Page 73 of The Spitfire Girls
‘They watched Ruby shake out those gorgeous long locks,’ Polly teased. ‘She’s got them all excited!’
Ruby flushed and May linked arms with her, both holding their heads high.
‘Ladies,’ said one of the officers as they walked by.
‘Cup of tea, anyone?’ another called out.
‘Married,’ Ruby stated, holding her newly minted ring finger in the air.
‘A cuppa sounds glorious,’ May said, stifling a laugh. ‘Is it this way, fellas?’
‘Right this way,’ another overly helpful man volunteered.
By the time they reached the bathroom through the officers’ quarters, she and Polly were in peals of laughter, imitating Ruby’s gesture as they waited their turn. Others from their squadron started to file in slowly, and they all turned their backs to the pin-up girl posters fixed to the walls. It was almost impossible to land at an airfield and find a clean bathroom to use, let alone one that wasn’t so obviously male.
Ruby always got the lion’s share of attention whenever they were around men, and today was no different, despite her announcing to everyone that she was married. All May could do was sit back with the others and laugh. But with a hot cup of tea in her hand and a biscuit in the other, she felt comfortable enough; it was nice to be flying again rather than buried in paperwork and trying to recruit ever more pilots.
‘Oh, I forgot to tell you that a letter arrived!’ Polly said, plucking out an envelope from inside her flying suit. ‘It’s from Lizzie, and it’s addressed to us all.’
May took it eagerly. ‘Shall I read it out aloud?’
‘Yes,’ Ruby urged, as all the other women nodded and clustered closer.
May cleared her throat in anticipation; she’d been dying to hear from Lizzie for weeks.
‘To my girls,
I can’t believe it’s been so long since I was with you. The past weeks have flown by in a whirlwind, and I’m so pleased to tell you all that my father has made a full recovery. On base, it’s been a mixture of recruiting, training and being a babysitter and mother figure to all these young women. Me, a mother figure, can you imagine? I feel like den mother, only I’m far too young and to be honest I wonder sometimes if I even know what I’m doing. Except when I’m flying, of course – that’s the only moment I feel in control. I only hope one day I’m not found out for the fraud I am, as responsible as a teenager and as reckless as one, too!
I hope she’s not reading this, because I have to confess I now have a much greater appreciation for everything May does, so please go easy on her.’
May looked up, smiling and raising her eyebrows. ‘Hear that? She wants you to go easy on me, ladies.’ Giggles followed as she returned to the letter.
‘The rest of my time seems to be wasted butting heads with Captain Montgomery, who, unlike your kind and understanding Captain MacMillan, is an absolute tyrant. I mean, this man literally makes me want to explode more now than he did in England! I fantasize sometimes about giving him a jolly good punch on the nose, just to get a reaction from him, but instead I grit my teeth and try to get along with him. He treats my girls like army slaves, despite the fact that we get no such recognition here, and I’m sick to death of having to face him every day. Sometimes I think it’d be easier to go to war than deal with him, but hopefully by the time this letter reaches you, he’ll have realized how capable I am and left me to train my girls without his constant interfering. We had a fun day flying the other day and I thought we’d found common ground, but he’s back to his bossy, demanding self again already.
I miss you all terribly, and I wish I was still there, if I’m honest. I was so desperate to get home, but in truth it was much more enjoyable being in England. I take back everything I said about England being gloomy and uneventful, and Brits being a bunch of old bores!
Hugs to you all, and next time pray that I’ll be writing you from a new headquarters. Another few months here and it’ll likely kill me.
With all my love,
Lizzie’
The room was silent when she finished. Lizzie’s personality had jumped from the page, making May miss her presence all the more.
‘You know, when I first met Lizzie, all I could think was what a pain in the rear end she was going to be,’ May confessed, folding the letter.
‘Trust me, shewasa pain in the backside,’ Ruby added, making everyone laugh.
‘Oh, I know she was, but I still miss her.’
‘Excuse me, ladies,’ an officer called, smiling and catching their eyes, ‘I’m looking for Senior Commander Jones.’
May held up one hand. ‘That’d be me.’
‘It’s time to leave. The weather is starting to close in and we want to get you up in the air.’
There were more pilots due to land throughout the day, and May wondered if they’d all make it in. The worry was always there, always niggling at her, reminding her that there was no way she could keep every single one of her pilots safe for the entire duration of the war.
