Whispers of a New Dawn (21 page)

“What?”

“Kiss me.”

He leaned forward to her and kissed her gently. He pulled back…and then took her close to him and kissed her again, this time with more confidence. She whispered something in his ear but he couldn’t hear it. He kissed her again, lifting her in his arms and carrying her into the waves. The sea broke over them and she ran her hands and fingers over his face and hair and back as the foam streamed off their shoulders and arms.

“Are you still scared?” he asked.

A wave smashed into them. Her fingers went to his mouth. “Yes. But I don’t want to stop if that’s what you’re asking.”

“It’s not what I’m asking.”

“What are you asking then?”

“If we can keep going until the sun drops behind the mountains and the stars come out.”

“That’s a long time.”

“Can you handle it?”

“Am I scrawny?” she asked, smiling as the water roared all around them, her fingers still playing with his lips.

“No.”

“Ugly?”

“No.”

“A snot-nosed kid?”

“No.”

“Then maybe I should be asking if you can handle me. Can you?”

“How am I doing so far?”

She stopped smiling, silver water drops beading on her face. “You’re taking the heart out of me. And putting it somewhere else. Somewhere safe. And I like it.” She pulled his head toward her with both of her
hands locked together and covered his mouth with her own, putting all her strength and spirit into the kiss. In a few moments he didn’t feel the ocean surge against his legs and chest anymore or hear the breaking of the waves against their bodies.

S
IXTEEN

H
as it become serious?”

“Yes.”

Ruth looked up from her quilting. “Have you told your mother and father?”

Becky traced a pattern on the tabletop with her finger. “I’ve told them a little.”

“And how are you feeling about it?”

“Sometimes I’m up. Sometimes I’m down. But—”

“But?”

“I want to keep going. I really care for him.”

“And how does he treat you?”

Becky smiled. “I feel cherished.”

Ruth returned the smile. “And how long has it been serious?”

“Since he kissed me. Two weeks ago.”

“Have you given Moses back to God then?”

“I think of him. I love him. But I’ve taken what you and Bishop Zook said to heart. Some days it’s easier to let go of him than others, though.” She looked out the window at the sunset. “Now and then Raven reminds me of him—the gentleness.”

“What about what was damming this Raven up inside? Has he come to terms with that?”

“Yes.”

“Did you help him? Did you pray for him?”

“Yes.”

“I noticed him at church last Sunday. He is a handsome young man and appears to be polite. And he attended to what Pastor Thor had to say.” She made a stitch. “Are those men with him pilots also?”

“Most of them. The one in whites is with the Coast Guard.”

“They all seemed friendly enough with you.”

“I like them. They’re good guys.”

“You must introduce me sometime. Your mother was talking about having some of them over for Thanksgiving.”

“They’d love that.”

Ruth sniffed. “There’s nothing like good solid Amish fare for a man.” She held up the corner of the quilt she was working on. “Hm.” She put it back down and smoothed it out. “You’re still helping this Raven hone his flying skills?”

“Not anymore. He doesn’t know it but tomorrow morning things take on a new twist.”

“Oh? And what is that?”

“I’ll tell you after tomorrow.” Becky stood and stretched. “I’m turning in. Four o’clock always comes too fast for me.
Gute nacht
.”

“
Gute nacht
, my dear.”

Raven was waiting for Becky by Flapjack’s office when her father dropped her off.

“That old jeep of your dad’s is still putting in a day’s work, eh?”

“It is.” She placed a kiss on his cheek. He gathered her up in his arms, lifted her off the ground, and kissed her on the lips, holding the kiss for a long minute.

“Hey.” She laughed. “Since when do you kiss me like that at six in the morning?”

“I missed you.”

Her green cat eyes gleamed as she smoothed back his blond hair. “And I missed you. But we weren’t apart that long.”

“Even a minute can be an agony.”

She arched her eyebrows. “Agony? Have you been reading Shakespeare?”

“Just the Bible. Same kind of English, isn’t it?”

“Pretty much.” She hugged him. “I love how you feel in my arms. Especially when you have your flight jacket on.”

“Exactly how do I feel, Becky?”

“Just right.” She kissed him quickly on the lips. “Now tell me why you’re standing here instead of waiting out by the plane?”

“Well…you walk out to me every morning—and I’m watching you—and I got to thinking—suppose the walk makes her uncomfortable—you know, my eyes on you the whole time and all that—”

“All that? You nut.” She hugged him again, harder this time. “I loved the feeling it gave me before you ever took me in your arms. What kind of feeling do you think it gives me now?”

“I just didn’t want you to feel embarrassed by anything I did.”

“I’m not. I feel special when you look at me. I can see what’s in your eyes.”

“What’s that?”

“Me.” She mussed his hair. “Wizard would kill a person for doing this to his hair.” She started to pat it down again. “Anyway. You’d better get out to the Piper.”

“Aren’t you coming?”

“Not today. You don’t need me anymore, hotshot.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve got the stunts under your belt.”

“Beck—”

She put her hands on both sides of his face. “Hey. It’s been great. It brought us together. Now you have to do what a combat pilot does all on your own.” She went on her tiptoes and kissed his forehead. “Except you won’t be alone up there today, Thunderbird. Watch your back.”

He gave her a puzzled look, his eyebrows coming together. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m not supposed to tell you. But, after all, I am your girl, right?”

“You are.”

“So check with Flapjack before you go up.”

Glancing back at her he opened the door to Flapjack’s office. Lockjaw was in the chair.

“Yo, Thunderbird. Whassup?”

Raven stared at him. “What are you doing here?”

“They asked me to cover.”

“Where’s Flapjack?”

