The High Calling (24 page)

“That’s a lie! Whoever said that is a liar!”

“I even have the license number of his car, Veronica—ANV483. All I have to do is get Jack over at Scotland Yard to run a check, and I’ll know who it is.”

Her face went pale, but she stood up straight. “Well, what about your precious Miss Winslow?”

“She’s just a friend. She’s been very kind to the children.”

“Kind to the children, I’ll bet! You were in love with her three years ago, weren’t you?”

Her words had touched on the truth that lay deep within him. He tried to cover, but she had seen him falter, and the argument grew more and more bitter. Finally Veronica said, “Get out of this bedroom! Find yourself another place to sleep!”

At that instant Parker knew that something had irrevocably changed between him and his wife. It was as definite as the sound of a door closing.

“That won’t be hard to do, Veronica.”

As he left the room, she called out, “I don’t want to hear any more of your accusations!”

Parker closed the door and knew he could not spend the night in the house. He left a note for his parents and drove back to the station. He felt something like seasickness, except it was spiritual rather than physical. He had seen other marriages break up, even between men and women who had once truly loved each other, and now he knew that he and his wife were heading in the same direction.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Eagle Day

The month of July had worn the Royal Air Force thin. The Germans had thrown wave after wave of planes against them, and only by intense effort and sacrifice had the RAF been able to stem the tide.

But Hitler was not satisfied. On July 30 he told Hermann Göring to have his forces in readiness to launch a more powerful attack: “The great battle of the Luftwaffe against England.”

The following day during a conference at Hitler’s mountain retreat, the Berghof, Admiral Erich Raeder made it plain that the earliest possible date for launching an invasion of England would be September 15. On the first day of August, Hitler issued directive number seventeen. “In order to establish the necessary condition for the final conquest of England, the Luftwaffe will overpower the English air force with all the forces at its command in the shortest possible time.” The order commanded attacks against flying units and ground installations, as well as against the aircraft industry. This was given the code name of
Adlerangriff
and was intended to crush all RAF opposition and clear the way for Sealion, the invasion of Britain. The first day of the operation was dubbed Eagle Day, and Göring issued his directive to all units of air fleets two, three, and five: “Within a short period you will wipe the British air force from the sky. Heil Hitler!”

The fliers of Parker’s squadron felt the brunt of Eagle Day. They scrambled four times, coming back in between each
flight for fresh ammunition and petrol. The one advantage they had was that the German fighter planes had small fuel tanks. After flying to England and returning to their bases, they had only ten minutes of actual fighting time.

The action was furious, and Parker lost his first pilot in a month on Eagle Day. Dick Summerton was not the best pilot in the world, but he had always been eager and willing. He had gone up against no fewer than five 109s alone, and they had simply blasted him out of the sky.

The sight of the young man going down had sickened Parker, and it did not encourage him to know that he himself had downed two Germans. Both his and Brodie’s score of kills stood at ten now, but all of this was meaningless to Parker. His only thoughts were of the letter he would have to write to young Summerton’s parents.

****

Every radio in England probably was tuned in to get the results of the battle. Meredith Bryce had listened all the previous day, and the next morning she came to her superior at the mission, Reverend Amos Chatworth, and told him about the idea she had been working out most of the night.

“The poor pilots are exhausted,” she told him. “Why don’t we take meals and drinks out to the station? Good hot meals, Reverend.”

“I can’t spare the manpower, or the womanpower either. We’ve got our hands full taking care of all that’s going on at the mission on a day-to-day basis.”

“If you’ll give me the authority, Kat and I will work extra shifts to see that our responsibilities at the mission are met while we minister to the pilots as well.” She had already told Kat about her plan, and she had been excited about the possibilities.

Chatworth agreed, and by eleven o’clock that morning, Meredith and Kat were on their way to the airfield. Meredith had managed to commandeer a truck, and the two women
had worked hard to cook hot meals and even had portable heating units on the truck in case there were no facilities there.

