Two Blackbirds (18 page)
McBride strode toward them. “There's been a change in plans.”
“What's up?” Sharon waited for him to come closer.
“A mechanical problem in Belgium. We need you to fly there, pick up the wounded men, and fly them to Prestwick.” McBride crossed his arms and stood with his feet shoulder-width apart.
“Says who?” Sharon asked.
Walter took a breath.
“It's been cleared by d'Erlanger.” McBride's voice had the added edge of command.
Sharon looked at Linda and Walter. “You two okay with that?”
Linda shrugged. “Those boys need a ride home.”
Walter asked, “Home?”
“I'm assuming that when we refuel at Prestwick, we'll be told there are no extra crews and we'll be ordered on to Greenland, Newfoundland, and. . .” Sharon looked at McBride, then smiled.
McBride blushed. His arms dropped. “The wounded are amputees. They need to get to McGuire General Hospital in Richmond, Virginia.”
“Why not tell us that from the beginning?” Sharon studied the colonel's face and watched his defenses fall.
“We didn't exactly get off to a good start. And. . .” McBride began. The three waited. “. . .I'm tired of all the killing. I'd like to get those boys home. Do something I can be proud of.”
“Why didn't you say that in the first place?” Sharon looked at Linda and Walter. “Okay with you two?”
Walter nodded. Linda did the same.
Sharon looked at McBride.
What else aren't you telling us?
“Where will we get the charts, maps, and headings?”
“They'll be waiting for you at Prestwick.” McBride looked at his watch.
“Have you got a piece of paper?” Linda pointed at McBride. “I want you to call and explain what's happening and where we'll be. It's the number of my brother, Michael Townsend.”
McBride reached into a pocket and pulled out a blue envelope. “Write his name and number on the back of this.”
Sharon saw that the return address on the envelope was Richmond, Virginia. She handed Linda a pencil.
Two hours later, they touched down at Chièvres Air Base in southwestern Belgium. After they shut down the engines, Sharon asked, “How are we doing for fuel?”
Walter had been keeping a running tally of the fuel consumption. “Plenty to get us to Prestwick.”
“So we fuel up there before leaving for Goose Bay?” Linda looked out the window at the row of green ambulances with red crosses on their sides and roofs. “How many wounded are we carrying?”
They maneuvered their way out of their seats, walked down the centre of the fuselage, and opened the rear cargo door. A ramp was being rolled up to the side of the aircraft. Four soldiers were already approaching the ramp with one man on a litter. He was covered with blankets and only his face was visible.
He can't be more than eighteen,
Sharon thought.
Sharon, Walter, and Linda backed away from the door as one stretcher after another was brought on board. The wounded were stacked two high along either side of the interior of the aircraft.
Linda turned to Sharon. “I'll do the walkaround.” She walked down the ramp.
Walter tapped Sharon on the shoulder. “We'd better get started on the preflight checks. I want to make sure I've got the feel of the cockpit.” He followed her to the cabin.
One of the wounded soldiers reached out to touch her sleeve. Sharon looked at the face of a boy with brown hair and blue eyes. He reminded her of her brother Sean. He asked, “Are you flying us home?”
Sharon smiled and nodded. She saw that he was using the only hand he had to grip her clothing. “That's right. In twenty-four hours, you will be back in the States.”
“Where you from?” he asked.
“Canada.” Sharon touched his hand. “Can I come back and talk after we're in the air?”
The soldier nodded and closed his eyes. “Sure.”
Sharon didn't make it back to the cabin until they'd taken off from Prestwick and were well on their way to Goose Bay, Labrador. She could feel the aircraft becoming a little lighter, a little livelier, as they burned off a fraction of the heavy load of fuel. Sharon tapped Linda on the shoulder. “Okay if I take a break?”
Linda opened her eyes and sat up straight. “What?”
Sharon nodded and waited for Linda to slide her seat forward, take a drink from a thermos of coffee, rub the sleep from her eyes, and take a look around. “You have control.” Sharon waited to ensure the transition was smooth, then slid the seat back, took off her headphones, and undid her harness.
