The Ops Room Girls

by Vicki Beeby

  ‘The Czechs have just as much reason to want to fight the Nazis as we do. More.’ Alex glared at Dawson. ‘Or are you going to investigate me, too? My grandmother was Czech.’

  ‘Then you won’t have any objection to us questioning Aircraftman Sykes.’

  Alex cursed inwardly. It seemed he could defend Karol or Sykes but not both. He sighed. ‘You can question him, but I don’t believe he’s the man you’re after.’

  ‘In that case, he’ll have nothing to fear.’

  With a heavy heart, Alex led Dawson and Phipps to the dispersal pens, where Sykes was feeding ammunition into a Hurricane.

  Phipps strode up to the unsuspecting fitter. ‘Aircraftman Sykes, you are under arrest on suspicion of sabotage and treason.’

  The blood drained from Sykes’ face; he shot a desperate glance between the RAF Police and Alex. ‘What? No, I—’

  The two men seized Sykes between them. Alex marched up to them and tried to place himself between the police and the quaking Sykes. ‘Stop! I said you could question him, not arrest him.’

  Bob Law pulled him away, freeing Dawson and Phipps to march Sykes to the waiting car. ‘Steady, old boy. Can’t get between the RAF Police and their investigation. If Sykes is innocent, he’ll be released.’

  But Alex couldn’t help feeling that the pressure would be on the investigating team to secure a conviction and lay to rest any rumours that could upset the running of the station. He gave Bob a curt nod and strode up to the car. ‘I know you didn’t do it,’ he said to Sykes. Sykes was pale and trembling and was barely able to stutter a reply. Alex went on. ‘I’ll make sure you’re cleared.’

  Once the car had driven off, Bob Law going with them, Alex went to find Milan. Most of the men had already drifted, all doubtless heading to the pub, but Milan was still there with Pilot Officer Walsh, finishing off his combat report.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Milan asked, gesturing out to where the altercation had happened.

  ‘I’ll tell you later. Where’s Karol?’

  ‘London. On a forty-eight-hour pass. He will be back tomorrow evening.’

  Alex slapped his forehead. ‘Damn. I forgot.’

  ‘Can I help?’

  Alex considered Milan for a moment, but then shook his head. Best not to involve anyone else. Not until he’d worked out how word had got out. And the first person he needed to see was Evie. He glanced at his watch. It was nearly time to meet her. She’d arranged to go there with her two friends straight after her last watch of the day.

  ‘Coming to the pub?’ he asked. Milan nodded with a grin. He scrawled his signature on the bottom of the combat report and sprang to his feet.

  Evie hadn’t arrived when he put his head round the door of the snug, so he asked Milan to bag them a table then paced outside, listening to unseen mice scrabbling in the thatch and the squeak of the pub’s sign dangling from its bracket above the heavy oak door. The sun hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows of trees and hedges. A horse clopped past, harnessed to a cart brimming with potatoes, chalky earth still clinging to them. A black Labrador with a shaggy coat regarded the world from its perch beside the driver, tongue lolling. It was a homely sight, one that had been seen on these lanes for generations. Alex wondered if he would ever get used to the incongruity of fighting for his life and dealing death in the skies all day long, only to return to a cosy scene such as this every evening.

  The sound of bicycle bells and girlish laughter drifted to his ears from further up the lane, then three cycles bearing WAAFs whizzed around the corner. They rode side by side, red, blonde and brunette hair streaming behind them. Alex gazed at Evie and his stomach tightened. He wanted to snuggle up to her in a corner seat, breathe in her soapy scent and talk about anything except the war. The last thing he wanted was to tackle her about the rumours flying around the base, but he owed it to Sykes to get to the truth.

  Evie, Jess and May climbed off their bikes and propped them against the wall. Then Evie ran to him, her face flushed from the exercise, tilting her face to his for a kiss. Jess and May diplomatically drifted into the snug.

  Alex put his arms around her and kissed her, stretching out the moment for as long as possible. ‘I’ve missed you,’ he murmured into her hair when he finally broke the kiss and she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

  ‘I’ve missed you, too.’ Her breath feathered the side of his neck, making him shiver.

