Isabella’s Airman (8 page)

“I
really
liked kissing you last night.” His voice was gruff, and it sent a thrill through me.

“Me too,” I echoed, and he gave a short laugh.

“I’ve silenced you, sweetheart.” He eased closer. I could smell beer on his breath from our supper and cigarette smoke clinging to his clothes. My pulse ratcheted up, and I fought the yearning to melt in his arms.

He was going to kiss me. There was nothing I wanted more.

“So remind me,” said Davy, “where were we up to?” I heard the smile in his voice. I didn’t get the opportunity to reply. A terrifying shrieking noise started, a metallic wail that shook me to my bones. I clapped my hands over my ears. What
was
that? It continued to rise in pitch and intensity, and Davy swore under his breath. He disentangled himself, grabbed my hand, and ran.

I stumbled, but he paid no attention. Our hands linked, I skittered in his wake, conscious of other people pelting around us.

“Davy! What’s happening?” I had to yell to be heard over the noise. More frightened by the minute, I realized at the same moment that Davy yelled back to me.

“Our nearest shelter is just up here.”
Shelter
.

Air raid.

Enemy bombers.

If I hadn’t been swept along by Davy, my feet would have frozen. As it was, I felt as though I waded through glue, stumbling and tripping as I tried to make my petrified limbs obey the frantic commands from my brain. Juliet. Where was my friend?
This isn’t supposed to happen.
Our historical archives were accurate. This aerodrome hadn’t been hit by any enemy bombs during this period. May 1941 was safe. They wouldn’t—
couldn’t
—make a mistake of that magnitude.

Unerring in the darkness, Davy led me through a crush of people and down a set of steps into a narrow, concrete shelter. As long as the mess hall, it had a curved roof with lanterns dangling on hooks above our heads and wooden benches that lined the walls. I splashed through something and glanced down to see a gray puddle on the earthen floor.

“Come here.” Davy claimed a seat and pulled me onto his lap, his arms tight around my waist. I turned my face into his chest and tried to breathe through my fear. His heart raced in a frenzied staccato to match my own. Voices babbled around us, and somebody jostled my arm. There were too many people all trying to squeeze into this cramped space. Over everything, the sirens still wailed their unearthly howl, and I remembered Juliet again. She might still be in the town. The next bus had been an hour after ours.

I gasped for air, my lungs tight and parched, and then swung round on his lap. I gazed into Davy’s face. He looked strangely calm, just a little out of breath after our mad dash. “Do you think we’re going to die?” My voice came out tiny, and he smiled, cupping my head into his shoulder. His hand was warm and strong on my neck. I had to trust him.

“We’re safe here. We’re well away from the runway and the hangars. They’re the most likely targets.”

I processed his words. Still felt scared. If there were bombers here,
tonight
, then one of two things had gone wrong. Either the archives were wrong, dangerously wrong, or…I swallowed hard, panic a tight ball in my throat.
We’ve done something to affect the timeline and history has changed as a result.
Common sense flooded in. We were so insignificant, the probability of that happening was miniscule. I could discount the idea.

Davy was speaking to me. I didn’t realize until he squeezed my waist and caught my attention. “
Cariad
, they’re probably just passing over.”

Staring into his face, trying to tell if he was lying to me, I whispered back. “What do you mean?”

He looked honest enough. “I mean they’re probably on their way to another target. The sirens go off when the bombers are spotted. It doesn’t mean we’re the target. Not always.”

That would work. That would mean the timeline hadn’t been corrupted.
Please God, let him be right.
I buried my face in his chest again while I tried to subdue the shaking that had started in my hands. I slid them inside his open jacket, and his arms came tighter around me. “It’s all right. I’ve got you. We’re no more at risk here than anywhere else.” He pressed a kiss onto my temple. “Anyone would think you’d never been in an air raid. I’ll look after you, I promise.”

Despite the crush of people around us, sitting close and standing even closer, all crammed in together, I felt my world shrink. The only person that existed was Davy. He crooned to me, murmured reassurances in my ear, and stroked my hair, my back, down my arms, and across the shoulders. He soothed me like a frightened animal. I waited. Listened. Dreaded the bangs that I expected to hear at any second. Contemplated how quickly we could run back up to the surface if the roof started to collapse…and realized how impossible that would be.

