Kitty's War

by Barbara Whitaker

“Kitty was with a friend of her brother’s?”

  “Yeah. Nice fellow.”

  She didn’t say anymore. Just nodded and walked on in silence. Ted relaxed a little. She was satisfied. No need to tell her any more. After all she didn’t need to know he spent the whole next day with them. Or that he enjoyed it so much. Too much.

  They found themselves by the castle with the moon rising in a dusky gray sky.

  “Let’s go around to the garden,” she suggested. “There’s a gazebo tucked away that’s the perfect place to be alone.”

  The image of Kitty sitting across from him in that gazebo gave him an unfamiliar and uncomfortable feeling. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was afraid. Of what? Memories? Of a dream coming to life? And a life he’d never have.

  “Look, Madge. Like I told you before, we need to take a break. I like you, and all that, but you need to date other guys. And I need to move on.”

  “What if I don’t want to date other guys?”

  He realized he needed to be more blunt. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to see you anymore. Understand?”

  “No. I don’t.”

  Hurt showed in her face, and guilt soured in his gut. She deserved better, but she wasn’t going to get it. Not from him. “I wanted to do this nicely. Looks like you aren’t going to let me. So here it is. We’re done. As soon as I can, I’m going back to flying, and I’ll be out of your life for good. Now do you understand.”

  She just stared at him. Silence wasn’t Madge’s thing.

  He turned around and walked away from her, half expecting her to run after him. But she didn’t.

  Setting a steady, but aggressive pace, he strode toward his quarters. He’d call it an early night. After all, he had to report early in the morning—to the Red Cross ladies. His new assignment.

  They had a meeting scheduled with some local citizens to organize some dances and social events for the Americans at the nearby airfields. Our boys needed some entertainment and the Red Cross matrons thought he could convince the local ladies groups to sponsor the events. He was dubious. But he’d play nice. He’d turn on his charm and do what he could.

  Then maybe when this damn investigation was over, Colonel Snyder would let him go back to where he belonged. Flying bombers over Germany.

  ****

  “You didn’t tell me you saw Ted in London.”

  Madge didn’t sound happy. Had she seen Ted? What did he tell her?

  “Yes, we ran into him—literally. In the blackout.” Maybe that was enough.

  “He said you had a date with one of Milton’s friends.”

  “Yes.” Kitty’s mouth went dry. She bent down to remove her shoe and hoped Madge didn’t notice her hand shaking.

  “Go on. Tell me. Was he cute?”

  Kitty still avoided eye contact. Let Madge think her reaction was to Ade. It wasn’t really lying, was it? “Oh, I guess. Well, yes. He was very nice.”

  “Where’d you go? Tell me everything.”

  “There isn’t much to tell.” She glanced up to judge Madge’s reaction. “We went to dinner and to the theater.”

  “And…”

  Madge clearly expected more, but there wasn’t any more to tell. “And that’s all…really. We ran into Lieutenant Kruger in the blackout. It’s really hard to get around in the dark in a city like that.”

  Madge shook her head. “You’ve got to learn to take advantage of the situation. When you don’t have much time then you have to make the most of things.”

  “Milton was there. What was I supposed to do?”

  “Oh, sweetie. You’re right. I guess a brother would cramp your style, even for me.” She laughed. “Sure wish I could go to London. I’d have a great ol’ time.”

  “I’m sure you would.”

  Madge gathered her things for the trek to the showers. “Ted said he liked your brother.”

  “Yes. They hit it off. Neither of them minded the Officer-Enlisted man difference.”

  “That was very democratic of your brother.” Madge waved as she left the hut.

  Kitty sank onto her cot. How had she gotten to be such a liar? Weren’t lies of omission just as bad as out-right lies? And why did she feel the need to lie about Ted? Nothing had happened between them. The truth was she wanted something to happen. She’d spent a whole day with him, and even though they’d never really been alone, she had wanted more. And he’d pulled away.

