Harry, Stuart and Erin couldn't contain themselves any longer. They squeezed through a small gap in the hedgerow and raced to the airfield, eager to learn the identity of the mysterious new pilot and excited about the test flight.
On the hardstand, Lieutenant Gainey spun around, surprised by the trample of footsteps pounding up behind him. Instantly, the three wide-eyed children posed a flurry of questions.
"Lieutenant Gainey," Stuart asked first, "did the squadron get a new pilot?"
"Maybe. We'll see in a...," Gainey started, but before he could finish, Erin interrupted with another question.
"Where's Captain Dawson going with the new pilot?"
"On a test flight to see..., " Gainey replied, but was interrupted again, this time by Harry.
"What's his name?"
"Lieutenant...," Gainey's face suddenly went blank. "I had it a minute ago. It's... Daniel..."
Gainey glanced over to Hyatt, looking for help. Stumped, Hyatt stared back, shaking his head. Finally someone else in the group offered up, "Finch...? Or was it, Fish...? Something like that."
"Hopefully more finch than fish if he's going to fly against Dawson and Simms," Gainey smartly tossed back, and the crowd of men erupted in laughter.
The children didn't recognize the name, but they knew it was wrong, anyway. Harry couldn't understand why the squadron seemed so uncaring of their newest member that they wouldn't even know his name. He wanted answers.
"We overheard you teasing the new pilot," Harry revealed, looking straight at Gainey. "Don't you think you were a little harsh with him?"
The brash lieutenant stared at Harry and then shifted his eyes to Hyatt. In return, Lieutenant Hyatt cocked his head and shrugged his shoulders, but said nothing.
"A little harsh, you think?" Gainey replied.
"Yes," said Harry, "especially with him being a new member of the squadron."
Suddenly, Hyatt jumped into the conversation, "He's not a member yet!"
Harry was taken back by Lieutenant Hyatt's surly tone.
"Why don't you like him?" Harry asked.
Gainey fumbled with an explanation. "We all like him well enough. He seems to be a fine lad, but none of that matters. It's a life and death situation out there. We need to know if he's ready. We'd trust Tate with our lives. I don't know if we can do that with the new kid yet."
Then Hyatt took a turn. "Look, if he can't take a little teasing, he'll never be able to handle what he'll get from an enemy fighter. And for the rest of us, a timid pilot can be as dangerous as a German Messerschmitt."
"Or worse yet, a Focke-Wulf," Gainey added.
Nodding his head at Gainey's comment, Hyatt continued, "Captain Dawson and Captain Simms are taking him up to see what he's made of. He needs to prove he can be depended on in a scrap. When they get back, he's either in or out."
"Hyatt's right," Gainey agreed. "Soon enough, Dawson and Simms will determine if he stays here with the family or gets sent back to school. We just need to be a little patient and watch it happen."
Harry, Stuart and Erin looked at each other. Respecting the explanation from their pilot friends, the three children joined the men sitting in the grass and prepared to watch the test flight.
Out on the field, Captain Dawson mounted his Spitfire while Simms led Fitch to Tate's repaired plane. Before the new kid climbed up to the cockpit, Captain Simms pointed to a row of three victory emblems painted on the side, just under the canopy.
"Look, lad, Tate's already downed three Messerschmitts for you."
Fitch nodded his head, impressed by the previous pilot's tally.
"If you can get the two of us," Simms continued, tipping his head in Dawson's direction, "you'll be an ace."
Fitch smiled at the joke and hopped in the Spitfire. Nestled inside, he felt completely at home for the first time since his arrival at Hampton Airfield.
With a sudden burst of confidence, Fitch shouted to Captain Simms, "Would you prefer I shoot you down together, or one at a time?"
Simms grinned to himself. Trotting off to his plane, he called back, "That's what we're looking for Danny. Show us what you've got!"
Fitch grabbed the stick and tested the controls. His nerves calmed. He felt comfortable and capable in the seat of the Spitfire. Months of training had taught him all the necessary components of flight. This was what he had been waiting for, a chance to prove he was ready.
Suddenly, the radio sparked with an order from Captain Dawson, "Let's go!"
Lieutenant Fitch poured on the throttle and followed his two Captains onto the grassy field. The three Spitfires thundered down the runway and powered into the air. Mastering his controls, Daniel Fitch felt entirely in his element.