A Girl Divided

by Ellen Lindseth

  So many secrets and half truths—it was all enough to make Genie want to give up and retreat to her bed, as Lavinia had.

  “You’re not going to be one of those girls, are you?” Mrs. Greenlee’s words reached out unbidden from Genie’s memory, the disgust as clear as the day Genie had first heard them in the Kunming hospital. “Someone who refuses to get on with the business of living simply because there’s a war . . .”

  The business of living—that’s what this was, and Natasha was right: she needed to get on with it, experience or no.

  Chapter 27

  Dick seemed surprised by Kitty’s generosity but gave no indication that Genie shouldn’t take the woman up on her offer. “It might solve a lot of problems, actually,” he said as they waited in line to claim their luggage off the dock. “I hear train seats are hard to get these days, thanks to Uncle Sam using the rails to move his troops around. I hadn’t even thought of flying.”

  “Don’t you think I should at least ask why she’s buying us tickets? The tickets out of China were so expensive!”

  Dick shook his head. “I’d say best to let sleeping dogs lie on this one. Lavinia and Kitty are both adults. If they’re satisfied with the agreement, why question it? A day and a half of flying sure beats more than a week by rail.”

  “That it does.” She glanced behind her to where she had left Lavinia sitting on a bench, waiting for Genie to return with their bags. Satisfied that her friend was safe and not going anywhere, she turned back to Dick and smiled. “And I admit I’m excited by the prospect of flying again.”

  “I bet you are.” He returned her smile with one of his own, and her heart added an extra beat.

  “Ah, here are our two lovebirds.” Kitty glided up beside them in a scarlet traveling outfit. The jacket was richly embroidered with black thread and shiny black beads, and a small matching hat with a black lace veil perched at an angle on her smooth blonde hair. In a word, she looked expensive, though that wasn’t what set Genie’s teeth on edge. It was the dismissive glance Kitty flicked over Genie’s best and recently hemmed to midcalf skirt and practical but perfectly presentable wool sweater. “We really must do something about your wardrobe, though.”

  Genie inhaled deeply for patience. “Why? There’s nothing wrong with the way I’m dressed.”

  “No, you wouldn’t think so,” Kitty said as she waved to the porter carrying her bags, and then pointed to where he should wait for her. “But I’m afraid I must insist on it, as well as a professional haircut for Lavinia. She looks a positive fright at the moment.”

  “Oh, come on, Kitty . . . ,” Dick began with a disbelieving laugh.

  Kitty raised a gloved hand to silence him. “No, Dick, darling. If they are to fly as guests of my father, they simply must look the part. It’ll be hard enough to get tickets as it is.”

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t bother,” Genie said, even though everything inside her rebelled at the idea of being cooped up in a train for another week.

  Kitty arched one perfectly drawn eyebrow. “You don’t get a say in the matter. And because I’m saving you a bundle in travel costs, you should have no problem affording a new outfit and a trip to the salon. I’ll make an appointment for you both as soon as I reach my apartment.”

  “Surely we won’t have time,” Genie said, her stomach turning at the possibility of having to take on these new expenses. “Don’t we need to get to the airfield?”

  “Oh no. I doubt I’ll be able to get you tickets before Friday.”

  “But that’s five days from now!” Her unease turned into horror. “What on earth are we to do until then?”

  “Ask Mrs. Schmidt. I’m sure she’ll have some idea.” Kitty reached into her purse and pulled out a small card.

  “Kitty, you’re not being reasonable,” Dick said with a bemused frown.

  “Don’t interfere, Dickie. This is between me and Mrs. Schmidt. I wouldn’t cross her if I were you.” She turned back to Genie and handed her the card. “This has my phone number on it. Call when you are situated, and my assistant will give you directions to the salon. I’ll also have some clothes picked out for you both. Oh, and don’t worry: I’ll give you a special discount on them.”

