Silver Wings

by H. P. Munro

  Lily reached over and gave Helen's arm a sympathetic rub. The blonde looked up and smiled gratefully.

  Eager to break the atmosphere that had settled in their small bay, Adele turned onto her side and looked at Helen, “And the other first time?”

  Helen hooted with laughter, “Definitely not for first night discussion.”

  The sadness evaporated from Helen and conversation started to flow seamlessly between the six women. They were shocked when, in the middle of an in-depth discussion about the films that Helen had flown in, the lights suddenly went out in their bay and they could hear the sound of a bugle playing the mournful tones of Taps.

  “Well ladies I guess that is that,” Adele murmured in the darkness. “I s'pose I'll be seein' y'all in the morning.”

  They muttered good nights to each other and settled down for their first night’s sleep in strange surroundings.

  Chapter Four

  Helen heard the first notes from the bugle playing reveille. It had only started the repeat when she was out of her cot and in the bathroom to brush her teeth. She used her flannel to wipe the remnants of sleep from her face and freshen up before returning to the living quarters. Her bay mates were in various states of consciousness; apart from Lily who was still blissfully asleep on her front, with one arm and leg draped over the side of the bed, brushing the floor.

  Helen went to her locker and pulled out a white shirt and shorts. She changed quickly, pulling her zoot suit onto her lower half and secured it with the canvas belt, leaving the body and arms flapping at her backside.

  Adrienne mumbled a good morning as she padded past her towards the bathroom, wash bag in hand with Marjorie, Lucy and Adele following like goslings behind their mother.

  Making her bed and tucking the blankets into the corners Helen fell naturally into a long forgotten habit. She realized the benefit of being a military baby, she had been conditioned to be up, 'As soon as the bugle player wets his lips' as her father drummed into her. She ran a hand through her short blonde curls and surveyed her handiwork.

  Yup, she thought. The General would be proud. She smiled to herself as she raised her eyes from her neatly made bed towards the explosion of blankets and limbs in the bed next to her. Guiltily she allowed her eyes to trail up Lily's exposed leg, appreciating the tanned shapely calf and view of her thigh thanks to Lily's shorts having ridden up during her sleep. She smiled as Lily continued to sleep deeply, soft, snores coming from the pillow that her face was partly submerged in.

  “Lily,” she called walking around her cot to stand beside Lily's bed. “Lily, wake up.”

  She gingerly tapped the sleeping woman's shoulder.

  Getting no response she shook her gently, “Lily, it's time to get up.”

  She chewed on her lip wondering what tactic to take next in order to wake the woman who would seemingly sleep through a tornado. She was about to give Lily another shake when Adrienne returned.

  “What gives?” she asked noticing Helen hovering above Lily's bed.

  “I can't wake her,” Helen replied indicating down towards the still sleeping Lily.

  Adrienne deposited her wash bag on her bed.

  “Let me try, my brother Cameron would never get up when we were at home. So I'm pretty good at this.”

  As she walked back over she hooked Adele's pillow from her vacated bed, swung it above her head and smacked Lily square on the head.

  “What the…!” Lily yelled as she sprang up on her arms blinking her eyes, desperately trying to focus. She looked up towards a wide-eyed Helen who simply raised a hand and pointed behind her. Turning, her eyes focused on Adrienne who was standing still holding the pillow, a smug smile on her face.

  “Told you, never failed me yet. Morning, sleeping beauty,” she added, tossing the pillow back onto Adele's unmade bed and sauntering back towards her own area to get ready.

  “That's no way to wake someone,” Lily grumbled pulling herself up into sitting position facing Helen and stretching out the kinks that the small sprung bed had put into her back and shoulders.

  Helen felt her face flush as Lily's stretching accentuated her breasts. Standing, Lily sleepily pulled the legs of her bed shorts down from where her sleeping position had pushed them.

  “Morning Helen,” she mumbled, her mouth dropped open as she took in the neat bed beside her.

  “You're dressed and your bed is made!” Lily said astonished, rubbing at her still sleepy eyes with the heel of her hand.

  “How long did I sleep in?”

  “Not too long.” Helen replied. “You go freshen up and I'll take care of your bed,” she offered, reaching down to the floor to retrieve the blankets from Lily's bed.

  Lily flashed a grateful smile. “Thank you, I'm not much of a morning person,” she admitted, pulling her things from her locker and passing the others as they left the bathroom. By the time she'd returned from the bathroom washed and dressed, Bay Four was ready for the day; Helen was just finishing mopping the floor, wringing out the mop into the bucket which Adele took outside and poured into the dirt. As she returned they heard Foster's voice ringing out along the bays.

  “Fall in.”

  Quickly putting her wash bag back in her locker Lily pulled her shoes on and ran along with the rest of the bay to line up outside, zipping her zoot suit as she ran.

  ***

  “Someone from Bay Two washed out,” Adele said as she placed her mess tray down and sat beside her bay mates.

  “Already?” Marjorie asked surprised. “But we've not even been near a plane.”

