Nothing in his tone of voice suggested he took them seriously.
“Let’s go home,” Dash said, and they stepped back into the storm.
Early the next morning, the girls went to their Wren supervisor.
She listened, then said, “I’m sorry this happened to you, Petty Officer Wren Wilson; however, I’m afraid you will have to get used to that sort of behaviour. We may be helping in the war effort, but we’re not running it. Men haven’t changed throughout this time. I advise never being alone in the same room as a man without proper supervision. You’re fortunate your sister Wren came back to check on you.”
She dismissed them, and the girls stood silently in the hallway.
“So that’s it?” Ginny asked at last.
It twisted Dash up, knowing Jim would get away with this and there was nothing they could do about it.
“We still have to go to work on Monday,” Dash replied, resigned.
“Are you going to tell Mr. Eisen?”
“What would be the point?”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight. And I will be carrying that shovel everywhere I go.”
“Maybe that will be enough. I’m sure it won’t happen again. I will never be stupid enough to be alone in the garage again. Besides,” she pushed herself to smile. “You and that shovel were pretty intimidating.”
Mary was writing in her journal when they returned to their room that afternoon, and she rushed to meet them at the door. “Where in heaven’s name have you been? I went to bed last night and you weren’there, and you weren’t here when I woke up this morning.” She gasped when Dash took off her coat and revealed a line of angry bruises around her neck. “Dear Lord, Dash! What happened?”
It was a little easier to talk by then, so Dash told her everything and Ginny filled in the blanks.
Mary’s eyes were big as saucers. “Don’t go to work on Monday.”
“We have no choice.”
Jim Eisen was the first person Dash saw when they walked into the garage Monday morning. She turned away as fast as she could.
“If looks could kill,” Ginny muttered, “we’d be goners. Okay. He’s gone back into the office now.”
Shaking, Dash headed toward the truck requiring her attention. The only time she lifted her head all day was to make sure Jim was nowhere in sight. Part of her wanted to yell and scream, to let everyone know what a louse he was. The other part wanted to avoid breathing the same air as him.
When they left at the end of the day, she still felt as if every move she made was being watched.
“Was Jim even at work?” she asked Ginny. “I saw him in the morning, but nothing after that.”
“That’s because you were doing a very good job of keeping your eyes on your work. He was there, all right. He looked a little frightening, to be honest.”
When Dash arrived at the garage the following morning, she was told to go to the boss’s office. She tucked a few stray hairs back into the bright red kerchief she always wore then went in, heart racing. She was relieved to see it was Jim’s grumpy old father who sat at the desk, not Jim.
“Sir?”
“Inspector went around the vehicles last night, and your Dodge was knocking like a son of a gun.”
In a flash, Dash remembered everything she had done on that truck. “It was all right when I left, sir.”
“Yeah. Sure it was.” He slammed a fist on his desk, making her jump. “What I wanna know is why a so-called mechanic would leave an air filter loose like it was. What’s a loose air filter do, Wilson?”
“Uh, well, it would suck in dust, sir. The engine would smoke, because it’s burning oil. The cylinders would need to be rehoned, and it would need new rings.” She stood her ground. “But I didn’t leave it loose. I would never do that.”
“You letting somebody else do your work, then? That wasn’t your Dodge?”
“N-no, that was mine, but I would never make a mistake like that.”
