‘Don’t be daft,’ Polly said. ‘First of all, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of friendly competition, and second, I didn’t place the biggest bet only to lose it. You’re a sure thing!’
‘Why does everyone else have more confidence in me than I do? And I’d hardly call the competition friendly,’ Ruby grumbled. ‘As soon as May announced that the first flight was between me and Lizzie, it became very serious.’
‘Look, just beat her, would you?’ Polly asked. ‘If it’s not me up there in the sky then I want it to be you.’
Ruby stared. ‘You wanted to be in the running for it?’ she asked, guilt trickling through her as she saw the look on Polly’s face. ‘I didn’t even think. How stupid of me – of course you did!’
‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Ruby. You get up there and prove to everyone that you’re better than her. I would have loved to be transferred here, but I didn’t have enough flying hours to even be considered, so I’m living vicariously through you!’
Ruby took a deep breath. Hearing Polly say that was exactly what she’d needed. She couldn’t give up, not now, not when she was so fortunate to be training in a Halifax. ‘Did May tell you to come in here and give me a good kick up the backside?’
Polly laughed. ‘No, I did that all on my own. Now, can we get a hot cuppa? I’m dying of thirst here.’
Ruby shut her textbook and stood, linking arms with Polly. ‘Good idea. And while we’re talking about good ideas, do you have any leave this weekend?’
‘Yes, why?’
‘Because I need a night away. Can you afford a night in London with me?’
‘I’ll be there with bells on,’ Polly said with a big grin. ‘It sounds like heaven to me right now.’
They walked arm in arm towards the mess room, Ruby bursting with laughter as she told Polly all about Captain Montgomery and how he’d put Lizzie into a complete tailspin. And just like that, all the stress of flying and being the one to beat Lizzie drifted away as though it had never been there in the first place. It was so good to be with a friend. Thank God for Polly.
CHAPTER SIX
HAMBLE AIRFIELD, HAMPSHIRE,
JUNE 1942
MAY
‘I thought I’d find you here.’
May looked up, smiling before she even saw him. Benjamin often sat with her in the early morning, tucked away behind the main hangar for a few stolen moments before the day began, or she’d do his rounds with him and watch as he checked over the engines. He was nursing a mug this morning and she was doing the same, the heat from her tea warming her palms and making it almost bearable to be outside so early.
‘Do you have time to sit?’ she asked.
‘You’re the boss, Commander,’ he said with a grin. ‘Do I?’
May took a sip, the hot tea warming a trail down her throat. ‘You need to stop calling me Commander, Ben. How many times have I asked you to call me May?’
He shrugged. ‘Obviously not enough. Now, how about you tell me why you’ve got dark circles under your eyes? Aren’t you sleeping?’
She absently touched her face, wondering how he’d noticed, but not really surprised. Somehow, her flight mechanic had been the only one to actually see her let her guard down. The women she managed were like family to her – she’d fight for their safety and better training and facilities until she was blue in the face, but she always had her wall up with them. Something about Ben made her relax, as if she didn’t have to pretend, at least for the few minutes every day when they sat in the frigid air, drinking tea. Perhaps it was because he checked her engines and those of her girls, promising her hand on heart each time she flew out that he’d been over every inch of her aircraft. In a world where she looked after everyone else, he was the only one who looked after her.
She glanced sideways at him, caught his smile as he sat back, ankles crossed, his overalls clean before the day’s work.
Or maybe it’s because something about his easy manner and quick smile, the way he just gets on with things and makes everyone around him happy, reminds me of Johnny. Her darling Johnny who’d been gone almost two long years.
A tear escaped from the corner of her eye and she saw a look pass over Benjamin’s face as she quickly brushed it away, but his smile didn’t falter. That was another thing she liked about him – no woman could see tears and not make a fuss or ask questions.
‘That Halifax, the one that crashed back at White Waltham?’ she said. ‘I keep seeing it. Now that we’re here and my girls are training in them, I keep dreaming about it, only it’s one of them being pulled out, all burnt and charred from the fire.’
