The Spitfire Girls(62)

And they were getting married on her next two days of leave. How he’d managed to secure the same two days she had no idea, but he’d written to her to check before insisting they marry at once. Her mother was going to be heartbroken, but she’d forgive her. At least this way his nosey, interfering mother would have nothing to do with it, and it might stop her from sending malicious letters – once they were married they were married, and that would be that. She wondered if he’d even tell her, or wait until after the war.

She scanned the sky again, wondering why she had such an unusual sense of foreboding. Perhaps it was that Lizzie had gone, or that May was flying with her when she was usually grounded and busy organising everyone else; or simply that there were so many of them travelling in the same direction, on the same flight path at the same time.

Whatever the case, once they landed she was going to take to ask May and Polly if they could be there on her wedding day. She would have asked Lizzie too, if she was still here.

She settled in for the flight, scanning the sky again and regularly checking her gauges. Her bottom already felt numb and she cursed the fact that she’d forgotten to bring a cushion to make the flight a bit more comfortable.



The mechanics waiting for them at Colerne hadn’t been able to hide their excitement at the Spitfires arriving through the mist, and Ruby loved the pride she always felt at accomplishing something that so many people were counting on. She’d half-expected the feeling to pass once she’d been in the role for a while, but the gratitude they received from the pilots and ground crew at various airfields now was something she’d never tire of.

‘Did you see that?’

Ruby turned and looked to where May was pointing. They’d all been sitting outside despite the cold, nursing hot cups of tea as they waited for notification to leave, and the last of the pilots were landing in dribs and drabs. They hadn’t all come from the same base, and there were still a handful of ATAs expected within the next few hours.

‘What?’ she asked, not sure what May was so fixated on.

‘It looked like that plane was making an uphill final approach.’

Ruby peered into the sky. Maybe May was right; it seemed unlikely, but the cloud cover was dense after a lovely morning when they’d first taken off, and some pilots might turn back rather than attempt to make their final push toward Colerne.

‘There’s nothing more frightening than knowing you’ve made the choice to fly, and then hurtling through the sky wondering why in God’s name you decided to be the brave one,’ May muttered.

‘You think that’s what happened there?’

May was standing now, one hand raised as she studied the sky. She stayed silent and then started to pace.

‘Here she comes,’ May muttered, as a figure appeared in the distance, walking towards them. ‘Polly!’

Ruby leapt up and followed, wondering why May was so worried.

‘Polly, what was all that about? We watched your approach,’ May asked.

The other girl looked past May and gave Ruby a strange look. The colour had drained from her face, leaving her ashen. She was usually so fun, so full of life, but today she was nothing like her usual self.

‘Go and get her a hot cuppa, would you?’ May asked, frowning as she held out a hand to Polly.

But something made Ruby pause. The way Polly kept looking at her was unsettling, her eyes darting back and forth. What was going on?

‘Visibility was bad?’ May asked.

‘Terrible. I only took off because I’d memorised the sequence of landmarks to get here. I had to fly so low just to mark off each road and railway line.’

‘You could have turned back, or not taken off at all.’

Polly made a strange spluttering noise and gave Ruby a furtive glance again. ‘That wasn’t an option. Visibility increased, and I flew as slowly as possible, but I had to fly the last mile along a lane, which was uphill to here.’

‘And the others?’ Ruby asked.

May turned around, as if she was surprised to still see Ruby standing there.

‘I think they turned around, but I can’t be sure.’

‘Why didn’t you?’ Ruby asked, staring back at Polly. ‘Turn back, I mean? What’s actually going on here?’

Polly burst into tears.

‘Get the tea,’ May murmured. ‘Or something stronger.’

Ruby froze, her feet rooted to the ground. ‘Why did you persist?’ she asked again, suddenly needing to know.

‘We had word, a call came in, I . . .’

Ruby breathed deep, wrapping her arms around herself. Was it their base? Had something happened to the other pilots? She watched as May stroked Polly’s arm, and then her friend slowly raised her eyes to Ruby’s.

‘I don’t know how to tell you this, Ruby, but . . .’

Ruby went ice-cold, and a shudder descended her spine. Was it her family? What in God’s name was going on?

‘Spit it out!’ May ordered. ‘What message do you have?’

‘There was a call for you, Ruby. It’s your fiancé,’ Polly stuttered. ‘Your Tom is missing in action, presumed dead. I’m so sorry.’

Ruby opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She went from ice-cold to burning hot and back to freezing again as she gaped at Polly.