Jenny in the Sky

The Other Language

"Ich wusste nicht, Heinrich sprach Englisch!"

"Scheint nicht die Art, tut er? Vielleicht kann er verstehen, was dieser Pilot ist unter seinem Atem wurde murmelnd zu machen."

Two fazed figures loomed over her. She blinked rapidly in the sudden light, but no matter. Everything was just a blur. She ached down to her toes and back up again, and her head pounded in quick, successive bursts.

"Er ist wach! Ist Heinrich kommt?"

Jenny felt a vague feeling of foreboding, but she couldn't think why. There was something wrong...

"Hello. English person. Can you hear me?"

She shifted her neck to the side, and stared at the outline of a crouched man. Whoever they were, they had a shock of startling blond hair, very green eyes, and a shapeless nose. That was all she could make out from the blurred edges.

"You alive, then? Not very clever coming here with only two planes. What happened to the rest of your group?"

Jenny groaned, turned her head, and slipped off, her eyelids pulling down until she forgot where he was and everything was peaceful.

                                                                              ***

The room was strikingly similar to back home.

There was a bookcase, and a table with cold coffee mugs, and a rug with tread marks on its faded red surface. Jenny raised a hand to her forehead, and lifted her head up. She was sat in a green armchair with an itchy rug flung across the top in a room that looked as though it had been furnished by someone with a very miserable life.

The door opened, and two men walked in. One looked vaguely familiar, with a head full of blond hair, the other she did not recognize. The latter said something in quick German to the blond man, who turned to Jenny.

"We want to know why the English are using women pilots now. Have they run out of men?"

Jenny looked at him, trying to understand what was being said. Eventually she struggled out a very simple"No."

The men looked at each other.

"Why were you flying a plane? Are you a spy?" the blond one asked.

"No," she said "I stole it."

The two men spoke in German again, glancing towards her at every pause in the conversation.

"You stole it?" he asked again "Who from?"

She began to get irritated. "Who do you think?"

"Why?"

"Because I was... rescuing someone." she said, too tired to lie.

"Resc...rescue...rescuing?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.

"Helping them. Stopping someone from being hurt."

This was translated into German for the other man, who then replied himself.

"Tell us what happened," he said, "Then we'll decide whether we believe you or not."

So Jenny told them everything.

                                                                           ***

AN: Sorry this was such a short chapter! I've been putting off writing this for weeks because I just didn't know how to start, so now I'm easing myself back in.

May put a picture of Jenny in the multimedia at some point, will change this when I do.

Used google translate for the German part, but if there is anyone German who has spotted a mistake, please let me know.

Thank you for reading, and if you enjoyed it, please vote! Bye!