The Spitfire Girls(29)
‘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.