His calm, steady voice surrounded me, wrapped me in love, and I felt another fear, a fresh pain that clawed at my chest. No matter how severe the air raid, we
would
survive this, tonight, because Davy didn’t die here, not right now.

He would die over Belgium later this year.

Thunder roared overhead. I blinked and tried to process the noise.
The skies are falling
. My heart, already racing, hammered against my ribs so hard that it hurt. Lifting my head from Davy’s chest, I clenched my fingers around his jacket, and he wrapped his arms tight around me. He leaned forward to cover my head.

“What’s happening?” I didn’t know if he’d hear me over the noise.

He didn’t have time to reply.

Boom
. The crash was right overhead.

I screamed, my ears hurting from the blast. Oh God,
oh God,
we’d been bombed. Common sense fled. I shrieked like a little girl and clung to Davy. My first thought had been correct—the sky
was
falling in. Dust and dirt rose in waves, filling my nostrils and caking my mouth, even as I faced into Davy. I felt him tense. Dear Lord, part of the ceiling had collapsed.

The sudden quiet was only a fleeting relief. Had I gone deaf? My lungs were so tight I couldn’t draw breath. The dust that lined my throat made me want to retch. I’d fallen into hell. I didn’t want to look. I couldn’t avoid it. Peering sideways, we still had a little light. One of the lanterns had survived. Strange shapes shifted and moved. Monstrous shadows flickered against the walls.

There was a shrill whistling noise in both ears and then my hearing roared back. Screams for help. Muffled shouts. A low whimpering sob somewhere nearby. I was overwhelmed by the cacophony. And then, even more frightening, a creaking, scraping noise that could only have come from what was left of the roof.

People around me moved, rising slowly to emerge from the debris. Davy held me tight, and his fingers dug into me. I welcomed the discomfort. It meant I was still alive. I dragged in a shaky breath and tried to convince my aching lungs to work again. We had survived. We only had to stand up and find the exit. I stared at where the doorway used to be, now a tangled mass of concrete and metal.

Why had I come here? Why not pick a safe period? Why had I let Juliet choose our field trip? She’d been fascinated by fighter pilots, by bold, dashing airmen. She craved danger and look where it got us. I screwed up my eyes as I thought of her. Please let Teddy keep her safe.

Davy started to move, to stand up, while still covering my head. He was trying to protect me. I took as deep a breath as I dared and still ended up coughing.

“Belle.” Davy spoke into my ear. I covered my mouth with dusty fingers and waited for him to continue. He fumbled for my free hand, but before I could move, there was another crash overhead. The ground shook beneath my feet. Something barged into my side, and I tumbled to my knees, losing my hold on Davy. In the same instant, the flickering lantern failed.

Darkness. Complete and total. And a fear greater than anything I could imagine.

Davy
, where was Davy? I groped for his hand, but found only dust and something hard.

I clawed wildly, my lungs burning with every breath and panic taking hold. I needed air. I needed Davy.

Something rested across my back. I realized I lay on the ground, my knees beneath me, completely disoriented in the darkness. I kneeled in water. Yes, there had been a puddle. Coughing, I tried to cover my mouth, the dust so thick it felt like a blanket draped across me.

Where was Davy? I stifled a sob and tried to move, searching for him with my hands. Other people moved and shifted around me, and someone fell against my shoulder. I had to get up before I was trampled.

I hated the dark, always had. To be locked into this blackness, to die in this hole in the ground…I opened my mouth and screamed, my terror taking voice. Hyperventilating now, I couldn’t breathe. My lungs were tight and useless; tears poured down my face. I would die, I knew it.

“Belle! Isabella!”

Reaching deep inside me, I forced my lungs to inflate. It was a tiny intake of air, and I felt dizzy. Davy shouted to me again, “Isabella!”

“Davy!” All I could manage was a squeak. Another miniscule breath, and my lungs filled with red hot pokers. Why couldn’t I see? Was I blind?

There were people all jammed up around me. I kept touching arms and legs. I imagined we were all tangled together like toys thrown back into their box. Oh Jesus, no, they weren’t moving. I couldn’t be trapped here with dead people. My mind spun out of control. I wailed when something moved across my hand, but it grabbed my fingers.