Ben didn’t say anything and she was grateful, but he did reach out and touch her hand, his fingers curling over hers.
‘This happening every night?’
She nodded and gulped down more tears. ‘Yes. Every night.’
She didn’t tell him that some nights that pilot was her brother, or that sometimes she saw him before he crashed, staring at her, his face covered in blood, telling her that it was her fault. That if hadn’t been thinking about her, if he’d been able to concentrate, he wouldn’t have lost control and crashed in the first place. She knew it was worse because tomorrow would the anniversary of his death, but she wasn’t about to tell Ben that, either.
‘Did I ever tell you that I have a little sister?’ Ben asked as his fingers left hers.
May took a quick gulp of her tea. ‘No,’ she said, realising how little she actually knew about him. They often sat in silence, or talked about planes or flight conditions; never about his family. Or hers. But today he must have thought she needed distracting.
‘Look at this,’ he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper folded into a small square.
May set her tea down on the concrete and took it, smiling as she carefully unfolded it. Inside was a picture drawn with pencil, of a big plane and a man standing next to it, and a small child standing beside a little house with her mouth drawn in a frown. It was as pretty as it was sad.
‘How old is she?’ May asked.
‘Six,’ he replied, grinning as he took it back from her. ‘There’s four of us. I’m the oldest, and Violet was a bit of a surprise for my parents. She’s the youngest by ten years.’
‘A nice surprise, then,’ May said, imagining Ben as a big-hearted brother. ‘She must miss you.’
‘There was a letter with that picture begging me to go home on leave. She’s not happy that I’ve been away so long, but I keep telling her that we’re fighting to make sure she has a future. So that she can be safe.’
May could see he was missing his sister as much as she was so obviously missing him.
‘We’re all fighting for the same thing, May – to make sure all the Violets in this world don’t have to go through what we’re going through,’ he said gently. ‘I know this is hard on you, but you’re doing something you can be proud of, and whether or not one of your pilots crashes one day? That’s not on your shoulders. You can’t control what happens to them when they’re flying, but you can control how well they’re trained, and I can control whether their planes are in the best shape they can be. All right?’
She nodded, his words sinking in slowly. ‘All right,’ she eventually replied.
‘Now what about your family? Do you have any brothers or sisters?’ Ben asked.
She froze then and tried to hide it, awkwardly reaching for her tea and sloshing half of it over. ‘Gosh, look at that, I’d better make another,’ she mumbled, looking at her wristwatch. ‘And time’s run away with me, too.’
Ben stayed still for a moment, looking at her, his deep brown eyes somehow seeing straight through her façade. Usually she was so prepared, quickly deflecting questions about home, but Ben had thrown her off balance.
When he stood, he reached for her mug, his fingers brushing against hers.
‘Are you all right, May?’ he asked, voice so low that it almost broke her, his concern overwhelming and sw
eet at the same time.
She braved a smile, back straight and chin held high. ‘Of course. I’ll see you on the tarmac.’
May walked away, refusing to think about the chink in her armour that she’d just shown to Ben. Never again, she thought. Because if she started thinking about Johnny, if she admitted how long it had been since she’d even written to her family or that she couldn’t bear to see them, then she’d be no use to anyone, and certainly not the ATA.
‘May!’ Lizzie called out to her, her voice booming from the door of the mess room.
May pulled herself together, wondering if talking to Ben about her family would have been easier than dealing with Lizzie first thing in the morning.
‘How can I help?’ she asked, coming face to face with the immaculately groomed, lipstick-in-place, bright blonde-haired Lizzie Dunlop.
‘I want Montgomery off your service,’ Lizzie demanded, hands on hips. ‘He’s overstepping.’