  Unless the “discount” meant free, the clothes would still be more than they could afford. Genie wanted to scream. Or cry. Or perhaps both. Why, oh why did Nathan have to die and leave her in this fix?

  Genie shook her head. “I think we’ll skip the flight and travel by train as originally planned.”

  “Then you’ll be traveling alone, Miss Baker. I gave my word to Mrs. Schmidt I would fly her to California. And unlike some, when I give my word, I always keep it.” Kitty turned to Dick, and her icy demeanor thawed considerably. “Don’t be a stranger, Dickie. DC isn’t as far as all that. Whenever you have some free time, be sure to come up. You’ll always be welcome.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Dick said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. As Kitty strode down the dock toward a row of cars waiting for passengers, the porter and all her bags following after her, his look became speculative. “Do you happen to know what happened between Kitty and Mrs. Schmidt?”

  “No idea, but if I had to guess, I would say it had something to do with Nathan. Lavinia let it slip that Kitty was there when he fell.”

  His eyebrows rose. “Really?”

  An awful thought resurfaced. “You don’t suppose Kitty, well, pushed him, do you?”

  He was already shaking his head. “No. Kitty may seem cold as ice, but she’s no killer. The other day I saw her dress down a sailor for using a seagull as target practice. She was nigh on hysterical, she was so upset.”

  “Then I’m back to having no idea.” She drew a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves after this latest change to her plans. “Since it looks like we’re flying after all, you wouldn’t want to help me find an inexpensive place to stay, would you?”

  “I wish I could. Unfortunately, duty calls. The train station I could’ve managed, since I’m headed there myself.” He hesitated. “Are your finances really as bad as all that?”

  “Worse. But I’ll figure it out.” Meaning she couldn’t stomach being any further in debt to him. And then there was her self-respect to contend with. Nathan hadn’t seemed concerned about their lack of funds, which meant she couldn’t be, either. Not unless she wanted to admit that women were indeed inferior when it came to solving problems.

  She could almost feel Nathan smirking at her from the far side of the veil.

  Determination boiled up inside her. She would not fail at this.

  A poster stuck to the side of the taxi stand caught her eye. It showed a stormy sea battering a stone lighthouse, only instead of a beacon at the top, there was a large red cross. She didn’t even need to read the large block letters telling her to “Join the American Red Cross.” She instantly recognized the symbol from when she lived in Peking and was well aware of all the good work the Red Cross Society had done there. It was like a sign from heaven.

  All she had to do was find a local office and explain that she and Lavinia were war refugees and in need of assistance, and everything would be fine. The Lord had provided, just as her father had always promised her.

  With renewed spirits, she claimed Lavinia’s and her luggage. Dick helped them hail a taxicab and load the bags into the trunk. While the driver asked a police officer for directions to the nearest Red Cross office, Dick helped Lavinia into the back seat. Then he turned to Genie. “You sure you’ll be all right?”

  “Absolutely.” And she meant it, too.

  He tenderly touched her cheek, his eyes almost overbright with emotion as he gazed down at her. “I can’t wait until we can be together again.”

  Her breath snagged in her chest, her heart too full of wonder and gratitude to speak. For some unknown reason he had chosen her, and she thanked her lucky stars he had. She would never have been this optimistic about her future without him, not after losing Nathan and having the add
itional burden of a grieving Lavinia. And certainly not after learning her aunt had disappeared.

  He leaned forward and kissed the corner of her mouth. A wonderful warmth curled through her despite the chilly breeze of the water. Compared to their last kiss, it was unbearably chaste, but likely much more appropriate to the surroundings.

  He gave her a heartbreakingly sad, sweet smile. “Au revoir, Miss Baker.”

  In a daze, she let him help her into the taxi and then shut the door. As the taxi driver began to drive away, she waved out the window. To her disappointment, he was too busy loading his own luggage into the next taxi to see her.

  “Genie, did you see this?” Lavinia said in a tight voice.

  Reluctantly, Genie turned and glanced at her friend.