  Not the kind of man you should get involved with, Milton had said. Not a good time to get interested in anyone, with the war and all.

  Her brother was right, of course. And she was just dreaming again. Fantasizing about something that would never be. Her silly notion of fate bringing them together, again. That didn’t mean they were meant to be together. It was just a coincidence. And the sooner she accepted that fact, the better.

  Madge and several other girls returned from the showers. Madge unwrapped the towel from her head and began her nightly routine—pin curls, face cream.

  Kitty finished ironing her last blouse and folded it neatly on the make-shift shelf over her bed. As soon as she finished, Sally commandeered the ironing board.

  “Did Ted tell you why he went to London?”

  Madge couldn’t let it go. She had to ask questions.

  “No.” It was the simplest answer.

  “Did he say anything about the investigation?”

  “He talked to Milton about it.”

  “He’s worried. I can tell.” Madge focused on getting a pin curl in place.

  Kitty watched her friend, watched her face change expressions, watched the frown grow into a scowl. Madge turned to face her.

  “When did he talk to Milton about it? In the blackout?”

  That old sinking feeling came over Kitty, the way she always felt when she was caught in a lie. She fought it. Drew in a deep breath and told the truth, as if she had never tried to deceive.

  “Ted didn’t have a place to stay, so Milton let him stay in his room.”

  “With the enlisted men?”

  Kitty nodded. “He said they sneaked him in.”

  Madge narrowed her eyes as if she didn’t believe her.

  “I told you…they hit it off. Got to talking.”

  “What else haven’t you told me?”

  Kitty couldn’t meet her gaze. What should she say to her? The whole thing had been innocent. Then why did she feel so guilty?

  “Well?”

  “Well…he went sight-seeing with us. Just tagged along. We went to Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London, Parliament…”

  “Spare me the tour. Why did Ted go with you? I thought he hung out with some flyers he knew from some air base near here.”

  “He probably did. I don’t know what he did after he left us.”

  Madge leaned closer and cocked her head slightly. She studied Kitty for a few seconds before her brows arched and her lips parted. “You like him, don’t you?”

  Kitty could hear the accusation in her voice. It made her want to crawl under the bed. But there was no escape. She had to face her friend.

  “Of course, I like him. He’s a friend.” She looked up and met Madge’s hard stare. “Your boyfriend.”

  “Yeah, he was my boyfriend. Now he says he doesn’t want to see me anymore.” Her eyes narrowed, brows furrowed. “You’d like him to be your boyfriend. Wouldn’t you?”

  “No, of course not.” But she could feel the lie written all over her face. She did want Ted, and no words could erase that.

  Madge jumped to her feet. “I knew it. Knew something was off. The way he acted.” Her voice grew louder. Girls nearby stopped to listen.

  “You’re lying to me,” Madge continued. Her finger wagged in Kitty’s face. “You stay away from him, you hear me. He’s mine.” She shook her head back and forth. “And if you think some wimpy little thing like you can take him away from me, you’ve got another think coming.”

  Tears welled in Kitty’s eyes. “No, no. It’s not like that. I
don’t want to take him away from you.” She swiped her cheek to keep the tears from falling. She couldn’t lose Madge. “You’re right. He couldn’t be interested in anyone like me. He’s not. Really. He barely spoke to me on the train coming back.”

  “You were on the train together?” Fury blazed on Madge’s face.

  Kitty cringed, afraid her friend was going to hit her. “I just saw him, on the train. We weren’t ‘together’.”

  Madge stood there working her mouth as if trying to decide what to say next. Her mood slowly cooled. When she finally spoke, her words were dead serious. “Just stay away from him.”

  Kitty nodded, unable to trust herself to speak.

  Madge sat back down and returned her attention to her damp hair.

  The other girls, shocked by the angry exchange, whispered to each other as they resumed their activities.

  Meekly, quietly, Kitty gathered her things and headed to the showers, grateful for an excuse to leave.

