The Future Homemakers of America (13 page)

‘Well?’ she said. ‘Who'd you think he looks like?’

Darned if I knew.

Herb's Mom's Fried Squirrel, As Told to Lois

Clean out the squirrel and rub it with salt. Cut it in pieces. Roll it in flour and pepper. Fry it in a skillet till it's brown. If the squirrel is long in the tooth, make a brown gravy with the drippings, return the squirrel meat to the pan and smother until done.

So sweet it will bring tears to your eyes.

32

Vern said it was the ocean had come flooding in, just like he always said it would. Then I couldn't sleep.

‘Chrissakes, Peg!’ he said. ‘Will you quit tossing and turning.’

There were airmen missing from the base at Walsh. Bergstrom had turned up safe, didn't realise there was a search party out looking for him. But it was Kath I wondered about, in her tumbledown house.

I wrote Audrey soon as I heard, asked her for news. Our letters crossed.

‘We'd had two days of rain,’ she wrote,

and high winds, and Tuesday night there were men up on the canal banks with oil lamps, watching for any sign of flooding. Still, when it came, it came so fast it caught us out. Twelve missing from the base at Walsh, no bodies recovered so far but they've given up on finding any of them alive. Bergstrom was reported missing from Drampton, but he's accounted for. There's a story going round he was in Fairford, in bed with a war widow, but you didn't hear that from me.

Kath and John are safe, but they lost their house. Lance was out on one of the search parties Wednesday morning and he said beyond Smeeth it was just like a lake. He made enquiries and the Pharaohs were evacuated to Walsh. Good job you taught Kath to speak American! I'll try to get over there some time, see if there's anything they need.

There were twelve enlisted washed away near Hunstanton. I never would have believed that trickle of water we paddled in could have turned so powerful. Those Wherry cabins by the school were smashed to matchwood.

Seems like things were even worse further down the coast. Five hundred missing near London and they've been finding bodies in trees. One report said an eight-foot wall of water had swept in at high tide. It just doesn't seem like the kind of thing that should happen in England. It's been kind of exciting for those of us that didn't lose any loved ones, but probably not as exciting as Wichita once Lois Moon arrives in town. Anyway, Holland has had it much worse. They have water forty feet deep in some places. Tell Betty, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands is going around in rubber boots, visiting the afflicted.

Pregnancy had kinda taken Betty's mind off royalty. Once she'd brung out all those layettes, packed away since she had Sherry, and crocheted a new shawl, the bloom seemed to go off her. Her fingers swelled up so bad she had to get her wedding band cut off. Then she got acid indigestion and varicose veins, but she would struggle on, ironing and starching all those frills she dressed her girls in, and fixing chicken-fried steak for Ed whatever hour of He day he showed up.

She hardly ever minded Sandie any more, just when Lois could really have used some help. Kirk was a grizzling child, always hungry, and Sandie had taken a disliking to him. The minute Lois was busy, changing his diaper or bathing him, Sandie'd start up, peppering the floor with baby powder or climbing up on the counters-top, helping herself to cookies or rat poison or something. Then Lo'd start hollering.

It was usually Gayle stepped into the breach. Sometimes she'd take Sandie, push her on a swing for a while. Sometimes she'd take both of them. Drive them around till Kirk fell asleep.

‘I'll do it while I can,’ she used to say. ‘Once we get our own little baby, I won't have the time.’

She hadn't fallen yet, but God knows they were trying. I never met a pair spent so much time in the sack. And she'd started collecting a few things, little bassinet covers and shawls and stuff. She even got a second-hand stroller from a girl who was clearing the post, husband going back into civvies.

‘Well, why ever'd you let her do that?’ Betty said. She seemed to think, just because she had to rest up with swollen ankles, I was supposed to take over supervising everybody's lives.

‘Why, Peggy,’ she said, ‘bringing items like that into the house before the baby's born and safe in your arms, before it's even on the way, that's just inviting bad luck. Any fool knows that.’

I liked having Gayle next door. She didn't mind how many times Crystal hit her ball over the fence. She'd just hit it back. Ask her if she wanted a popsicle.