  Lavinia held up a newspaper, her eyes wide, her face paper-white. “Someone left this. It’s from today.”

  Frowning, Genie took it from her and scanned the Brooklyn Daily Eagle headlines. And then she saw it: “Chinese Fight Jap Drive to Split Burma: Hand-to-Hand Battles Rage in Toungoo Streets—Situation ‘Critical.’”

  A million shades of fear seized her as she skimmed the rest of the article: fear for Li Ming’s fiancé, for Ted, for the CNAC pilots, for all the civilians . . . and especially for her father and Zhenzhu, as this last border between China and the Japanese invasion was about to be breached.

  “Oh no,” she breathed.

  Chapter 28

  A mild breeze caressed Genie’s skin as she paused at the top of the airstair. She blinked against the bright spring sunshine, the tang of oil from the airport mingling with the more agricultural scent of damp earth filling her nostrils. Palm trees waved softly by the terminal building, as though bidding welcome. But it wasn’t until a quick scan of the area around the plane revealed no police officers hanging around, ready to arrest her, that some of her stomach-churning fear of the last week began to ease.

  For reasons Genie could only guess at, Kitty had failed to mention, when she had handed over the tickets, that civilian travel in the United States had all but ceased after Pearl Harbor. Any seats on the few remaining commercial flights were for the exclusive use of military personnel or civilians traveling on war business—not thrill-seeking missionary girls.

  Lavinia had picked up on it right away and had concocted a story where she and Genie were traveling for Kitty’s clothing company, which was designing a new uniform for field nurses. Genie, less comfortable with lying, would nod and privately wonder how Kitty’s father had been able to get the tickets. Though perhaps things weren’t any different in the States than they were in China, where everything was for sale, given the right price.

  On the way down the airstair, with no unusual flurry of activity starting up, she relaxed a little more. She glanced up at the snow-dusted hills that formed a solid wall to the east. While substantial enough to be considered mountains, they lacked the jagged poetry of the ones back home. Home. Her stomach twisted again, this time with sorrow and worry for her father and Zhenzhu.

  The newspapers she had picked up in New York and Saint Louis had reported next to nothing on the fighting in Burma or China. She wished she had a way to know if her father was safe. If only he had agreed to come with her, she could have asked him what he had thought of this vast country, the country of his birth. He had rarely spoken of it, and she had never thought to ask. Now that she had spent the last two days viewing the States from the air, she was filled with questions. Had he been to Saint Louis, where she had overnighted between flights, and seen the mighty Mississippi River? Or the Grand Canyon, which the stewardess had pointed out as it passed in the distance off the wingtip?

  What would he think of her decision to come to LA? She could well imagine what he would say about her kissing Dick—and Ted before that—but she was a woman full grown. Her virtue was still intact despite kissing two men. And she knew from the earthy talk of the village women that, unlike what the missionary wives had told her, one didn’t get pregnant from kissing a man.

  As long as Dick was gone on assignment, she could see nothing improper about her and Lavinia staying in his apartment. It would be only temporary, in any event. As soon as she started working at Vultee, saved up a little money, learned her way around the city, and understood how renting an apartment in the States even worked, she and Lavinia would move into a new place. Easy as pie. All she had to do was figure out how to hire a taxi to take them to Dick’s place, and they would be set.

  Her stomach shifted uneasily again. To distract herself, she straightened the cuffs of her new fawn gloves and then looked out at the large swaths of camouflage nets strung across the airfield. From the ground, it was easy to see the branches and pieces of fabric stuck in the netting and to see that many of the “buildings” crammed between the runways were merely sheets of plywood. From the air, though, the whole thing had taken on a completely different look. The airport had ceased to exist, becoming instead what appeared to be a suburban neighborhood. She had actually had a moment of panic as the plane centered itself to land on what looked like a city street. Then they had descended lower, exposing the artifice.

  “Maybe asking for airplane tickets wasn’t such a good idea,” Lavinia said weakly, interrupting Genie’s survey.

