Isabella’s Airman (3 page)

Don’t go yet
. That was all I needed to say, but the words stuck in my throat. I stared at him and wondered if he’d hear my silent plea. Maybe he did.

“I, um, probably have ops tomorrow night.” He shuffled his feet. “But there’s a dance on Friday night in the NAAFI. I don’t suppose you’d like to come? With me?”

A dance? I didn’t know how to dance.

Davy rolled his shoulders and sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Yes.” It came out as a squeak. I took a breath and spoke again. “Yes, please. I’d love to. Thank you.”

He made a humming noise. “That’s all right, then.”

What would I wear? Could I learn to dance in forty-eight hours? At least enough so I didn’t disgrace myself. I’d ask Juliet. She’d know. She’d probably already be going with Teddy.

While my mind lurched from one panicked question to the next, Davy disentangled my arm from his and took a step back. “It’s been my pleasure to meet you, Isabella Gillman.”

The pleasure’s all mine.
That’s what I meant to say, but it came out garbled and breathy, and making no sense at all.

Davy shoved both hands in his pockets. “Goodnight.” I still didn’t move, and he huffed a short laugh. “Go on.”

My hands felt empty, and I twisted my fingers together. Go inside, I reminded myself. First, though… I took a deep, calming breath. “Good night, Davy.”

•●•

I lay on my hard, narrow bunk and waited for Juliet to come in. We’d been lucky and were given a room to ourselves, but it meant space was cramped. Sleep was miles away, in any case. I tried to review everything we learned today, but all I could think of was Davy. His smile. The feather-light touch on my cheek.
You’re beautiful.

I was training to be an historian. I had to remain objective and focused. Compared to the number of men in this camp, women were in short supply, and Juliet and I were new faces. A novelty. Davy and Teddy and the other airmen would most likely try to pair up with all the young girls who were posted here. We’d been repeatedly warned about the differences in social behavior, and we had to be wary of succumbing to sensory overload.

The
sentinel
would meet with us tomorrow, and he’d make sure we maintained our protocols. His role in this timeline was to act as advisor for the many students passing through. He was fully entrenched in the period and would help us with any queries or issues, including emergency evacuations if necessary. His cover was simple, a priest, and this meant he could travel freely and offer counsel without raising suspicion.

Footsteps outside caught my attention, and I sat up, clutching the wool blanket to my chest. I’d gone to bed almost an hour ago.

It was Juliet. She eased into our room and sank onto the empty bottom bunk with a sigh. “These shoes are so uncomfortable. I swear I have blisters on every toe.” Unlike me, Juliet hadn’t taken the time to get used to her new shoes before we jumped.

“I have some pain relief ointment in my bag.” Disguised as a period treatment, of course. “So where did you go? With Teddy?”

She kicked off her shoes with a flourish and then scrambled up the ladder to join me on the top bunk, sitting with her feet swinging over the edge. “We went for a walk.” She gave me a coy smile. “And he kissed me.”

“No.”

“
Yes
.” Flinging her arms over her head, she dropped back to sprawl across my legs. “I’ve been kissed by Sergeant Teddy Burrell.” Her tongue flicked across her lips, and her smile grew. “He’s an awfully good kisser, Bella.”

“And did you, um…” I couldn’t say the words.
Have sex
. “Anything more?”

She pouted. “No, not tonight. He wanted to, I’m sure. But I don’t want him to think I’m a slut.”

I frowned at the unfamiliar word, and she rolled her eyes. “A woman of easy virtue. I’ll make him wait a few days.” She snuggled down, even though the space was cramped and uncomfortable. “And besides, we’re seeing the
sentinel
tomorrow. If he gets even a whiff of us misbehaving, he’ll probably send us straight home.”

Her voice was sleepy, her eyes drooping closed, and so I jiggled my legs to wake her.

“What?” She peeked up at me. “Did you kiss the rear gunner? I forgot to ask.”

“No.”
I want to
. I squashed that train of thought. “They don’t make it, Juliet. They don’t survive the war.” Saying the words made me shiver, and I tugged the blanket higher.

“What do you mean?” She sat up, attention fully on me.

“C-for-Charlie goes down with the loss of all hands.”

“How do you know that?”

I shrugged. “I recognized Davy’s surname. Porteous. I wrote a dissertation on loss statistics, and how their odds of survival improved the closer to home they crashed.” The words dried on my tongue. “C-for-Charlie was one of the crews I used as a case study.”

“Christ.” Juliet wrapped her arms around herself. “How long do they have?”

“I’m not sure. I studied six aircraft, all downed this year. They were all later though, in the winter months.”

“That’s decided it. I’m definitely screwing Teddy, as you called it.” Her tone was firm. “And you should think about doing it with that cute rear gunner.” She stretched, lithe as a cat. “Can I have that ointment now, please?”

I slept badly, tossing and turning all night in my unfamiliar bed, convinced I might fall to the floor. Juliet, in contrast, slept peacefully in her bunk, a serene smile on her lips. Perhaps she was thinking of her handsome second pilot?

I tried to compose myself as I splashed my face with cold water and brushed my teeth. Focus on the day ahead. Working in the mess and meeting the
sentinel
.

I scrubbed tables and mopped floors again, while Juliet got to wear a white apron and serve food alongside the WAAFs. Like a rerun of the night before, I was emptying a bucket of dirty water into the outside drain when Davy found me.