Walter looked up from his notepad and smiled. Sharon leaned close to his ear in order to be heard over the rattling roar of the four radial engines. “How are we doing with fuel?”
Walter handed her the pad. She looked over the individual engine consumptions, total amount of fuel remaining, and their reserve. “Two hours?” Sharon pointed at what was framed in a box on the paper.
Walter nodded. “That's our reserve. We can make it all the way to Goose Bay if we like.”
Sharon nodded, put her hand on Walter's shoulder, and walked toward the back of the aircraft.
The smell hit her. It was a blend of iodine, sulpha, and dried blood. Sharon spotted the wounded soldier she'd talked with before. His eyes were open and he was watching her. She put her hand on his remaining arm and crouched down so he could hear her over the engines.
“You're back.” He looked at her and smiled.
“Stretching my legs.” Sharon saw that what remained of his left arm was out from under the blanker. The stump was bandaged just above the elbow.
“Still don't know what hit me. One minute I was up. The next I was in the snow and my buddy was screamin' for a medic.”
Sharon nodded. “Where you from?”
“San Diego. How about you?”
“Calgary. For the last five years, I've been living in England.” Sharon looked toward the tail of the aircraft.
“Calgary?” the soldier asked.
“Just north of Montana.” She watched the trio of flight nurses. They wore slacks and battle jackets and moved from patient to patient. The oldest of the three was attaching a bottle of plasma to a hook above a litter near the tail. The other two appeared to defer to her.
“Okay. Gotcha now. I've never been to Canada.”
“You'll be there in a few hours. We land in Goose Bay, and then it's on to Montreal.” Sharon stood up. “Back in a minute.”
She walked toward the nurse who had the short blonde hair. She was a bit stockier than the others, and had eyes that seemed to take everything in all at once. Sharon touched the flight nurse on the shoulder. She felt the tension there.
The nurse turned and frowned. “What?”
Sharon saw the name
ROLLINS
on the breast of the woman's jacket. “Could we talk for a minute?”
Rollins looked right and left. “Only for a minute.”
Sharon led the way to the front of the aircraft to a relatively private space between the cockpit and main body of the aircraft. She stood nose to nose with Rollins. “Anything I need to know?” she asked. “Right now, we can stop off in Reykjavik, Iceland if we need to. I'd prefer to continue on to Goose Bay. I just want to make sure I have all the information before a decision is made.”
Rollins pushed back her garrison cap. “We're short of penicillin and morphine. Everyone is. I'm hearing that there may be as many as fifty thousand wounded.” She hitched her thumb over her shoulder. “One of the boys lost both legs and has shrapnel wounds. He has an infection. He's the one I'm most worried about. And there are two others who are running hot. They're being closely watched. I have enough penicillin for the next fourteen hours, but no more.”
“Do you want me to ask if it's available in Reykjavik?” Sharon asked.
“Yes.” Rollins put her hand on Sharon's shoulder, smiled, turned, and went back to her patients.
Sharon returned to the cockpit, maneuvered her way into her seat, and put on her headphones.
Linda glanced left and raised her eyebrows.
Sharon looked at the checklist, found the frequency for Reykjavik, and picked up the microphone. “Reykjavik tower, this is Yankee Papa Zulu. We're looking for penicillin. Any available?” She could feel Linda's and Walter's eyes on her.
About thirty seconds later, the radio crackled. “Yankee Papa. Negative on the penicillin. Available at Goose.”
Sharon took off her headphones and went back into the cabin. She spotted Rollins and tapped her on the shoulder. “According to Reykjavik, Goose is our best bet.”
Rollins nodded, then held up her right hand with fingers crossed.
Sharon headed back to the cockpit and checked her watch.
If everything
works just right from here on in, we should be okay.
They landed at Goose Bay just after sunrise.
After the hours of transatlantic flight, it was a wonderland of ice, snow, cleared runway, and evergreen trees.
When they taxied in, Sharon switched the radio to ground control. “Goose ground, Yankee Papa requests food, penicillin, and fuel.”
