By Monday afternoon I was ready to tear my hair out, and Buffy was going to start punching one of the recruiting officer's if I didn't find a way to settle her down pretty soon. Nobody would tell us how to go about applying for the new program, they just sent us from one flunky to another where we'd wait around for an hour or so before they said 'Sorry, ma'am, I can't help you, you need to go to blah blah blah.' So we went to 'blah blah blah' and sat around for another hour.

I swore this was the last waiting room I was going to hang out in; if we didn't get an answer here we were heading back to the field and going home. We'd told the sergeant sitting at a desk beside a door to an inner office what we wanted when we had come in, he'd asked us to have a seat and then disappeared into the inner office. He'd come back and told us it would be a couple of minutes. Now a harsh buzz came from some contraption he had on his desk, a moment later a distorted voice came from it but I couldn't understand what it said. He listened for a moment and then touched a button on the machine and said "Yes, sir."

He looked up at us, "Ladies, the major will see you now."

Buffy and I got up and went through the door the sergeant held open for us and we walked into a small office. The officer behind the desk was on the phone, he put his hand over the mouthpiece and looked up at us; he looked from me to Buffy and then back to me before he put his hand over the mouth piece of the phone and quietly asked me, "Barbara Thompson?"

"Yes, sir, that's me." I answered, I saw he had pilot's wings on his tunic, but he looked old for his rank, well into his forties I would guess although he looked fit.

He spoke into the phone, "Yes, ma'am. Barbara Thompson is one of the ladies."

He listened for a moment longer and then held the phone out to me, I took it, "Hello?"

A woman's voice asked, "Barbara Thompson?"

"Yes."

"Are you Frank and Margie's daughter?"

"Yes."

"This is Jackie Cochran, I knew your parents, I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Your Dad was one of my early instructors, he was a good teacher."

"Yes, he was."

"So you want to join my little troupe?"

"Yes ma'am, me and my friend."

"Your Dad taught you? How many hours have you got?"

"Yes, and over 500. Most in my Jenny, but over 200 in bigger planes, including 120 in multi-engine. I just got my ticket for multi-engine instructor."

"And your friend?"

"She's got about 260; she has all her single engine certifications and her multi-engine commercial ticket."

"Your Dad taught her?"

"No ma'am, I taught her, she's only been flying about three months."

"And she's got 260 hours!? Are they legit?"

"Yes ma'am, every one of them; and she's a natural; do you know Paul Tadowski?

"I've met him once or twice, and I know his reputation, he's a good pilot, why?"

"Just before she got her private ticket I asked him to take her up in his Staggerwing to give her some experience with a bigger plane and to practice radio procedures since all she'd been flying was my Jenny. He swore she had to have at least three or four hundred hours to handle the plane the way she did, it took a lot to convince him she had less than 40 hours in a Jenny and had never flown a Staggerwing before."

"Okay, look, we're going to have three basic groups, new girls with less than 50 hours are going to go through the standard army flight training down in Texas. Then I want a cadre of experienced instructors to help the army aviators teach at that school and additional schools as we expand. Third, I want a small group to go straight to flying; they'll take check flights up to the advanced training level and then be run through a quickie version of the advanced training syllabus to verify they can handle the job. Then we'll start certifying them on the planes we want them to really fly, I want them flying army planes as quickly as possible, within a couple months at the most."

"That's what we want, ma'am."

"That's what everyone wants, but you sound like you might be what I want."

"And Buffy, ma'am."

"Buffy?"

"My friend."

"I don't know, it doesn't sound like she has enough experience…"

"Ma'am, just give her a chance. You've got to know someone out here, have them give her a check ride."

There was a pause for a minute, "Okay, give me back to the major."

I handed him the phone and he listened to her for several minutes, taking notes on the pad in front of him and interjecting an occasional 'Yes, ma'am' or 'I understand.'

Finally he hung up and leaned back in his chair, he looked at me for a moment, "You're Frank and Margie's kid?"

"Yes."

"I knew your Dad a long time ago, during the last war; he saved my bacon a couple of times." He held out his hand, "Zach Taylor."

I took it, "Mr. Taylor? I'm sorry, I should have recognized you, you're in the picture my Dad had hanging over his desk the entire time I was growing up."

"I was a lot younger when that picture was taken Miss."

