Page 59 of The Spitfire Girls
And she had something else to be mindful of. She thought of the warmth within her, wondering if she was right. She’d missed her monthly cycle, and after that magical night with Tom she was almost certain she was pregnant. The very idea should have alarmed her when they weren’t even married, but she loved her Tom and she had no doubt he loved her just as much. Only she wasn’t telling him or anyone her news, not until she had to. The last thing she wanted was to be forced to stop flying, not when she was one of only three British women to get their Class V conversion. Pregnant or not, she wasn’t about to give up flying bombers, or any kind of plane that might be needed – not when she finally believed that she was capable of doing it.
Tom. Just thinking about him made her smile. After so long, she’d almost convinced herself that he would be a let-down when she was finally with him again,if they even got that far. But the look on his face, the genuine joy she’d seen when he’d watched her take off her helmet beside the Halifax and insist she was the pilot, had told her everything she’d needed to know. All the doubts she’d been having, all the anger she’d felt over his letters, had disappeared when they’d finally laid eyes on one another again.
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 wayhisnosey, 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.