  Adele shrugged as she tucked into her breakfast, “Something showed up in the eye test.”

  The other women looked at each other in silence each thinking the same thing - Now it was real.

  Lily looked over at Helen and gave her a hesitant smile, “Thank you again for earlier.”

  Helen raised her attention from her oatmeal, “You're welcome. So when you say you're not a morning person. You mean you're really not a morning person.”

  Laughing Lily shook her head, “Not that early, no. Being a musician you keep odd hours, it's more likely getting in at dawn, not usually getting up,” she smiled broadly. “So you're a morning person then?”

  Helen scrunched her face up. “I never thought I was, but growing up on bases with my father means I'm conditioned to either sleep or wake depending on what the bugle is playing,” she grinned.

  “Ladies!” Foster's voice captured the mess hall’s attention. “This morning you will be allowed to go into Sweetwater, the General Store should be able to cater for all your clothing and shoe,” she looked pointedly at Adrienne, “requirements. On the notice boards there is a list of the items you will need, remember your ration books.”

  Foster raised her voice over the low rumble of the women starting to talk excitedly amongst themselves.

  “The truck will be leaving at nine am, those of you that drove yourself here are permitted to take your own vehicle into town. You should be back on base by twelve noon.”

  Foster took a breath to sustain her voice for the final set of instructions, “Your first class today is navigation you will be lined up outside the mess hall ready to go to Ground School in thirty minutes, remember to clean your trays away.”

  ***

  “It’s eight forty five an' ma head is thumping!” Adele groaned as they returned to the bay to change out of their zoot suits and into civilian clothing for their trip into town.

  “Navigation class at seven thirty in the morning will do that to you,” Lucy commiserated, pulling her arms from her overalls.

  Marjorie pulled her suitcase out from under her bed. “I'm not sure I know which way is up or down anymore,” she shrugged, opening the latches to select something to wear. “I'm driving into town if anyone wants a lift,” she added absently as she rummaged through her suitcase.

  Adrienne's head shot up. “Oh God yes,” she replied. “My ass still hasn't recovered from the ride here,” she moaned as she
slipped on her blouse.

  “Me too!” Adele added waving a hand in the air.

  “That would be lovely,” Lily smiled gratefully, buttoning up the small buttons on her floral print dress.

  Helen sat on the edge of her cot as she pulled on a pair of blue pants, “Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to take my motorcycle.”

  “It was you!” Adrienne exclaimed. “You passed us yesterday like a... Adele, how did you describe it?” she asked turning to the smaller woman.

  “Like a bat out of hell with a rattlesnake up her ass,” Adele grinned.

  Blushing slightly as she fastened the button on her trousers Helen smiled, “That would be me.”

  As the others returned their attention to getting ready, Lily perched on her bed. With her hands tucked under her thighs and her shoulders nearly touching her ears, she quietly asked a question of Helen. “What does it feel like?”

  Helen grinned, “As close to flying without leaving the ground, I'll take you out on it sometime.” She nodded encouragingly towards Lily, whose eyes widened in excitement.

  “I'd like that.”

  “We all set ladies?” Marjorie asked slipping her shoes on. “We have shopping to do.”

  ***

  They wandered slowly around the small general store assessing the range of goods on offer that could be of use for their 'informal' uniform.

  “Anything we don't got, we can order fer ye,” the owner drawled in a smooth Texan tone before smiling at the throng of young women edging round his small shop.

  “Aren't you going to get a spare shirt?” Marjorie asked Adele as they picked up the white shirts that formed part of the uniform. “Otherwise you're going to be constantly doing laundry,” she remarked, lifting another shirt in her size.

  Adele's cheeks flushed as she ducked her head slightly towards Marjorie, “I just plain can't afford it,” she admitted. “I'm gonna have hands like an ol' woman by the time we graduate.”

  She laughed as they walked to collect their whipcord slacks. Adrienne moved into the space they created and checked the sizes of the shirts before tucking five of them under her arm. Aware of being behind the others she moved briskly to catch up with them in selecting her pants.

  The store was throbbing with activity as what seemed like the whole of their intake shopped for clothing essentials. Lily had selected her items and was now standing at the desk with them neatly piled. As the assistant rang up the purchases of the other women, she was trying to not take it personally, that despite standing patiently, she hadn't been served when Helen bounced up, her arms full of her soon to be bought clothing.

  “Did you get everything?” she asked.

  “Yeah I think so, you?” Lily asked, still trying to attract the shopkeeper’s attention.

  “Well what I don't have, I'll just have to live without,” Helen grinned. “How come you've not been served?” she asked. Helen was aware that Lily has been waiting for some time as her eyes would often, subconsciously be drawn to her, almost tracking her movements.

  “I've no…” Lily was interrupted as the shopkeeper appeared.

  “Can I help you?” he smiled at Helen.

  “My friend is in front of me,” Helen gave him a good-natured smile and nodded towards Lily.