"Barbara, yes, still…"

He waved his hand at me, "So Barbara, you want to fly planes for the Army?"

"Yes, sir!"

"And your little friend there?"

Buffy responded before I could, "I'm standing right here! And I'm not little; I'm just the right size for my height!"

Major Taylor snorted, "She's a real spitfire, isn't she?"

"Still right here!"

"Buffy, relax, I know these types, the more you react to them the more they'll keep doing it."

Buffy glared at me and then back to the Major, she put her hands on his desk and leaned toward him, something in her bearing changed, I had seen it once or twice, it was like she had suddenly become a very large predator rather than a rather petit young woman, "Yes, I want to fly planes for your fucking Army."

Her language and demeanor set the Major back in his seat, he was startled more than actually intimidated I thought, he returned her gaze for a moment, "Well, yes, maybe you will do just fine. No offense meant, Miss."

Buffy nodded and stood up straight, I looked at the Major, "So, what do we have to do?"

He glanced at his watch, "It's pretty late; we aren't going to be able to do it today. How long are you going to be in town?"

"We can stay another day; then we need to get back to the ranch. But we can come down anytime we need to; it takes less than an hour."

"You live close to LA?"

"Sunnydale."

"That's a lot longer than an hour!"

"I've got a Model 18, family plane."

"Oh, right. Well, I've got a bunch of forms for you to fill out and then there is some stuff you'll have to provide for us to check, birth certificates, licenses, things like that. I've got a list here. Once all the paperwork is done then you have to have a physical, we can get that done over at the recruit depot."

"We should have everything you need to check, let me see." I held out my hand and he handed me the pad he had been writing on, I looked it over, "Yeah, we've got everything with us."

He nodded and took back the pad, "Good, I'll get the forms you'll need to fill out and you can do that this evening. Then you can bring them back in the morning and I'll check them and the rest of your paperwork, if it all checks then you can get the physicals."

"Sounds like a plan."

"The other thing is that Jackie wants me to give your friend a check ride."

"My name is Buffy, not 'your friend'!"

"Okay, Miss Buffy…"

"God! You sound like Drusilla!"

"Drusilla?"

"Never mind, an old, old acquaintance." She stuck out her hand, "Buffy Summers."

He took it and shook it, "Miss Summers, Zach Taylor."

"I heard."

I intervened at that point, "I'm sure Buffy would love to take you up, we've got the Model 18 at the LA airport if you want to use that."

"No, I've got a PT-17 out there we use for recruiting flights and demonstrations; I think we'll use that."

Buffy nodded, "Fine."

"Have you ever flown a PT-17, or a Stearman?"

"I've flown a Staggerwing a couple of times."

"Okay, then you'll have some familiarity; the PT-17 is a lot hotter though. How are you ladies getting around?"

"Bus, or walking," I answered.

"It's late enough; I can call it a day. Let me get the paperwork you need to fill out and then we can take my car out to the airport and I can give Miss Summers her check ride."

Buffy spoke up, "Good, I'm tired of all the walking around we've had to do today."

He grinned at her, "You want to join the Army and you don't like walking, not a good combination."

"I want to join the Army Air Force, I like flying."

He chuckled as he got up from behind his desk, "You'll still do a lot of walking, and marching." He led us back to the outer office with his pad in hand; he gave the pad to the sergeant, "Would you get these forms for the ladies, they'll need two of each and you better have some extras in case they mess one up. I'll go over to the FBI's office and get the back-ground check form; we should really have some of those over here."

"Yes, sir," the sergeant got up and started going through the file cabinets pulling out forms as the major left the office.

Buffy looked at the growing pile, "Can't we just fill out one copy and xerox… oof"

I elbowed her in the ribs; I knew she was about say something that wouldn't make sense, I tried to cover up, "Do we have to type any of these?"

"No, they can all be filled out by hand," the sergeant said as he looked questioningly over his shoulder at Buffy, "you were saying Miss?"

Buffy shook her head, "Nothing…"

He nodded and went back to collecting forms.

"We need two of each form, in pen, minor strike outs and corrections are permitted but you have to initial each one, if you make a major mistake fill out a new one. I've given you an extra of each, two of the longer ones." He said as he handed each of us a half inch thick stack of forms. I sat down and started to leaf through them, damn there was a lot of them. "Here, ma'am, you can put them in this."

