Silver Wings

by H. P. Munro

  Helen for her part was fighting trying to concentrate on riding and not focus on the arms gripped around her waist and the thighs pressed against her own. She was pleased that Lily had not tried to speak again as feeling her breath on her ear had almost caused her to lose control of the cycle. She tugged on the throttle again while they were on a straight bit of road, picking up the pace determined to make Lily forget about the incident in the shop.

  They pulled into the base and Helen killed the engine, neither making a move to get off the bike.

  “That was amazing, thank you,” Lily smiled her ears still throbbing with the memory of the now quiet engine.

  Helen reluctantly released the handlebars knowing that her movement would break the spell. “You're more than welcome,” she smiled.

  Lily released her grip of Helen and pushing her hands into the calfskin seat of the bike she propelled herself off, to stand on shaky legs.

  “Adrienne is probably going to kill me for losing her scarf,” Lily mused. “But you know what it was worth it.”

  ***

  They dressed in their beige slacks and white short-sleeved shirts taking pride in putting their uniform together, complete with their beige overseas hat. Adrienne looked down at her brown shoes.

  “Still think the red shoes went better,” she remarked. She sighed and picked up one of the white shirts she had bought. “Dammit, I must have picked up the wrong size,” she frowned. “I got midget sized,” she looked thoughtfully across to Adele. “Hey Adele, this is more your size. I'll swap you for three weeks mop duty,” she held the shirt out towards the smaller woman.

  Adele narrowed her eyes considering the offer, “Two weeks an’ you've got yoursel’ a deal.”

  Adrienne sucked air through her teeth and blew out a deep breath. “Two weeks it is then,” she said grudgingly and tossed the shirt over onto Adele's bed. Adele picked up the shirt and grinned turning to hang it up in her locker.

  Marjorie raised her eyebrows slightly at Adrienne who was smiling to herself as she put her hat onto her head. She gave Marjorie a small wink as she wandered over to the mirror to check her reflection.

  ***

  Finally released from duty, they gathered in the recreation room. Relieved to be sitting down to free time after an hour of drill in the hot Texan sun, where they practiced their wheels, marching in formation and learning the marching songs that helped them ignore the heat and the discomfort of the activity. In addition to marching, they'd had a couple more hours of Ground School, which had fried their brains more than the afternoon sun beating down on their heads. They had wearily eaten dinner; Adrienne moaning that the afternoon's activity would no doubt have her, ‘Burnt like a lobster’ and that her feet hurt worse than if she had worn her heels.

  The Bay Four girls sat scattered on the floor, books open as they helped each other make sense of what they'd learned during the day. After an hour, Lily packed her things up and arose saying she was going to play her violin while they were there so as not to disturb them.

  Helen stretched her back, popping noises coming from her spine, she rolled her head around to release some of the tension acquired from sitting pouring over her notes. Checking the clock, she noted that there was still a quarter of an hour before they needed to be back in their bays for curfew.

  “I'm done, I'm going to head back.”

  The others murmured their goodbyes barely lifting their eyes from their books.

  As she entered the bay, she frowned at the empty room, although unwilling to admit it she had hoped that Lily would have been there. She rummaged through her case until she located a packet of cigarettes and a box of matches, taking the items she headed back out into the darkness of the night, which was still clinging to the oppressive heat from the day. She wandered around the base enjoying the relative peace, the quiet punctuated by sounds from the recreation room where all the current classes could gather. She lifted her head and blew smoke out into the night sky as she walked towards the flight line, inexplicably drawn towards the hangars where some of the planes were kept.

  As she neared she could hear the sound of a violin, she walked towards where the haunting melody was playing, halting at the small door to the hangar. Highlighted by the shards of moonlight welcomed through the open aircraft doors stood Lily, her back to Helen as she swayed to music flowing from her fingers, which were dancing up and down the neck of her violin. Her movement accentuated the rise, fall, and flow of the music. Helen stood transfixed not just by the music but more by the sight of Lily.

