The Codebreakers

by Alli Sinclair

  ‘True, but still it doesn’t make it any easier.’

  ‘No, it doesn’t. At least I got to spend some time with her before it was too late. For that I’m thankful.’ Florry met Ellie’s gaze. ‘And yes, I still feel guilty about her getting sick. Crazy as it sounds.’

  ‘You can’t help the way you feel,’ said Ellie. ‘I wish you didn’t carry that guilt, though.’

  ‘We all have our fair share of baggage that we drag behind us. Especially secrets with … you know.’

  ‘It hasn’t been easy.’ How many times had she wanted to spill her heart to Louis? To finally free herself of the burden of secrets that occupied every part of her being? She could never have imagined that after the war the loneliness of keeping secrets would become almost unbearable but she had to honour her promise. Ellie had battled with this for years and now, seeing Florry, it reminded her exactly how much she wished the Garage Girls were still in her life. ‘Tell me about David.’

  ‘Well, you know how I always wanted to live on a station.’

  ‘Lord knows why,’ Ellie joked.

  Florry laughed. ‘There’s something about a man of the land.’

  ‘There is.’

  ‘I met David at my cousin’s wedding in Torrens Creek, and … well … as they say, the rest is history. Although it was quite the challenge adjusting to life in the outback again.’

  ‘Do you love it?’

  ‘The outback? I do. It’s so far removed from our life in Brisbane. It makes it easier to forget those years.’

  ‘You still don’t want to remember?’

  ‘It’s not that I don’t want to remember, it’s just a struggle to be on guard all the time, making sure I don’t let anything slip, like “Oh, when I sent this top-secret message to Bletchley Park and it was passed on to Churchill …” I just can’t risk those things.’

  ‘I get it,’ said Ellie. ‘Though after seeing me today I’m really hoping you’ll change your mind.’

  Florry shook her head sadly. ‘I love you and the rest of the Garage Girls but I just can’t keep in contact with any of you. It’s too hard.’

  ‘We could ban any Central Bureau talk.’

  Florry grabbed Ellie’s hand. ‘Please respect my wishes. I don’t want to hurt you. Cutting ties is the right thing. For me, at least.’

  The hospital entrance door opened and a man tipped his hat as he passed them.

  ‘I should get back,’ Florry said.

  ‘This is it? Isn’t it?’ asked Ellie.

  ‘It has to be.’

  Florry wrapped her arms around Ellie. They held on as if time could stand still.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Four weeks had passed since Ellie had seen Florry and although time was supposed to make things easier, it hadn’t. Florry had wanted to stay with her husband but she was needed at the station. David had spent two weeks recovering and when he was well enough to make the six-hour drive, one of his workers came to fetch him.

  Russell had returned, fighting fit and minus an appendix, and Ellie had gone back to her regular work, wondering if she’d ever get a chance to fly the Flying Doctor Service plane again. She still continued to fly Mr Donaldson to his stations on her days off so she could keep up her hours and stay qualified.

  ‘Ready?’ Ingrid packed the sandwiches in the basket on her bike.

  ‘Yes,’ Ellie said brightly, trying to stop worrying that it had been three weeks since she’d heard from Louis.

  They went outside and got on the bikes, planning to ride as far as they could before settling down for lunch. Ellie hadn’t explored much outside Charleville on the ground, so the cool and overcast day was a good opportunity.

  ‘Which way do you want to go?’ asked Ingrid.

  ‘Let’s see which way the wind takes us.’

  ‘Perfect. You can lead.’

  Ellie set off with Ingrid close behind. They rode down the main street, waving at the locals Ellie had got to know. After the rescue mission to save David, more of the townsfolk had gone out of their way to introduce themselves. Ellie had started to feel less like an outsider.

  It felt good to be on the bike, with the wind in her air, her body moving in a rhythmic motion as her legs pushed the pedals. They left town and she breathed in the freshness of the day.

  After a while Ellie turned down a dirt road then another. She let her intuition rule and she turned left then right then left again. Ellie noticed Ingrid had slowed so she got off her bike and waited for her to catch up.

