The Spitfire Girls(60)

‘Everything all right?’ May asked.

Lizzie met her gaze in the rear-view mirror. ‘I’m bloody amazing,’ she replied.

And then they all burst out laughing, because finally, after months on British soil, she’d actually managed to sound like an Englishwoman without even trying.

‘Come on, what is it?’ Ruby asked, curiosity written all over her face.

‘I’m going to be leading my own squadron,’ she said, hardly believing the words.

‘Congratulations, Lizzie!’ Ruby exclaimed.

‘Thank you,’ she said, letting excitement wash over her. It was actually, finally, happening!

‘Well deserved,’ May said. ‘I’m so proud of you, Liz.’

‘Would you believe that Jackson Montgomery is going to be my sidekick though?’ she told them. ‘Or perhaps I’m supposed to be his sidekick. Either way I’ll just have to deal with it, because nothing is taking the shine off my new job!’

‘He wasn’t exactly hard on the eye,’ Ruby murmured. ‘You have to admit.’

‘He was a pain in the backside, that’s what he was,’ Lizzie grumbled. ‘And no, I absolutely do not have to admit that!’

‘Sweetheart,’ May chipped in, ‘if you thought he was a pain in the backside, you clearly have no idea what you were like to work with sometimes!’

Lizzie had to laugh. She wasn’t going to argue with May there.



‘I can’t believe this is it,’ Ruby said, as she flung her arms around Lizzie less than two hours later.

Lizzie hugged her back, then turned to her commander. ‘May, I hope that I can be half the leader you are one day,’ she said. ‘And I’m sorry I’m not here to help with the Spitfire deliveries. I’d have stayed if I could.’

‘Elizabeth Dunlop, was that a compliment?’ May asked, exchanging glances with Ruby. ‘And don’t worry about the Spitfires, we’ve got them under control.’

‘Ha ha, very funny. I suppose you have Jackson to thank for my new-found humbleness.’

‘Oh, we thank him every day,’ Ruby teased. ‘He’s the only thing that made you bearable.’

‘Oh, stop it,’ Lizzie said, giving May a hug. ‘Can’t a girl have a decent send-off?’

May held her tight and kissed her cheek. ‘I thought you were going to be a thorn in my side when you arrived, Lizzie, and you certainly were. But I’m actually going to miss you.’

‘Me? A thorn?’ Lizzie laughed. ‘Never!’

She took one last look around the airfield where she’d been stationed for so long; the all-women ferry pool at Hamble had been incredible, and she was going to miss everything about it.

‘I’m sorry ladies, but it’s time.’ A Daimler was waiting, much like the one she’d driven when she’d first arrived in London, although this time she wouldn’t be driving it herself.

‘Goodbye,’ Lizzie said, bending to pick up her bag. ‘And thank you, for putting up with me and showing me what it truly means to be part of a team. I’ll never forget my time here with you.’

‘It was nothing,’ Ruby said, tears in her eyes.

Lizzie took a step towards the car. ‘With women on both sides of the pond ferrying planes, I think we can actually work together to win this damn war, don’t you?’

Ruby laughed, but May just nodded. ‘I’m sure of it.’

‘And May,’ Lizzie added, ‘please, one of these days, admit to yourself that you’re head over heels in love with that gorgeous flight mechanic of yours, would you?’ She grinned. ‘You’re not fooling anyone.’

‘May and Benjamin?’ Ruby gasped. ‘Are you joking?’

May positively glowered, but her flushed cheeks gave her true feelings away. ‘Ben is a lovely man, but . . .’

‘This is war, May. It’s life or death every day, and that means there’s not a day to miss. If you want him,’ said Lizzie, ‘go and get him. Because you deserve to be happy and he’s a good man.’

May just shook her head, not saying a thing, while Ruby still stood gaping. Lizzie got in the car, still laughing at May’s mortified expression, then turned to stare at the two women who’d become like sisters to her in the short time she’d known them.

‘Ready to go?’ the driver asked.

‘Yes,’ she said, holding up a hand as the car moved away and her friends became smaller and smaller until they finally disappeared. A Halifax appeared in the sky and she watched as it circled, preparing to land. They’d come a long way in so little time.

‘It’s going to be no different back home,’ she muttered to herself.

‘Sorry luv, what was that?’ the driver asked.

She smiled and shook her head. ‘Oh nothing, just talking to myself.’





CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHATTIS HILL AIRFIELD, HAMPSHIRE,

SEPTEMBER 1942

RUBY

‘It’s strange not having Lizzie here with us, isn’t it?’ Ruby said to May as they sat passing the time. There were no ferry notes to swat up on this time – they were all piloting Spitfires and they knew the aircrafts like the back of their hands. They’d flown in that morning to Chattis Hill to collect the brand-new planes, which were all lined up and waiting for them on the runway.