When they got to the field, they found that 120 Squadron was gone on a mission, but that did not deter Meredith. She went up to two mechanics who had their heads buried in an airplane.

“Excuse me,” she said. “My name is Meredith, and my friend here is Kat.”

“Denny Featherstone, ma’am. This here’s Keith.”

“We brought some hot food out for you and the other men.”

“You mean for the pilots, mum?”

“When they come in yes, but for the mechanics too. I know you men are working day and night to keep the planes serviced.”

She had heard that ground crews worked almost around the clock, some of them not even taking the time to go back to their bunk but rather simply finding a quiet spot to lie on the ground and go to sleep. These men got very little credit or glory except from the pilots themselves. Those who flew the planes knew just how worthy these men were who worked until they dropped.

“Well, glory be!” Denny said. “Did you hear that, Keith?”

“I sure did!” Keith said, straightening up and wiping his hands on an oily rag. “Anything we can do to help, mum?”

“Where can we set up some tables?” Meredith asked.

“Right this way,” Denny said. “Me and Keith will help you ladies.”

The mechanics gathered around and gratefully ate the hot soup and sandwiches served with coffee and tea. The women had also brought plenty of sweets.

As they were finishing the meal, Featherstone yelled, “Here they come!”

Kat watched the skies, and soon little black dots appeared. She saw the squadron come in and asked nervously, “Are they all there, Denny?”

Denny was counting the planes anxiously, “Yes, mum, they’re all there. They’re all safe!”

Some of the planes were riddled with bullet holes, and one had the tail fin practically shot away.

But all of the men were all right.

As the pilots approached the gathering, Denny said, “Right this way. These ladies from the East End Mission have brought some hot food.”

Meredith saw the fatigue on their faces pulling them down, their faces gray with strain. But she kept a smile on her face as she stepped forward and said, “Right this way. I have plenty of hot food for all the heroes. Any among you not heroes?”

Brodie laughed. “No, we’re all heroes here!”

“Good.” Meredith and Kat greeted each man as he received his food, and gave them each a tract as well. Some of the men flirted with the two young women, and they all gulped the food down.

Parker looked terribly weary as he finished his meal. He managed a smile and said, “This is awfully nice of you two ladies.”

“It’s little enough,” Meredith said. “Here, have another piece of cake.”

Brodie seemed to have no strain at all in contrast with the others. While Parker was talking with Kat, Brodie took it upon himself to refill coffee cups, and Meredith made sure everybody had all the cake they wanted. “I have to treat these lads like children,” Brodie said with a grin. “I’m the closest thing to a father they’ve got.”

A rouse of insults went up at this, and Meredith enjoyed the camaraderie that bound these men together.

After they had all had their fill of cake, most of the pilots went off to get some sleep before the next scramble, but Brodie stayed behind. While Kat started cleaning up, Brodie said, “Come on, Meredith. I wanna show you my plane.”

“I’d like to see it. Do you mind, Kat?”

“Not a bit. You go ahead.”

Meredith walked around the plane as Brodie pointed out its features.

“Why don’t you get inside? You can see what it feels like.”

“In this skirt?”

“Nobody to see but me, and you know how modest I am.”

“I know all about that.”

“Take your shoes off. Those high heels might punch a hole in the wings.”

After removing her shoes, Meredith took his hand, stepped up on the wing, and then managed to slip into the seat. “It’s so small!”

“Not very big.” Brodie had crawled up and was leaning over her. “Some of the big fellows have a hard time closing the canopy.”

Meredith was fascinated. Brodie showed her all of the instruments and explained the function of each one. Finally she climbed out of the plane and put on her shoes.

“I’ll show you the rest of the operation,” he said, taking her by the hand.

He took her on a tour, and Meredith could not understand how he could be so lighthearted. “Aren’t you afraid, Brodie?”

“Scared pink.”

“No, really. Aren’t you afraid of death?”

“About as much as everybody else. Now Parker,
he’s
the one that’s got a big load. He has to keep up with all of us and make split-second decisions. All I have to decide to do is to get in a Spit and shoot at Germans.”