“Hullo, Isabella.”

I straightened and turned to face him. “Hullo, Davy.” I knew my cheeks would be bright red from my exertions, and loose flyaway hairs were stuck to my forehead, yet he smiled as though I was the nicest thing he’d seen that day.

“All personnel are restricted to base today, so it looks as though we have ops tonight.” He didn’t look worried by the prospect. I wanted to grab him by the lapels again and tell him to be careful, but of course, I couldn’t do that. I could only stand helpless while he gazed at me. “I wondered if you’d like to go for a walk tomorrow afternoon? We normally sleep late when we’ve been up all night, but if the weather stays nice, I could show you around a little bit.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “If you’d like to.”

I should have said no. I
should
have continued with my cleaning chores, but I didn’t. Instead, I leaned on the mop, ducked my head, and then peeked up at him. My cheeks burned some more. “I’d like that.”

His smile broadened, and I saw a flash of relief in his eyes. “That’s all right, then. I’ll come and find you tomorrow afternoon. Around three?” I nodded. I was sure I had a matching, giddy smile on my face when I returned to the kitchen.

This is just research, I told myself firmly as I carried on with my chores. A way of learning more about the period by interacting with the natives.

My happy mood lasted until our shift broke for lunch and our appointment with the
sentinel
. Juliet and I sat on hard, wooden chairs in a small room off the chapel and waited for him to sit. The man was older than I expected, his hair silvered at the temples, but his eyes were shrewd and clear. Apart from his straight-backed military posture, you could mistake him for a priest, and the locals of the period accepted him in this role.

“Student Gillman and Student Delafield.” We both nodded. “You may call me Father Dermott. I am your primary point of contact for any jump issues or concerns.” We nodded again. “This is an informal session today, and you may speak freely.”

He flicked through a paperbound notebook, and then made some notes with his pencil. Apart from the scratching of graphite on paper and the light ticking of the clock on the wall, it was silent. What was he writing? He’d only just met us. I pressed my hands together in my lap and tried not to fidget. “I’d like to hear your first impressions,” he said, and looked directly at me.

“It’s very noisy,” I ventured. “Not just the aircraft, but the people. They talk and laugh in the mess and seem relaxed. Not like I would expect soldiers in the middle of a war.”

“Mmm. And yet the war has barely started for them. It will run for several years, although they don’t know that.” He made another note in his book. “I know your major is in data analysis, Student Gillman. I shall be looking for you to expand your social analysis during this field trip.”

“Yes, sir.” Did that include going for a walk with a handsome airman? Or to a dance? The
sentinel
made another note and then turned his attention to Juliet.

Somewhere beyond the window, an aircraft engine fired up and sputtered to a stop. There was an op tonight, and Davy would be flying. I tuned out the conversation with Juliet and strained to hear any other engine noises. The armorers might be loading up the Wellingtons with their bombs and bullets, while the engineers checked every inch of the aircraft that would be taking part in the raid. Davy may well be catching a nap right now, or was out there with his plane. I only had a theoretical idea of the flight preparations, and I wanted to know more.

Too late, I realized the
sentinel
had spoken to me again. My heart raced, and I tried to recover my mistake. “My apologies, sir. Could you please repeat that?”

“There is a message for you from your cousin, Lieutenant Marc Gallagher. I have transcribed it.” He reached out with a folded sheet of paper, and surprised, I took it and slid the note into my pocket. Why would Marc want to speak with me? He was one of the
ghardians
, the elite soldiers that guarded our timelines and tracked down time runaways, while I was a mere student. Even though we were related, I rarely saw him.

Juliet asked a few questions about the different ranks and insignia, while I nodded attentively, and finally the interview was over. We’d see him again the week after, but he was available any time if we needed assistance.

We didn’t have long before our shift resumed, and so we headed for the kitchens. Juliet nudged me as we walked. “Marc Gallagher. Isn’t he the
ghardian
that was awarded a commendation?”

“Yes.”

“What happened? Do you know?”

“Not really. He was on a retrieval mission that went wrong, and I know he risked his own life to save someone, but that’s all.”

Her eyes were wide. “In this time period?”

“No, it was the Dark Ages.” I recognized her puzzled look. “After the Ancient Romans left Britain. He
was
a Dark Ages specialist, but he’s retraining for another period.”

“Maybe he’s planning to come here?” She played with her hair as we walked. “You know that
ghardians
can propose their own partners. I wouldn’t mind making a commitment to a
ghardian
.”

“Juliet, he’s easily ten years older than us. And if you thought the
sentinel
was stern, he’s a fluffy bunny compared to the
ghardians
. I’ve never seen Marc smile. Not once. He scares me with his intensity.”

“Aren’t you going to read his message?”

We’d just arrived at the kitchens, with five minutes to spare. I’d been friends with Juliet for many years, and we had few secrets. “Okay.” I sat on the grass, tugged the letter from my pocket, and opened it. “You can read it with me.”

With her reading over my shoulder, I scanned the note.

Student Gillman. Isabella.

I want to offer my congratulations on your first jump, and to wish you good luck. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the array of emotions, and so I urge you to fall back on your training and to maintain our protocols at all times.

I remember you as being a sensitive young girl and am concerned that you may find this first jump to be difficult. Since I am not on active duty at the moment, I will be available on your return, should you need counselling or advice.