Page 99 of The Spitfire Girls

‘You’re a beautiful old girl, that’s for sure,’ she muttered to herself. She decided to fly along the railway line that had been so fiercely protected during the war before turning in a perfect arc and heading back towards the airfield and doing a sneaky barrel roll. She laughed along with her grandson, feeling as lightheaded as a girl on her first ever flight. The scenery was familiar, yet different at the same time; she vividly recalled her first cross-country trip, proving to herself and to her commander that she understood geography and could find her way wherever she needed to go. Once she’d completed a large circle she signalled for Lewis to take over again, her hands unsteady and shaking the moment she relinquished control.

Years ago, before landing, she’d have giggled to herself as her plane zigzagged while she fixed her lipstick and quickly powdered her nose. She’d have been in the plane for hours and desperate for a toilet stop, but nothing stood in the way of her doing her face before she landed.

She shut her eyes as they made their descent, loving the shudder through her bones as the plane changed, the vibrations different now that they were heading back in, the noise of the engine spluttering more slowly. She felt like that young pilot again, that young, brave girl flying her favourite plane as Lizzie and May watched on below.

‘Well, someone’s a show-off!’ Lizzie called out as Ruby climbed out of the cockpit, her grandson’s hands guiding her safely on to the grass again. ‘Don’t think I didn’t see that roll!’

Ruby grinned at her friends, not noticing their grey hair or the way Lizzie’s hands were gnarled and knotted. Instead she saw her bright eyes and remembered her the way she’d been, with her sweep of lipstick and her perfect curls.

‘We did our country proud, didn’t we?’ May said, wiping her eyes.

‘We sure did,’ she whispered back, and they all embraced, holding each other tight.

‘You do know I received a medal from President Obama, don’t you?’ Lizzie said. ‘That outranks your little stunt in the air.’

May laughed. ‘She hasn’t changed a bit, has she?’

Ruby looked Lizzie in the eye. ‘Honey, I just flew a Spitfire the week of my ninetieth birthday. There’s no way you can beat that.’

‘You want to see if we can take the controls of a Halifax?’ Lizzie asked, as bright as she’d ever been, the rivalry still alive. ‘I might just win that first bomber flight second time around. What do you say?’

They all burst out laughing, heads bent together as they linked arms and walked off to find their families. Some of her friends had lost their lives in the air, had been cut down in their prime and denied the long life they’d deserved, but she’d had the privilege of living. And she’d loved every single moment of it.