Wings of the Morning

by Beryl Matthews

  ‘Do you care nothing for him?’ Sam asked.

  ‘I’m not sure what I feel,’ said Annie, confused. ‘I find him attractive and I enjoy being with him, even though we argue most of the time.’

  Sam waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. ‘Take no notice of that. It is just Reid’s defences surfacing. He did not want to fall in love, I think.’ He gave Annie an earnest look. ‘Give him a chance.’

  She knew she would. Sam’s revelation had been a shock, but now she came to consider it … well, the signs had all been there but she’d ignored them. And her own feelings!

  ‘I expect Maria must be ready. I’ll collect Jacques and take him to meet his mother.’

  Reid stood by the window watching Sam and Annie talking. It was obviously a serious discussion. Were they deciding what to do about the unexpected turn of events? He clenched his fists. He was certain Sam wouldn’t marry Annie now the real mother of his son had been rescued, but if he was hoping to hold on to her in some way then the man would have a fight on his hands. He was damned if he was going to allow that to happen. He loved Annie so much, and if he’d believed that her happiness was with Sam then he would have slipped out of the picture, but things had changed. He would not let Sam ruin her life now!

  ‘What do you think they’re talking about, old boy?’

  Reid jumped. ‘Bouncer! I didn’t hear you come in.’

  ‘Bit edgy, aren’t you?’ his friend remarked.

  ‘I was deep in thought, that’s all.’

  Bouncer looked enquiringly at him. ‘How long can we stay, Reid?’

  ‘Another day and then I must get back. I promised my parents I’d see them before my leave ends.’

  ‘Ah, well,’ Bouncer sighed, ‘I’d better make the most of my time here. I’ll see if Wally needs any help in the kitchen.’

  Reid chuckled as his friend left the room. He wasn’t sure Bouncer had ever seen a kitchen in his life. It was more likely he was after Wally’s secret store of whisky. As the door closed he turned his attention back to the garden, but Sam and Annie were no longer there.

  He was about to go in search of the children when Annie walked in.

  ‘Hello,’ she said. ‘Where’s everyone?’

  ‘Most are in the kitchen, I think.’ Reid studied her face. She didn’t look upset, in fact she appeared to be very happy. ‘I saw you talking to Sam. Do you know what his plans are now?’

  Annie sat in one of the armchairs and waited until Reid was settled opposite her. ‘He’s out of the air force now, so he won’t be coming back with us. Rose is letting them have the cottage for as long as they want it, and he and Maria will be married as soon as it can be arranged.’

  ‘And how do you feel about that?’ He watched her reaction carefully.

  Her smile was one of genuine pleasure. ‘I’m absolutely delighted. He’s taking Jacques to see his mother now.’

  ‘Good. I was preparing to fight him for you,’ he declared with honesty. He was going to convince her of his feelings this time!

  She laughed. ‘Spitfires at dawn?’

  ‘Something like that.’ His eyes narrowed at her flippant response. ‘You don’t seem surprised.’

  ‘I am actually. I was under the impression that I irritated you.’

  ‘You do at times,’ he admitted, ‘but only because I like to be in control of my life, and I don’t feel like that when I think about you. The first time we met I came to you to fulfil the promise I’d made Paul, but after that it was for myself. I wanted to be with you, touch you, see your eyes light up with a smile, or cloud with sadness. Whatever your mood I needed to be with you.’

  ‘Now that’s quite an admission!’ Her eyes opened wide at his frankness.

  He leant forward. ‘It’s cards on the table time, I think. I honestly believed that you would accept Sam.’

  Annie looked thoughtful. ‘I must admit that the idea was tempting, and I would have done everything I could to help, but I hope I would have had the strength to refuse him. I want love in a marriage, above children.’

  Reid stood up and pulled her out of the chair. ‘You can have both, right now.’ He kissed her, releasing all the passion he’d kept under tight control. ‘What do you say? There’s an empty bedroom upstairs.’

  Annie eased away from him looking flushed from the heated embrace. ‘I’m not going to let you rush me. I won’t make a decision until this war’s over.’

  He studied her expression intently. ‘Will I stand a chance then?’

  She smiled, stood on tiptoe and kissed his lips briefly. ‘We’ll see, Squadron Leader, we’ll see.’

