Isabella’s Airman (2 page)

I chewed on my bottom lip, unsure how to proceed, how to start a conversation with the man at my side.

“You’re welcome.” A smile hovered at the edge of his lips, and for the second time in an hour, I caught my breath. He was beautiful. Ebony hair sprang from his head in a mass of tight, short curls. The thick black brows could have been forbidding, but the dancing eyes beneath them lit up his face. A strong, determined chin, cheekbones so sharp I could cut myself. And his lips…I couldn’t stop myself from staring at him.

“I’m Davy Porteous, by the way.” He looked familiar. Perhaps I’d seen his picture in the textbooks? His name rang a bell too.
Porteous
. Oh God, please don’t let him be one of them…

“Isabella and I, we’re going to be temporary staff in the kitchens. Are all of you based at RAF Mildenhall?” Juliet smiled at the men around us.

“Aye, lassie.” That was Jock again; his booming voice sounded good natured and edged with humor. “You’ll have the pleasure of seeing us all traipsing through the Airmen’s Mess.”

The truck jolted suddenly. We were flung to the left and then to the right as it dipped and bounced over the road. I fell into Davy, my hands on his hard, muscled chest, while his fingers brushed my breast. Another lurch and his uniform jacket fell to my feet. Davy and I both reached down, grabbing it at the same time. Our hands touched for an instant. Sparks seemed to fly between us. I tried to sit upright again and swayed against his chest as another judder sent us flying.

“Pot holes,” Davy said, his eyes never leaving my face. My cheeks burned. I clutched his jacket to me and quickly looked around. To my relief, nobody seemed to notice.

Juliet’s guy spoke up. “We’re all with one-four-nine bomber squadron. I’m Teddy Burrell, second pilot, C-for-Charlie. With the exception of our pilot, the rest of our crew is here.” One hand waved toward the men who sat around me. Jock and a couple of others nodded. Davy glanced up and then ducked his head, eyes veering back to me, shy smile in place.

My heart plummeted.
C-for-Charlie
. Lost with all crew after a failed bombing run. That’s why I knew his name.

I was relieved to see the kitchens were as we’d been briefed. Different, more primitive equipment than we were used to, and foods that were wholly unfamiliar, but we had a broad idea of what to do. It seemed basic cleaning and food serving had changed little in five hundred years.

Mrs. Latham, the cook in charge, fell upon us almost crying with delight. Her last two assistants had left without notice, she explained rapidly. Could we please start work straight away? As soon as we’d been assigned bunks, we were given aprons and head scarves and set to work. Juliet loaded up a machine that would peel a mountain of potatoes, while I mopped floors and cleaned surfaces.

In the bustling kitchen, nobody gave any thought to the way we spoke a little differently or hesitated with our jobs. Over tea and a slice of chewy bread, we sat for ten minutes and compared notes.

“I’m seeing Teddy tomorrow,” confided Juliet, a sparkling grin dancing across her pretty face.

“Tomorrow?” I squeaked. When had she even had time to arrange a date with him?

She nodded, and sipped the tea, looking every inch at home. “If they’re not on ops tomorrow night, he’ll take me out after breakfast for a ride on his motorbike.”

If they were flying tomorrow, Davy would be gone as well. I remembered his steady gaze and the gentle way he covered my errant stocking. “Will you be able to get away? I mean, aren’t we supposed to be working?”

She shrugged. “Mrs. Latham said it would be fine, as long as I’m back for the afternoon shift.” She leaned closer. “I’m thinking I might seduce him.”

I had no doubt about it. “That’s fast.”

“We only have two weeks, Bella. If you want to experience sex, this might be your only opportunity.”

In our society, most people didn’t have physical relationships. Intimacy was rare. A couple had to be approved by the Council before they could enter into a formal relationship. Further permission had to be sought to raise a child, and they were usually conceived through insemination processes. Only wild people, deviants, still paired off in the old fashioned way. Sex had become a thing of the past, hence Juliet’s intention to sample it along with a real slice of history. Only difference was, there wouldn’t be any exam paper on
that
exercise.

Thinking again of Davy and his delicious smile, I quizzed Juliet. “How are you going to do it? What are you going to say?”

“I’m going to kiss him. Then I’m going to remind him he might only have days left to live, and how much I want to have sex with him. Just in case he doesn’t come back tomorrow night.”