I looked up and the sergeant was holding out a big manila envelope, I took it and stuffed the forms into the envelope. Buffy had her forms in a similar envelope and she was looking at it disgustedly, "Well, that sort of ruins any plans we had for this evening."

The Major was back a few minutes later with another form for each of us, he went back into his office and came back out a minute later with his uniform coat on and his hat in his hand, "Ladies, if you're ready?"

The ride out to the LA airport only took about fifteen minutes; I got Major Taylor to talk about when he had flown with Dad in France. He kept it light; talking about the flying and the stunts some of the pilots would pull to ease the tension in the squadron and not about the actual fighting itself. Dad had been the same way, it was tough to get him to talk about the War and even when he did it was about everyday things or funny things.

I thought back to the picture that hung above my Dad's desk, there were three young men standing in front of a Spad, grinning at the camera, Dad, Major Taylor although he wasn't a Major then, just a Lieutenant like Dad, and another man, Ben Carter, who hadn't survived the war. Taylor and Carter we're congratulating Dad on his fifth victory, making him an Ace. Dad had ended the war a double Ace with ten kills, I thought Major Taylor had eight and I didn't know how many Carter had; Dad would hardly ever talk about him except to say he was a great guy.

We pulled into the airport and Major Taylor drove down to the far end of the field where there was a hanger painted army green and several P-40s were parked in front of it. I looked longingly at the low slung airplanes with the long noses; they looked like they were flying even sitting on the ground. We came to a stop behind them near the open door to the hanger; I got out of the car followed by Buffy clambering out of the back seat.

A sergeant came out of the hanger at a trot and yelled at us, "Hey, no civilians…"

The Major stepped around from the driver's side and the sergeant came to a stumbling stop, he came to attention and threw his hand up to his forehead, "Sorry, sir."

The Major returned his salute, "No problem son; just doing your job, you're new around here?"

"Yes, sir, reported in yesterday."

"I'm Major Taylor; you'll see me around, I work downtown but get out here pretty regularly. I need to take the PT-17 up for a check ride, is she available?"

"Uh, yes sir. Just let me get Captain Jenkins."

"Good afternoon, sir!" another voice called out from the hanger door where an officer dressed in flying coveralls and with an overseas cap crammed on his head was coming out, "How can we help you today?"

"Afternoon, Captain Jenkins, I need to take this young lady," he nodded at Buffy, "up for a check ride in the PT-17."

"Yes, sir, she's ready to go, but why on earth would this little beauty need a check ride?"

"We're enlisting," I said.

"Enlisting for what?"

"To do what you do!" Buffy said.

"Little lady, you can't do what I do, I'm a fighter pilot."

"I can do…" I slugged Buffy's shoulder to shut her up before she sank us before we even got in, I was very familiar with her feelings about what she called 'women's lib', this wasn't the time or place for her to get labeled as a radical. My fist stung and the loud 'smack' from my punch brought their attention to me, Buffy just shrugged like I'd tapped her on the shoulder.

I knew I reddened a little but I forged ahead, ignoring their stares, "We know, but we can fly and we can take care of a lot of the other flying duties so you can do what you were trained to do, fight."

He nodded, although he was still looking a little skeptically at Buffy, "Yeah, it could help, but I don't think your little friend there would be able to handle any of the fighters, maybe some of the smaller trainers."

Buffy glared at him but kept her mouth shut, "Well, why don't we let the Major take her up and see?"

"Or why don't you take me up?" Buffy said, suddenly changing her expression to a sweet smile.

The Major shrugged, "That sounds like a good idea, save me from having to change. You up for it, Captain?"

"Sure, what do you need checked?"

"Buffy doesn't have any experience in the PT-17 but she has flown a Staggerwing," he turned to Buffy, "and you're familiar with acrobatics, I understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"She's been doing my, well Dad's, old show routine in the Jenny for a couple of months, would the PT-17 handle it?"

The Major nodded, "Yeah, nothing you can do in a Jenny will exceed the PT-17s limits."

"What routine are you talking about?" the Captain asked.

"My Dad's old barnstorming routine, just a bunch of acrobatics strung together."

"Captain, go ahead and take Buffy up, familiarize her with the aircraft and if she's capable of handling it have her go through her routine."

"Yes, sir," he turned to the sergeant, "Higgins, get a couple of parachutes and see if you can find some coveralls and a helmet for the young lady."