Meredith couldn’t understand how he could live under such strain and remain so calm. He leaned back against a fence. “You look pretty today.”

She smiled. “I believe you’d flirt with a woman even if you had one foot in the grave.”

“I hope so.”

“Brodie, answer me something honestly. Aren’t you afraid of death?”

He did not answer for a time. He took out a package of
gum and offered her a piece. She refused it. He peeled one of the sticks and began to chew it. “Actually, Meredith, I’m more afraid right now than I am when I’m going into action.”

“I don’t understand that. You’re in no danger here.”

“I know it, but that’s the way it is. When I’m in action I can’t think of anything but what’s right in front of me. No time to worry. Some of the fellas don’t feel like that, but I do.”

“But you’re in danger of dying every day. Don’t you ever think of God or eternity?”

Again there was a long silence. When Brodie lifted his eyes, he was entirely serious. “Yes, I do.” Then his eyes crinkled. “But sometimes I beat the drum for the Salvation Army.”

“You are crazy,” she laughed. She put her hand out and touched his chest, and he captured it.

“That’s enough talk about me. It’s boring. Tell me about you.”

“Nothing to tell about me.”

“Yes there is. Tell me what you plan to do after the war.”

“I suppose I’ll put any decisions off until the war is over.”

“You still got yourself shut up, not letting any men inside that little box you made for yourself?”

Meredith bit her lower lip. “I can’t think about that.”

“You’re still grieving for that husband you lost.”

“Yes, of course I am.”

Brodie dropped her hand. “I guess we’re both loners, then. You don’t want a man, and no woman would put up with me.”

“You could change, Brodie.”

“I’m not sure that I could. Come on. Let’s go back and get some more coffee.”

****

Parker could hear the pilots outside laughing. It had been awfully nice of Kat and Meredith to feed his men. He knew they appreciated it. He picked up the phone and called home. His mother answered, and he asked about the children.

“Actually, they aren’t feeling well. I think they’re coming
down with something. I hope it’s not the mumps or measles. I’ll have them see the doctor tomorrow.”

“Yes. Please do that, and let me know what you find out.” After a brief discussion of their symptoms, Parker asked to speak with his wife.

“Why, Parker, she’s not here.”

“Is she in London again?”

“I . . . I think so.”

There was a silence then, a clear sign to Parker that his mother knew more than she was saying. He had checked the license number written on the note through his friend at the Yard and knew that the car belonged to Charles Gooding. “I’ll try to get home as soon as I can,” he said, “but it’s busy here.”

He hung up the phone and then sat at his desk, a sense of depression and futility grasping him. He thought about going to find Veronica and having it out with her and making her go home, but he knew that would never do. He finally got up, put on a face that was suitable for company, and left his office.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Missing in Action

Lady Braden stared blankly at her daughter-in-law, too stunned to speak. The two were standing in the foyer, where Grace had caught Veronica just as she was preparing to leave. She had merely wanted to find out how long she would be gone, but Veronica had spoken bluntly, shocking Grace to the core.

“Going back on the stage?” Grace finally managed to say. “Why, that’s . . .” She was so stunned, she couldn’t even form a sentence.

“I don’t know why you should be so shocked, Grace. Surely you realized I would someday return to my career.”

“But things are different now, Veronica. You’re a mother. . . . What will you do about the children?”

A defensive light leaped to Veronica’s eyes. “They’re not babies anymore, and the money I make will be more than enough to hire a nanny for them.”

“But a nanny isn’t the same thing as a mother.”

Veronica smiled bitterly. “According to what Parker says about my care of them, a nanny would be even better.”

“He doesn’t mean that. He’s just on edge these days.”

“He means it, all right,” Veronica said grimly.

Grace tried desperately to think of something that would change Veronica’s mind, but she had little hope of success. “You know Parker will be totally against it.”

“I know. He believes a woman’s place is in the home having babies and taking care of them.” Bitterness touched the edge
of her lips, and she gave Grace a direct stare. “You might as well know it, Grace. Parker and I are going different ways.”