  Lily swept her bow across the strings for a final time; she stood still allowing the memory of the music to leave her body. She opened her eyes and jumped slightly as someone started to clap behind her. She turned lowering her violin and peered into the darkness only able to make out the red tip of a cigarette. She took a breath and relaxed as Helen stepped forward.

  “Sorry I didn't mean to startle you,” Helen apologized, throwing her cigarette onto the floor of the hangar before grinding her foot on it.

  “It’s okay,” Lily smiled, leaning down to put her violin back in its case.

  “That was beautiful.”

  Lily laughed, “Thank you, nothing like a bit of Bach to end the day.”

  Helen turned looking over to where a P47 'Thunderbolt' pursuit plane sat. “I can't wait to fly,” she said wistfully walking towards the plane. Lily followed and they circled the machine touching it reverently. “What was it? The music I mean,” Helen asked as she trailed her fingertips across one of the propellers.

  “Sonata for Violin solo No. 1 in G minor. It's one of my favorites to play,” Lily replied, mirroring Helen's actions. “So were you sneaking off to smoke?”

  Laughing, Helen shook her head. “No not sneaking, although I don't make a habit of smoking. I only do it when I'm stressed,” she confessed as she walked around the nose of the plane and climbed up onto the wing.

  “You're stressed?” Lily asked surprised, following Helen she accepted her outstretched hand and scrambled onto the wing beside her.

  “Aren't you?” Helen smiled sadly. “I'm terrified of not being good enough to graduate. I'm even more terrified of washing out before I even get to go up in one of the training planes, never mind one of these babies.” She smiled patting the wing. She lay down, shivering slightly at the cold metal through her thin shirt. Lily lay down beside her and they both stared up into the dark rafters of the hangar.

  “Can I ask you something?” Helen said quietly.

  Lily hesitated before warily uttering, “Sure.”

  “Why did you say you weren't married?” Helen turned to face Lily a look of confusion on her face, she realized that Lily had stiffened at her question. “I'm sorry, it's none of my business, forget I said anything.”

  “No.” Lily exhaled. “How did you know?”

  “At your interview you were wearing a wedding ring and I saw your name on some papers and your family name was McAllister not Rivera, Liliana,” she grinned as Lily rolled her eyes at hearing her full name. “Plus you almost said McAllister when you introduced yourself.”

  Lily turned, “You seem to be paying close attention to me Miss Richmond.”

  “You intrigue me,” Helen answered honestly.

  Lily felt her breath hitch slightly at Helen's admission, “I'm widowed, my husband Henry was killed earlier this year, his plane was shot up, he tried to land with a dead engine at full speed with no flaps, and still being shot at, he hit a grove of palm trees and firebombed,” Lily recited with no emotion in her voice.

  “Wait…McAllister? Henry McAllister?” Helen sat up, her eyes wide in surprise. “The Henry McAllister, Medal of Honor, cover of Life Magazine. That Henry McAllister was your husband?” she frowned wondering why Lily would choose to ignore being married to someone who had been heralded as an all-American hero and whose death had been mourned by a nation.

  “That's him, my loving husband Henry,” she gave a mirthless laugh. “We met through music. He pla
yed the clarinet, he was a sweet man then,” she smiled sadly. “Do you know I taught him to fly, the first time I took him up he threw up, and then he becomes this hot shot pilot, claiming more victories than any other pilot and getting himself killed in the process,” Lily said with a hint of anger in her voice.

  “I, I don't understand,” Helen shook her head looking down at Lily. “Why don't you use his name?”