Okey put a basket hoop in their back yard, so Vern was round there every chance he got. Sometimes Okey'd come calling for him to go out and play. Twenty-two, going on thirteen. He'd stand in the doorway, shy about stepping inside, and he'd bounce the ball, kerdunk, kerdunk, kerdunk, till Vern had gobbled down his food. They'd fool around till it was too dark to see the hoop and then they'd just sit out there, and Gayle'd sit with them, Okey's gangling arms wrapped around her, listening to all that talk about combat ceilings and take-off ground-runs.

There was a Combat Crew Training Wing rotating through Wichita, first six months we were there. That was where I met Pearl Petie and Ida Batten. I was glad to see some new faces. Some days I felt like I'd spent my whole life drinking Cola with Betty Gillis, watching her clip coupons.

Once a week Lois'd leave Kirk and Sandie with Gayle and we'd drive into Wichita with Pearl and Ida, see a movie. Far as Ida and Pearl were concerned, me and Lois were some kinda heroines, having been posted to England and lived to tell the tale. Sometimes, under that big Kansas sky, I could almost have been back in Norfolk. Then I'd look around me, see all those sparkling American smiles, and I'd remember.

‘Yup,’ Lois said. ‘You had to be the pioneering type, no two ways. Outside of that perimeter fence, it was a wilderness. We nearly got ambushed one time, remember, Peg?’ She winked at me. ‘We took the brats to the sea shore, just quietly minding our own business, and we got this bunch of natives surrounded us. If you and Betty hadn't drove away fast, they'd have overturned the cars.’

Pearl and Ida were lapping it up.

‘Envy,’ Lo said. ‘You ever have the misfortune to get sent there, you'll find envy is a big problem. See, they know we got the best of everything. Over there everything is nickels and dimes. And old. Whole darned place needs pulling down and starting over. They got roads been there since the Romans, must be a hundred years old. Two hundred.’

We had been at the Cowtown Drive-In to see
Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Reminded me of Vern climbing outta the shower. When I got home, there was the letter I had been hoping for, from Norfolk, England.

‘Well, as you heard,’ she wrote, ‘we have had a bit of excitement.’

Typical Kath.

We had terrible floods, hundreds of people drowned, some of them your lot. I told John Pharaoh we should have to get out but he didn't want to leave his traps. Then of course there was the dog. But the water kept on coming and that was blowing a gale. I said to him if that kept up we should have to clamber up on the roof, and we did have to. We were up there hours and I nearly fell in. I nearly fell asleep and dropped off that roof. My knees were all scraped. And when it got’ light, all you could see was water.

I thought we were goners, Peg. I said a prayer or two. Any road, then along come a row boat, with Nev Jex and two nice Yankee boys. They fetched us down and took us to Walsh. We had a lovely time there even though they had troubles of their own. They put us up in folding beds in the Officers’ Club, gave us stockings and aspirins and anything we needed, and we had fizzy drinks and hot meat dinners. It was a proper holiday, I can tell you.

Annie Howgego was in the bed next to me, worriting about her house, how she'd ever get it dried out, everything ruined, but I couldn't have cared less. I said to John Pharaoh when we were up on that roof, main thing was, not to get swept away. As long as you've got breath in your body, you can always make another eel grig. And if indoors got ruined, we'd just have to get our names down for a council house. If I'd had my way we'd have had our names down anyway, because that can take years. When the waters went down we hadn't got a house to go back to anyway. Dog was gone as well, of course, but she was thirteen so she'd had a good innings. She never did like water.

Audrey come out looking for us while we were at Walsh. She gave me money. She said that was from you and her which brought a tear to my eye, to think what kind friends you've been. I was going to put it in the Savings Bank because that'll come in handy when we get a place of our own again, but then I thought better of it, everybody in the Post Office knowing your business, so I've kept it tucked inside my brassiere. That'll be as safe as the Bank of England in there.

We're in huts at Adderley, used to be a POW camp, till the housing people find us somewhere and we've got all lovely new things, blankets and frying pans, sent in by people. Toys for the ones with kiddies, and nice warm coats. You should see the good stuff they give away. They say the Queen might be coming to see us, tell Betty. And one of your boys is getting the George Medal for rescuing trapped people. Anyone says a bad word about the Yanks, they'll soon get the rough edge of my tongue.