  For that demotion, he kissed her again. From behind them came a voice.

  ‘Whoops!’

  Through the haze of his desire, Reid heard the exclamation and stepped back from Annie. James and Kate were standing in the room grinning.

  ‘Shall we go away again?’ James smirked.

  ‘No need.’ Reid drew in a deep breath. Annie had responded and that was the second time he’d felt her passionate nature come alive in his arms. She might back away from commitment now, but he was pretty sure she wouldn’t for much longer.

  Feeling more in control, he smiled at the children. ‘What have you two been doing with yourselves?’

  ‘We’ve been looking for Jack,’ Kate told them.

  ‘He’s over at the cottage with his daddy,’ Annie said.

  ‘Ah, there you are.’ Rose held open the door for Bouncer who was carrying a tray loaded with the ever-available cups of tea.

  Soon the room was crowded as Marj and Wally came in as well. The discussion quickly turned to the progress of the invasion.

  ‘When do you think the war will be over?’ James asked. He was growing up fast and taking an avid interest in developments.

  ‘Well, I don’t think it will be this year,’ Reid said. ‘Winter will soon be here, but if things go well then we might see the end around spring next year.’ He looked pointedly at Annie. He wasn’t going to let her dither that long.

  Annie returned the look and her lips lifted at the corners. She’d clearly understood his meaning without him saying a word, and there was a look in her eyes that made his heart soar with hope.

  Suddenly Jacques burst into the room, his face alive with excitement. ‘Auntie Rose, can we move my things? I’m going to sleep in the other house.’

  ‘I’ll do it before your bedtime,’ she told him, smiling down at his flushed face.

  The little boy grabbed hold of Kate and tried to pull her to her feet. ‘Come see!’ When she stood up he launched himself at James. ‘Come see!’

  Reid had never seen the boy so animated and it was obvious the first meeting had gone well.

  Rose’s children looked surprised at the excited antics of Jacques. The little boy had just turned four, but to Reid he seemed much younger. The poor little devil had had a traumatic time since he’d been born, and it was wonderful to see him laughing.

  ‘I’ve got a mummy!’ He was leaping up and down. ‘My real mummy!’ He smiled and then turned and tore out of the room, the toy rabbit in danger of losing its ear.

  Kate and James glanced at their mother, who nodded to them. ‘Why don’t you go with him?’

  Without further hesitation they ran after Jacques.

  ‘That’s the first time I’ve seen the poor little thing smile.’ Marj wiped her eyes.

  Wally patted his wife’s arm. ‘He’ll be all right now.’

  Marj nodded. ‘We did our best for him, but there’s no substitute for his proper family is there?’

  Maria and Nurse Stevens joined them that evening. The old house had a dining room but it had been turned into another bedroom, and the family loved to gather around the kitchen table. Annie and her mother had gone to great trouble to make it look lovely for a special occasion. The best linen had been brought out, the glasses sparkled under the lights, and a huge bowl of flowers adorned the centre of the table. Annie was pleased to see what a good job her mother and
Rose had made of the clothes for Maria. The navy skirt was full and gathered at the waist, the pale blue blouse had long sleeves, and a silk scarf was tucked into the neck, effectively hiding her thin body.

  Jacques had been allowed to stay up late to mark the occasion, and he kept close to his mother the whole time. He watched her shyly, and each time she smiled and stroked his hair he grinned and squirmed with pleasure.

  Yes, Annie thought as she saw the little touches of love and affection between them, everything was going to be all right now. Jacques couldn’t possibly remember his mother, but he’d clearly accepted her without reservation, which was more than he’d done with his father.

  Her gaze strayed to Reid, who was laughing with Bouncer. What a fool she’d been not to recognize her feelings for him sooner, but their first meeting had not been a good one, and she had doubted that a relationship between them would work. She had also been too absorbed in her work with Sam and Jack Graham to give much thought to her own life, but now the end of the war was in sight she was starting to think about the future.

  After the meal was over they all went into the lounge. A fire was burning in the grate to take the chill off the evening. Annie gazed into the flames, deep in thought.

  ‘You look pensive.’ Reid sat on the arm of her chair. ‘What’s causing that faraway look in your eyes?’