  Lily sat up, her finger playing nervously in her lap, “Three weeks after I got the telegram telling me my husband was dead, I get a blonde woman on my doorstep, Henry's mistress. Turns out my dear husband as well as being a condescending bully had been cheating on me the whole time we were married.” Lily switched her focus from her fingers to the blue eyes looking at her full of concern and empathy. “People don't like to hear ill of the dead,” she spat. “And while Henry may have died honorably, when he lived, he was the most dishonorable man I know.” Lily took a breath releasing her fury, “So forgive me but I'd rather not have people put two and two together and have to stand there while they tell me I was lucky to have been married to such a hero and that they're sorry for my loss.” She tore her eyes from Helen and laid back down returning her attention to the rafters; she felt her heartbeat slow down again as her anger dissipated leaving her with the usual emptiness that settled in her heart when she thought about her late husband.

  Helen reached out and placed her hand on Lily's thigh. “I'm sorry for your loss, I mean in terms of losing the person you thought you were marrying and the life you had,” she clarified.

  Lily lifted her head slightly to look at the hand resting lightly on her leg, the heat from Helen’s hand seemed to burn through the thick pant material, making Lily’s skin feel on fire. She turned to Helen with a perplexed look.

  Misinterpreting the look as one of concern about her disclosure, Helen was quick to appease her.

  “I won't say anything to anyone,” Helen gave a small smile, lifted her hand and ran it through her hair.

  “Thank you,” Lily watched as Helen dragged her fingertips through her soft curls, still feeling the heat on her thigh from the blonde's touch. She fell silent as she tried to rid herself of the confusing thoughts forming in her brain.

  They lay in comfortable silence, each lost in their thoughts as they studied the rafters above, neither conscious of time passing. The silence was broken when Lily asked quietly. “So what about you? How come you said you'd never marry?”

  Helen toyed with telling Lily the truth about her attraction to women. She felt guilty after Lily had been so open and honest, but she knew that it was too much of a risk to disclose her secret this early on in their fledgling friendship. She settled on telling the truth but omitting certain pertinent pieces of information.

  “I've never met that someone that makes me feel like I'm flying,” she smiled.

  Lily pursed her lips and nodded. “You never know, it could happen,” she shrugged.

  “It could,” Helen laughed, her smiled freezing as she heard an all too familiar sound. She breathed out a curse, furrowing her eyebrows at Lily's shocked expression. “That's Taps, we're out way beyond curfew.”

  A look of horror passed between them.

  “We'll be washed out,” Lily whispered.

  “Not if no-one sees us we won't,” Helen slid down the wing landing nimbly on the ground before turning and waiting for Lily to join her. Lily reached down for her violin case, clutching it to her chest as she took Helen's offered hand.

  They snuck back towards the bays keeping to the shadows. Helen peaked around the corner of the final bay, swearing quietly under her breath as she saw the retreating figure of Foster shine a torch through each bay's window checking everything was in order.

  “What is it?” Lily hissed.

  “Ssh. Wait,” Helen whispered back, she held her breath as Foster reached their bay, shining the torch in through the glass on the door. She let her breath out slowly as Foster lowered the torch and continued down the line of bunkhouses eventually stepping down at the end and gratefully heading towards her own bed.

  Helen counted to ten to make sure that Foster was far enough out of sight and hearing distance.

  “Okay, try not to make a noise,” she whispered, leading Lily onto the wooden walkway of the bays. They tiptoed down until they reached Bay Four, turning the doorknob slowly they slipped in and Helen turned to close the door quietly behind them. She heard Lily snigger and turned back into the bay, their beds had been plumped with clothing to make it appear as if they were in bed asleep.

  “You're so lucky I went to boarding school,” Adrienne drawled in the dark. “That's two things you owe me Rivera, don't think I've forgotten about my scarf.”

  Chapter Five

  August 1943 – Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas

  Rosecroft, how'd you expect to pull a bomber out of a dive, if your weedy arms can't even haul your chin over a bar!” the PT instructor shouted as Adrienne attempted again to pull herself up, groaning at the effort, her legs flailing around as she fought to give herself more momentum.

  “Sir. Yes. Sir,” she yelled as again she felt her arms give, leaving her hanging uselessly from the bar.

  Lily and Helen stood back waiting in line with Adele waiting for Adrienne, Marjorie, and Lucy to finish their pull-ups and move onto the next obstacle. As the PT instructor turned to shout at some of the women at the back, Adele rushed forward.