  ‘Didn’t you hear me?’ puffed Ingrid.

  ‘No, sorry. What did you say?’

  ‘I said ages ago we should have turned right.’

  ‘I thought we were going where the wind took us,’ said Ellie. Not far from where they stood were a series of concrete slabs and bitumen paths in paddocks. ‘What was here?’

  ‘Disused sheds.’ Ingrid said quickly.

  ‘And?’

  She turned her bike around. ‘Let’s go this way. I know a nice place we can have a picnic.’

  ‘But we’re here. That tree looks like a good spot.’ She pointed to a bottle tree that invited them to sit and rest under its leafy branches.

  ‘Let’s go.’ Ingrid started to pedal off but Ellie refused to budge. Ingrid stopped and turned around. ‘Come on.’

  ‘Does this place have something to do with the Americans?’ she asked.

  Ingrid dismounted and wheeled her bike over to Ellie. In a harsh whisper she said, ‘You can’t ask anything about it.’

  ‘Why not?’ asked Ellie, even though she knew the answer.

  ‘I hope I don’t regret this.’ They rested their bikes on the trunk of the bottle tree and Ingrid took out a blanket for them to sit on. ‘You have to swear never to breathe a word.’

  ‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’ She said this with the action.

  ‘I’m serious,’ said Ingrid.

  ‘I promise you, I am the world’s best secret keeper.’ That was not a lie. A tinge of guilt crept up on her as she’d just asked Ingrid what she’d hoped no one would ask her—to divulge a secret that should never be told. ‘Maybe you shouldn’t say anything.’

  ‘Too late. I’ve made up my mind.’ Ingrid waved her hand dismissively. ‘So, during the war there was an American Air Force base here with three and a half thousand troops.’

  ‘Three and a half thousand? I figured there was a US presence but I didn’t realise how big.’

  ‘You did?’

  ‘Well, yes. You mentioned the American you were engaged to and there was that time when I was with Louis and saw an army jeep.’

  ‘Oh, right.’ Ingrid ran her hands over the blades of grass. ‘We’ve sworn to the American government to remain quiet about it.’ Ingrid twisted her lips. ‘Yet here I am, spilling the beans.’

  Ellie took a moment for it to sink in. How on earth did a remote outback town manage to keep a huge US air force base under wraps? Then again, Central Bureau operated in suburban Brisbane and no one was ever the wiser.

  ‘I promise you, Ingrid, that everything you say stays with me and only me.’

  ‘It better because I would be in serious trouble if this got out.’

  ‘I completely understand.’ An image of Vivian Jones in handcuffs popped into her mind. ‘Maybe you shouldn’t tell me any more. I’d hate for you to get in trouble.’

  ‘It’s a bit too late for that,’ said Ingrid. ‘Besides, I’ve held this in for so long it feels good to get it out. No one in town wants to talk about it and it’s been eating away at me.’

  ‘Even though it’s been hard to keep, is it your secret to tell?’

  Ingrid shrugged. ‘Probably not.’

  ‘Then, please, don’t say anything else.’

  ‘I want to.’

  ‘I prefer you didn’t.’

  ‘They tested the Norden bombsight here,’ Ingrid blurted out. ‘It attached to the Flying Fortresses to increase bombing accuracy. And they chose Charleville because it’s far enough a
way from Japan that they couldn’t get to us without having to refuel.’

  Ellie gazed at the field with its smoothed gravel. Had this been the airstrip? ‘How did they stop outsiders from knowing what it was? I flew here during the war, yet I never saw it.’

  ‘They covered it up with mulga branches woven into chicken wire so when you’re in the air you think you’re flying over the bush. And miles away they had a fake airfield with wood and cardboard planes so if the enemy somehow made it this far south, they’d bomb that instead.’

  ‘That’s genius.’

  ‘It is, rather.’ Ingrid stared intensely at Ellie. ‘I’m trusting you.’

  ‘You don’t need to worry. Your secret is very, very safe with me.’