The door was open and May could see through to the other girls, quietly chatting as the wireless chirped in the background about more American soldiers arriving in Europe, painting their nails, knitting, lounging about with steaming mugs in their hands. She wished she could sail straight past Lizzie and collapse into one of the chairs rather than being the one to deal with every crisis, large or small.
‘In what way?’ she asked, indicating for Lizzie to follow her inside. When Lizzie didn’t budge, she realised their conversation was destined to take place in the piercing outdoor air. ‘He’s been nothing but helpful and courteous to me.’
‘He’s acting as if he’s been sent here to rein me in,’ she said. ‘He’s stifling my abilities.’
‘I see.’ May hoped she at least appeared genuine in her concern. ‘Perhaps we should discuss this with him directly, see what his take is.’
‘His take?’ Lizzie exploded. ‘I doubt that he’s going to see anything at all wrong with telling me to pull my head in.’
Suddenly Montgomery was in the running for being May’s favourite person. ‘Lizzie, you need to show him the respect he deserves, not to mention show respect for his rank. He’s a talented, clever pilot with hours of experience flying warplanes, which means we’re all lucky to have him here.’ She sighed, speaking more softly this time. ‘You included.’
‘He’s so clever that he got shot out of the sky!’ Lizzie ranted. ‘That doesn’t exactly scream clever to me.’
May’s chest tightened. She clenched her fingers into a ball to stop herself from slapping Lizzie straight across the cheek. Johnny had been one of the best pilots she’d ever seen, and the air force had agreed, but it hadn’t stopped him from being gunned down because no pilot knew what the enemy had in store for them. She took a long, careful breath, and considered Lizzie. She had enough to deal with without having to placate the American.
‘Elizabeth, are you aware that my country is at war, and has been at war for the past three years?’
Lizzie stared blankly back at her. ‘Of course I’m aware. It’s why I’m standing here, isn’t it?’
‘Then perhaps you could show a little respect to not only the men serving our country, but those brave men like Jackson Montgomery who got here before he was even required to be,’ May snapped. ‘At this base, I expect all my pilots and ground crew to be part of a team, and that team must be built on respect, no matter what. Your insolence is insulting to me and to everyone else here – you’re actually here to help the war effort, not run after your own personal ambitions.’
‘I don’t see myself as being part of a team in the sky,’ Lizzie replied, hands on hips. ‘And I doubt my father did when he was in the sky, fighting for his country in the Great War, either. Up there, we only have ourselves to count on. Our own smarts, our own instincts.’
‘Really? Well, do you feel part of a team when you see your flight mechanic carefully checking your engine and clearing you for take-off? Do you see yourself as part of a team when you’re sent on multiple missions in one day, and people at each base are relying on you? When our men, who wait for us to ferry planes to them, are able to take off within hours of a new aircraft landing, because of the part we play?’ May was fuming. ‘And I don’t care if your father was the best pilot in the sky in the last war. What I care about is your behaviour under my orders. Are we clear?’
‘Yes,’ Lizzie muttered. ‘Perfectly clear.’
‘Ah, good morning, Commander Jones. Is this a bad time?’
May spun around to find Montgomery standing a few feet from her, his forehead creased in concern.
‘No, this a great time, actually,’ she said. ‘I’ve just been talking to Elizabeth about her attitude, and I thought you might like to discuss that further with her.’
‘May!’ Lizzie protested. ‘All I want is to get on with my training instead of being grounded like some incompetent . . .’
‘In fact, I think Lizzie could do with some more hands-on training as well as a lesson in respect,’ May interrupted. She turned to the Lizzie with a smile. ‘We have Tiger Moths that need to be taken back for further repairs, and I think that would be an excellent job for you to do today.’
‘Tiger Moths?’ Lizzie asked, her voice rising. ‘Slow, stinking Tiger Moths?’
‘When I started with the First Eight, we flew those slow old planes day in, day out, taking them wherever they needed to go, and not once did we complain about it, because we knew that we were doing this, selflessly, to help the greater good,’ May said. ‘And I expect you to take it on the chin, too. How about you, Montgomery?’
