‘Robert,’ Alice said, her eyes wide with anxiety, ‘I haven’t heard anything from William for weeks.’
‘Sadly, darling, I don’t think you will. Sending letters out of an occupied country must be virtually impossible.’
‘And there’s been no telephone call from Pips or from Daisy recently and no one has any idea where Luke or Harry are now.’
‘Luke will be a bit busy, I’m afraid, if he’s down south now. And I have no doubt Daisy is, too, for the same reason, though she won’t be in danger like Luke will be. He’ll soon be fighting the Luftwaffe over the south of England – if he isn’t already – and Daisy will be delivering all sorts of planes to the airfields, though as I understand it, only non-combat aircraft.’ He forbore to add ‘up to now’. Alice looked terrified already. Robert put his arm around her. ‘I do have a number I can ring to leave a message for Daisy. Would you like me to do that?’
‘Oh please, Robert. I – I just want to know she’s all right, that’s all.’
Later that day, Robert managed to get through to the offices at Hatfield where a member of staff assured him that Daisy was safe and well. ‘She’s not here at the moment, but I will tell her you rang,’ was all the woman was able to say.
The telephone at the hall shrilled just as Robert and Alice were mounting the stairs to go to bed.
‘Oh!’ Alice said, startled. ‘I hate telephone calls late at night. I always think it’s going to be bad news.’ She ran lightly down the stairs and reached the phone before Robert had even turned round.
‘Hello – hello—’
‘Mummy – it’s me. I’m so sorry I haven’t called recently. We’ve been so busy. I’ve had to stay away a couple of nights this week and it’s difficult asking to use telephones for private calls.’
‘I understand, darling. I just wanted to know if you’re all right, that’s all.’
‘I’m fine and so’s Gill. She’s beside me, waiting to ring her parents too. Is everyone your end well?’
‘Yes, but a bit anxious, as you might guess. Daisy – do you know where Luke is? We’ve heard nothing from him.’
‘No, sorry, I don’t. I did bump into Johnny not long ago, so maybe I’ll see Luke some time. I’ll let you know if I do.’
‘We’re all trying to busy ourselves with war work, but it’s so hard, not hearing for weeks on end.’
‘I know, Mummy. Look, I’ve got to go, but I’ll try to write or ring you more often. I promise.’
Alice replaced the receiver slowly, reluctant to break the connection. ‘She’s all right, Robert, but she doesn’t seem to know where Luke is. She’s seen Johnny though.’
She climbed back up the stairs.
‘Did she say where she’d met Johnny?’
Alice shook her head. ‘No, I expect it was at one of the airfields. Maybe she’s not supposed to say.’
‘Probably not. Now, come on, let’s get to bed. Perhaps you’ll sleep a little better tonight at least.’
Two days after their telephone calls home, Gill, Daisy and two other ferry pilots were due to take Tiger Moths to Tangmere on the south coast. They would be picked up by the Anson, a much larger taxi aircraft that could carry more pilots. Daisy and Gill were not yet qualified to fly it, though they hoped that after their sojourn at Upavon, they would be.
As Daisy taxied to a halt at Tangmere, Gill came running towards her, impatient for her to climb down. ‘He’s here. I’ve found him.’
‘Who?’
‘Luke, of course.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, come on. We’re all in the mess hall. We were waiting for you.’
‘It’ll have to be quick. We ought to get back. The Anson should be here any minute.’
‘Oh, you’ve time for a quick cuppa.’ Gill grasped Daisy’s arm and almost dragged her towards where the other two ferry girls were sitting, surrounded by a gaggle of RAF pilots. The air was filled with laughter and they appeared to have not a care in the world. Seeing them, no one would have guessed that the previous day they had lost two of their fellow fighter pilots or that at any moment the bell that called them to their aircraft and into the air might jangle.
‘Hey, Dais.’ Luke rose at once and came towards her, arms outstretched. He kissed her on both cheeks in cousinly fashion and then led her to a chair. ‘I’ll get you some tea. Biscuit?’
‘Please.’
As he moved away, Gill said, ‘I’ve been asking about him at every aerodrome I’ve been to in the south for weeks, but today I struck lucky.’
