Thank you so much to my editors for all your help.
***Authors Note*** Thank you for reading my story. If this is the first of my stories that you have ever read, welcome. I always recommend reading any of my series from the start as I generally do not keep describing characters after the first or second chapters.
November 01, 1943. Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas.
"Well, that was interesting," said Allison Constance Evans, better known as Ace, to her student pilot, Mary Johnson, from the rear seat of a T-6 Texan. Mary just sighed. Ace popped a butterscotch in her mouth. Ace stood up and climbed out onto the wing. Mary did the same as Ace moved down the wing to the ground. Mary followed and the two women were soon standing next to each other on the tarmac.
"I'm so sorry, Ace," began Mary.
"For what?" Ace interrupted her before she could start into the long apology that she had already heard half a dozen times.
"For the flight," responded Mary with a confused look on her face.
"It was a great flight," said Ace with a smile. "And that was about the shortest takeoff I have seen in a long time."
"Thank you, ma'am," Mary responded, beaming from the praise.
"You're welcome," replied Ace moving to the edge of the wing. "In the air, Mary, you're a natural," said Ace, inspecting the wing. "It's when you're on the ground that things go a little haywire."
Mary's gaze fell. "I just can't seem to figure that part out," admitted Mary. "I mean this thing has such a huge nose. Maybe I could do my training in a Mustang."
"Maybe you could do your training in a Corsair," suggested Ace. Mary shuddered at the thought. "We train in what they give us. You have to be able to fly anything. We ferry all kinds of planes. Which means, you have to be able to get checked out in any kind of plane they give you."
"Yes ma'am," said Mary with a little bit of a pout in her voice.
"Tomorrow we will do landings and taxi until you get it right, OK?" Said Ace sternly. "You're too good of a pilot for me to let you wash out."
"Yes ma'am," Mary said again, this time with a smile as she straightened, and gave Ace a salute.
"Now let's get your post-flight walk around done and then go grab the ladder," said Ace, as she kicked the underside of the wing. "You forgot to retract the flaps again."
Mary's smile disappeared as she mumbled, "Shit."
Ace just smiled as she took off her flying cap and shook out her hair. "Were we ever that green," asked a voice from behind her.
Ace turned and was pleased to see her best friend Evelynn Bruster standing there. "You were greener," said Ace, leaning on the wing.
"Really," said Evelynn, walking over to her friend. "I saw her landing. It was pretty rough."
"My head still hurts from that time you brought us in too hard and we bounced so high I thought you were doing a go-around," Ace remarked.
"What about that time you forgot to pull the stick back on the taxiway," remarked Evelynn with a smirk. "It was like we were suddenly in the middle of a tornado."
"Ya," flinched Ace at the memory. "That was not one of my best turns."
"I'm not ashamed to tell you," admitted Evelynn, her voice turning more serious. "I thought that was going to be it."
"Really?" asked Ace.
"My whole life passed before my eyes in those few seconds," said Evelynn, looking out over the airfield. "And I can tell you it was about 60 years shorter than I wanted it to be."
"Sorry E," said Ace, and meant it.
"It's OK," said Evelynn, giving Ace a soft punch on the shoulder. "I forgive you."
"That was the worst day of my career. Thank goodness one of the wings didn't dip or I could have killed us both," said Ace her eyes beginning to moisten with tears. "I almost killed us, E."
"Hey, hey," said Evelynn, moving in to wrap her arms around Ace's shoulders. "I'm here and you're here, so we're good. OK."
Ace wiped her eyes, sniffled, and then nodded her agreement. "I thought they were going to wash me out that day for sure. A couple of the wing spars were bent and the mechanics had to replace yards of sheet metal. That bird was down for about a week."
"Too bad they didn't have George," blurted out Evelynn before she had a chance to think about what she was saying. "He could've had her flying the next day."
Ace's face went a whiter shade of pale and she just stared at her friend in disbelief. Evelynn put her hand over her mouth and sucked in a breath. "Oh, Ace. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
Ace sniffled and then said, "No big deal, E."
The two girls then watched as Mary returned with the ladder and set it up near the engine cowling. The two women came around the plane and Ace held the ladder. Figuring that the damage was already done, Evelynn asked the question she had been dying to ask for a couple of days, "Have you heard from George?"
"I got a letter from him a week ago," answered Ace, with a sigh. "But thanks to the army censors and the mail service, it was two months old."
"What did it say?"
"The usual. He's fine. I shouldn't worry. He will be home as soon as he can. Everything else was redacted."
"Do you have any idea where he is?" pressed Evelynn.
"If you read between the lines and compare that with what I get from the papers I think he is in North Africa. Why the Army needs accountants in North Africa I don't know, but that's my best guess."
Not wanting to talk about Goerge any further Ace changed the subject. "What about Bill?
"Oh, he's still in Ohio," replied Evelynn. "And mad as hell."
"His uncle is still the base commander there, right?" asked Ace.
"Yes," Evelynn said, with a frown. "And I know what you're thinking, Bill's using his uncle to keep himself safe, but that just isn't true. Bill has been putting in for a transfer every week since George shipped out, but they never get approved."
"Transfer?" asked Ace. "Why would he put in for a transfer?
"Because he thinks he isn't doing enough," answered Evelynn. "He thinks people are going to think he's a coward."
"That's ridiculous," said Ace.
"I know that, and you know that but, Bill...," said Evelynn with a sigh. "MEN! It's a matter of honor or pride or some such crap to them."
"We had a boy like that back home," said Mary from atop the ladder. "He wanted to be a soldier so bad, that he stole his brother's birth certificate so he could lie about his age and join up at fifteen."
"That's ludicrous," scoffed Ace. "Bill is doing his part just like the rest of us. He's no coward."
"Deep down Bill knows what he is doing is important," explained Evelynn. "But men are..."
"Stupid?" offered Ace.
Mary laughed. "Don't you have pumping to do?" asked Evelynn looking up. "Those flaps aren't going to raise themselves."
"Yes ma'am," replied Mary, who had the decency to look a little sheepish before she got back to work.
"Men are prideful," Evelynn went on. "Bill's ego is bruised. And just between you and me, I think you're not the only one that misses George."
"They are as thick as thieves, those two," Ace remarked, remembering the dance they had all attended together.
"Just like two ladies I know," said Evelynn, who then gave Ace a hip bump.
Ace thought for a minute. Mary finished and came down the ladder. She folded it and headed off to put it away in the nearest hangar. Ace snapped her fingers. "How about this, E, why don't we ditch our trainees for the weekend and head over to ferrying command? I'm sure we can talk them into taking a B25 or a C47 up to Lockbourne and then you can see Bill. I bet that would cheer him up."
"Good idea, but no," replied Evelynn frowning. "Bill doesn't want to see me anywhere near Lockbourne right now."