  “Here we go PT Addies' style,” Helen murmured to Lily under her breath watching the small woman rush down the small incline towards her bay mate.

  Adrienne hung limply, trying to muster up the energy for one last assault on the bar. She could feel the lactic acid build up burning her muscles making her arms feel impossibly heavy, her fingers starting to lose grip on the metal bar. She was about to let go when she felt arms circling beneath her knees, gripping her tightly. Suddenly she was propelled upwards. “Oh my giddy aunt, seriously Adrienne it's been weeks Honey. We need to build those skinny arms of yours up.”

  Adrienne smiled as she recognized Adele's voice beneath her.

  “I promise press-ups tonight,” Adrienne grinned as her chin finally edged over the bar.

  Adele released her legs and the red-haired woman dropped down to the ground.

  “I promise,” she huffed as she landed.

  Adele narrowed her eyes, “Good now help me up onto the damn bar.”

  Adrienne boosted the smaller woman up, releasing her when she gripped the bar. Adele drew her legs together, immediately, and effortlessly she started to pull herself up. Adrienne looked on enviously before turning and continuing her way around the course. Lily and Helen skidded down the incline and launched themselves at their bars using their momentum to assist their first pull up. Completing the repetition, they dropped down and sprinted off to their next station.

  It had been three weeks since those first confusing days of their arrival, and in those three weeks the women had done nothing but eat, sleep and talk about flying, Lucy had even woken the majority of the bay up one night by yelling out her pre-flight checklist. Their brains hurt from the navigation and Math classes they had during Ground School in the morning. They physically hurt from the afternoon drill, calisthenics, and exercise that they undertook to increase their strength and stamina. In some instances, their egos had taken a bashing as their flight instructors pounded on them. Flying the ‘Army way’ proved to be vastly different from their civilian flight procedures. They were learning to fly planes that were different and more complicated than the planes they were used to. They had engine dust under their fingernails from learning the basics of engine design in Ground School, the searing sun had browned their skin, makeup was a forgotten luxury, and they were lucky if they had the time or the inclination to pull a hairbrush through their hair in the morning. A week had passed before Adrienne realized that she had not even washed her hair, she was in such a tired fug. However, with all of the discomfort, tiredness, and regimen in their lives, not one of them
would swap it for their life before Avenger Field.

  They had settled into the rhythm of WASP life; as Helen had predicted privacy was not something that any of the girls had anymore. Their initial embarrassment about changing in front of each other had been replaced with easy camaraderie and it wasn't unusual to see one of them mopping the floor before breakfast while still in their bra and drawers. They had learned the hard way after the first Saturday morning inspection that civilian clean and Army clean were poles apart and were now used to washing the bedsprings under their beds, arranging their clothes in the correct order and ensuring that their ice buckets were emptied and polished.

  Each morning as soon as the bugle played the women would rise, apart from Lily who still would sleep through the morning call.

  However, the bay had developed a plan to ensure she was up; the first one to put their feet down onto the cool floor was responsible for using the 'Rosecroft Method' to wake Lily up. Lily had become accustomed to the morning ritual of being rudely woken up with a smack to the head; so much so that she could now tell who wielded the pillow just from the blow.

  They had taken great pleasure in creating their radio call signs for each other and Lily was now 'Sleeping Beauty' on the airwaves, which made her smile anytime she radioed the tower during her limited airtime each day. Each woman was working towards the required hours, which would mean they would be allowed to go solo, no one from their class had yet achieved the honor, and everyone was desperate to be the first.

  “You have gotta work on those arms. They're too weak,” Adele shook her head as they huddled around, hunched over trying to get their breath back after their run.

  “At least I can get up onto the bar,” Adrienne scoffed. “You need to work on those legs, they're too short.”

  Helen turned her head towards Lily, both still breathing heavily, “Here we go. The Addies are about to start up again.”