The White Knight

by Gilbert, Morris

“I’ll talk to him,” Tim said. “Did he say when he’d be back?”

  “No. He just said he had some things to take care of.”

  “Tell him to come see me in my office first thing in the morning, will you, Joelle? I’ll run all the numbers by him.”

  “I’ll tell him, Tim, but don’t get your hopes up.”

  ****

  Joelle was getting ready for bed when Luke finally came in.

  “Where have you been all day?”

  Luke began to undress. “You sound like Mom, always wanting to know where I’ve been.”

  “Well, I can’t help but be curious. You left this morning and I haven’t seen you since then.”

  “I’ve been up on top of Mount Pinnacle.”

  “Where’s that?” she asked as she climbed under the covers.

  “Just west of town here. It’s the highest spot in this area. You can see a long way.”

  “Why did you go up on top of a mountain?”

  Luke was slipping into his pajamas. He got into bed beside her and reached over to kiss her. “I just needed a good place to think, and that was the best place I could come up with.”

  “Why, it’s freezing out there, Luke.”

  “You’re right about that. The wind cut right through me up on top of the mountain.”

  Joelle studied his face carefully. “I guess you had a reason for going, but I can’t imagine what it was.”

  “When I was a young fellow I used to go up there by myself. It was so quiet and peaceful. I was always busy with something or other, and at times I just wanted to get away. It was a little cold today, but I wanted to think about what all has happened to this country and about us.”

  “Couldn’t you think here?”

  “I suppose I could, but I just wanted to get away for a while. You’re not mad at me, are you?”

  “You know better than that.” She reached over and touched his face. Smiling, she said, “You’ll know it when I get mad.”

  “What have you been doing all day?”

  “Nothing much. Been listening to the radio. The news gets bleaker all the time. They keep talking about how we lost our fleet except for the carriers. Now the Japanese can just walk right over us. Is that true, do you think?”

  “I’m afraid we’re not going to win any battles for a long time. Congress has cut back on the military until practically all we’ve got is a peacetime army and navy. All the equipment is pretty well worn out. We’ll have to start from the ground up to fight this war.”

  “That reminds me. Tim came by with your father today. Tim was so excited.”

  “He’s always excited. What is it this time?”

  “He was telling us how he and your father have been talking to someone from the government. He says that the government wants the Winslow Factory to build carburetors for military vehicles.”

  “Wow, that’ll be great for the company.”

  Joelle hesitated, then said, “He wants you to go talk to him tomorrow about an idea he has.”

  “Tim’s full of ideas. What’s this one?”

  “He wants us to move the central headquarters for the Haven to Little Rock.”

  “Wait a minute. Let me guess. And he wants me to come back to work at the factory, doesn’t he?”

  “Yes, he does. He’s very excited about it.”

  “Well, I’m not. I’ve already got something to do.”

  “What will you tell him? He’s going to be terribly disappointed.”

  “I’ll just tell him I have other plans.”

  Joelle gave a little cry and reached out and threw her arms around Luke. “I’m so glad.”

  “Glad I’m not going to work for the factory?”

  “Yes. I wanted us to work for the Haven together.”

  “And that’s just what we’ll do, so you can forget about my going to work at the factory. That’s just Tim’s idea.”

  Drawing back, Joelle said, “You know, I’m enjoying my visit so much. It’s been so good to meet your family—but I’m ready to go home now. I miss the girls and there’s so much to do.”

  “Only another day and we’ll be on our way. I feel like you do. There’s a lot to do.”

  ****

  “I’m sorry you have to go so soon,” Jolie said. The four were standing outside the hangar at the airfield. The plane was warmed up, and they were saying their final good-byes.

  “It’s been such a wonderful visit,” Joelle said, smiling, “and now that the Winslows are behind the Haven, we’re going to see great things for God.”

  “I hope Tim’s not too disappointed by my not coming to work at the factory,” Luke said.

  His father shrugged his shoulders. “He was pretty disappointed. He’s a stubborn fellow, but he’ll get over it.”

  “Well, this is good-bye for a while,” Luke said. “We’ll keep in touch.”

  Joelle hugged Luke’s parents, and then she followed Luke out to the plane. He helped her in and shut the door, and then went around and climbed in beside her.

  Joelle turned and waved as Luke taxied out toward the main strip. He picked up speed and then they were off the ground. Joelle waved again and saw Peter and Jolie waving at her. “I feel like I’ve got brand-new parents.”

  “You do. They’re crazy about you.”

  As Luke gained altitude, they discussed their plans for expanding the Haven to include a boys’ facility. “You know,” Joelle told him, “as our place gets bigger, I don’t want to become just an executive in an office somewhere. I want to know these young people.”

  “You probably won’t be able to know them all, but you’ll always know some of them.” Luke grinned and reached over and squeezed her arm. “It’s going to be great, honey. Better than anything you’ve ever dreamed of.”

  ****

  Sunny was full of questions as she helped Joelle peel potatoes. More than once Joelle had asked her to try to make her peelings thinner. Sunny was more interested in fishing for information about Joelle’s trip than she was in peeling potatoes. She had fired questions as fast as she could speak, and finally she said, “Did Luke like the present we gave you, that nightgown?”