"Yes, sir," he replied, "I don't know if we have anything that small, sir."

"Do the best you can, sergeant."

"Yes, sir."

The sergeant turned and headed for the hanger, Buffy spoke up, "I'll go with him, make sure what he gets I can use."

Major Taylor nodded in agreement, "Good idea."

Buffy trotted after the sergeant and caught up with him just as he was going through the hanger doors, the Captain watched her disappear inside and then turned to the Major, "Sir, if you'll excuse me I'll go get the rest of my flying gear."

"Go ahead, Captain," They exchanged salutes and the Captain headed back into the hanger.

The Major and I chatted for the couple of minutes it took him to get his gear and get back, a few minutes later Buffy and the sergeant came walking out of the hanger, the sergeant seemed a little dazed. I wondered what Buffy had done to him. Buffy was wearing some flying coveralls, a little large on her but not too bad, in her arms were the blouse and skirt she had been wearing. I wondered where she had found a place to change in the hanger and then I realized why the sergeant looked dumbstruck.

Her remark as she handed me her clothes confirmed it, "Sheesh, you'd think he'd never seen a woman get undressed before."

The Major and the Captain both looked at her a little startled, she saw their look and responded, "Well, I sure as hell wasn't going to put these on over my skirt and blouse, it'd ruin them!"

They just stared at her, finally she said, "Are we going flying or are you just going to keep imagining me without the coveralls?"

"Buffy!" I said, a little more shrilly then I intended.

"Well, what do you think is going on in their little manly brains?"

"Ah, yes, well…" the Major stumbled, "She is right."

"See, I know what men think about!"

The Major glared at her, "No, I actually meant that you should be flying."

Buffy nodded her head in response, clearly not believing what he had said, "Fine, let's go flying."

"Sounds good to me, come on," said the Captain and they walked over to the PT-17 parked on the other side of the P-40s. A few minutes later the roar of its engine cut into our conversation and we turned and watched as it taxied out to the runway, it sat there for another minute, the engine roaring and then dropping slightly as they ran through the pre-flight checks. Then it was trundling out onto the runway and accelerating toward us.

They took off and soon banked back over us as they headed out over the ocean. We watched them as they started doing some mild maneuvers as they climbed away from us and then turned parallel to the beach. They went back and forth a couple of times, I could sense when Buffy took the controls, there was just something smoother in the way the airplane flew. A minute later and I saw them turn into the landing pattern, they flew half a dozen touch-and-goes, the first just a little heavy handed and the next five as smooth as silk.

I nudged the Major in the side, "You see?"

He nodded absently, "Yeah, the Captain demonstrated on the first landing, your friend did the next five, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she did," I agreed.

We watched as they climbed out over the sea again and then the plane started to do acrobatics. It flew effortlessly from one maneuver to the next, loops, rolls, spins. The constant changes in pitch from the engine attracted some of the other men in the hanger and soon there was a small crowd standing at the hanger door watching her as she ran through the routine. I was glad to see she was taking it easy; the maneuvers were smooth and clean but not done at full speed.

Then the sound of the engine went up as she started into the routine for a second time, and this time she was pushing the plane. As I watched I realized she was really pushing the plane, she was flying it right on the edge. She completed the routine, much faster than the first time, and then started in a third time and the plane was screaming.

"What the hell is she trying to prove?" asked Major Taylor.

"I have a feeling she's seeing how strong the Captain's stomach is."

The PT-17 came diving toward the ocean, rolling as it neared the water and it looked like she was headed straight in, and then she pulled out of the dive, continuing the snap rolls the entire time. The plane finally ran out of steam, the engine not powerful enough to pull it straight up, and it fell off the vertical climb and immediately started spinning. She brought it out of the spin and into level flight and entered the landing pattern.

A few minutes later they were back on the ground, she taxied the PT-17 back to its position, the engine roared and a touch of brake and she spun the plane on one wheel and brought her to a stop almost exactly where she had been to begin with. Buffy hopped out of the forward cockpit and then stood by while the Captain climbed out of the aft cockpit; he looked a little green around the mouth.

They walked over to us, Buffy was exuberant, she was grinning up at the Captain, almost gushing; "That was so cool! Why did you want me to stop?"

"Miss, you proved your point, you can fly!"