He grinned. ‘Same here. I flew what I had to fly, kept my head down and worked hard. There ain’t no point being part of a squadron if your team have no faith in you.’
‘I think we’re on the same page then,’ May said, her anger slowly subsiding.
‘And Ruby? Are you going to make her do the same thing?’ Lizzie stuttered.
‘No, Ruby is an excellent team player and she can spend the day under my tutelage, training in the Halifax.’ May spun on her heel then, leaving poor Jackson to deal with the fallout. But as she turned she caught his eye, and she was certain his amusement was equal to hers.
Wishing Lizzie could see what a decent man he was, she continued on to her desk in the corner of the main room to check the chits and make certain she knew where everyone was for the day. She had girls flying and girls training, and sometimes a combination of both, and she liked to know where they were at all times. It meant she was grounded more than she liked; now that she was running the operation, she did more administration work than actual flying, and she missed it. Ever since she’d arrived at Hamble, she’d had this strange superstitious feeling that they’d gone without a loss for too long, that their luck might dry up soon. It was stupid, but she couldn’t shake it. Some of the mechanics joked about their perfect fatality rate, that the girls were able to do what male pilots never could, but even the thought of it, the notion that she might be the one to have to visit a family or write the letter telling them their daughter had died in the air, was like a punch to the stomach. Morbid thoughts like that were sometimes as hard to live with as her memories of Johnny.
‘What’s going on?’ Ruby’s soft voice warmed her.
‘It’s just you in the Halifax today, Ruby.’
‘Where’s Lizzie?’
‘Let’s just say that Lizzie has been seconded to Jackson Montgomery’s service for the day,’ May told her. ‘We can all pray that she returns in a more humble frame of mind than when she left.’
Ruby snorted with laughter and May laughed along with her, surprising herself.
‘Well, I appreciate the extra training, thank you,’ Ruby said. ‘But if you’d like me to do any other work today instead, or . . .’
‘You want the first solo flight, Ruby?’ May asked.
‘You know I do.’
‘Then don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If Lizzie could get an extra day of hands-on training without you, she’d take it in a heartbeat. I
n fact, she’d knock you down and trample over you to get it.’
Ruby didn’t reply, no doubt because she knew it was true. Lizzie was ruthless, clearly used to getting everything and anything she wanted. It made her an incredible pilot because she was fearless, but it didn’t exactly make her an easy ally or friend to have on base.
‘The mail’s here!’ one of the girls squealed, and May saw Ruby’s face light up as Polly crossed the room with an envelope in her outstretched hand. She must have just arrived at Hamble on the mail plane, and May was pleased to see her again.
‘There’s one for you as well,’ Polly said, passing it to May.
Her hand shaking, May took the cream envelope, her mother’s familiar scrawl across the front. She held it tight, as if doing so would connect them, before opening a drawer and tucking it inside to read later. She sighed as it landed with two others that looked just like it. Or maybe I won’t read it at all.
Ruby had gone silent, and May looked up to see her rip her letter into tiny little pieces, shredding it until the paper fell all over the floor. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
‘He meet someone else?’ The American drawl was lazy and loud as Lizzie strolled into the room. ‘Don’t go getting your knickers in a twist over a man, sugar.’
‘Leave her alone, Lizzie!’ Polly shouted.
But Ruby didn’t even seem to hear them. ‘I hate him,’ she whispered, her voice low and full of anger. ‘He could meet someone else and I wouldn’t even care.’
May knew she was only venting; the letter might be in shreds and her heart might feel broken, but Ruby was fingering the ring hanging from her necklace as she spoke, and that told May everything she needed to know.
Lizzie breezed out as quickly as she’d breezed in, her flying hat and goggles tucked under her arm, and May stood, leaning forward.
‘Was it him or his mother?’ she asked quietly.
Ruby’s eyes met hers. ‘His mother.’
The Spitfire Girls Page 9
