Two Blackbirds by Garry Ryan Page A

a fucking bit of difference.”
    Sharon felt her shoulders drop as she opened the throttle and eased over the top of the hill, flying on to Upavon. Keep your mind on the job, she thought as she lined up on finals and landed.
    It took more than four hours for the rescue crew to find the wreck, recover the body, and return to Upavon. Sharon stayed to identify the body, then flew back with Ernie to White Waltham.
    Edgar was waiting. He saw the grim exhaustion in Sharon’s face and helped her from the Storch without saying a word. He put his arm around her shoulder and held her close. He smelled of motor oil, soap, and coffee.
    â€œI guess I’d better let everyone know.” Sharon turned to get her kit.
    â€œWe’ll take care of your gear,” Edgar said.
    She walked around the corner of the hangar toward the dispersal hut. Through the white-framed windows, she could see the faces of pilots turned her way.
    Mother greeted her at the door. There was a strange look on his face. One side of his mouth was turned down. He put his hand on her shoulder, but said nothing. He’s already heard, but is waiting for me to make the announcement. Sharon looked at the coffee urn, thought better of grabbing a cup, then turned to the pilots sitting at tables. Expectant faces quietly studied her.
    â€œMolly Hume flew into a hill in the fog. Her body was found in the wreckage.” Sharon felt her shoulders sag.
    A wail erupted. It was Lady Ginette. Three of the pilots crowded around the woman as the volume of her grief increased.
    Sharon stood there open-mouthed. But you and your clan treated Molly like dirt!
    â€œBut she was so young! I can’t believe it. I saw her just yesterday. It could happen to me!” Lady Ginette said.
    Sharon shook her head, turned on her heel, and went out the door.

CHAPTER 12
    [WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1944]
    â€œYou’ve been awfully quiet,” Linda said as she walked beside Sharon on the way back to the cottage.
    The evening sun was low, and it caught them on the sides of their faces. The greenery was lit with oranges and yellows. Shadows ran long across the gravel lane.
    Sharon shrugged.
    â€œYou haven’t even asked about Milton and me.” Linda lifted the bag off of her left shoulder and switched it to her right.
    â€œSo, how was your leave with Milton?” Sharon looked ahead along the lane where trees provided shade when the sun was high, thus keeping part of the lane cool even on the hottest of days.
    â€œFun.” Linda tried to see what Sharon was looking at.
    â€œOh.” Sharon looked at her friend and saw that Linda was smiling. “This is a switch.”
    â€œOh?” Linda tucked her left hand inside Sharon’s elbow.
    Be careful how you say this, Sharon thought.
    â€œWell?” Linda squeezed her friend’s arm.
    â€œI’m thinking.”
    â€œOut with it,” Linda said.
    â€œI’m the one who’s melancholy, and you’re the one who’s looking on the bright side of things.” Sharon turned to her friend, tried to smile, and succeeded, sort of.
    â€œThat wasn’t so bad. Was I that awful to be around?” Linda continued to hold her sister-in-law close.
    Sharon thought, Don’t answer that!
    â€œMy mother says that when my father came back from the first war, he was a different person. When I was a child, he would often wake up screaming after a nightmare. There was one name in particular that he would scream. It was Robert. Mother told me that father saw Robert killed. They had been friends in school.” Linda hesitated for a moment and looked past Sharon. Sharon went to say something, then stopped.
    â€œIt was such a horrible experience he tried to forget,” Linda went on, “but the memories would wake him up in the night. I remember the look on my father’s face the morning after a nightmare. He had a haunted look. A faraway gaze. It made him look like he was being