  ‘I was wondering what I’ll do when I’m demobbed,’ she said. ‘I don’t think being a fashion editor again will hold enough excitement.’

  ‘Ah.’ He sighed dramatically. ‘There was I hoping it was me making you look so dreamy.’

  Annie smiled but said nothing. There was no way he was going to know that she’d really been thinking about him. Not yet, anyway.

  ‘Have you found your job as wireless operator exciting then?’

  ‘A lot of the time it’s routine and a hard slog, but never dull.’

  It was obvious from the way he’d asked the question that he was curious about what she did. And now Sam’s activities had been revealed, he clearly wanted to find out how involved she’d been with his work.

  ‘And at other times it’s exciting?’ He persisted in probing.

  ‘It’s had its moments.’

  Nurse Stevens came over and Annie took the opportunity to change the subject. Perhaps one day she would tell Reid that she had been behind enemy lines, but not now.

  ‘Hello.’ Annie smiled. ‘Your patient is making a good recovery.’

  ‘Indeed she is.’ The girl turned to Reid. ‘I am no longer needed here, sir. When will you be returning to Tangmere?’

  ‘Tomorrow. I have a flight time of eleven hundred hours.’

  ‘If you will take me with you, sir, I will arrange for transport to take me back to the hospital in Aldershot.’ The nurse returned to her seat and started talking to Rose, when the door swung open.

  Bill was greeted with hugs and exclamations of pleasure when he came into the room. Then he saw Jacques and lifted him up.

  ‘My word, you’ve grown since I last saw you,’ Bill told him. ‘Not frightened of me this time?’

  Jacques shook his head and whispered in Bill’s ear.

  ‘Really?’ He put the boy down and smiled at Maria. ‘It’s wonderful to meet you. No wonder your son is looking so much happier.’

  Sam shook Bill’s hand. ‘How long are you home for?’

  ‘Two weeks.’ That announcement was greeted with whoops of delight from James and Kate.

  Wally put down his cup. ‘This calls for a proper celebration. I’ve got a drop of whisky and sherry put aside for Christmas, but we’ll have it now.’

  While the glasses were being filled Bill looked at Reid. ‘Have we met before?’

  Reid was immediately on his feet and shaking Bill’s hand firmly. He very much wanted to meet this man again, but he’d stayed in the background while his family welcomed him home. ‘You brought me back from Dunkirk after I’d been shot down.’

  ‘Of course, I thought there was something familiar about you.’ Bill grinned. ‘You’re a bit cleaner this time.’

  Annie watched Reid laugh, and his admiration for her brother-in-law was evident.

  ‘I saw you leave for another rescue trip,’ Reid told him. ‘How did you manage to repair the leaks so fast?’

  Bill chuckled. ‘They stuck something in the holes. I didn’t ask what it was, but we could only do one more trip. We were shipping too much water after that.’

  ‘Here we are.’ Wally handed the women a sherry each, the men a whisky, and lemonade for the children.

  ‘A toast.’ Wally held up his glass. ‘To Maria, Sam and Jacques, may the future hold much happiness for you.’

  Everyone drank to that with pleasure.

  ‘And now to Bill.’ Wally lifted his glass again. ‘Welcome home and we pray you will soon return to us for good.’

  Agreement echoed around the room, but Bill frowned. ‘Where’s George?’

  The silence was total, and Annie could feel the shock running through the room.

  Rose was the first to recover. ‘I sent you a letter, Bill. George was killed by a doodlebug when he went to London to get his house ready for the victory celebrations.’

  ‘Oh, dear God.’ Bill obviously knew nothing about it, and the news had come as a terrible blow. ‘I never received your letter, my darling. I’m so dreadfully sorry; we will miss him.’ He held Rose in his arms and rocked her gently. ‘What a dreadful thing to happen, I wish I’d been here to help you.’

  Rose kissed his cheek. ‘I wish you had been too, but we managed.’

  Bill kept his arm around Rose and turned to face the room. He raised his glass. ‘Let’s drink to a fine man.’

  Annie’s eyes clouded as she watched Bill coping with his grief. Her brother-in-law had always had the utmost respect for George Gresham, and she knew he was going to miss him dreadfully – as they all did.