"So, Captain, do you think she can pass a primary check flight with a week's prep work?"

"Yes, sir, and the advanced course also."

Buffy shook her head, "No, I may be able to fly the advanced course but I know there's a lot of ground school stuff I'll need to learn before I can pass that."

The Major looked at her, startled by her response, "Buffy's done some research; she's got a pretty good idea of what is required for the different courses."

"Well, I think Miss Cochran will be quite pleased with both of you. I'll drop you back at your motel and you can get to work on all that paperwork."

"Gee, thanks!" said Buffy, then she turned to the Captain and stepped up to him and gave him a quick kiss on the check, "Thank you, Captain, it was fun… Sorry if I was a little hard on you, I know it can be real bad when you're in the back seat and you don't have any control. I was almost sick the first time Barb ran me through that."

I knew she was lying through her teeth, she'd never had any discomfort when we were flying, but I was glad to see she was making nice. The army air corps was a pretty small organization, word could get around pretty fast and your reputation had a tendency to precede you.

"You're welcome, Miss Buffy," he smiled at her, "you are one hell of a pilot!"

"Yes, I am," she nodded in agreement.

Two weeks later and I was at my desk going over the books and beginning to wonder if we hadn't jumped the gun a little. Ken and Martha's two kids, ages five and seven, were in the yard running around screaming. Buffy was chasing them and adding to the noise. I had hired Ken to manage the ranch, he and his wife and the two kids had moved in the previous week, and now all six of us were crowded into the small farm house.

It took me a few moments for the silence to register, and then there was the thud of little feet on the front porch and the slap of the screen door banging closed, the sound of Buffy's voice following after them, "Go to your Mom, she'll give you a treat."

I guess the boys had gotten tired or hungry; Buffy was inexhaustible in keeping them active until they collapsed. Then I felt that uncomfortable sensation of someone looking over your shoulder and looked behind me to see Buffy leaning against the door frame. She seemed lost in thought and then noticed my gaze and a wide grin split her features, but there was something off about it.

She stuck out her hand with the day's mail in it, a large white envelop on top, "Special delivery letter came for you."

I took it from her and looked down at it, in the upper left corner was "Department of the Army", my name and address appeared in the center. I looked back up at Buffy, "Do you think its good news?"

She snorted, "I doubt very much they're sending you a special delivery letter to tell you you've been rejected."

I nodded in agreement and slit the envelope open and slipped out a couple of sheets of typed paper, the first sheet was Department of the Army letterhead paper; I started reading the letter:

Miss Barbara S. Thompson:

You are hereby directed to report to Room 212, 11000 Wilshire Boulevard, Federal Building, Los Angeles, Ca on 2 September, 1941 at 0800 for induction into the United States Army as an aviation cadet. Upon successful completion of the required training you will be commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant, Women's Army Corps, United States Army Reserves. Upon induction you will be immediately placed on active duty.

I looked up at Buffy and grinned, she smiled back at me but again I saw something was off, then I saw her hands were empty, "Where's your letter?"

She shook her head, "That's the only one."

"I'm sure it will be here soon."

I saw the doubt in her eyes but she put on a happy smile, "Whatever, but we've got something to celebrate! How long have you got?"

I looked at her, "Three days, I'm supposed to be there Tuesday."

"Well, we get the holiday together, anything else you have to do?"

I went back to reading the letter, it was mostly instructions on what to bring and what not to bring. There was also the warning that failure to comply meant that I would never be considered for a commission in the military again. "Basically, pack a toothbrush and a change of underwear and leave everything else behind."

"Okay, so how do you want to celebrate?"

I got up from my chair, "Buffy, I'm sure you'll get your letter soon."

"Yeah, we'll see. Anyway, congratulations are in order!" She stepped up to me and pulled me into a tight hug, and patted my back with a little more force than I thought strictly necessary, but I returned the hug, "You'll do just great! And the time you'll have…"

I let her go and stepped back, "We better go tell Ken and Martha."

I heard footsteps on the front porch and someone rapped on the screen door, "Miss Thompson?"

I walked out of the study and saw the mailman at the door, "Hey, Hank."

"Do you know a Buffy Summers? I got a letter from the Department of the Army for her but it lists your address."

I reached behind me and grabbed Buffy's arm and pulled her up and propelled her toward the door, "Go get your letter you worry wart!"

9