  There was only so long he could delay the inevitable. He drew back with a sigh, put his hands on her shoulders and gazed down at her. ‘There’s something I need to ask.’

  She raised her eyebrows. ‘What?’

  ‘Apparently the whole station is talking about the saboteur.’

  ‘I know. May—’

  ‘Did you tell anyone what I told you?’

  Evie’s gaze slid from his face to a point behind his left shoulder. The spots of red forming on her cheeks gave him his answer. ‘I only told May and Jess.’

  ‘And they only told half the station between them,’ he finished for her, a bitter twist in his gut.

  She shook her head. ‘No. They wouldn’t.’

  ‘Someone’s talked. One of my best fitters is under arrest because of a rumour. If it’s not Jess or May—’

  ‘Oh, so it has to be one of them?’

  He dropped his hands from her shoulders. ‘But why tell them in the first place?’ Then he paused, struck by a sense of growing alarm. ‘Please tell me you’re not trying to investigate.’

  Evie evaded his gaze. ‘I can help, I know I can. People tell us things they wouldn’t—’

  ‘No! Good God, Evie, it’s too dangerous.’

  ‘Of course it’s dangerous. This is war. If I’d wanted to avoid danger, I wouldn’t have joined the WAAF.’

  A shard of ice pierced his heart. ‘We’re talking about a cold-blooded killer on the station.’ It was as though the pain and loss of a lifetime coalesced into a single leaden ball of dread. ‘Stay out of it, Evie. I forbid you to investigate.’

  * * *

  ‘You forbid me?’ Evie swallowed to clear the sudden tightness in her throat. Of course, she should obey an officer without question, but she got the impression he’d spoken not as an officer, but as the man she was walking out with. Cornelia’s words came back to her: Be certain you both want the same thing from your relationship. Did Alex think she should obey him without question in all matters? ‘But, Alex, we can help. We can ask questions in a way that won’t alert the saboteur.’

  Alex set his jaw. ‘It’s too dangerous. Leave it to the authorities.’

  ‘Because everyone’s falling over themselves to talk to them.’ Evie was shocked at the bitterness in her voice, but she couldn’t help it. It was one thing for Alex to want her to be safe, but if this was an indication that Alex always expected her unquestioning obedience then they had a problem.

  ‘Oh, and you’ve discovered something they haven’t?’

  ‘As a matter of fact, we have.’ She related what May had said about Karol. ‘It proves May didn’t spread any rumours. She was as puzzled as I was to hear about them.’

  Alex raked his fingers through his hair. ‘But don’t you see that firing questions around could be starting more rumours? There’s already one innocent man under arrest; I don’t want more.’

  ‘Who was it?’

  ‘Sykes.’

  ‘Sykes! I know him.’ Evie pictured the cheerful Yorkshireman she and Jess had spoken to in the NAAFI. ‘No one in their right mind could accuse him. There’s no way he would have done it.’

  Alex gave a ghost of a smile. ‘Then we’re agreed on something.’

  But Evie couldn’t forget they strongly disagreed on important matters. She went with Alex into the pub, but she couldn’t clear Cornelia’s words from her mind. Be certain you both want the same thing from your relationship.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  ‘I can’t believe Alex thinks one of you spread rumours.’ Evie sat cross-legged in one
of the schoolroom armchairs. Unable to put on a false smile for Alex, she’d pleaded tiredness and left early. She had changed into her pyjamas but was too het up to sleep. Thinking it might calm her, she had curled up in the armchair with one of her textbooks, a dog-eared notebook and a pencil stub to work through some exercises. It hadn’t really worked. She hadn’t been able to silence the voice in her head whispering that Alex didn’t rate her judgement as highly as his. Desperate for something to take her mind off him, she persuaded Jess and May to join her for a chat when they returned from the Horse and Groom. It might have been a better distraction if she hadn’t immediately repeated her conversation with Alex. Most of it, anyway.

  ‘You didn’t argue with him, did you?’ May asked. She looked a little pale; Evie hoped she wasn’t going down with something.

  ‘I wouldn’t blame you if you did,’ Jess said. ‘He should have trusted you.’

