Louise and Carla went up and sailed in smoothly.
Bet slowly rose from the bench, walked over to Liddy and rubbed the top of her head.
“Maybe you’d better try Louie this time,” Liddy scrunched up her face to lighten Bet’s mood.
Bet decided she’d take no chances. “Give it up, HPs.”
The three women tilted their heads forward and Bet proceeded to rub, for luck, down the line.
Bet was in the cockpit and ran through her check. As she scooted down the runway, she ran everything she knew about flying through her mind like a scroll. She made it into the air just fine but with so much to do and see, Bet was at a loss with only one pair of eyes. She kept reading the scroll as she circled and approached for her first landing.
The waiting audience hummed a mantra, “She can do it. She can do it.”
Carla couldn’t stand the suspense and covered her eyes. Liddy and Louise looked on with faith.
Bet lined up and brought it down slowly. “You can, you can, you can,” Bet repeated Liddy’s words to herself. When the wheels hit, she timed the touch-down until she knew she had to pull up and sail around again. And off she went for her second pattern.
Liddy and Louise smiled big and Carla peaked up through her fingers and asked, “Did she do it?”
“One landing down, two to go,” said Liddy.
Carla sat up and watched the rest of Bet’s flight.
The crotch of the trainees’ zoot suits were hanging around their knees from the weight of the soaked fabric. Liddy and Joy Lynn grabbed Bet and tossed her in. When the soggy redhead got back to her feet, her eyes lit with triumph. She threw her arms up and waved them wildly as she kicked the water into the air before she fished on the bottom to find a coin. She found one and held it to the sky and the trainees all jumped in. They dosey doed each other until they spotted Lewis Gant in the distance. They knew what they must do. Hurdling out of the pool, they made a run for the little guy, carried him to the well and threw him in.
Death, then victory, then celebration, it felt strange, but necessary. Liddy thought about the men she knew that came back from the war and never danced or laughed again and the men that came back and did. That’s what living is, she thought, to just keep living.
After what happened to Ruby the very day their class was to solo, Liddy really wasn’t sure if Bet could pull herself together. But she never let on. Bet had to dig deep for what she needed to get through; Liddy knew that. When she did, no one was more pleased or impressed than Liddy.
Losing a friend, a classmate, ‘soldiering’ on, soloing, it was a huge day for everyone. Training solo became the norm, and buddy rides followed—two trainees, no instructor, no Army pilot, just gals. Bet didn’t starve herself before every flight after solo day. Her confidence grew and so did her nails.
After their first solos they went directly to ground school. The trainees stood at the window of the classroom and watched as two coffins, one a pine box, were being loaded into a truck.
“A pine box?” Bet was appalled.
“Guess which one Ruby’s in?” said Joy Lynn.
“That’s what non-military get. No death benefits, no transport, escort or military burial, not even a flag,” said Louise.
“There’s a collection being taken to pay expenses for Ruby’s body to be shipped home and for Carla to travel as the escort.” Marina pressed her finger across her eyelids and wiped away the moisture.
“Sweetwater’s planning a memorial,” Liddy watched the tears stream down Bet’s face and she reached over and squeezed her hand. “Some of the gals were saying they always make sure it’s real nice.”
Captain Charles entered the room and coaxed the trainees to their desks, “Class, please, take your seats.”
The trainees settled in, but their minds wandered and thought of Ruby. One more classmate gone, how they wished it was because she had washed-out. And they wanted to know why she had crashed. It was somehow easier when you knew why, though they never did.
Chapter Fourteen
The next few weeks were sheeted with a sadness that took some of the snap out of the marching and some of the joy out of the flying. It was also a time of heightened awareness that this was risky business. Still the pace of checkrides, drilling and ground school didn’t leave room for much reflection. A craving for distraction ran through the base like spring fever, and this was the day.
The air control tower was shuffling its usual overload of traffic. Three civilian controllers, two men and a woman, sat at the radios communicating with the menagerie of planes in the sky.
“PT-13, hold your pattern.”
“All clear AT-6, bring her in.”
“BT-14, pull up and go around.”
The verbal dance was layered like a well made bed. One of the controllers leaned back in his chair and turned up his radio. He waved for the attention of his coworkers and called into his mike, “Repeat USAF40.”
A voice crackled from the speaker, “Army Air Force Pilot requesting permission for emergency landing for USAF Squadron 347…”
The controller shot a wink to his fellow bird wranglers.
The pilot continued, “… executing a cross country formation and have a rough engine. Need to check it out.”
The controllers grinned at one another and one of them asked, “Rough as in cutting out, or is it a steady bumping?”
“Confirming a combination of that description, sir.”
One of the controllers signaled to the other to keep up the stall. “Any smoke or flames USAF40?”
“Negative, but it’s a definite possibility.”
“We’ve got a lot of action down here officer. Are you aware that this is a training base for the Women Airforce Service Pilots?”
“Is that right, sir?”
“This base has one of the busiest air pockets in the country. There are female pilots everywhere. You say you just want to quick, check it out?”
“Yes, sir.”
The controller covered the mike with his hand and said, “I bet he wants to check it out.”
Eight Army Air Force Pilots landed and hopped out of their planes, collected their equipment and headed in from the flight line. It was unexpected landings like these that led Jackie Cochran to eventually close down the base to outside traffic. The success and reputation of her girls was nothing she was willing to gamble with. In the wake of her decision, Avenger Field took on the alternate name of Cochran’s Convent.
When Liddy and Louise entered their room that day, Bet, Marina and Joy Lynn were tearing through their clothes.
“Get dressed, we’re goin’ out,” Joy Lynn instructed.
“Out where?” Louise asked.
“Marina and Carla have made plans to get us a ride to the Lake Sweetwater Inn. We’re being picked up at the gates at seven.”
Marina couldn’t find anything to wear and she was visibly frustrated. “Men, I didn’t keep my men clothes. They’re all in storage.”
“I didn’t bring men clothes,” said Bet.
“Me neither, it wasn’t in the brochures,” Joy Lynn said sarcastically as she flipped through her choice of outfits. “We heard those Air Force Pilots that force landed, are RONin’,” she announced to Liddy and Louise.
“Resting Over Night,” Bet translated.
“Thanks for clearing that one up.” Liddy looked at Bet and rolled her eyes.
“The boys have checked out a couple jeeps. They’re going to the Inn to meet some trainees.” Marina looked down at the clothes on the bed and shook her head.