  Ingrid unpacked the picnic and they ate in silence, accompanied by cockatoos squawking above. Every so often Ellie glanced at the field where the American base once was, trying to imagine how an entire town could keep this volatile secret. If Charleville and the workers of Central Bureau held secrets, then how many other people in Australia, and around the world, were living with the burden of highly classified knowledge?

  The next day, Ellie checked the mailbox—again. Once more, no word from Louis. As much as she loved talking on the phone with him, it was hard to organise a time that worked with Louis’s travels. Besides, calls were horrendously expensive.

  Despite all the courage she’d found to move to Charleville and the promises they’d made about their love growing stronger with time, she wondered if she’d been fooling herself. Could they really maintain a long-distance relationship? Though, if they had stayed in the same city, would they have survived as a couple? Louis would still be away for weeks on end. And even though Ellie had convinced herself that their long history was strong enough to keep them together, niggles of doubt now muscled in on her.

  Ellie got on the bike, annoyed with the world. She detested that her emotions were tied up in the actions of others, but she was human, after all. She set off down the street towards the Flying Doctor Service base. Ellie rode past Linda Kelly, the schoolteacher, and local mechanic Bert Keogh, who gave a friendly wave, and Ellie returned the gesture, wondering how they dealt with such a big secret. If they didn’t talk about it, like Ingrid had said, then did they just pretend a chunk of the town’s history hadn’t happened? Florry and the other girls had pretended Central Bureau never existed by cutting each other out of their lives. Why couldn’t Ellie do the same? When would she finally let go and not cause herself grief? Why was it so important to cling to the past?

  By the time she arrived at work, she’d calmed down, especially when she saw Russell standing out the front of the office with two mugs of tea.

  ‘Hello there.’ She wheeled her bicycle to the side of the building and parked it under the verandah.

  ‘Good morning.’ Russell handed her a mug.

  ‘Thank you.’ She sipped the tea and headed straight for the radio room. Sitting down, she picked up some paperwork. Sensing someone watching her, she looked up to find Russell again.

  ‘I know something you might be interested in,’ he said.

  ‘Oh?’

  Russell casually leaned against the doorframe.

  She sat forward. ‘Are you going to tell me?’

  ‘Craig is transferring. He’s going back to Bundaberg to be with his family.’

  ‘And?’

  He cocked an eyebrow.

  ‘And you think I should apply for the pilot position?’ she asked.

  ‘Why not? The doc and I will put in a good word for you.’

  ‘But the Flying Doctor Service contracts Qantas to supply planes and pilots. I’d have to apply to them and there’s never been a female pilot for this service.’ She grinned. ‘Yet.’

  ‘Exactly … yet.’

  Ellie stood, excitement rushing through her. ‘I could be the first.’

  ‘You could indeed. It’s going to take a lot of convincing, but someone has to shake things up. It might as well be you. So’—Russell reached for some papers on a nearby shelf—‘you better start filling out these.’

  She looked down at the forms lying innocently in her hands.

  ‘Right, I’m off to the hangar to check on a few things.’ He nodded towards the application form. ‘Good luck.’

  Two weeks dragged by and Ellie hadn’t heard a thing about the pilot job. Craig was about to leave and, as far as those at Charleville base knew, a replacement hadn’t been found. She loved that Russell and Craig, as well as Dr Spears, had tried to boost her confidence, but as time went by, she started to lose hope.

  She entered the office and Russell looked up from reading the newspaper. ‘No word?’

  ‘Nothing.’ She sank onto the chair.

  ‘I thought you would’ve been asked for an interview by now.’

  ‘Me too.’ Ellie picked up the clipboard and scanned the log. ‘Quiet, huh?’

  ‘That’s a good thing.’

  ‘Definitely.’ She put the clipboard down. ‘You’re off to Birdsville with Dr Spears today?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How’s the stomach?’

  Russell laughed. ‘If you’re going to poison me so you can fly, then you’ve got another thing coming.’

  ‘Nah, not poison. I’m thinking about running you over with the ute and breaking your leg.’

  As they laughed, there was a knock at the front door.

  ‘I’ll get it.’ Russell came back a few moments later.