‘You’re lucky they told you. I’ve been asking too, but all I get is a blank stare, as if I’m some sort of spy.’
‘It’s been a bit like that too for me, but today when I asked at the office, as I’ve been doing, I got my delivery chit signed by a fresh-faced young feller, who didn’t look much more than twelve, bless him. He hesitated and then said, “Wait a minute, miss.” Well, it was a lot longer than a minute. It must have been getting on for fifteen, because I was about to give up and go in search of a cuppa whilst I waited for the other two and you to arrive, when back he came with Luke in tow.’
Daisy lowered her voice. ‘He looks exhausted.’
‘They all do, if you look behind all the ribbing and the laughter, which sounds a bit forced to me.’
‘Understandable, I suppose,’ Daisy murmured. ‘Does he know where Harry is?’
‘I haven’t asked him yet,’ Gill said, just as Luke came back with tea and a plate of biscuits. He sat down between them, but it was to Daisy he turned to ask, ‘How’s everyone at home?’
‘Fine. Coping really well, though they’re all worried about you.’ She punched him lightly on the arm. ‘It seems you haven’t written in weeks.’
Luke gave a weak smile. ‘It’s difficult to know what to say, Dais.’
‘I know, but they all want to hear that you’re all right. Give my granny a ring sometimes. She’ll always deliver a message.’
‘Trouble is,’ he said softly, ‘you’re only all right at the moment you’re writing or telephoning. The very next time you go up . . .’ His voice faded away. Then, more strongly, he added, ‘I will keep in touch more, I promise.’
‘And I’ll phone home tonight and ask Daddy to give them messages from you. By the way, d’you know where Harry is?’
Luke grinned. ‘Last I heard, he was still at training school. He’ll have an awful lot of tests and examinations to get through before he gets his wings. Of course, now we’re in a war situation, the courses have been shortened. No doubt, he’s still finding time to take a different WAAF out every night.’
They laughed easily together, but at that moment the door swung open and a squadron leader shouted, ‘Scramble!’ at the same moment as a bell began to ring loudly.
The pilots leapt up and rushed for the door, spilling tea and overturning chairs, grabbing their jackets and flying helmets. Within seconds, only Daisy and her fellow ferry pilots were left.
‘We’d better get going, too,’ Daisy said, looking towards Angela, the pilot of the Anson, who had just arrived and had sat down with a cup of tea. She was a far more experienced pilot than they were and was trained to fly the larger aircraft. But the young WAAF who’d come out from behind the counter said, ‘No need to rush, miss. They won’t let you go until they’re all airborne.’
‘Of course. I didn’t think.’
‘Let’s go outside anyway and wave them off,’ Gill said.
Outside the five young women – Daisy, Gill, Angela and the other two ferry pilots – stood watching as aircraft after aircraft took off. The squadron climbed until they were specks in the clouds.
‘Right, we’ll see if we can go,’ Angela said.
They were given clearance and took off, but the Hurricanes and Spitfires were no longer anywhere to be seen.
Gill sat in the seat nearest to Daisy. They were flying in line with the coastline before turning north when Gill suddenly said, ‘Oh look, over there to the left. Over the sea.’
‘Black smoke,’ Daisy said grimly. ‘I bet they’ve been bombing our shipping in the Channel. That’s where our fighters will have gone.’
Gill was still craning her neck and now she was looking through a small pair of binoculars. ‘Look, over there in the far distance. Our lads have found their fighters. There’s a dog fight going on.’
‘We’re getting out of here,’ Angela said firmly and she put the Anson on track towards home. After a moment, she asked, ‘Did you see any aircraft go down?’
‘No. But there were bombers and their fighters as well as ours.’
‘We’d better go to some kind of debrief when we get back,’ Angela said. ‘We must tell them what we saw, even if I get hauled over the coals for going slightly off course. But you didn’t see any go down, did you?’ she asked again.
‘No, but I wish we could have tootled around up here for a bit longer and watched the fun.’
Daisy frowned. ‘Fun?’
‘Yup. That’s what Luke and the other lads call it. So, we’ve got to do the same, Daisy.’
Daisy said nothing. She was wondering just what she was going to tell her father when she made the promised phone call that evening.