Page 9 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
Grace sighed. ‘Still getting ready. I told them we had to get up early, but I had to drag them out of bed before I left. They should be meeting us soon.’
Eva smiled and fell into step beside Grace as they wandered along the beach. ‘Want to get your feet wet?’
Grace shrugged. ‘Sure.’
They padded along the damp sand, the water lapping gently at their toes every few minutes as it washed in and out.
‘So how was your first full day?’ Eva asked. ‘Did you have to deal with any blood?’
She asked it with a straight face, but the moment Grace nudged her in the side, she burst out laughing.
‘You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?’ Grace groaned. ‘I should never have admitted it to you!’
‘Your secret is my secret,’ Eva said, running her fingers across her lips as if she were sealing them shut. ‘Now tell me about the hospital, though. What’s it like? When’s your first proper shift?’
‘Tomorrow,’ Grace said, and Eva watched as she bent to pick up a shell, rubbing her thumb across the rough edge before throwing it out to sea. ‘I’m terrified, to be honest, but according to Poppy it’s little more than football injuries and common colds and so forth.’
‘She’s right. I’ve had fevers to deal with, some mild injuries and infections, but nothing too taxing.’
She turned and saw April and Poppy coming toward them, pretty sundresses flitting out around them as they walked.
‘You know, I’m not sure we’re dressed appropriately for horseback riding,’ Eva mused. ‘Can we even ride in a dress?’
Grace frowned. ‘Surely we’ll be fine like this?’
‘Morning!’ Poppy mumbled, twisting her hair up as she walked, hairpins sticking out from her mouth.
‘Morning,’ Eva replied. ‘Sorry you had to get up so early for me on your day off.’
‘We can sleep when we’re dead. There’s far too much to see to waste the day snoozing,’ Poppy said, her smile wide as she greeted her. ‘You both ready to explore?’
Eva slipped her glasses from the top of her head and put them on, happy to be enjoying a day out with friends. She might not know them well yet, but they seemed like nice girls, and she was grateful to have someone to meet up with. Poppy seemed to be the ringleader, her manner confident and effortless, while Grace was more exuberant Labrador puppy to April’s reserved, quiet manner.
‘Where do we find our horses?’ April asked.
‘Down there,’ Grace said. ‘They should be ready and waiting for us.’
‘Eva, didn’t you say your fiancé was based here?’ Poppy asked. ‘You could have asked him to come with us.’
‘You’re very kind, thank you, but I don’t think he’s allowed off base for now.’ She cleared her throat, wondering how much to tell them about Charlie. ‘He’s, ah, well, let’s just say he’s in some hot water right now after an argument with his superiors. Something to do with a handful of pilots who left to fly for the Royal Air Force in Britain, and him insisting that US pilots should be allowed to join without any repercussions. So not only is he in some sort of detention, he’s also been grounded for the week.’
Poppy threw an arm around her shoulders as they walked. ‘Hey, at least he’s courageous. But it’s a shame he’s been grounded. My Teddy would hate that.’
‘Your man is a pilot too?’
‘Yes, but unlike your fiancé, mine is happy basking in the sun here, so I doubt he’d ever be gunning to go offshore before he’s asked.’
Eva sighed. Why did Charlie have to be so determined to make a difference? All she wanted was him here, safe, away from the fighting, so that she knew he’d be making it home with her when all this was over.
The horses came into sight, and she watched as a man moved around them. They were tied to a large piece of driftwood, quietly standing in the morning sunshine.
Grace was like an overexcited child when they went closer, but Eva quietly made her way to a beautiful chestnut-colored mare, running her fingers through her mane and stroking her neck. It had been a very, very long time since she’d ridden a horse, but it was a happy memory, one of those rare days that her father’s smile had lit up his face and made his eyes twinkle.
She blinked the memory away and listened to the man give them a safety talk before helping them up into the saddles.
‘Just walk,’ he said, pointing as he spoke. ‘Head all the way down there—they know the drill.’
Eva imagined they knew the exact path to take, that they took tourists on the same route every day and never deviated from the well-trodden trail, and she settled into the saddle and arranged her dress around her so it didn’t flap around and scare the horse.
