‘I don’t know what’s going on with me; I woke up with a funny feeling this morning and I can’t shake it.’ She spoke loud enough for Bess to hear, Carl too if he wanted.
‘As in you feel sick?’ Bess probed.
‘No, not sick or unwell. You know I’d never take chances as the pilot. It’s more a feeling of… I don’t know, anxiety, high alert.’
Carl piped up from the rear of the helicopter. ‘Kind of the nature of the job, Maya.’ Neither of them could see him, only hear him over the headsets. The back of the aircraft was separated from the front by a sheet of heavy-duty plastic required so that all the medical equipment in the rear didn’t interfere with their night-vision goggles when they went out on a job in the darker hours.
‘Unless she’s planning on running off with the groom,’ Bess teased. She would know how excited Maya was about Julie’s wedding; she’d been going on about it for long enough. But she also knew how Maya felt about seeing her father on any occasion, particularly one as big as this.
‘Ha ha,’ Maya replied. Bess always had the ability to make her feel better, even if all she’d done was share her concern.
Maya hadn’t been able to arrange a stand-in for her shift today so had pre-warned her sister that she might be late to the wedding if she got a call. Julie being Julie had said no dramas, get there when you can. And much as it might appeal to conjure up an imaginary job so she could avoid her father for as long as possible, she didn’t want to do that to her sister. They were as close as siblings could be, always had been.
‘Ten minutes to go,’ she said as they drew closer to the airbase. ‘And yes, I suppose you’re right, Carl. Nature of the job.’ She liked him; she’d miss him when he left the crew to move up to the Lake District, where his wife had a new job as a teacher. He wasn’t quite sure of his own career plans at this stage but he was ready for a change and Maya couldn’t be happier for him.
‘Maybe it’s the looming birthday,’ Bess suggested. ‘Almost mid-forties, it’s got to be scary.’
Maya laughed. ‘Not at all. I’m embracing my age. And I’m turning forty-four so don’t put me in the mid-forties bracket until I’m there, thank you very much.’
Bess still wanted to find out what was up. ‘Are you worried about Isaac?’ she asked Maya.
‘No more than usual.’ She mellowed at the thought of her son.
Isaac had chosen a university in Scotland and Maya did her best to believe it was because that was the place that offered the best course for him, that he wanted to see more of the UK, but part of her suspected it was to put some distance between himself and his dad. She’d been supportive when he told her, said that it was his decision and to have a wonderful time, but when other kids his age had chosen to go somewhere an hour or so from home or even stay living with their parents because of the cost of living, Scotland felt like a world away. Still, she’d put on a brave face and driven him up there last September, hugged him and told him to have the time of his life as well as working hard. And she’d left him with a heavy heart but also with the following summer to look forward to when he’d return home to Whistlestop River.
‘Maybe the anxiety is because you miss him,’ said Bess.
‘All I know is it’s a feeling that’s new to me.’ Maya was used to talking while she dealt with the array of gauges, dials, buttons, and screens in front of her and took charge of flight controls. ‘I’m not a person who usually has much anxiety; I don’t panic, I don’t build things up in my head and catastrophise. If I did that, I’d never climb into this seat.’
Carl chimed in. ‘Maya, it’s my last day on the job with you and I want to make it back to base in one piece. So this feeling… please tell me it doesn’t involve you losing control up here.’
‘Course not. I’d never do that to you, Carl.’
‘Yeah, right. Not sure I believe you. You’re not planning a surprise mid-air drill, are you, as a send-off, and you’re nervous about whether you can pull it off?’
As part of their ongoing and very regular training, they practised flight drills and Maya liked to do some of them up in the air – after all, that was where they were going to happen. She’d done one a few weeks ago and Carl hadn’t enjoyed it at all, had said he was counting the days until he finished his time galivanting around the county in a helicopter.
‘Carl, I’ll miss the way you always say what’s on your mind,’ Maya said into her headset.
‘I’ll miss you girls too. You’d better hope my replacement is up to scratch.’
‘You’re a tough act to follow,’ Bess declared.
Maya hadn’t met the new critical care paramedic joining the red crew yet. All she knew was that Carl and Bess were the best people in the world to work with so whoever it was had high standards to live up to, both with their expertise and knowledge and in personality.
‘See to it that it’s another cracker of a landing back at base, would you, Maya?’ Carl requested.
‘Your wish is my command.’ This was what she did best, after all. ‘Relax, you two, no funny business with drills, and the helipad at the airbase is in the easy category, especially given the fine conditions.’
If it was windy, it made for some interesting landings no matter where you wanted to touch down but today couldn’t be better with the sun shining, not much cloud in sight, bright blue skies – the sort of conditions that left Maya in no doubt that this really was the best job in the world.
‘Cake back at the base,’ Bess reminded them both: the send-off for Carl was to be short and sweet, as he preferred, but with his favourite cake – lemon drizzle – and a mug of tea.
The town of Whistlestop River came into view. Soon they’d be passing over its majestic, ribbon-like river veering to the right slightly as they continued on and prepared to land at the airbase on the outskirts of the town.
Maya might have a feeling of unease today but she never lost appreciation for the way she and the rest of the crew got to see views of the country and the county of Dorset not many others would ever get to witness.
A patchwork of fields spread out on the left, more on the right and from up here, Whistlestop River was like a make-believe town, toy-like in its dimensions. The river was at last in sight. They cruised well above the roofs of homes, above the local town hall, the handful of shops and businesses, the pub that backed onto the river and finally came in to touch down at the airfield.
