Louisa thought we were likely to fly straight into a German deathtrap sometime in the coming day or two, and here she was trying to stow away on our next op?

I took her by the hands as we crouched on the van’s wooden floor next to my snoring wireless operator/rear gunner. We knelt facing each other; I hadn’t put on my gauntlets, and her grip was firm.

“Louisa, you can’t come,” I said. “I’ve got enough on my plate, and I’m not going to let you risk your life for this tosser.” I nodded over my shoulder toward Chip. “He’s not worth it. Don’t be a martyr.”

“Why in the world would I do it for him!” she exclaimed hotly. “Are you mad? I want to do it. I want to so much. I want to fly. I loved it before. And—”

She spat the words under her breath. “And no one will let me fly like you, because I am a girl and what they told my dad—not of pure European descent.”

Before I could protest again, she added quickly, “Well, also, I want to help you.” She sucked in a breath. “I can practice receiving Morse code! I can listen to the radio for you!”

I gave a gasp of a laugh. She wouldn’t even know how to turn the radio on. But she was so keen.

“You could take me instead of Louisa,” Ellen put in persuasively. “Only I’d be sick again, and I couldn’t receive Morse code. You’d let me come, aye? You’d let me.”

“Yes, but—that’s not fair. You’ve left home. You’re responsible for yourself.”

“So have I,” said Louisa. “So am I.”

As long as we didn’t get shot at, she’d be fine, and no one would know Chip hadn’t gone with us. Still—I shook my head. “You don’t need to be involved.”

“I’m already involved. You know how much.” She laughed.

If anyone found out, I’d be in bigger trouble than she would.

“Oh, let her come if she wants to that badly,” said Silver. “It’s not a bombing run.”

I sat back on my heels, throwing my hands in the air in surrender. If Silver was going to side with the girls, I was doomed.

“Cheer up!” he said as he climbed in next to us. “Think how much trouble she’ll save, not how much she’ll make! Louisa never makes any trouble.”

Ellen shut us all in the back of the van.

“You’d better have another pair of socks,” I told Louisa. “Or two. Silver, can you spare some socks? If we each give her a layer, no one will end up with frostbite.”

Louisa laughed nervously as we dragged off our boots and passed her our socks in the dark.

“What—”