“Affirmative for fuel and food. Negative on the penicillin.”
Sharon touched the microphone to reply. She felt Walter's hand on her shoulder. He lifted the right side of her headset. “Give me a chance to track some down. Get the nurse to give you a list of what she needs, and I'll see what I can do.”
After shutting down the engines and completing their checklist, Linda, Sharon, and Walter filed out of the cockpit.
Sharon watched as the nurses took food and coffee on board.
I don't
know how they keep going. We spell each other off and take catnaps. They
never seem to stop.
She walked over to Rollins, took her to the cargo door, and walked with her down the ramp. Ahead of them, Walter talked to the driver of an ambulance. The driver nodded, pointed at the passenger door, climbed in the driver's side, started the truck, and drove away.
“See that?” Sharon nodded in the direction of the departing ambulance.
Rollins nodded as she sipped from a stainless steel thermos cup.
“Walter is on the hunt for supplies.” Sharon caught a whiff of coffee. “Any more of that around?”
Rollins handed her the cup. “Hold this. I'll be right back.”
Sharon looked out over the airfield. She inhaled the crisp air and the scent of pine. She closed her eyes and opened them when she smelled coffee. There was cup under her nose. Sharon and Rollins switched cups.
A Jeep approached. It stopped near the ramp. A man unfolded himself from behind the wheel. He wore a blue uniform and a cap with gold braid across the brim. His hair was grey on the sides, and his jowls seemed to hang over his tight collar. He didn't smile as he approached. He looked toward the nose of the aircraft and stopped. He regarded Sharon and Rollins. “Who's the captain of this aircraft?”
Sharon heard the authority of command in his voice. She said, “Flight Captain Lacey.”
“Where is he?”
“You're looking at her, sir.” Sharon took a sip of coffee.
“Elliot.” He offered his hand.
Sharon shook it. “What can we do for you, sir?”
“I'm afraid I have a problem. We're short of crews, and your replacements won't arrive until tomorrow.” Elliot looked at Rollins.
Rollins took a sip of coffee. “These boys can't wait overnight,” she said. “I've got one who's fighting an infection and two who are showing early symptoms of it. They'll be dead if we wait for tomorrow. We need penicillin.”
Sharon looked across the airfield to see if Walter was on his way back. “My copilot and I've been spelling each other off on the way over. We'll be able to fly the last thirteen hundred miles to Richmond.”
“The sooner we get there, the better.” Rollins looked at Elliot.
“There is a shortage of medical supplies. We've rationed penicillin at this end. The next shipment is expected tomorrow with the replacement crews.” Elliot turned to Sharon. “You're authorized to continue on to Richmond as soon as refueling is completed.” He turned, walked away, and climbed into his Jeep.
Rollins waited until Elliot drove away. “No, thank you. I don't want to fly to Virginia with a couple of dead boys on board. That's what will happen if we have to stay here overnight.”
“There's a war on, remember?” Sharon smiled.
Rollins laughed. “So I've been told.”
“What was he looking at that made him stop after he got out of the Jeep?” Sharon looked at the nurse.
Rollins laughed so hard she almost spilled her coffee. “You mean you don't know?”
“Know what?”
Rollins took her by the elbow and walked her the length of the fuselage until they stood near the nose. She pointed up at the side of the fuselage. “See that?”
Sharon looked at the name
Sunflower
II
painted along the nose under the cockpit. “See what?”
“
Sunflower
II
means that this is General Eisenhower's personal aircraft.” Rollins raised her eyebrows.
“You can't be serious!”
That's what McBride was hiding.
“What's all the excitement about?” Linda approached from under the wing.
“We've been flying General Eisenhower's
C
-
54
.” Sharon pointed at the name.
“Oh, that's exciting.” Linda moved closer and looked up.
“The problem is that Eisenhower may be wondering where his aircraft is.” Sharon sipped her coffee.
Oh, what the hell! As soon as it's
discovered I'm pregnant, I'll be grounded anyway.
“I wondered what McBride was up to. He was extremely nervous when he said he wanted to do something good for a change.” Linda looked at Rollins.