  ****

  The previous night’s confrontation with Madge eroded Kitty’s confidence in her ability to face General Lake. She wasn’t sure she could pull it off. Her lies had always been so transparent.

  She gave herself the same pep talk she’d rehearsed in her head since leaving London. She just had to remember to tell the truth. And avoid the one, little technicality, that Milton was her brother, not her fiancé. She also had to remember she’d given General Lake a fake last name. After all she and her fiancé couldn’t have the same last name. So she’d used her mother’s maiden name, Kerr, instead of Greenlee.

  What a mess!

  She’d lucked out yesterday. When she reported for duty, General Lake had gone off to a meeting at Eighth Air Force headquarters. But he’d be back today. No more reprieves.

  “Good morning,” she greeted her boss with the brightest smile she could muster.

  “Ah. Good morning, Greenlee. How was your leave?”

  “Oh, wonderful, sir.”

  “Was your young man happy to see you?”

  “Oh, yes, sir,” she gushed, hoping he would be satisfied.

  “Come in and bring your book,” he ordered as he entered his office.

  “Yes, sir,” she agreed. Maybe that was the end of it. On to business.

  The general settled himself behind his desk and lit a cigarette. Kitty looked around for his ashtray and moved it close to his right hand before taking her seat. He took a deep draught on the cigarette, leaned his head back, and blew out the smoke before placing the cigarette in the ash tray.

  “Okay, let’s get started. Send a memo to my staff.”

  Kitty jotted down his words as he rattled off instructions and explanations from his meeting at Air Force headquarters. When he finished, he gave her his standard instructions, “Type that up and let me read it before you send it out.”

  “Yes, sir.” Kitty stood to leave.

  “That fellow of yours, in the infantry didn’t you say?”

  “Yes, sir. First Infantry.”

  “Did he tell you anything about what they’re up to?”

  “Sir?”

  “What’s his outfit training for? Did he say?”

  “Oh, no, sir. He couldn’t tell me anything about that.”

  “Yes, of course.” He lit another cigarette.

  Kitty wanted to leave, but his gaze had her locked in place.

  “Did he say anything about an invasion?”

  “No, sir. Well,” she backtracked, telling herself to tell the truth. “Everybody knows there’s going to be an invasion, sometime, but nobody knows the specifics.”

  “Then he did talk to you about it.”

  “Just that there’d be one, and he’d probably be in it.” She prayed she hadn’t said too much. The last thing she wanted to do was to get Milton in trouble.

  “Damn generals in SHAEF. They can’t see that we could win this thing with bombers. Just bomb the hell out of them. Destroy all their cities. Lay the whole country to waste.”

  She stood there in shock. What was he talking about?

  He came around the desk toward her, waving his cigarette at her. “General Spaatz has the right idea. If they’d just give us enough bombers, we could win this thing and there wouldn’t have to be an invasion. Boys like that fellow of yours wouldn’t have to get killed. We could get Germany to surrender by destroying their will to go on.”

  She didn’t know what to say. Or even if he expected her to say anything. She just stood there staring at him.

  He came so close she could smell the stale cigarette smoke clinging to his uniform. She trembled. Her knees weakened.

  Realization softened his face. “Oh, I’m sorry, Greenlee.” He turned away. “Forget what I said.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “That’s an order. Don’t repeat any of that.” He walked to the window. “Just spouting off. We all have to follow orders, you know. Even if we don’t agree with them.”

  “Yes, sir,” she murmured.

  “Go ahead. Get that typed up.”

  She turned and ran for the door, before he said anything else.

  Chapter Nineteen

  To Ted’s relief, the trucks pulled up in front of the English manor house near Hollingswood. He’d been watching for them over half an hour. Their arrival with American girls on board guaranteed the dance would be a success.

  Air Force personnel stationed at area bases hadn’t shown much interest in the Red Cross soiree until they’d announced the American WACs and nurses would attend. Friendly as the local English girls were, they didn’t garner the same reaction as real American women.

