Free The Lost Years by E.V. Thompson Page B

excited about it.’
    ‘I was terrified when I went up for my first lesson,’ Rupert confessed. ‘So much so that I almost changed my mind about transferring to the RFC. But once in the air it was like nothing I had ever known. You’ll find it the same. Now, stand by to swing the propeller, and don’t forget what I told you. Swing and get your hands - and yourself - out of the way immediately. It probably won’t do anything unexpected, but however long it takes, jump back every time. Once I have the engine started get into the cockpit as quickly as you can.’
    It took a few swings for Perys to get used to the resistance of the engine to his efforts. At the seventh attempt the engine started as he jumped back, only to die again immediately. However, after the next swing the engine picked up in a series of noisy explosions and quickly gathered speed. Fighting against the slipstream, Perys scrambled over the wing and dropped awkwardly into the forward of the two cockpits. Once there he fastened the safety belt and pulled over his eyes the goggles Rupert had produced for him.
    The noise from the engine increased and suddenly the aeroplane began moving. From the cockpit, Perys returned the waves of Maude and the two girls who had come to witness the beginning of his great adventure.
    The field had appeared perfectly fiat to Perys when he looked at it a few days before, but the BE2c seemed to be finding a multitude of grass clumps. He thought, wryly, that the aeroplane felt as though it was waddling in the manner of a duck on dry land.
    Then the aeroplane turned. The engine noise rose to a crescendo, the whole machine began to shake, and moments later it began to move forward at a rapidly increasing speed.
    Suddenly there were no more bumps beneath the wheels. In spite of this, Perys did not realise they had left the ground until he saw some trees to one side of the BE2c and realised the aeroplane was above them.
    A tap came upon his shoulder and Perys turned to see Rupert grinning at him and holding up a thumb in a signal that all was well.
    Perys grinned back at the pilot and nodded emphatically.
    He had been apprehensive about this, his first flight, concerned that he might not enjoy the experience. Might even be frightened. However now he was actually in the sky, in an aeroplane, he was filled with an overwhelming sense of exhilaration. It was the most exciting thing he had ever done. Perhaps ever would do.
    They were still gaining height but already he could see the Cornish coastline stretching ahead and the small fishing villages and hamlets dotted along its irregular length. It was like looking at a large-scale map, etched in coloured relief.
    Another tap on the shoulder and with a snake-like movement of his hand, Rupert indicated that he intended following the coast to the westward, flying a little distance offshore.
    Perys nodded acknowledgement of the information and before long they had reached the Lizard, the promontory stretching into the English Channel, its tip being the most southerly point of mainland Britain.
    Rupert might easily have flown across the neck of the small peninsula. Instead, he chose to turn south, following the coast, seeking out a potential airfield.
    The BE2c had passed the tip of the Lizard and was over the sea, performing a slow, wide turn before heading westward once more, when Perys chanced to glance out of the seaward side of his cockpit. On the far horizon he could just make out smoke from a ship’s funnel. Purely as a matter of interest, he turned and attracted Rupert’s attention, pointing out to sea in an exaggerated fashion, fully expecting Rupert to do no more than acknowledge the fact that he too had seen the ship.
    Much to the surprise of Perys, Rupert levelled the aircraft in order to obtain a steadier view of the distant vessel. After a few minutes he banked the aeroplane in the opposite direction and began heading out farther into the Channel.
    Perys looked back at Rupert