  Joelle laughed. “Yes, he liked it.”

  “I thought he would. Men like frilly underwear on women.”

  “How in the world do you know that?”

  “I read it in a magazine.”

  “What magazine was that?”

  “I don’t remember. Just one that Shirley found.”

  “Well, I’ve got something better for you to read than magazines about underwear.”

  Sunny suddenly dropped a potato into the bowl and turned to Joelle. Her face was lit up, and Joelle thought about how she had changed since the first time she had met her. When Sunny had first come to the Haven, she had been depressed, sullen, and uncommunicative. But now the girl had an inner glow that was so good to see. “You know what, Joelle?”

  “What?”

  “Luke’s going out to get a Christmas tree today, and he told me I could go with him. It’ll be just him and me.”

  “That’ll be wonderful.”

  “He said I could pick out the tree.”

  “You be sure to choose a good one.”

  “I will, but you know what? I just love Luke!”

  Joelle reached over and pinched the young girl’s earlobe. “So do I, honey.” She grinned. “So do I.”

  ****

  The living room was a pile of papers on Christmas morning. The girls had ripped into their presents, throwing the wrappings aside as they expressed their delight at their gifts.

  “Christmas sure is a lot of hard work—buying all these presents and wrapping them.”

  “Oh you,” Joelle said. “I did ninety percent of it.”

  “But I had all the mental anguish.” Luke grinned at her.

  The girls were examining their presents and chatting excitedly about what they had received. The foundation board had instructed Luke and Joelle to spend part of their first check
on the girls, for they had predicted that some of the girls wouldn’t be getting anything from their own families. Twelve girls were living in the house now, and that was the upper limit of what the old house could hold. There were plans afoot to erect a new building not only for the boys but one for the girls as well. They were hoping for a new facility that could house as many as fifty girls if necessary.

  “It’s been a wonderful Christmas,” Luke said. “Best I can remember. If you’ll stay right here for a minute, I’ve got one more surprise for you.”

  The girls all turned to look at him and Joelle.

  “What kind of a surprise?” Joelle asked.

  “You wait right here. Nobody move until I get back.”

  As soon as Luke left the room, the girls began peppering Joelle with questions. “Do you know what it’s going to be, Joelle?” Sunny demanded.

  “I have no idea. You know as much as I do.”

  They speculated on the nature of the surprise until they heard Luke starting down the stairs. Joelle’s eyes opened wide as Luke appeared.

  He was wearing the uniform of a captain in the Army Air Force. He stood there tall and straight and proud, and his eyes met with Joelle’s. “I’ve been trying to come up with a way to tell you about this, but I thought this might be the best way.”

  The girls were all crying out and jumping up as they ran to Luke. He was surrounded by the entire group, trying to answer their questions, and finally he pulled himself loose and went over to stand beside Joelle. “I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

  “Will you be leaving soon?” Joelle asked, knowing the answer.

  “I’m afraid it won’t be too long.”

  Joelle wanted to protest, but she knew what she had to do. “I’m proud of you, Luke! You’ll be the pride of the air force!”

  ****

  The girls were all in bed, and Joelle sat with Luke in front of the fireplace. He had pulled the couch around so they faced it, and now he got up and poked at the logs. They shifted and sent swirling sparks up the chimney. Putting the poker back, he came back to sit beside her. He put his arms around her and after a moment of silence said, “You’re not angry with me, are you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “That was what I went to Mount Pinnacle for, to think about this. I got to thinking about my life, how little I’d done.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Well, it seemed like it to me. Then I started thinking about how the air force is going to need experienced pilots, especially those who’ve been in combat. So I went to Little Rock and talked to Major Crandall, the enlistment officer, told him about my experience in the Spanish Civil War.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He called Washington and talked to some general about my experience. They gave me a commission, and my job will be to train a squadron of pilots, all young fellows who have never seen any combat, of course.”

  “You’ll do a wonderful job, Luke.”

  The two sat there talking for a long time, and finally Joelle turned, her eyes luminous. “I guess I have to tell you I’m afraid, Luke. War’s a terrible thing.”

  Luke nodded and pulled her closer. “It is, but I suppose all over America, wives and mothers and sisters are worried about their men going off to war. I’m sorry to do this to you, Joelle, but I feel I have to go.”

  She put her arms around his neck, her head on his chest. “Promise me you’ll come back to me.”

  “You know I will, sweetheart.”

  Joelle pulled back and looked into his face. Something danced in her eyes, and she said, “I have a present for you.”

  “You’ve already given me a present.”

  “This is different.”

  “All right, give it to me, then.”

  Joelle’s face lit up, and her lips parted with a delighted smile. “I can’t give it to you until July or maybe August.”

  Luke stared at her with a puzzled look, but then suddenly his eyes flew open wide. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

  “Yes. We’re going to have a baby.”

  Luke gave a delighted cry. “I promise you one thing. When my son is born, I’ll be here for that.”

  “Maybe it’ll be a girl.”

