“Fly safe,” Helen called.
“Ah Hollywood, I have the distinct pleasure of your skills this afternoon,” Stark remarked snidely as he checked his clipboard. “Try not to kill me,” he sneered and walked off towards the doors of the flight room.
Helen rolled her eyes and followed the instructor out; mimicking him under her breath as she walked, “Try not to kill me,” she muttered. “It would be a pleasure!”
Lily climbed up onto the wing and fastened the remaining clasps to hold her parachute in place; before tossing her cushion onto the seat of the plane and pulling her soft leather helmet down onto her head and securing it under her chin. Rowe gave her an encouraging smile as he lowered himself into his instructor seat behind her. Nodding she climbed in and slipped into the seat gripping the stick nestled between her legs and settling her feet onto the pedals. Once settled in the cockpit she placed the headset onto her head and adjusted the microphone, she flicked the radio switch, lifted the control lock on the stick and completed her pre-flight control check.
“Control check complete,” she said into the microphone as she checked the elevator trim ensuing that it was cranked to the correct position for two people. “Engine's ready, clear,” she yelled, pulling the stick back into her lap and pumping the wobble pump handle to build up the fuel pressure to the necessary level. She pressed the starter button and the engine belched into life coughing blue smoke into the air around them, Lily smiled at the smell of the engine as she waited for it to heat up. A member of the ground crew pulled the chocks from the wheels giving Lily the thumbs up as they stepped back.
“Sleeping Beauty to control. Are we good to taxi? Over.”
“Control to Sleeping Beauty. Proceed. Over.”
Using the rudder pedals for direction Lily started to taxi the plane out of the lot towards the runway, she pulled up patiently waiting her turn as other classmates took off into the sky, eventually when it was her turn she steered the plane onto the runway, pointing into the wind. Lily pulled the microphone closer to her mouth, “Control. Sleeping Beauty. Ready for take-off.”
The radio buzzed in her ears then eventually she heard a soft Texan accent replace the white noise, “Go ahead Sleeping Beauty. Happy flying!”
With her feet firmly on the brakes, she checked that her flaps were raised and started to run up the revs on the engine, she checked her counter and cylinder head pressure, pushing the engine up to full throttle, the plane danced about like a tiger fighting against a leash, desperate to be freed. She double-checked her flight controls and her seat harness, then took a deep breath and released her hold on the brakes. The plane surged forward building up speed. Checking her gauge, she felt wind start to break across the elevator and the tail lifted, with the tail up the plane started to speed faster. She watched closely until she reached the desired speed, as soon as the needle hit, she pulled back on the stick and the nose of the plane started to lift from the ground.
Helen watched Lily's take off from her position in the runway queue.
“Happy landings Liliana,” she smiled, her smile turning to a frown as Stark’s voice sounded in her ears.
“Hollywood, are you having a conversation up front there?”
“No sir,” Helen responded her eyes following the flight path of Lily's plane as she rose up into the clear blue sky.
***
Forty-five minutes later, Lily was taxing back towards the hangar when she heard Rowe address her, “Rivera, I see you've logged eight hours flying time here at the field.”
“I have Sir, yes,” she replied.
“How ‘bout you let me out and you log another half hour on your own?”
Lily could hear the smile in his voice as he gave her permission for her first solo flight as a W.A.S.P, she tensed her body in a quick celebration, “Sir, that would be a pleasure.” After a quick turnaround Lily was back out on the runway and repeating the process that she had done only a short time before. However, this time, she was on her own.
Helen parked her plane up and unfastened her safety harness, she pulled herself out of the seat and automatically looked over to where Lily's plane should have been. She felt her stomach start to churn; Lily should have been back, her mind started to race, panicking that something had happened. She barely registered Stark's scathing assessment of her flying ability.
She jumped down and ran back to the hangar not bothering to relieve the discomfort of the parachute banging against her in her desperation to find out what had happened. She saw the Addies standing together in the shade of the hangar comparing notes of their flight, running up to them Helen yanked her helmet off her head and crushed it in her hand.
“Where's Lily?”
The two women looked up at her in surprise.
“Is she still out?” Adrienne asked, holding a hand above her eyes so she could see Helen better.
