The Spitfire Girls(88)
She is most upset that I’m at home convalescing and you’re still away flying, despite me trying to explain to her that you’re not exactly gallivanting around having fun instead of caring for me! I honestly don’t know why she’s still bleating on about your decision to fly. Remember that I will stand by your side no matter what, even if it means constantly telling my mother that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about and needs to show you more respect.
The one nice thing has been getting to know your parents better, although I can tell it must be hard for your delightful mother being with me when she’s so worried about you. But the look on her face when she talks about you, or when she tells someone that her daughter and son-in-law are pilots, is something to behold. She’s a wonderful woman, and I can see that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Your father is fantastic – we had a whisky or three the other night and toasted our marriage, and my father came along too.
Stay safe in the air, my darling. I’ll be back on base again within the week I expect, and perhaps then you can arrange leave to visit me? Or even just figure out a way to fly into my base so I can make all the other officers jealous again.
Tom
Ruby read the letter one more time before carefully folding it into a small square and slipping it back into her pocket. She fingered the ring she still wore on a chain around her neck, smiling as she thought about Tom, and imagining a time when the war was over and they were back flying together. She wanted to perform acrobatics in the sky and challenge him to races, or fly in a two-seater and just enjoy being in the air for fun.
Her pulse raced as she thought about him getting back in the sky again, knowing how much more dangerous his role was than hers. He was engaging in air attacks, whereas her biggest enemy was the cloud.
‘Time to go, ladies!’
Ruby picked up her small bag and stretched out her back; these days she felt so stiff and achy all the time. It was going to be a long day with a Spitfire to fly to the first base, then a Halifax further afield, and if the weather held long enough she’d be bringing back a Lancaster before having to make her way by train to Hamble, with her bag, parachute and maps in tow. Central Operations at Andover had a horrendous job, trying to shuffle planes and ferry pilots all over the British Isles, and she seemed to be regularly logging three flights instead of two each day as more planes were needed.
‘Oh, listen!’ one of the other girls called out, turning up the volume on the wireless. ‘Our boys bombed Berlin last night! Twice!’
Ruby gasped and swelled with pride, wondering if the four-engine bomber she’d delivered the day before had been the one to do it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
TEXAS, EARLY 1943
LIZZIE
‘Captain!’ Lizzie called out, seeing Jackson walk past her office. His head appeared in her open doorway and she beckoned him in.
‘Well, don’t you look like the cat that got the cream,’ he said, eyebrows raised. ‘What is it?’
‘I’ve just received a letter from General Arnold,’ she told him, still clutching the paper like a lifeline.
‘And what exactly did your good friend Hap have to say today?’
Lizzie rolled her eyes at him. ‘You make it sound like I’ve brainwashed the poor man into being my best friend.’
Jackson laughed. ‘Well, I’ve heard worse things said about how you managed to convince a burly general to let women climb into planes and fly them all around the country.’
‘Who’s saying these things?’ she asked, horrified. ‘I would never do that!’
He was clearly enjoying this, and she hated how much he’d managed to rile her. She knew people would gossip and say all sorts of things about her, but the only thing she was guilty of was believing in women and wanting to serve her country.
‘Do you want to hear what he has to say or not?’ she asked.
He shrugged. ‘Just get on with it. I’ve got work to do.’
‘Congress is considering a bill that would finally make the WASPs part of the Army Air Forces!’ she said excitedly. ‘Can you believe it? After all this time, they’re starting to realise what assets we are.’
‘And it took women being stationed at one hundred and twenty bases around the country before they did,’ Jackson said. ‘What a bunch of idiots. They should have done this from the very beginning.’
‘I know there are some women who don’t want to be part of the army, but most will be thrilled.’
‘What’s the reluctance? Won’t they finally be paid properly?’ he asked.
She nodded, dropping the letter to her desk. She’d campaigned so long for them to be fairly recognised, it was almost hard to believe it was going to happen at last. ‘Our pilots will be paid the same as any male pilot. They’ll be supplied with proper uniforms at all times, and they’ll be covered by army insurance. It’s incredible.’
Jackson smiled. ‘I hope they all remember to thank you.’
‘I’m going to start as many WASPs as possible in the army’s four-week officer training course. We have around four hundred who’ll be interested.’
If Jackson was surprised, he didn’t show it. ‘Good.’ He paused. ‘Is there something you’d like to say to me?’
‘Why, is there something I’ve forgotten? It’s not your birthday today, is it?’