyes trained on her like a target and he was the gun. The memory left her gutted. She glanced over her shoulder as one of the cameraman made a move to take the passenger side.
"You two in the back," She hooked a thumb to the jump seat in the rear, "We are making a detour to Item’s position. Rodriguez?"
Looking back at the wounded Sergeant, she motioned to the seat beside her.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." Rodriguez replied with a salute.
Grable clapped him on his good shoulder as they walked away.
"See? I told you she was a good egg." She overheard Private Grable mutter as they walked in front of the jeep.
Grable returned the supply truck in front and her passengers were ready. Edith took up the rear of their little convoy as they drove through the bombed out city. One of the cameramen hung his arm over the back of her seat, his face too close to her ear.
"Tell me, Gorgeous, were you here when all this-"
"I suggest you sit back, sir. These frost heaves will send you right through the windshield. That would be a shame if it happened now, wouldn't it?"
Rodriguez chuckled. The man let out a low whistle and sat back.
"Yes ma’am." He muttered.
"They tricked us. That dame's not human, she's a cold fish." The other man murmured under his breath to his buddy.
The other one scoffed, “What’d you expect? She’s not a woman, she’s a WAC.”
Edith ignored him. She whipped around a tight corner, sending the men colliding into each other. Rodriguez reached out and grasped the dashboard, glancing over in surprise. Edith smirked in his direction before returning her gaze to the road. So learning a thing or two from madcap driver Samantha Quincey had finally come in handy.
"Almost there, gentlemen," she announced, whirling down the road Porter had shown her.
The entire trip she had fought the hope of seeing Captain McKay. As she pulled up to the end of the deserted road, her heart sunk much to her private embarrassment. On the front line of the war of their generation and she worried about not running into her crush. It was ridiculous.
Voices and shapes of men ghosted about deeper in the misty woods. She had no excuse to seek them. She played with the idea of going to confirm that McKay would allow Rodriguez to return. But it would only make her look desperate.
It was for the best that she went on her way. Yet she was having a difficult time convincing herself so.
"Here's your stop, Sergeant,” she barked, brushing away her thoughts.
Rodriguez hopped out, "Thank you again, ma’am."
"And our stop as well." One of the cameramen jumped from the back.
"Are you sure, gentlemen? There are more companies down the road if you are interested?" She feigned a smile in their direction.
"We are sure." They hitched their equipment on their narrow shoulders and followed Rodriguez. "Cold, cold broad- crazy woman driver-"
She was halfway down the road when Edith slumped against the wheel. She couldn't deny her disappointment at not seeing Captain McKay. How he had marched up to her till he was so close she could reach out and touch him made her shiver. Maybe she could stop at Item one more time on her way home. It was still early enough in the afternoon.
She left Grable and a few of the other men to oversee the last of the supplies to another company. It was later than she had anticipated. Still, Edith cut the wheel towards Item's position. The entire afternoon, she had been unable to keep him from her thoughts. Weeks of maintaining her mental distance from Alex McKay, the wall was crashing down.
She paused as she started to get out of the car. Perhaps she was being overconfident. During her entire time on the main line of defense, she had only heard the artillery shells exploding. She had never seen one round shot. She shunned the thought as she got out of the vehicle. She would be quick to make sure Rodriguez got back alright and the cameramen had a ride to Bastogne.
Edith made her way through the strange forest, pine trees like lines of icy soldiers at attention. She tugged her coat collar around her cheeks. American voices echoed through the wood. She stopped hard in her tracks in front of one of the trees. Splintered at eye level, it looked like it'd been chewed away by grinding teeth. Though she knew artillery, it was from the sheets of inventory. It was shocking to see the consequences of such simple words on a clipboard. Brushing off her hesitation, she stomped over chunks of debris. Her boots sank into the fresh snowfall.
By the time she made it to the men, her face was fresh with perspiration. Cool trails of sweat were dribbling under her thick layers after the arduous walk. The first man she saw was Lieutenant Porter. His five o'clock shadow was too close to a full beard. He scoffed in surprise, setting down a map he had been studying under the covering of their CP.
"Edith Dixon!" He chortled, "What are you doing all the way out here?"
Her mouth gaped open but she had nothing to say. Like a lightning strike, she was aware of how idiotic it was to be this close to the line. This was not a part of her job. For a moment, she was at a loss for why she was there at all.
Her memory jogged as she peered past him. Alex was talking with one of his officers. As his gaze drifted over, her presence dawned on him. He strode towards her with driven steps. For a moment, it seemed like he wasn't going to stop.
Her chapped lips parted as he pressed himself to her side. He grasped her forearm and led her away a few steps. She peered up into his face and tried to read his expression. She realized that he was suppressing anger in the rigid lines around his mouth and tightened jaw.
"Lieutenant, what are you doing here?" He asked under his breath as he halted to a dead stop.
"I was making sure-"
"Your father stopped by an hour ago. Edith, you didn't say the Colonel's orders forbid you from coming to the line.” His accusation was gravelly with cold and fatigue. Edith’s face grew warm as she averted her gaze to the buttons on his coat. He sighed, his breath drifting over her skin. He continued to lead her away like a disobedient child. “I thought it was an unnecessary risk having you down here. Don't you understand the danger you are in this close to the Germans? What were you thinking?"
She tore her arm away to stand toe to toe with him, "Of course, I knew it. I'm not stupid, Alex. I had a job to oversee and I didn't trust it to anyone else."
He leveled her with a glare, "Edith, you know better. I never said you were stupid but you have been acting stupidly."
Though his voice was low, the words hit her hard. Edith retreated at their force. Her father accusing her of acting stupidly had always been the most debilitating thing she could imagine. Apparently it could get worse. She mused that it would have hurt less if Alex had taken out his sidearm and shot her.
The heat of the moment burned her. She slapped him hard across the cheek. She had never struck anyone in her life. He looked almost as shocked as she felt, his face shaded red from the contact with her palm.
Before either of them could say anything, a sharp whistle screamed over the tree tops. Hurtling from the white sky like asteroids, Edith registered she was witnessing artillery fire.
"Find cover!" Alex hollered as he grasped her waist.
He herded her towards an empty foxhole near the CP. As she tumbled down into it, half shoved by Alex, a shell exploded into the forest overhead. A fireball detonated, followed by a cascade of razor sharp splinters.
She knew she was screaming but couldn’t hear herself over the deafening artillery attack.
ns 15.158.61.55da2
