‘So, was this worth signing your life away in the Blood Book?’
‘Yes,’ she whispered, her gaze once more drifting to the view through the cockpit canopy. ‘I think I’ll remember it as long as I live.’
They flew for a while in silence, Bobby mesmerised by the sight of the sun-bathed countryside spread out below her.
‘We ought to take her back,’ Ernie said to Harper after a little time had passed. ‘Turn her around, Aircraftman. Bobby, would you like to take the controls for a minute?’
Her eyes widened. ‘Me? Oh, no, I couldn’t.’
‘Of course you could.’
‘Honestly, I can barely manage to keep my bike from wobbling, let alone a plane. I’m sure to crash it or something.’
Ernie smiled. ‘We won’t let you crash it. Harper, let the lady take the wheel.’
Bobby regarded the controls with horror as Harper let go. She lunged for the unmanned wheel. It was a real struggle to hold it steady.
‘Ouch,’ she said, grimacing as she wrestled with the thing. It seemed to have a will of its own. ‘You pilots must really be strong.’
The plane listed a little to one side. Ernie leaned over her and put his hands on hers.
Bobby stiffened. His arms were around her, in a way that somehow felt far more intimate than dancing. She could feel his hot breath on her ear, and smell the shaving soap he used.
‘Some turbulence to fight against there,’ he murmured close to her ear. ‘A little more to the left and we’ll have it beat.’
‘Can I stop now, please? I know something will go horribly wrong if I do this too long.’
‘All right.’ Ernie moved back, much to her relief. ‘Harper, you’re back on.’
Bobby shifted gratefully aside to let the airman take the wheel again.
‘Well, I think you can now say you’ve earned the name of airwoman,’ Ernie told her with a grin.
He kept talking as Harper brought them down, explaining what each dial measured and what everything in the cockpit did, but Bobby was only half listening.
The look she had seen him give her had been unmistakeable, this time. She had been loved before – she knew that had been real, whatever might have happened since – and she had seen that same look so many times in another man’s eyes. And yetErnie had sounded completely genuine, last night when he had promised his feelings for her were strictly friendly…
After they landed, one of the ground crew brought the stepladder over so they could climb out. Bobby felt rather wobbly back on land, and gripped each step tightly while she climbed down.
‘How do you feel?’ Ernie asked.
‘A little dizzy.’
She pulled her helmet off, removed the flight jacket and reclaimed her WAAF cap.
‘I was wobbly after my first time too,’ he said, smiling. ‘Here, take my arm.’
‘It’s all right. I can walk.’
Her next steps gave the lie to this claim, however. She reeled violently, forcing Ernie to catch her.
‘Whoa. Come on, grab hold and I’ll walk you back to the henhouse.’
‘Henhouse?’
He laughed. ‘Sorry. That’s what us fellers call the Waafery.’
‘Oh.’