“She should be back,” Helen said hitting her helmet against her thigh. “She went out in front of me, she should be back.”
“Hey, don't be thinking the worse,” Adele soothed. “Who'd she go out with?”
Helen took a couple of breaths, “Rowe, she was out with Rowe.”
Marjorie and Lucy wandered up each pulling on a soda bottle, enjoying the cold cola after their flights. “Who was out with Rowe?” Lucy asked.
“Lily,” Adrienne answered. “She's not back.”
Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, “But Rowe's in the hangar, we just passed him.” She looked towards Marjorie for confirmation, who nodded.
“So if Rowe's in there and Lily's plane isn't in the lot, then…” Helen stopped, all five women looked up into the sky. They walked out from the shade of the hangar and covering their eyes from the sun they started to scan the sky for their friend.
Marjorie started to smack Lucy's arm. “Over there!” she pointed; they turned and spotted the yellow wings of Lily's PT in the distance. None of them took their eyes off the plane as it neared the base, they watched as Lily leveled the plane and lowered it towards the runway. The wheels bounced on the tarmac and as she slowed the speed, the tail started to drop down until its wheel was also on the runway.
As Lily taxied back towards the hangar she could see her bay mates lined up cheering her as she passed; she gave them a thumbs up and a wave, her grin wide on her face. Maneuvering the plane back into its stall she let the engine idle for a couple of minutes relishing the relief at completing the first hurdle as a WASP. She pushed the mixture and the engine cut out, the propellers clicking to a stop. She had barely unbuckled her harness when Helen appeared on the wing beside her.
“You flew solo,” she grinned.
Lily stood up onto the seat of the plane and leaned over to hug Helen.
“It was amazing,” she laughed.
Helen pulled out of the hug and grabbed her hand dragging her down the walkway on the wing; they jumped down onto the ground where the rest of the girls were waiting.
“We got ourselves the first solo of the class,” Adele yelled. “You know what that means.”
“Wishing well!” the women shouted, hoisting Lily up between them. Ignoring her shouts of protest, they carried her towards the small pond of water that Helen and Adrienne had raced to on their first day.
As was tradition with each class, the first solo pilot had to be dunked, flight clothes and all, into the water. Within moments, Lily was lifted over the small wall surrounding the pond and unceremoniously dumped into its cool waters. As she lay at an impossible angle thanks to her parachute, which was still sitting just under her backside, with her soaked overalls clinging to her skin she looked up at the faces of her friends who were standing on the wall of the pool clapping and cheering from her. Her eyes locked with clear blue eyes, which were full of pride. At that moment Lily didn't think she'd ever been happier.
***
In the following week the rest of Bay Four completed their first solo flights; the joy of that however was overshadowed with the news that their first check flights would be happening soon. A civilian instructor who had not been out with them before would first take them out while they completed the necessary maneuvers. If they passed this then they would be taken out by an Army pilot for the second check, this would be the point when the class was expected to dwindle in numbers; nervousness pervaded every activity now.
The one piece of respite was that now that they had been on the base for one month they were eligible for an 'Open Post'. However, their excitement at their short leave was destroyed when they received news that there had been an infantile paralysis scare in the area, so all local swimming pools and cinemas had been closed and the recommendation was for all personnel to stay on base. The disappointment felt was palpable; as much as everyone loved being on Avenger Field, they were starting to get a little stir crazy and needed to blow off some steam. As a compromise the social committee at the field decided to organize a dance in one of the hangars, they hooked up the public address system to a gramophone in the office, and the sound of Glen Miller's orchestra bellowed out across the night's sky.
Still dressed in their uniforms the women entered the hangar full of excitement at the opportunity to let their hair down, all be it without the aid of any alcohol. The male Army instructor pilots that were in attendance were dramatically outnumbered by the WASP women and looked slightly intimidated by the ratio as the sound of saxophones playing the start of 'In the Mood' came over the speakers. The temporary dance floor started to fill with women who had been quick enough to grab one of the male attendees, joining them were women running out to dance together.
Helen grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her onto the dance floor while the trumpets responded with their section of the song. Helen registered the look of surprise on Lily's face.
“What Liliana? You've never danced with a fly girl before?”