  Several eager airmen greeted the girls and helped them climb down from the back of the trucks. Although they wore uniforms, the skirts couldn’t hide long, stocking-covered legs. And neat little hats sat atop their spruced-up hair dos. The girls had gone all out to get dolled-up for the occasion. And from the compliments he heard, he wasn’t the only one who appreciated their efforts.

  When several airmen gathered around to help one blonde beauty, Ted smiled. Madge always drew attention.

  They’d barely seen each other lately, thanks to his new assignment. Days ago he made a point to issue a personal invitation to Captain Weatherby and her WACs. Weatherby had accepted, on the condition of General Lake’s approval.

  Madge had been there, and from her reaction to the invitation, he believed she’d go AWOL if that’s what it took to go dancing. She’d laid one of her killer smiles on him and had promised to come and bring her friends.

  Captain Weatherby came around the side of the truck, and he let out a sigh of relief. All the girls were legit or Weatherby wouldn’t have come along.

  Madge pushed her way through the airmen to Ted’s side.

  “You look great!” he told her.

  “Thanks, handsome. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  Ted chuckled when one of the other fellows asked, “What about me?”

  “You’re cute, too,” Madge told him. She leaned closer to the blushing GI. “Save me a dance, okay?”

  “Sure.” He grinned sheepishly.

  “Me, too,” a burly ground crewman insisted.

  She smiled easily, loving the attention. “You, too,” she assured the man.

  Madge turned to look back toward the truck.

  “Where’s Kitty?” she asked.

  Ted’s breath caught. Was she here? He forced himself to breathe, and as calmly as he could he turned to follow Madge’s gaze. He didn’t see her. A vague sense of having a weight removed from his chest allowed him to breathe more easily. He had to get hold of himself.

  When Madge touched his hand and whispered “There she is,” he steeled himself against any reaction before spotting the dark-haired girl with her back to them.

  “Looks like she’s found someone to talk to,” Madge said.

  Ted could feel her watching him. She must have figured out that there was something between Kitty and him. He just wasn’t sure what it was.

  “Kitty’s really
come out of her shell,” Madge commented. “She used to be this shy wallflower who was afraid to talk to men.”

  Madge looked as if she was trying to judge his reaction to her statement. Unsure where she was going with it, he decided to go along and see. “Yeah, she is more friendly than she used to be.”

  “How friendly was she in London?” Anger flashed in her eyes.

  He’d stepped in it now. Somehow Madge had guessed his growing feelings for Kitty. He had to make a decision—now.

  He glowered down at her. “Look, I can be friendly with whoever I want to.”

  “So you two did get friendly in London.”

  Ted ran his hand through his hair. “You’ve got it all wrong. She’s a nice girl.”

  “And I’m not?”

  “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

  “And you’re interested in her. That’s why you broke up with me.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Maybe. What of it? You show plenty of interest in other guys.”

  “And you liked having me on your arm to show off, didn’t you?”

  He shook his head. “What does that have to do with it?”

  “What am I to you? Do you care anything about me? Or was I just a trophy?”

  Her questions and her anger surprised him. Where had all that come from?

  Before he could answer her, one of the Red Cross women interrupted them. “Lieutenant Kruger, there’s some problem with the music. Would you take care of it?”

  “Of course. Right away.” He glanced quickly at Madge. “Excuse me.”

  She nodded, but he could see that she was still upset.

  Talk to her later, he told himself, when you figure out what’s going on.

  In the grand hall the soldier he’d recruited to play the records huddled over the phonograph fiddling with the wires.

  “What’s the problem?” Ted asked.

  “Can’t get the thing to work.”

  “Great. Just great.” Ted pushed the youngster out of the way and examined the record player they’d hauled here from headquarters. “Here’s the problem. This wire’s loose.” Ted scanned the people slowly filing into the huge room. “Do you know Charlie Dixon?”

  “Yeah, I think so. Tall, dark hair. Works on one of the ground crews.”

  “That’s him. Find him, will you? He’s pretty good with electrical stuff.”