Love Like Ghosts - Band of Brothers

Chapter 8

NORMANDY, FRANCE
June, 1944

She felt like she was crumbling into the Earth below her feet.

'Did you fly, Jo? In the sky like a bird?'

'Yes, everyone can, Henri.'

Her back pressed up against the wall behind her as she shook with a flood of sullen countenance. Anger- Jo felt.

'Why can't I fly?'

Her tear stained cheeks were still raw.

'You will, I know you will.'

Henri always looked to her for guidance. Sure, he was older, but Josephine Lambert had something that nobody else did. Fortitude.

She was the last to know, the first to be oblivious. Of course she was. Just when life had started to pave a path for her, it veered off down the far side of a cliff. Then, she felt like she was free falling. No, she wasn't flying. Much to Henri's dismay, she wasn't. Once again, Jo found herself with her eyes shut tightly, trying to recollect her image of her brother again. All she could think of was the hottest day of their youth. Summer at the pool was the remedy. All of the neighborhood kids dared not to attempt the diving board - in all its mighty.

No kid, but one.

Josephine Lambert was a mere eleven years old by the time she reached the edge of the board. Her eyes cast to the scene below her. The kids watched in awe as the young, brave girl took a breath and jumped cannon-ball-style into the looming water beneath her. Almost immediately after she got out of the water, Henri berated her with questions. Most of the other kids looked at her as if she were an alien. Alas, where could that courage have been kept all that time? In a girl? Surely not.

Josephine flew. Not like a bird, not like the planes in the sky, or the paratroopers she began to love. But, she flew.

Now, she couldn't. Her life was halted to a stop and she tumbled down into pain.

Henri was gone.

-

It's been a week since Carentan and chaos. Death, however, lingered like a fresh wound.

Josephine kept to herself most of the time, blank stares, eating meals alone, not conversing like usual. Yet, how could life continue as if it hadn't just paused hers?

She mastered the art of avoiding others while in her solitude. Her ability to piece herself together just enough was concerning - Birdie had missed her friend, whom she watched with careful eyes.

Bernadette Hurst felt guilt. Honestly, that's all she could feel. She originally held the letter. As a friend, she knew it wasn't the best option to do. However, Birdie didn't want Josephine to explode.

Yet that is exactly what happened when she found out that her brother had been killed a month ago on the Solomon Islands.

Now, Josephine Lambert sat in between two paratroopers, George Luz and Joe Toye, with the entire Easy company in the same room. Drinks were passed around just as much as jokes and laughter. Even in the crowd, the medic felt lonely. It was a lurking feeling that she couldn't shake off for weeks.