“Search me.”

Raven closed the door and turned back to Becky. He shook his head and grinned.

“You’re worth fighting for,” he said.

“Yeah? Well, that’s what you’ll be doing in the air a few minutes from now.”

“Okay, beautiful, what’s going on?”

“Flapjack is coming up after you. He’ll be on your tail.”

“Flapjack. Is that it?”

“No. My dad’s going to be on your case too.”

“Your dad. Jude Whetstone. The ace. People talk about him the way they talk about Eddie Rickenbacker. He was that good.”

“He’s still that good. Watch yourself.”

The early color in the sky lit his blue eyes. It made her smile.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Nothing’s funny. You’re gorgeous, that’s all.”

“Sure I am.” He looked toward his Piper. As he did he noticed two other J-3s warming up on the runway. “Is that them?”

“It is.”

“Baron von Richthofen and his Flying Circus?”

“Yup.”

“Wish me well.”

“Of course.” She suddenly wrapped her arms around him and gave him a fast and hard kiss. “You’ve come a long way. Now keep going. God bless you, Christian Scott Raven.”

“It’s just a game. There’s no war.”

Her eyes were a dark jungle green, the kind of green he saw when he hiked back into the thick growth of Oahu’s forests. “People are dying by the millions, Raven. In Europe. In Russia. In China. There’s a war. You’re supposed to save them. Remember? You’re a fighter pilot. Promise me you’ll save them.”

“Aren’t you going just a little bit overboard?”

“Ask my brother. He watched pregnant women get raped and their newborns bayoneted.”

“Beck—”

“You’re my man now. Aren’t you?”

“Sure, Beck, but—”

“Save them.”

He ran a thumb gently over her dark blond eyebrows. “You have so much beauty inside and out. How can a guy say no to you?” He began to head across the runway. “I miss your walk to the J-3 already.”

“I’ll do other walks for you, Thunderbird.”

“Where and when?”

“I’ll start when you come in for your landing.”

“You’re going to come to me?” he turned and walked backward a moment, grinning.

She hugged her leather jacket around her. “I’ll run.”

Lockjaw came out of the office once Raven took off. No sooner was Raven up than the two Pipers that had been waiting lifted and headed after him. Raven went for height and Jude and Flapjack split apart, one going to Raven’s left, the other to his right.

Lockjaw grunted. “They take all this stuff with the Japanese seriously, don’t they?”

Becky hugged herself more tightly. “So long as they remember it’s a training exercise, not the real thing.”

Lockjaw popped several Chiclets into his mouth. “Babe, every time you go up it’s the real thing.” He glanced at her. “Don’t worry. He knows how to take care of himself.”

“I just…I just don’t want him to come in too low…hit buildings or trees by mistake—”

“He won’t.”

“Twisting and turning to get away from two war pilots? How do you know?”

“He has a better reason to land than he’s ever had before.” Lockjaw grinned and chewed. “Lucky stiff.”

Despite her anxiety Becky couldn’t hold back her smile. “You’re crazy, Lockjaw.”

“That’s what Mom always says.”

It began. Jude, in Piper number five, went at Raven head on. When Raven dove to avoid him Flapjack pounced on his back. Raven swung left and right and finally barrel rolled, flew upside down, then looped around on Flapjack’s tail and would not be shaken off until Jude bore down on him from above. Raven dove sharply to treetop level, and Becky was sure she saw palm fronds spin into the air, snapped lose by the turbulence. He was closely followed by Jude while Flapjack maneuvered to get above him for an attack once he pulled up. But Raven fooled them both, actually touching his wheels down on an open field, the dust flying, while Jude ripped past overhead, then jumping up onto Jude’s tail, gaining height rapidly, finally breaking away to dive on Flapjack, who suddenly found himself a thousand feet below Raven.

Lockjaw popped more Chiclets. “Your boyfriend seems to be holding his own. But now comes the tough part.”

Becky slipped her eyes onto him. “What are you talking about?”

“They didn’t tell you because they knew you’d tell him. Surprise.” He jerked upward with his chin.

An aircraft flashed out of the sun at Raven’s Piper. Becky’s mouth opened. It was a P-40 painted army green. She knew Raven would have to be as startled as she was but he kept his cool and waited until the P-40 was on top of him before dropping quickly and making it tear past just as Jude had been forced to do minutes before. Then he was up and on the Warhawk’s tail. This lasted only a second before the P-40 streaked away. But now both Jude and Flapjack were on Raven’s back.

“That isn’t right!” Becky was shouting. “These souped-up J-3s can only go one-forty tops. The P-40 can go twice as fast!”

Lockjaw chewed. “Actually the Warhawk can go more than twice as fast—three-sixty.”

“It’s not fair! How can he fight against that?”

“War’s not fair, babe. Let’s see how he does.”

“See how he does? Three against one, and the P-40 goes almost four hundred miles an hour?”

Lockjaw chewed rapidly. “Don’t worry. It’s Billy Skipp. He was an ace too. He knows what he’s doing.”

The P-40 roared over Raven’s Piper as it fled Jude and Flapjack and then banked to come back for another pass. Raven decided to go into a corkscrew, diving and spinning away from the Piper J-3s and the Warhawk. Billy Skipp went after him, diving sharply on the spiraling yellow plane.

“Are they crazy?” Becky yelled. “They could kill someone!”

“The whole area’s been cleared. No one’s on the ground. No other Pipers are up. In fact no other aircraft are allowed in this zone.”

“What if Raven heads out to sea and over the beaches?”

“They’ll go after him. But they’ll stay high.”

“These guys are all cowboys! Who knows what Skipp will do?”