  The shopkeeper coughed slightly, glancing at Lily before addressing Helen. “We don't serve her sort here,” he stated simply.

  Both Helen and Lily's eyes widened, Lily opened her mouth but before she could say anything Helen had dumped her clothing on the desk and was squaring up to the shopkeeper, “You have something against her because she's a woman? Or 'cause she's from Florida?”

  She stood with her hands on her hips, her face hardened with fury.

  The shopkeeper flushed as he pointed towards a sign behind the counter stating in stark black lettering 'No Mexicans'.

  “What's going on?” Adrienne asked, sauntering up to the desk with her pile of items.

  “He won't serve me,” Lily said quietly trying to maintain control over her anger at the situation. Adele wandered up with Marjorie and Lucy in tow and the Bay Four women formed a protective circle around their wronged bay mate.

  “How much do you make off us Avenger girls?” Helen asked narrowing her eyes. “'Cause I will guarantee that unless you apologize to my friend here and serve her, the WASP won't spend a dime in your store again.”

  The impact of her words saw the rest of the women dump their items onto the counter and glare at him.

  The man looked at the gathering of angry women across from him; the full rank of the Bay Four six having been quickly reinforced by others in the class yet to pay for their provisions.

  Calculating the impact his next action, he plastered a smile on his face, “I'm sorry about the mix up, let me work out how much you owe.” He held out his hands for Lily to pass the clothing across, and then proceeded to tally the items on a bill pad.

  Adele stood on her tiptoes and peeked over Lily's shoulder, “That's real nice of you sir, to not charge for those pants.”

  The shopkeeper jerked his head up to look at the small face peering at him from behind the dark haired woman.

  “As a good will gesture n'all,” she added, giving him a toothy grin.

  He scowled begrudgingly as he removed the cost of Lily's slacks from her bill. Lily handed over the money and relevant pages from her ration book, trying not to laugh at the look on the man's face as she did so. She took her items now neatly wrapped in brown paper, tied with string, and leaned across the counter, “For the record, my grandfather was Cuban, not Mexican and my father was born here and fought in the Great War for the country he loves.” She gave him a final look of disgust before turning and leaving.

  Still seething from the treatment that she had received, Lily closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the seat as she waited for the others in Marjorie's white Plymouth Convertible.

  “You okay?” Helen tossed her clothing package into the car, swung her legs over the side of the car and dropped onto the back seat beside Lily.

  “Just angry. I had hoped that with everything that's going on in the world that things might be different,” she wiped a heated tear from underneath her sunglasses resting on her cheek. “I'm just so mad,” she growled angrily.

  “Things will change,” Helen rubbed her arm comfortingly. “And until they do, you've got us,” she smiled.

  Lily felt her skin tingle where Helen had touched her. She placed her hand over her forearm and frowned slightly, unsure of why her body had reacted that way. The frown disappeared as she caught sight behind Helen's head of the others leaving the shop. “Thank you,” she smiled gratefully.

  “I'll see you back at the base,” Helen grinned, before hopping back out of the car. Lily pulled Helen's and her own packages onto her knee to make a space for Addison and Adele for the journey back. She turned at a loud engine roar as Helen pulled up beside the convertible.

  “You want to blow off some steam?” the blonde-haired woman shouted over the noise of the engine.

  Lily didn't need to be asked twice; before Helen could change her mind Lily had ripped open her package and pulled out a pair of pants. She jumped out of the car and pulled the slacks on to protect her bare legs from the dust, grit, and heat from the motorcycle itself. Pulling her dress over the pants, not caring how ridiculous she looked, she smiled over towards her friends.

  “Gimme your scarf Adrienne.”

  Adrienne unwound the red scarf from her neck and handed it across to Lily who tied it around her head to stop her hair from whipping in the wind. She threw her leg over the motorcycle and wound her arms around Helen's slender waist.

  “Hold on tight,” Helen yelled over her shoulder.

  Lily nodded and tightened her hold bringing her body closer to Helen so that her nostrils filled with the smell of leather from her jacket. “See you at the base!” Lily shouted as she lurched backwards as Helen pulled off, dust surrounding their departure.

  “O
nly if she don't kill you on the way,” Adele remarked climbing into the car.

  ***

  “You’re right,” Lily yelled in Helen's ear. “It's as exhilarating as flying.”

  She felt Helen's body shake with laughter and in response the blonde opened the throttle further, the bike lunged forward as its speed increased taking all possibility of conversation away. Lily took a deep breath in through her nose, loving the wind battering against her face, her clothes flapping against her skin, the throb of the bike beneath them. She felt alive!

  The increase in speed caused Adrienne's scarf to whip from Lily's head, she turned to see the material dance into the distance, feeling her locks lash around in their newfound freedom. Turning back towards the front she pulled herself closer to Helen, she wasn't sure what she was enjoying more the thrill of the motorcycle or the physical contact with Helen, who for some inexplicable reason Lily felt drawn to. She loved the fact that she could feel Helen riding the bike, not just with her hands and feet but her entire body was at one with the machine.