Free Silver Wings by H. P. Munro

the person you thought you were marrying and the life you had,” she clarified.
    Lily lifted her head slightly to look at the hand resting lightly on her leg, the heat from Helen’s hand seemed to burn through the thick pant material, making Lily’s skin feel on fire. She turned to Helen with a perplexed look.
    Misinterpreting the look as one of concern about her disclosure, Helen was quick to appease her.
     “I won't say anything to anyone,” Helen gave a small smile, lifted her hand and ran it through her hair.
    “Thank you,” Lily watched as Helen dragged her fingertips through her soft curls, still feeling the heat on her thigh from the blonde's touch. She fell silent as she tried to rid herself of the confusing thoughts forming in her brain.
    They lay in comfortable silence, each lost in their thoughts as they studied the rafters above, neither conscious of time passing. The silence was broken when Lily asked quietly. “So what about you? How come you said you'd never marry?”
    Helen toyed with telling Lily the truth about her attraction to women. She felt guilty after Lily had been so open and honest, but she knew that it was too much of a risk to disclose her secret this early on in their fledgling friendship. She settled on telling the truth but omitting certain pertinent pieces of information.
     “I've never met that someone that makes me feel like I'm flying,” she smiled.
     Lily pursed her lips and nodded. “You never know, it could happen,” she shrugged.
    “It could,” Helen laughed, her smiled freezing as she heard an all too familiar sound. She breathed out a curse, furrowing her eyebrows at Lily's shocked expression. “That's Taps, we're out way beyond curfew.”
    A look of horror passed between them.
    “We'll be washed out,” Lily whispered.
    “Not if no-one sees us we won't,” Helen slid down the wing landing nimbly on the ground before turning and waiting for Lily to join her. Lily reached down for her violin case, clutching it to her chest as she took Helen's offered hand.
    They snuck back towards the bays keeping to the shadows. Helen peaked around the corner of the final bay, swearing quietly under her breath as she saw the retreating figure of Foster shine a torch through each bay's window checking everything was in order.
    “What is it?” Lily hissed.
    “Ssh. Wait,” Helen whispered back, she held her breath as Foster reached their bay, shining the torch in through the glass on the door. She let her breath out slowly as Foster lowered the torch and continued down the line of bunkhouses eventually stepping down at the end and gratefully heading towards her own bed.
    Helen counted to ten to make sure that Foster was far enough out of sight and hearing distance.
    “Okay, try not to make a noise,” she whispered, leading Lily onto the wooden walkway of the bays. They tiptoed down until they reached Bay Four, turning the doorknob slowly they slipped in and Helen turned to close the door quietly behind them. She heard Lily snigger and turned back into the bay, their beds had been plumped with clothing to make it appear as if they were in bed asleep.
    “You're so lucky I went to boarding school,” Adrienne drawled in the dark. “That's two things you owe me Rivera, don't think I've forgotten about my scarf.”
     

Chapter Five
    August 1943 – Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas
    Rosecroft, how'd you expect to pull a bomber out of a dive, if your weedy arms can't even haul your chin over a bar!” the PT instructor shouted as Adrienne attempted again to pull herself up, groaning at the effort, her legs flailing around as she fought to  give herself more momentum.
    “Sir. Yes. Sir,” she yelled as again she felt her arms give, leaving her hanging uselessly from the bar.
    Lily and Helen stood back waiting in line with Adele waiting for Adrienne, Marjorie, and Lucy to finish their pull-ups and move onto the next obstacle. As the PT instructor turned to shout at some of the women