Lily laughed. “I'll dance with you. But I'm leading!” she grinned, before twirling Helen under her arm and round to her back, releasing her hand and then reclaiming it with her other hand. They kicked and flicked their legs out in time with the music twirling, weaving, and spinning each other until they were dizzy. They held each other at arm’s length moving round with one foot planted on the makeshift dance floor as the heel of their other foot rested on the ground twisting back and forth as they danced around in a circle. As the trumpet played its solo Lily pulled Helen close, their bodies pressed against each other as they stepped in rhythm, Lily's leg nestled in between Helen's as they danced in perfect step.
Helen's senses were filled with Lily; she allowed herself a moment to bask in the thought that she was in the arms of the woman that she was slowly falling in love with. She mentally shook herself;
this doesn’t mean a thing, we’re only dancing and there is no way that Lily had those sorts of feelings for me
. Feeling uneasy at the closeness, Helen pulled away putting Lily at arm’s length again.
Lily felt a flash of confusion at the action worrying that perhaps she had been wrong to pull Helen in so close, but they had always been comfortable in each other’s personal space and she had enjoyed holding Helen in her arms. It had felt as though the heat that she had become accustomed to when Helen touch her, had surrounded her entire being when their bodies pressed together closely. Her face flushed as she realized that the pleasure she felt went far beyond that of enjoying a dance with a friend.
They stopped as the music ended, their breathing increased; in part due to their energetic dancing and in part due to having been pressed against each other. An awkward tension descended between them, as they stood staring at each other still rooted to the spot where they had finished dancing, neither willing to move or say anything.
“Hey Lily,” Adele ran up breathlessly, oblivious to any tension between her two friends. “Can you go git yer fiddle?”
Lily dragged her eyes from Helen to look at the small brunette. “Violin,” she corrected. “Sure.”
She didn't even think to ask why, she was just relieved that she had an excuse to leave. Adele grinned as Lily left them and walked out of the hangar doors.
“This is gonna be great,” Adele smiled slapping Helen on the shoulders, then headed back into the throng of the dance floor.
Helen quickly looked around the hangar and spotted all of the Bay Four women on the dance floor laughing and having fun. As her eyes scanned the room she spotted Peggy watching her from, the tall blonde shook her head slowly, a worried look on her face. Helen gave her a half-hearted smile, then took a breath and decided to follow Lily.
The music from the hangar was playing through all of the speakers across the base so as Helen walked she continued to be treated to the music being enjoyed by the rest of the base down on the flight line. She softly opened the door to their bay; Lily was sitting on her bed, her back to the door with her violin case beside her. At the noise of the door opening, she turned and looked surprised at Helen hovering in the doorway.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
Helen opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Her mind was a maelstrom of emotions and she was not able to pick the words to describe coherently what she was feeling. She swallowed hard and took a step into the room, “I just wanted to see that you were okay, the dance, we...”
“I'm fine Helen,” Lily interjected standing up; knowing she was anything but fine and that anytime she was close to Helen confusion grew in her.
Helen nodded slowly, unsure what to say next. “Okay,” she turned and took a step out onto the wooden veranda that ran the length of the bays. As she did the music over the tannoy changed, the saxophones and clarinets that had everyone jumping earlier were now soft and gentle and playing the soothing melody of 'Moonlight Serenade'.
Lily's feet propelled her towards the door and before she knew what she was doing she was standing in the doorway with one hand holding onto the doorframe.
“Dance with me?” she whispered towards Helen's back.
Helen wasn't sure whether she'd heard correctly or whether her mind had simply created the words that she so desperately wanted to hear. She turned slowly, her eyes locked on Lily's. Gradually she let her eyes fall down towards Lily's left hand, she took a step forward and ran her hand down the back of Lily's hand, eventually lacing their fingers and lifting their hands up. Drawing her eyes from their hands, she looked deeply into Lily's eyes as she took a half step towards her and slipped her other arm around Lily's waist. Lily lifted her free hand and moving closer curling her arm around Helen's body, placing her hand on Helen's shoulder as they swayed to the music, their faces millimeters apart. They danced, never taking their eyes from each other, their feet shuffling on the dusty wooden floor of the veranda. The music sped up as the song came to a climax before hitting the final note. They stood unmoving in each other’s arms, their breathing becoming shallower at their close proximity.