  ‘There’s a special package.’

  ‘Why didn’t you bring it in?’

  ‘It’s for you and there were strict instructions.’

  Ellie stood, puzzled. ‘Fine.’

  Sunlight streamed through the wire door as she went down the hallway. She opened the door and looked around.

  She stepped back inside. ‘There’s nothing here.’

  A footfall on the wooden verandah drew her attention outside once more.

  Ellie gasped. ‘No.’

  ‘Yes.’ Louis’s smile was the brightest she’d ever seen. She ran and launched herself at him, holding on for dear life. When they kissed, her entire world came into balance once more.

  Breaking away, she asked, ‘When did you arrive?’

  ‘This morning.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘Because I wanted to see your reaction.’

  ‘It’s all about the drama with you.’ She laughed. ‘Come in. Let me show you around.’

  Ellie took great pride in giving Louis the guided tour. He chatted with Russell until he had to leave for Birdsville. Ellie needed to get back to work.

  ‘Will you meet me after my shift?’ she asked.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Where are you staying?’

  ‘Ingrid said I’m welcome to stay at the house.’

  ‘Ingrid knew you were coming?’

  ‘I made a very quick call last night.’

  ‘Huh.’ So, Ingrid couldn’t keep the American base in Charleville a secret but had managed to say nothing about Louis’s impending arrival.

  The radio crackled into action and Louis waved goodbye and backed out the door.

  She put on her headphones. ‘Charleville Flying Doctor Service base. Over.’

  Ellie spent the day staring at the clock between bouts of work. It made things worse, but what could she do? Knowing Louis was in Charleville waiting to see her made every minute feel like an hour. Finally, when her shift was over, she bolted out the door. In the dark, Ellie skilfully steered the bicycle around potholes and large stones, her legs pumping as fast as they could. By the time she reached home, she was a hot sweaty mess.

  She found Louis sitting on a bench in the garden under a large tree. He stood, his smile wide.

  She held up her hand. ‘I’ll be back shortly.’

  Ellie grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom. Ingrid was nowhere in sight. Ellie suspected her friend had made herself scarce on purpose. Bless her.

  After a quick sh
ower, she left the bathroom and went to her room to put her dirty clothes in the washing basket. Heavy steps approached her from behind.

  ‘I’ve missed you.’ Louis wrapped his arms around her waist and she leaned against his chest.

  Slowly, Ellie turned around. Looking up into his eyes, everything felt right once more—except one thing.

  ‘You said you’d write every week.’ She tried not to sound accusatory, but Louis knew her history with Harry.

  ‘I tried, but with me being away and—’

  ‘It’s not working, is it?’

  ‘No.’ He looked down and shook his head.

  A lump formed in her throat. ‘We said we were different. That distance wouldn’t hurt our relationship. That we could still fulfil our dreams and be together.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘So that’s it?’ Tears welled up. ‘We’re over?’

  ‘No!’ Louis looked up, his eyes wide. ‘We are far from over.’

  ‘Then what? I don’t understand.’

  Louis gripped her hands. ‘I came here to ask if you want me to move to Charleville.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Charleville. You and me.’

  Ellie stared at Louis, not quite sure how to respond. This morning she’d woken up unsure where they’d stood. And here he was, offering to change his life so they could be together.

  ‘Bug?’

  Words wouldn’t come.

  ‘This is my roundabout way of saying I want to marry you, Ellie O’Sullivan.’

  ‘Marry?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You’re already married,’ she said.

  ‘Not any more. I’m officially a divorced man.’

  ‘That sounds strange.’ She lifted her chin and said in an exaggerated English accent, ‘I couldn’t possibly marry a man who is divorced. It is beneath me.’

  Louis laughed. ‘Well, I couldn’t possibly marry a woman who was once engaged. It would taint my family’s reputation.’

  ‘Peas in a pod.’

  ‘We are indeed. Seriously, though,’ he got on one knee, his hands still holding hers, ‘it took us too long to realise we should be together. I don’t want to spend any more time apart.’

  ‘What about your work?’