  The glasses were soon emptied and Sam stood up, his hand on Maria’s shoulder. ‘Will you excuse us. Maria must rest now.’

  Jacques caught hold of his mother’s hand as soon as she stood up and smiled proudly at everyone in the room.

  Annie watched them leave. Maria was leaning heavily on Sam. It had clearly been an exhausting evening, but it was a step back to normality for her.

  ‘Annie?’ Bill was puzzled. ‘I thought Jacques’s mother was dead.’

  ‘That was what we all believed.’ She then explained what had happened.

  ‘Poor soul.’ Bill was silent for a moment, and then nodded. ‘But it’s good to hear of a happy ending, eh?’

  Annie sat back in the chair and silently agreed with that statement. This war had caused untold sorrow and heartbreak, but it had also produced acts of heroism, and a miracle or two.

  33

  ‘I’ll land her.’

  ‘Oh no, you won’t.’ Reid glanced at Bouncer and shook his head to emphasize his decision.

  ‘Come on, Reid,’ Bouncer complained. ‘It isn’t often we get the chance to fly something this big.’ He gave an evil grin. ‘I want to see if she bounces.’

  ‘She won’t.’ Reid watched his co-pilot eagerly flexing his fingers, and smothered a chuckle. ‘Don’t forget we’ve got a passenger. You’ll frighten the life out of her.’

  Bouncer glanced back at the nurse. ‘I don’t think so, old boy, she looks calm enough.’

  ‘That’s ignorance,’ Reid pointed out. ‘She’s never seen one of your landings.’

  ‘I’ll handle her like a new-born babe.’ When his friend didn’t answer, Bouncer said, ‘I think you’re the one who’s scared.’

  ‘Too right I’m terrified, look.’ Reid held up a shaking hand.

  ‘You liar,’ Bouncer roared. ‘You’ve never been terrified in your life and that’s what made you such a good squadron leader. You haven’t got any nerves.’

  ‘You think I wasn’t scared?’ Reid asked, remembering how he’d been drenched in sweat, as he’d pushed himself and his Spitfire to the limit in those battles.
God, but they were wonderful aeroplanes!

  ‘Scared, yes, we all were, but you were never terrified.’

  The two men were silent then, each with his personal memories of the struggle they’d been involved in. The only sound was the hum of the engines.

  ‘I’ll buy you a beer when we get down if you let me land her.’ Bouncer had resorted to bribery.

  ‘Huh! I’ll need more than that. I might consider it for a double whisky.’

  ‘You’re on.’ Bouncer turned his head and shouted to their passenger. ‘Strap yourself in, we land in about fifteen minutes.’

  ‘I must be mad,’ Reid muttered to himself as he gave the controls over to his friend. Just to be on the safe side he tightened his harness as much as he could, then watched the airfield come into sight.

  ‘I wonder what would happen if I tried a victory roll?’ Bouncer asked gleefully.

  ‘I expect the wings would fall off,’ Reid sighed.

  ‘Ah, not a good idea then.’

  Reid’s eyes narrowed as they made their approach and he watched every move the pilot made. His friend was one hell of a pilot, but somehow he’d never quite mastered the art of getting down without bouncing along the runway. He braced himself as the wheels touched the field, but the expected lurch never came. When they were taxiing towards the hangar, he gasped in astonishment. It was a perfect landing.

  ‘Don’t look so surprised, old boy. I’m not quite as crazy as I used to be, not now I’ve married Jenny.’

  They jumped down, helped a relieved Nurse Stevens out and said goodbye to her. Then Bouncer slapped Reid on the back. ‘Come to my room and I’ll give you that drink.’

  Reid followed him, sat in the only easy chair in the small room, watched Bouncer retrieve a bottle from behind a cupboard and pour generous measures into two mugs.

  Bouncer held his mug up in salute. ‘Sam and Maria are in good hands. Annie belongs to one hell of a family.’

  ‘She certainly does.’ Reid took a swig of the whisky and felt it burn a path down his insides. He couldn’t help remembering the shock of everyone when they realized that Bill didn’t know about George’s death, but the post was very erratic and was often months late. For those at sea it was even worse, and in this case the important letter had never reached Bill …