Well, I hope this letter finds you in good health. I expect you're glad to be back with your own kind. I expect Kansas must be a bigger place than Brakey. Anyhow, I wish you all the best. I should like to hear how you're all going on.

Yours faithfully, your friend Kath Pharaoh.

P.S. John Pharaoh had a bad turn, must have been brought on by clinging to that roof waiting to get drowned. The man from the council said he might get disabled money, if he's not fit for work. He's getting us the forms.

I said to Lois, ‘You know Kath and John lost everything they had? Sea came in and took it all away.’

‘That so?’ she said. ‘Well that'll be a tough one for the loss-adjuster.’

Then she heard Gayle and Betty were knitting blanket squares to send, so she slipped me a few bucks.

She said, ‘We're a bit short, but if you're sending stuff to Kath …’

33

Vern and the boys were training on a plane called the Stratojet. Could top 600mph and carry 20,000 pounds of bombs, with rocket-assisted take-off capability if extra thrust was required. This was the kinda talk we had at our dinner table.

Funny thing, I never was interested in aviation and I hardly knew a Thunderjet from a horsefly, but there was something pretty about the B-47. I guess Vern thought so too, amount of time he spent down at the hangars. She had thin wings, real delicate-looking and swept back. He told me he'd seen them bend and’ quiver, when they hit a jet stream at high altitude one time.

Also, of course, she could be refuelled in flight, and she was capable of delivering death and destruction to a whole bunch of Reds. All in all, he thought she was a real babe.

She had a tendency to roll on take-off, but hell, those jocks loved that. I believe they probably prayed for strong cross-winds on days they were going up, so they could show they had what it took to keep that little lady under control.

‘Takes an extra helping of standard male insanity to make an aviator.’ That was Pearl Petie's theory. She was one of the few willing to discuss the facts of air force life. Betty would just change the subject. Lo'd turn up the radio. Gayle seemed like she had got the jitters under control, but Lois said she knew different. She reckoned when Okey was flying, Gayle was drinking.

She said, ‘She just holds it better than she used to. She ever gets this baby we keep hearing about, he's not gonna want formula. He's gonna be looking for pints of Jack Daniel's.’

Like Pearl said, it might be a good thing for the free world, our boys being willing to risk their necks, but it sure was hard on family life. ‘Thing is, Peg,’ she said, ‘if they didn't convince themselves they're indestructible, they'd never fly another mission. Things they get up to in those tin cans, they have to believe they're gods. It's no wonder they have a hard time of it when they come home, have to mix with mortals. Get asked to drag out the garbage once in a while. You ever been around when one of them buys the farm? You ever listened to them? We were at Castle, California, and one of Walt's squadron didn't make it, had a loose connector on his oxygen hose or something, nose-dived into the desert. You shoulda heard them. This guy, used to be their big buddy, one of the indestructibles. All of a sudden he's some kinda idiot, didn't check his hose-connector. You know? Aviator doesn't stay on the ball, doesn't notice he's getting a little light-headed ‘cause his oxygen's leaking, he has it coming. I tell you. They think they're too darned superior to just luck out and get sent home in a box. I'm just resigned to it. Every time Walt flies a sortie and comes home safe, I count it as a bonus.’

That was pretty much my outlook on life. I was kinda hanging on in there, thinking Vern might quit. His sinus trouble was getting worse, on account of the B-47s doing real steep climbs. And though we weren't exactly love's young dream, still, I didn't want to be left a widow. What he'd do if he quit, though, that was the big question. Unless he could find somebody to pay him to go fishing.

It was our day for the movies. Gayle was minding Sandie and Kirk, taking them out to a petting zoo near Watson Park so Sandie could feed the ducks. Me, Ida, Pearl and Lois drove into town, but
African Queen
was showing again and I was in a minority of One willing to watch it a third time. So we got burgers and root beer and just moseyed around the stores. Lo wanted a sweater, like the one she'd seen Marilyn Monroe wearing on the front of
Moviegoer
magazine, but the way the old biddy looked at us in Drew's Drapers, I got the impression the real tight-fitting look hadn't arrived yet in Wichita.

Pearl said, ‘Lo, why don't you just hot-wash one you already have? Never fails.’