  ‘Well, I did tell the two of you even though I’d promised to keep it secret.’ Funny how she could criticise Alex herself but hated to hear it from others. But a heavy weight remained lodged in her chest. The trouble was, her irritation was more to do with Alex’s apparent belief that he had the right to forbid her to do something, but she didn’t want to tell her friends about that. She could already imagine what they’d say. May would look anxious and remind her that you could never tell if you’d ended up with a bad husband until it was too late. Jess would laugh and tell her to forget Alex as there were plenty more fish in the sea.

  But Evie didn’t want to forget Alex. She couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.

  Do you truly want to spend your life with a man who doesn’t consider you his equal? The annoying, nagging voice was back. Evie did her best to ignore it by changing the subject and asking Jess for the latest gossip. Jess obliged by plunging into a story about a WAAF from the Orderly Room, who had returned from leave engaged to a naval officer.

  ‘They only met on the train at the start of her leave,’ Jess said. ‘Imagine that!’

  Evie shifted in her seat. Had she and Alex moved too fast? She might have known him for longer than a week, but if you added the actual hours they had spent together it probably wouldn’t come to much more than that. What did she really know about him? She only listened to the rest of Jess’s tale with half her mind; the rest was occupied with the chilling possibility that she had seen a glimpse of the real Alex tonight.

  She was only drawn back to the present when Jess gave a huge yawn and clapped her hand across her mouth. ‘Sorry, girls, I’m pooped. If I don’t turn in now, I’ll be good for nothing tomorrow.’

  Feeling numb, Evie gathered up the books and pencil from the floor, and they retired to their rooms. When Evie returned from the bathroom, she found May already in bed, curled on her side with her back to the room. She lay so still, Evie thought she was already asleep. But then she heard a distinct sniffle, and May’s shoulders shook.

  Evie crouched beside May’s bed. ‘What’s wrong?’ She placed a gentle hand on May’s shoulder. ‘Is it Peter?’

  May stiffened, then turned over, scrubbing at reddened eyes. She nodded. ‘I saw him in the pub.’ Her chin wobbled, and fresh tears welled in her eyes. ‘Oh, Evie, he’s had his posting. He leaves tomorrow for flight training.’

  Evie hugged her wordlessly. Nothing she could say would ease May’s fears. They’d both witnessed too many losses for that. ‘Why didn’t you say?’ she asked at last.

  ‘I didn’t want to bother you. Not when you were upset about Alex.’

  Evie’s heart twisted. ‘Now listen here, May Lidford, you’re my friend. I care about you. It would bother me more to know you were upset and hadn’t confided in me.’ That gave her a twinge of guilt, considering she’d held back the greater part of her worries over Alex.

  May pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. ‘Thanks, Evie.’ Then, after a pause, she said, ‘I do feel a bit better now. Not so alone. You’re the best friend a girl could have.’

  That made Evie feel a complete hypocrite. ‘Well, actually…’ She took a deep breath and confided her true fears. ‘What do you think, May?’ she finished. ‘Is it silly of me to expect him to treat me as an equal?’

  ‘No! You’re the most intelligent person I know, and if he doesn’t see that, he’s a fool.’

  Evie squeezed May’s arm, grateful for the encouragement. ‘What should I do?’

  May tucked her knees under her chin, her brow furrowed. ‘What you have to decide is if Alex genuinely believes his word is law in your relationship or if he had another reason for what he said.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Hasn’t it occurred to you he’s trying to protect you?’

  Evie hadn’t thought of that. ‘Even if that’s true, he has to respect my decisions.’

  ‘Do you really expect him to sit back and watch you put yourself in harm’s way?’

  Put like that, Evie couldn’t come up with a satisfactory answer.

  They were silent for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. In the distance a fox yelped, a lonely sound.

  ‘I do have a suggestion,’ May said eventually. ‘But I don’t think you’re going to like it.’

  ‘Go on.’ Whatever it was, it had to be better than lying awake all night, agonising about it.

  ‘You should apply for a transfer. No, wait,’ May said when Evie gave an exclamation of disbelief. ‘Hear me out.’

  Evie gave a wary nod and sat on the edge of her bed, waiting.

