She wasn’t wrong about the cake – it was Bess’s favourite, or at least one of them. And that had Bess even more inquisitive as to why her mum had dropped by on a whim. ‘Is there something going on?’ she asked. ‘Something worrying you?’ To be forewarned was to be forearmed, wasn’t it?
‘It’ll keep,’ Fiona told her and with a wave she left Bess to climb into the car and set off for work.
So there was something…it’ll keeptold her that much. And Bess didn’t have a particularly good feeling about it as she cranked up the heat dial in the car to warm her from the October temperatures that in the last week had been a reminder that summer was well and truly behind them.
She drove the short distance to the airbase and pulled into aparking space just as her friend and colleague Maya, pilot with The Skylarks, was attempting to balance a crate on her knee and reaching into the boot of her car for something else.
Bess grabbed her bag and quickly got out with an offer of help. ‘Where’s Noah?’
‘He’s already here. I was running late. And besides, we’re not joined at the hip.’
‘No, but sometimes, I bet you wish you were. And you arrive together more times than not.’
Maya couldn’t deny it so simply smiled.
Noah and Maya had been an item ever since the summer. They didn’t flaunt it at work, both of them were too professional, but it was good to see Maya looking so happy after finally moving on from her waste of space ex-husband.
Bess leaned into the boot for the other crate. ‘Whatever you’ve got in these smells heavenly.’
‘Don’t worry, I didn’t make any of it myself.’ Maya led the way to the main entrance. She made no secret that she didn’t particularly love cooking and definitely didn’t enjoy baking. Nadia was the keen cook of the team but they couldn’t very well ask her to do the catering for her own birthday. ‘We’ve got sandwiches, croissants, pains au chocolat, an assortment of cakes. There are quite a few of us; I didn’t want anyone to go hungry.’
‘How come they didn’t deliver?’ Bess hoisted the crate up again after opening the door to the building behind which was the helipad and open space as far as the eye could see.
‘Their delivery van has broken down.’
‘Well, you’ve saved the day.’ They scooted through reception, hoping Nadia wasn’t walking the corridors to catch them at it.
‘She’s in the office,’ Vik, pilot with the blue team, said as he breezed past with a pile of paperwork.
‘Thanks, Vik.’ Bess led the way to the kitchen. Her tummywas growling already, having only had a small bowl of cereal for breakfast to take the edge off her hunger, anticipating all of this, the sort of fare that, judging by the aroma, could turn even the fullest person hungry again.
As Vik kept guard at the door, Maya took on the task of decorating the kitchen. Bess found large platters from the cupboards and began to get the food transferred from the crates. Beyond the window was Hilda, the red and yellow air ambulance helicopter, ready and waiting on the helipad for The Skylarks’ next job.
Noah didn’t take long to arrive, followed by the rest of the blue team, whose shift was ending right about now as the red team prepared to take over for their stint, which would run until the early hours of the morning.
‘Good job with the bunting.’ Bess watched as Maya and Noah hung up the last of the rows of brightly coloured small flags as well as a bigHappy Birthdaysign.
‘All right, time for someone to get the guest of honour,’ Vik announced, volunteering for the role. The red team could be called out at any moment – they never could predict when a job would come in so they needed to make the most of the time they had.
Bess adjusted the band on her tightly ringleted hair, which sometimes had a habit of escaping its low ponytail. Not that much seemed to stop the ringlets at the sides hanging loose; they never did like to behave themselves. She, Maya and Noah huddled with the blue team in the kitchen until Nadia showed her face.
They yelled, ‘Surprise!’
But there wasn’t much time to enjoy the celebrations because they were interrupted by the shrill ringing of the multiple phones at the base, indicating another mission for The Skylarks.
‘Worst timing ever,’ Bess groaned as the whole crew leaptinto action. Noah went to take the call from the HEMS – the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services – desk, Maya headed out to the helipad to get Hilda ready and Bess squeezed her way past the birthday girl to go to the adjacent room and retrieve the cool box containing blood and plasma, and the drugs they’d take with them on board.
‘You’ll have to make do with the blue team,’ Bess hollered into the kitchen once she had what she needed and walked past again. ‘Don’t let them eat all the food!’
‘Thank you, everyone!’ Nadia’s voice trailed after Bess as she went to get her jacket on and her helmet. Noah was already geared up in his same kit, recounting the details of the job as they made their way out to the air ambulance.
As the technical crew member, Bess sat in the front of the aircraft next to Maya and helped with navigation and instrument reading. She programmed the GPS system in the cockpit and soon The Skylarks were soaring high up above the town on their way to the mission.
The Skylarks were afforded priority over other air traffic in line with aviation laws, allowing them to get to the patient as quickly and efficiently as possible, saving more lives in the process. Noah sat in the rear of the helicopter, already scouting for possible landing sites. Between the three of them, they concluded that a farmer’s field would get them closest to the road traffic collision, which was on one of Dorset’s windiest roads. It wasn’t yet dark but it was getting there. They had night-vision goggles to allow them to fly at night but those came with different and complex challenges and it was always harder than attending a mission in daylight.
Moments later, Maya set Hilda down. She stayed with the helicopter and Bess and Noah, along with their kit bags, the drugs, monitors and the scoop, which would allow them to transportthe patient back to the air ambulance should that be required, hurried to the edge of the field. They had to cut away at bushes and climb over a wire fence, but police had closed the road to traffic in both directions, making it easier for them and the fire brigade who pulled up on the other side of the two vehicles involved as Bess and Noah approached.
Bess smiled when she saw her good friend Gio Mayhan, firefighter from the Whistlestop River fire station, step down from the engine as they drew adjacent to it on foot.
