The Spitfire Girls(96)

‘So now you’re not only the girl who flew a Halifax, you’re the girl who flew a Meteor jet,’ May said. ‘And to Berlin, no less!’

Ruby was grinning from ear to ear, her excitement palpable after her amazing ground-breaking flight. ‘It was pretty incredible,’ she said. ‘I’ve never known anything like it.’

May smiled. ‘Can you believe this war is almost over? That the Allies have actually done it?’

Ruby reached for her and they embraced for a silent, surreal moment. ‘We’ve survived,’ she whispered. ‘My Tom survived, we’ve survived. I just can’t believe we did it.’

May stepped back, wiping her eyes. ‘When you’re in the thick of it, working so tirelessly day after day, it’s almost impossible to imagine that it could ever actually end.’

‘You can say that again.’

May pointed down the runway. ‘Can we walk?’

‘Of course.’

They fell into step, walking side by side in comfortable silence. It was a warm summer evening, and May was sick of being at her desk, completing all the final paperwork and cross-checking all the logbooks, so it was nice to feel the warm breeze on her skin.

‘I have some exciting news for you,’ she said.

‘More exciting than the war ending or flying a Meteor jet?’ Ruby joked. ‘Actually, as surreal as the end might be, I don’t think anything can beat flying at two hundred and seventy miles per hour today. It was like being a bullet!’

May gave her a wink. ‘This might be even better.’

Ruby stopped walking and stared at her. ‘What is it? Tell me!’

‘As you know, most of us are being released from our jobs. There’s a huge surplus of pilots now, and even the best of us can’t be seen to be taking jobs from men.’

Ruby groaned. ‘I’m so sick of hearing people say that! They used us when they needed us, and now they want to pretend we’re the inferior sex all over again.’

May couldn’t have agreed more, but now wasn’t a time to debate the great gender divide. They only had their base at White Waltham left now; all but six pilots had gone, she knew it would soon be as if they’d never even existed. She had no idea how any of the ATA were going to find work, when new jobs were harder to find than butter; and with their pay soon to be stopped, times were going to be harder in peace than war.

‘Ruby, now the war is as good as over, you’ve been seconded to the RAF.’

‘What?’ Ruby gasped, all colour draining from her face.

‘It seems you impressed someone with your flying skills. They want you to join them to fly the Meteor jets.’

Ruby squealed and hugged May, jumping up and down. ‘Are you serious?’

May laughed. ‘Yes, Ruby, I’m very serious. You’ve been shoulder-tapped from very high up in the RAF – it seems you have some fans there.’

‘Gosh, I wonder what Tom will say,’ she said. ‘I’m going to have to ask him . . .’

‘Don’t ask him for permission, Ruby. His blessing, perhaps. But this is your decision and no one else’s,’ May said firmly, hoping she wasn’t speaking out of turn. ‘You learnt from the beginning to trust your own instincts, and this shouldn’t be any different. Tom fell in love with you all over again despite the choice you made, remember?’

Ruby nodded. ‘I know.’

‘And I know for a fact that he will be kept on with the RAF, so you might find it all works out perfectly after all.’

They started to walk again, this time with their arms looped, like the two young women they’d been before the war rather than two highly trained pilots.

‘What about you?’ Ruby asked.

‘Well, actually, Ben and I are going to get married. As soon as we’re both home.’

Ruby beamed at her. ‘May, that’s wonderful news! I’m so happy for you. When did he ask you?’

‘It was actually some time ago, but we decided to keep it secret for a while. Now that my duties are over though, I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops,’ May said with a grin. ‘He’s a good man, Ruby. I have no idea how I was so lucky to find him, but I needed to keep him just for me. I had this fear that if I told anyone, I’d lose him, too.’

‘Will you keep flying, do you think?’ Ruby asked.

‘I’m so proud of what we did here, and I’ll always want to fly, but this isn’t me. I mean . . .’ What did she mean? She’d loved her role with the ATA; even when she’d been desperately tired and sometimes didn’t know how she’d face another day, it had been her life and she wouldn’t have had it any other way. She’d been running from her past, from her pain, and it was finally time to stop and take a moment to just breathe. ‘What I’m trying to say is that I always imagined a traditional life for myself in many respects, but one where I continued flying whenever I wanted to. Although I don’t know exactly how I’ll make that happen.’

Ruby nodded. ‘I know the feeling. In my heart I adore Tom and I want more than anything to be his wife, but that’s not enough for me anymore. I need to fly, too, and I don’t think I could be with him if he didn’t understand that.’

‘I have such a jumble of thoughts in my head – it’s nice to be able to talk it through with you,’ May confessed. ‘I doubt anyone in my family would understand, and it’s going to be hard going back to normality after this.’