“Belle! Is that you?”

Davy? Please let him be alive, let him rescue me, get me out of this pit, make my eyes work again.

I blinked as a shaft of light pierced the gloom and broke through the dirt barrier. Davy’s hand was sticking through a hole, wrapped around my fingers, squeezing them for all he was worth.

“Davy! Ohmygodpleasegetmeoutofhere.” My words all ran together, my relief so profound I couldn’t hope to articulate myself.

“Breathe,
cariad
. Breathe for me. I’m coming to get you. Stay calm.”

My teeth chattering now, I rubbed my eyes, instantly regretting it as I mashed the dust in further. I took in the horrible vision before me. The roof had collapsed. A wall of rubble lay between me and the exit, but the wall had a gap cleared in it, and Davy’s face was now visible. White teeth flashed in a sea of grime.

“Soon get you out. Are you hurt?”

Was I? I moved each arm and leg; they all seemed to work. Now there was some light, the people around me shifted too, and we all turned to face our new exit.

Coughing, I tried to speak clearly. “I’m not hurt.” More tears flowed. “I’m scared.”

His fingers squeezed again. “I know, but you’ll all be out soon. It was a single stray bomb. We took some damage, but it’s minor. Half an hour to move some of the concrete, that’s all.”

I nodded and then realized he couldn’t see it. “Okay.” I couldn’t bear to let him go.

“Keep your eyes on me, Belle.” Davy’s voice was calm. “I need to let go now, but I’m going to tell you what we’re doing tomorrow, and you’re going to focus on that.” I nodded again, working very hard to keep breathing. The temptation to start screaming was unbearable, but somehow Davy knew. His voice a constant reassurance, his litany of things to look forward to.

“I’m going to borrow the pony and trap; we’re going to ride out to the woods beyond the village. I’ll ask Mrs. Latham to make us a picnic, and I’m going to whisk you away for the afternoon. You’ll wear a pretty dress and forget to put on your stockings. The sky will be a brilliant blue, and it will be a lovely, warm spring day. I’ll show you the bluebells and make you a garland of cherry blossoms to wear in your hair. We’ll sit by the stream and dip our toes in the water, watching the fish and looking out for the kingfishers. We’ll feast on sandwiches and fruit, I’ll cadge some bottles of beer for us to drink, and we’ll relax in the sunshine.”

He paused. “You still with me, Belle?” I grunted, and he continued. “Where was I? Oh yes. We’ll make daisy chains to decorate the pony’s bridle, and I’ll find you a fairy ring of mushrooms; we can both make wishes there. I’ll hold your hand and tell you about my home, and you can tell me all about yours. I’ll kiss you. You’ll tell me how lovely I am, and we’ll make some promises to each other. And then, you’ll give me a keepsake to take in C-for-Charlie, a lock of hair maybe, something I can tuck inside my pocket so you’re always with me.”

Piece by piece, the hole grew larger as he talked. By the time he reached in to haul me out, my lungs had settled, and I could breathe freely, the overwhelming panic subdued for the moment. I stood on shaky legs beside him and felt his strength as he held me, his lips warm on mine, his confidence flowing through me.

I was safe. I’d escaped. He’d saved me.

Those moments teetering on the edge of life and death had shown me something, a new reality to face up to.

I was in love with Davy.

I stumbled across the grass with him, our hands tightly meshed. I was so weary I could barely lift my head. There were so many things I had to say to him. Thank you didn’t even scrape the surface.

I tried to rouse myself when we reached my building. I was desperate to kiss him good night, to make sure we didn’t waste a minute of our time together. He must have felt the same. Side-stepping me into a darkened corner, away from the people milling around the building entrance, he slipped his arms around my waist and nuzzled at my mouth.

“Tomorrow afternoon?” His voice sounded tired and gravelly as he murmured in my ear. “Can you get the time off?”

“I’ll make sure I do.” I’d be leaving soon enough, anyway, that it didn’t matter if I got into trouble for skipping work.

It was another colossal reminder I would be leaving Davy. I pushed it to the back of my mind and kissed him, losing myself in him again. A soft, familiar voice interrupted.

“
Juliet
.” I pulled back, relieved to see her, Teddy’s arm draped across her shoulders. She stepped over and hugged me briefly. “Where were you?”