I gaped. “Don’t you need to be a little more subtle?” To give her credit, she blushed.

“Well, not that direct, then. But I know he wants me, he’s already said so.”

Mrs. Latham called us back to work, and I returned to my cleaning, thinking back over Juliet and how she made it sound so easy. I couldn’t imagine being so confident.

Later, as I emptied my bucket of dirty water into an outside drain, I heard a soft cough behind me in the near darkness. I whirled around and almost tripped over my mop. It was Juliet’s airman with somebody standing by his shoulder. I squinted, trying to make him out.

“Is Jules with you?”

“Umm, no.”
Jules?
We’d been here a matter of hours and she already had a nickname? “I can get her for you, though.”

She was already behind me, and I felt her hand on my arm. “Hello, Teddy.” Her voice was breathy and excited.

He stepped forward, his companion remaining in the shadows. With his hands stuck deep into his pockets, jacket unfastened, Teddy radiated a casual charm. “Hello, Jules. We missed supper tonight, and I wondered if you had anything left?”

That was my cue to go. “I’ll, um, ask Mrs. Latham.”

Juliet ducked her head and whispered her thanks into my ear, and then with another gentle squeeze to my arm, she moved forward to stand and look up at her airman. Even in the darkness, I knew her eyes would be bright, her hair neat. It wouldn’t hang limp as mine did, misbehaving every bit as badly as my stockings.

When I reappeared minutes later with a hastily made sandwich, it was to find that Juliet had disappeared. With Teddy? It seemed likely. Sighing, I turned to go back into the kitchen and paused when I heard a footstep behind me.

“Isabella.”

I spun on my heel.
Davy
. There he stood. He leaned against the wall, half in shadow, a lopsided smile on his face as he watched me. I felt a matching smile break out on my face. He had that effect on me.

He moved into the light spilling out from the kitchen doorway. Unlike Teddy, his uniform was crisp and smart, all the buttons fastened neatly. They glinted and sparkled like gemstones.

“Hello Davy.” I felt pleased at how calm my voice sounded. “Did you see where Juliet went?”

“She, ah, went to fetch something from the storehouse. Said she’d be back in a few minutes.”

I couldn’t hide my amusement. “She didn’t go by herself, did she?”

He glanced at the floor, shuffled his feet, and stuffed his hands into his pockets, pulling them out again a moment later. “She’s, um…with Teddy.”

I still held the plate of food. Leaning back against the doorway, I tried a smile. “Would you like this instead? Did you miss supper?”

There was the lopsided smile again. He took a step forward, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. As he drew closer, I could see his cheeks were now smooth and clean. A woody, smoky fragrance rolled off him. He smelled divine. I held my breath as he took another step toward me. My heart beat faster, my pulse thrumming with anticipation. He stood so close, if I reached out I could touch him.

“I’m not hungry, thanks.” Closer now, I caught a hint of another scent. Beer? Of course, he’d been in the pub. Shy now, I glanced down at the plate in my hand. Could I just abandon it?

He must have sensed my uncertainty. “Teddy will eat that. When he’s, ah, finished.” What would he do if I touched his arm? My fingers itched to bridge the gap between us, but I still held the food. Mrs. Latham solved the problem. Walking up behind me, she looked briefly at Davy and then at me.

“Shall I cover this for you to have later? You can go now, Isabella. It was a miracle you turned up when you did. I didn’t expect any extra help tonight.” Her pleasant chatter washed over me, and I hurried to unfasten the apron and tug the scarf from my head. As I straightened my skirt, I looked up to see Davy’s gaze, his eyes tracing my curves, a splash of color in his cheeks.

Free at last, I moved to his side, enjoying the slow smile that lit up his face.

“Can I walk you to your block, Isabella?”

I nodded, my mouth suddenly dry, unable to think of anything to say. I stepped into the yard beside him and froze as the kitchen door closed behind us.
So dark
. I’d never been in total darkness before. It pressed against me, a heavy weight that constricted my lungs.

“May I?” I felt Davy take my arm and slip it through his own, the wool of his jacket scratchy beneath my hand. Tucked into his side, his warmth radiated, solid and strong. “Even after all this time, the blackout takes some getting used to, aye?”

