Only a Paper Moon [ Band of Brothers ] 3

Chapter Thirteen

"George, you can't be serious."

"What! You said you wanted to do something a little less loud."

"Running up a mountain wasn't really what I meant!"

Alice stood outside, wearing the one pair of pants she'd brought with her and wrapped in her tight jacket. Fortunately for her, his brother Santi had a pair of boots her size, so with those in place of mary janes, she supposed she at least had gear for it.

"Jesus calm down." George just laughed at her through his cigarette. "Get in the car."

Muttering under her breath in French, knowing he couldn't understand her, Alice did as asked. It was cold, not freezing, but still cold. No wind, so small mercies. But when she'd suggested getting away from the Luz clan for a couple hours she'd meant maybe... well, anything but running Rhode Island's Currahee.

George was snickering to himself as he turned the car on. She wanted to be mad at him. She really did. She'd not come all the way from Philadelphia to run up a damn mountain. But this was George, and when he got it in his head to do something, there was no stopping him.

"I outrank you."

"Not in the military anymore."

She rolled her eyes and looked out the window as they backed down to the road. "Not that it ever worked back then."

"True."

With a tiny huff, she continued to watch the road. Small houses passed every couple of minutes. He'd said the mountain was about half an hour away. Half an hour before she had to run another Currahee. Then she paused. "I'm older than you-"

"By like six months. That doesn't count." He shook his head. "Jesus Christ you're worse than Victoria. All you gotta do is sit there, lookin' pretty."

"I do look fantastic, thank you," she bit back.

As George just muttered around his cigarette, she risked a glance in his direction. The look of pure disdain morphed into a begrudging laugh. He told her to shut up. Alice just chuckled again and settled back to watch the Rhode Island countryside. 

Half an hour later, when the car stopped, Alice looked at him in confusion. "Where's the mountain?"

"I said it was the highest peak. Never said it was a mountain," George teased. "Get out. Welcome to Jerimoth Hill. Point three miles up, point three miles down."

"This is the highest point in Rhode Island?" Alice looked at the mostly flat forest in the distance. "This?"

"Yep. Come on. There's a really great boulder at the top."

Alice would've smacked him if he'd been closer than the other side of the car. The wind had picked up a bit. Clearly they'd gone up in elevation. But not by much, if the relatively flat area around was any indication. Pine trees forested the area, and a small, breaking down 'No Trespassing' sign hung from a post beside a long driveway.

"It says No Trespassing," she pointed out.

He snorted. "Yeah. That stops about no one. I know the guy's son gets a bit twitchy about it, but they've never stopped anyone that I know of."

"Point three miles up, you said?" she finally asked. As her smile grew, she shut her car door. "I think I can handle that."

"Big words for a girl."

"Never stopped you from trying to outdo me before."

"Never said it would stop me."

With another snort, Alice just pushed past him and looked at the slightly overgrown trail to the left of the driveway. She nodded. "Let's go then."