  ‘Well,’ said May, ‘although I’m really going to miss Peter, I’ve started to think time apart will be good for me. You know…’ May started picking at the blanket around her knees. ‘You know I’ve had trouble making the commitment he wants.’

  Evie nodded but remained silent.

  ‘I’m going to miss him horribly,’ May went on, ‘but I think I need time to work out what I really want. If I can ever give Peter the love he deserves.’

  ‘Maybe you’ve got a point,’ Evie replied. ‘I find it so hard to think straight when Alex is around.’

  ‘Exactly. It’s the same with Peter. But this is a serious decision, and I’ve seen what a bad marriage looks like. Trust me, you don’t want to end up like my mum.’

  Or mine, Evie thought.

  She lay awake for hours after May fell asleep, thinking over May’s idea. Then she remembered Alex suggesting she applied for officer training. Her pulse sped up. Dare she try? Then it occurred to her there was someone she could ask for advice. Creeping out of bed, she groped on her bedside table for paper and pen and tiptoed back into the schoolroom. Cornelia had given her excellent advice over the years; she would surely have an opinion. She set her problem out on the page as plainly as she dared, considering her letter would be read by the censor. Then, her mind finally at ease, she went to bed and fell into a deep sleep.

  She handed the letter in for posting first thing the next morning, leaving the envelope open for the censor. Then she went down to Ops with a lighter heart, confident Cornelia would reply at the earliest opportunity. She hadn’t been in Ops long when Brimstone squadron was scrambled to intercept a large group of hostile aircraft. Her stomach knotted, and she breathed a silent prayer for his protection as she watched the plots approach each other on the table. She couldn’t decide what was worse: not knowing what Alex was doing or knowing exactly how much danger he was in and watching it close on him inch by stomach-churning inch.

  The detached voice in her headset gave the details of another wave of bandits. Evie picked up a new block and slotted the numbers in place; another thirty or more enemies trying to break their defences. She put it on the table and slid it across to the given co-ordinates.

  There was a stir among the observers.

  ‘Where did that come from?’ Flying Officer George Parry – the officer acting as controller – asked. ‘Damn it. We’re spread thinly enough as it is.’

  He gazed at the board showing the readiness of all the squadrons on the station, the furr
ows on his brow deepening. Evie didn’t need to look. She knew all available Hurricanes were in the air.

  ‘How soon before Wagtail “A” flight lands?’ Parry asked the assistant controller.

  ‘Any minute now,’ came the reply. Almost at the same moment the observer reported six Hurricanes coming in to land. ‘“B” flight are ten minutes behind.’

  ‘Get them refuelled and rearmed on the double. I want them ready to get into the air in fifteen minutes. Same with “B” flight when they land.’

  The assistant controller picked up his telephone receiver and relayed the orders.

  Evie heard the girl standing next to her take a sharply indrawn breath. Lucie Watkins had recently become engaged to one of the pilots in Wagtail, Evie remembered. She had attended the celebrations in the pub just before she’d been taken ill. She leaned across and patted Lucie’s arm awkwardly. ‘My fellow’s up there too. Brimstone.’

  There was no time to say any more, because she received another position for the first hostile plot she’d been tracking and moments later an update on the new plot. She busied herself moving the blocks and placing arrows, needing to double-check the clock to be certain she had the right colour.

  She was aware of everyone around her craning their necks to see the new positions. Despite the stuffiness of the room, Evie felt as though she’d been doused with icy water. The two hostile plots were converging right over Amberton.

  ‘They’re coming here again,’ Parry snapped. There was a flurry of activity as he called Group Command to request support from other squadrons and others alerted the air raid wardens and the squadrons in the air.

  ‘I’m glad I’m down here this time,’ Jess muttered under cover of the raised voices. ‘Safest place in the station, I reckon.’

  ‘What about May?’

  Jess paled. ‘Safely out of the way, I ’ope.’ She put a hand to her ear, a gesture Evie often saw her make when instructions were coming through her headset. Then with hands that trembled, she picked up a new block from the shelf below the table and slotted in the numbers representing yet another hostile plot. An Arctic air seemed to fill the room after Jess put it in position. Until the next position came through there was no way of telling direction or speed, but Evie didn’t doubt it, too, was converging on Amberton.