“Yes,” I whispered, grateful for his reassurance. It felt wrong to be speaking out loud, the night crowding us like a thick blanket. I took a quick breath, still unable to see. How quickly would my eyes adjust to this?

This was ridiculous, I couldn’t see a thing. How were people supposed to get around? No wonder there were so many accidents. Davy stepped forward, his feet crunching on gravel, and I followed. After a few steps, my eyes began to adjust, and I realized there was
some
light. Not enough to find my way around, though. I knew the kitchens were behind me, the dry store over to my left, but how would I find my sleeping quarters?

Seconds later, Davy stopped. Had we arrived already? “Look up.” His murmur took me by surprise, and I lifted my head to gaze up into the night sky. Stars carpeted the heavens, glittering points of light gleaming like a thousand candles. They appeared different from how I usually saw them, and I frowned as I contemplated why. There were so many here…my gaze was transfixed by the almost full moon, a giant yellow disc that hung in the sky.

“Do you want to hold it? The moon?” Davy’s voice whispered somewhere near my ear. His breath drifted across my lobe, causing a shiver to course through my body. “Like this.” My vision adjusting to the gloom, I followed his arm as he raised it to the moon, his head tilting. “You close one eye and squint. Go on, try it.”

I freed my right arm from his, copied the movement, and squinted. “Oh!” Entranced, I blinked and stared again. “It looks as though it’s sitting on my palm.” The illusion was perfect, the way the moon bobbed and danced across my hand. I spun round to face Davy, brushing against his outstretched arm as I moved. “It’s so beautiful.”

I’d never stood so close to a man before. I should have felt threatened. Instead I felt…
safe
. The breath caught in my throat as he brushed his fingertips against my cheek. “It’s you that’s beautiful, Isabella.”

I could make out his face in the darkness, a hint of white teeth when he spoke. I’d never been called beautiful before. This was a night of firsts.

Juliet flashed through my head, and her clear instructions on how to kiss. She’d made me giggle as she practiced on the back of her hand. She was probably practicing her own moves right this minute. I could hear her words in my head.
Lean into him, tilt your face, don’t forget to open your mouth.

He seemed impossibly young to be fighting in a war, to kill his enemies, to put his own life at risk every time he climbed into his airplane.

“What do you do,” I blurted, “in your crew? What part do you take?”

“Rear gunner.” His voice gruff. “There are six of us in the Wellingtons. I’m one of the two gunners who try to keep everyone from shooting us down.”

I curled my hands into loose fists, a shaft of fear stabbing my heart. His hands, the same hands that covered my embarrassment in the truck, were used to kill other men. It didn’t seem right.

“I didn’t plan to do this, but I couldn’t sit back and not do my bit. I signed up at the start of the war.” His quiet voice washed over me. “I planned to be a doctor. Like my father.” I digested his words. I wondered how it must feel to plan one future and have it snatched away. “I’ll do that later.”

“Later?”

“After the war.”

My heart ached afresh. I knew Davy would never see the end of the war.

There was nothing I could say to Davy. Not one thing that would fill this gaping silence without me breaking all the rules that had been drummed into me. I wanted to tell him to make the most of his last few weeks, months, however long it was. All I could do was stand there and stare.

I’d met him just hours earlier, and yet I already knew him more intimately than any man of my own time.
He called me beautiful
.

Time spun out, and it was Davy who moved first. “You probably need to be up early. I’ll walk you to your block.” His voice was low, the accent more pronounced than it had been. Seconds later, my arm was safely tucked through his again, and we were strolling across short, springy grass.

My eyes were becoming accustomed to the dark, and now I could make out some of the buildings we passed. I didn’t think we had far to go, and I slowed my pace. How could I tell him I didn’t want this magical evening to end?

“We’re here.” Davy led me from the grass to a hard road surface, and we stopped outside a doorway I recognized.

I found my tongue at last. “How did you know this was my block?”

“There’s only one WAAF block. Kitchen hands are bunking in with them.”

WAAF
. I searched my memory for the acronym.
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
. Yes, that would be some of the others working in the Airmen’s Mess, the girls in uniform. “Thank you.” I didn’t let go of him. Instead, I breathed in the night air, fragrant and perfumed, and tried to lock the moment into my brain to think about later. A bird called softly in the distance. A dog barked. Davy breathed, rapid and uneven.