  “So much the better.” He kissed her then and held her tighter. “Thanks for the present, darling!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The Knights Fly Again

  The ancient transport groaned at the seams as it nudged into the dock at Portsmouth. Luke had heard about the fog in England, and here was the reality. It was August 3, 1942, and Captain Luke Winslow stood in the bow beside his second-in-command, Lieutenant Hal Harkness.

  Harkness was a highly excitable young man, one of the best pilots Luke had ever flown with and one that had the complete and utter confidence of the men in Wolf Squadron.

  Harkness moved impatiently. “It seems like ten years since we met at Walnut Ridge to organize the squadron,” he said.

  “Well, we made it, Hal.”

  “There were times I didn’t think we were going to. This last year has been hard.”

  Indeed, the year had been hard. Luke had gained the reputation of being a tough man, but he had known that these young men the government had put under his command needed toughness. They would be facing some of the most skilled pilots in the world in the Luftwaffe, and Luke was determined that they would be able to hold their own.

  The months had passed slowly, and only the birth of their son, whom Luke and Joelle had named Peter after Luke’s father, had broken the routine. Joelle had managed to come and stay with him at the training station, and they had been fortunate that Ted and Irene Taylor had once again agreed to stay at the Haven during Joelle’s absence.

  The training had been demanding, and more than three-fourths of the men had failed to make it through. More than Luke liked to think about had been killed in training accidents. At times it seemed that the training program was as dangerous as combat itself, but raw young men jockeying P=-47s made mistakes, and these mistakes were sometimes fatal.

  “Can’t see a thing in this fog,” Hal commented. “I wonder how in the world we’re gonna fly in it.”

  “We’ll find out, Hal.”

  He laughed. “We managed to get here in one piece, but you earned the reputation of being the meanest squadron leader in the whole air corps. For a while there, some of the men hated you.”

  “I realize not everyone likes me. But if I didn’t push them in training, they would never be prepared for what they’re gonna be facing now that we’re finally here.”

  The two men stood at the rail watching the sailors perform their duties. “If it wasn’t for little Pete and Joelle, I don’t know how I would have made it through these past several months.”

  “I know you’re going to miss them. I’m glad I’m not married. I’ve got big plans about making the women of England happy.”

  “I’m not sure how much time you’re going to have for women, Hal. You’re going to have plenty to do.”

  “That’s right. I’ll be taking on the Luftwaffe. I’m awfully glad I’m not going to have to fight you up there. You’re the best pilot in the service.”

  “I hope General Eaker thinks so.”

  “I hear he’s about as hard-nosed as you are.”

  “He had to be. They sent him over here last February with nothing. No airfields, no planes, and he’s supposed to create the Eighth Air Force. I don’t think anybody but Eaker could have done the job. Well, we better get our things ready,” Luke said, and turning, he went belowdecks to make preparations.

  ****

  Ira Eaker rose when Luke and Hal walked into his office. Coming over, he saluted the two and then offered his hand. “You’ll never know how glad I am to see you boys,” he said with excitement.

  “We’re glad to be here, General. This is Hal Harkness, my second-in-command, a hot pilot if there ever was one.”

  “Excellent. We need all the hot pilots we can
get over here.”

  “When will we be going out on a mission, General?” Harkness asked eagerly.

  “We don’t have the American planes here, but they’re on the way. It’ll be September.”

  “What are we going to do until then, General Eaker?” Luke asked.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll be busy. I’m assigning the squadron to fly cover for the English bombers.”

  “When will we start flying?”

  “When can you start?”

  “As soon as they get the airplanes uncrated and put together. A week maybe.”

  “The sooner the better.”

  “What are the missions like?” Hal asked, bubbling with curiosity.

  “Well, they’re not perfect. None of our planes have the range to escort the bombers all the way to target. The Spitfires can go halfway, but then they have to turn back before they run out of fuel. From then on the bombers are on their own. They’ve been taking a terrible beating.”

  “The British bomb at night, don’t they?”

  “Yes, they do. They tried it at daytime and said that losses were too great. As a matter of fact”—he grinned ruefully—”they think I’m crazy for wanting to bomb in the daylight. They say it’ll never work.” He gave Luke a studied look. “I’ve read a lot about you, Captain Winslow. I understand you’ve taken a number of 109s down.”

  “That’s true, but I hear they’ve improved them since I was last in combat.”

  “How good are the German pilots?” Hal asked.

  Eaker frowned. “They’re plenty good.” He gave Luke a pointed look. “I hope you haven’t lost your touch.”

  “Oh, he hasn’t, General,” Hal spoke up eagerly. “He’s the hottest pilot—”

  “That’s enough, Lieutenant,” Luke said. “General, I’ve been reading the newspapers. There’s an old acquaintance I’d like to look up. Colonel Erich Ritter.”

  “You know Ritter?”

  “He was with the Condor Legion in Spain. As a matter of fact, I shot him down.”

  “Well, apparently you didn’t kill him. Maybe you could do a better job this time. He’s their leading ace, you know, and his pilots are among the most feared in the Luftwaffe.”

  “I’ll be looking for him.”