  Genie glanced at her friend’s pale sweaty face and felt a moment of compassion. “I suppose now’s not the time to tell you that I loved every second.”

  Because she had.

  Something about being unchained from the ground and being able to see for miles in every direction had filled her with joy. Even the turbulence over the mountains of Colorado, uncomfortable and a little frightening as it had been, hadn’t dampened her enthusiasm. She found herself wanting to know more about why it had been rough there, and how the pilots had found their way over them when there were no roads to follow.

  Genie took her friend’s arm. “But just think—you made it! We made it. And you never have to fly again if you don’t want to.”

  Lavinia expelled a shaky breath. “Which I don’t. But you’re right. We did make it. New city, new us.”

  “Exactly,” Genie agreed. She stole a glance over her shoulder at the airplane, wishing she could climb back on. Someday, when the war was over and civilians could fly again, she was definitely going to buy a ticket and go up. It didn’t matter where. China had an airline, so why not? She even knew two of the pilots.

  She and Lavinia claimed their suitcases and then followed the other passengers through the beautiful stucco and red-tiled terminal building into the late-day sun. Military trucks rumbled by on the street out front. She searched the few cars parked in front for a taxi. Already planning ahead for the next step, she didn’t immediately hear her name being called.

  “Miss Baker. Mrs. Schmidt. Over here!” A petite blonde waved from down the sidewalk. The girl’s red lips were stretched in a wide smile that showed off pearly white teeth. She hurried over as fast as her pencil-slim skirt would let her. Her pert velvet hat—pinned off center to accentuate her rolled hair—bobbed with each enthusiastic step.

  “Sorry we’re late,” the girl exclaimed, her gray eyes bright with excitement beneath her perfectly plucked eyebrows. She bounced to a stop in front of them, fairly vibrating with high spirits. “How was the flight? I bet it was phenomenal. The weather couldn’t be better. It makes me wish my lesson was today instead of tomorrow. Ready to go?”

  “I’m sorry. Who are you?” Lavinia asked coldly. “And the flight was awful.”

  “Oh, I am so sorry! I’m Charity. Charity Newcombe.” The girl stuck out her hand, Lavinia’s rudeness having no perceivable effect on her sunny mood. “Mr. Pelton asked my uncle to meet you at the airport, to make sure you got to the apartment okay, and I thought you might be more comfortable if I tagged along. Not that my uncle is scary or anything. He’s just so old! He doesn’t know the first thing about how we young people live today.”

  “Genie Baker. And your uncle is . . . ,” Genie prompted as she shook Charity’s hand.
The girl had a surprisingly strong grip.

  “Fred Short, lead stunt pilot for Century Studios,” Charity said proudly. “He also tests planes for the company where I work. And I hope where you two will be working, too! Uncle Fred has already set up interviews for you tomorrow morning, so we’ve got a lot to do before then.”

  “Tomorrow?” Genie repeated, her panic returning as Charity shook hands with a much less enthusiastic Lavinia.

  “Uh-huh. But you don’t have to start work right away. I’m sure Skip would let you take a couple of days to settle in.” She pointed to a shiny, dark-blue sedan. “That’s my uncle’s car over there. Isn’t it a beauty? Much nicer than riding the bus, which you’ll get to do plenty of, since that’s the easiest way to get around.”

  As they got closer, a short heavy-set man climbed out of the driver’s side and waved at them. He looked nothing like she expected a test pilot to look. For one thing, he was much older—the hair under his hat was decidedly more salt than pepper—and he also had on a suit and tie. All the pilots she knew either wore uniforms or flight overalls.

  “Now about tomorrow,” Charity continued. “Skip—that’s my boss—had only a couple of job openings on such short notice. There’s one in the office pool—where I work—and two more on the shop floor if you two would rather work together.”

  Genie hesitated, completely lost as to why Vultee had a pool, or what one was expected to do on the floor of a shop. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  “That’s fine.” Charity bounced on ahead to open the car’s rear door.