The Guest Who Stayed

Chapter 20 - Summer 1942

After Peter’s reported loss, Evie was plunged into despair. In spite of her relationship with Peter being so short, it had changed her in fundamental ways. She had enjoyed their intimate conversations and the feeling that nothing between them was barred. In their short time together they had discussed everything and nothing. But it wasn’t what they had discussed that mattered. It was the fact that for the first time Evie found the confidence to reveal her own inner thoughts and fears to another person. She hadn’t thought she could ever fall in love with a type like Peter with his affected RAF ways but she knew now that this was wrong.

 After six weeks of reclusive living and much self pity, Evie woke up one morning having buried the hurt deep within herself. She announced to Jed that she would be supporting the war effort from now on and that he would have to employ a nurse for Jack. Her days of tending to his increasingly demanding needs were over.

 Evie had planned to join the WAAF or the ATS but a local advertisement recruiting civilian secretaries for a new air base not far from Frampton made her decide to explore that option first. She made the journey in Peter’s blue MG. As his executor, Jack had decided that Evie should have the car, a generous act but one which left Evie feeling the loss of Peter every time she ventured out in it.

 RAF Oulton was a small airfield with a grass landing strip. It had been constructed as hostilities began in 1939 and was home to a squadron of Blenheims of Bomber Command. Evie provided secretarial and administrative services to the station’s commander, a quiet but daunting man with a short temper. She was soon fully absorbed in the life of the base and a succession of relationships with airmen followed. But most were short lived. In bombing raids over Germany, losses were heavy and there were many occasions when Evie waited in vain at the airfield for an airman to return, only to find out later that he had been shot down or ditched in the sea.

 The effect on Evie was to make her feel that the old world she had known before the war had disappeared. Now, nothing was as it seemed. What was worthwhile and good one day was a mere memory the next. Life was for living one day at a time. The future and the past became irrelevant.

 In 1943 concrete runways were laid down at RAF Oulton and the US Air Force arrived to share the base. The 803rd Bombardment Squadron was stationed at the airfield. The drone of their massive Flying Fortresses and Liberators became a common sound across the flat Norfolk countryside. The influx of airmen and technicians from across the Atlantic became a great source of interest for Evie and for Emma, who had also secured a job at the base. These American airman spoke differently, were usually gregarious and outgoing. They chewed gum, swore loudly and dated with fervour. There was a succession of men, each with a different story.

 Rick was from Saskatchewan. He was a navigator. At home he lived on a ranch and rode horses. His family had lived on their piece of land since arriving as settlers in the 1850s.

 “You know, Evie, when I’m out on them prairies, just me and my horse, that’s when I feel truly alive. Galloping full out across them grasslands, whooping and shrieking like the devil himself were behind me. Then at night, I’ll lay me by a stream and stare up at that inky black sky full of sparkling jewels just glinting down at me. And then I know that I know nothing. But you know, it don’t bother me. I just feel so happy being there, being part of something so beautiful and so incredible.”

 Rick died in early 1944 when his Liberator was shot down over Bremen.

 Luke was black. Evie thought him the most handsome man she’d ever met. He was tall and broad shouldered with a deep baritone voice and he would occasionally sing to her - songs from his homeland in Alabama. Evie didn’t understand at first why other airmen seemed to be avoiding her, sniggering when she was in his company or calling out names.