Come Back To Us - 14. Chapter 14

Karl’s heart was beating fast, too fast, but he was unable to calm down. With his hand trembling, he was having some trouble putting his outfit on.

“Relax. You’ll see, it’s not that hard,” Jørgen spoke confidently and flashed a bright smile as he helped him with his tie.

Karl swallowed hard. His throat was dry, like it was most of the time.

“You’ll see the adrenaline it creates. It’ll be twice as strong once you’re in the air. It’s awesome!”

Karl didn’t doubt his words. He trusted him. But he couldn’t help that feeling of apprehension growing in the pit of his stomach. It was stronger than his self will.

“Go ahead. You’re all ready. Don’t make him wait.”

Karl observed the other male wordlessly. He stared into his eyes, but didn’t know why.

“Aren’t you coming with me?”

Jørgen smiled again.

“I can’t. But I promise I’ll find some time to come and watch your plane fly in the sky.

Karl didn’t smile back at him. He looked like a child who needed someone by his side, to keep comforting him and praising him when he would do well.

“You don’t need me to do it anyway.”

Did he?

They kept staring into each other’s eyes for another while.

“Come on. Let me escort you outside.”

He passed one arm around his shoulders and they started walking away from their quarters.

“Here you go, your Majesty. Your carriage is waiting for you right over there,” he said once they were outside.

A smile formed on Karl’s lips.

“See? I can make you smile whenever I want. Enjoy the ride!”

Karl watched him hurry back inside. He had his own training to pursue. He was more qualified for flying than he was. He should have his first mission soon if nothing bad happened there.

The sun was already high in the sky, and the snow had melted by that time. There were hardly a few clouds in the pure blue sky. A perfect weather for flying.

He saw Arthur waiting before the big shed. He was standing tall, his face hard and expressionless, his arms not crossed but his fingers intertwined with each other.

“It was about time.”

This kind of greeting didn’t make him want to smile….

“Let’s get to it.”

Karl’s eyes widened and his mouth fell agape as he was staring at the plane he was supposed to pilot. He had never been standing so close to one of these machines.

How was he even supposed to climb in ?

He tried to breathe in and out to calm down without much success. His head felt like it was empty.

“I can’t do it.”

A long moment of silence followed his words, and he could only breathe noisily.

“Listen. I’m going to let you have one chance. If you’re not fit for flying, then you’re out.”

This was straightforward, and though he didn’t like it, he had to be careful. One mistake could mean the end.

“I’m ready.”

His voice was so firm and determined that it surprised him himself. Arthur showed him how to get into the plane, but the feeling in his stomach didn’t die down at the sight before his eyes.

“Should you not show me first?” He asked Arthur unsure.

The man didn’t even spare him a glance.

“You will learn much faster if you do it yourself.”

No other words left his mouth. Not even something like I am here, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. He didn’t look like he was human…

Had he ever felt anything at all?

“Secure yourself.”

He looked away from him before the man ended up tearing him to shreds. He didn’t trust the look in his eyes…

He was feeling dizzy. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He had been distracted by the man beside him. And he didn’t even dare ask him about it.

“Your belt.”

His what…?

He had a bad feeling that was paralysing every bone in his body.

His heart skipped a beat as the man jerked the thing he had actually just talked about.

“If you are not much more reactive, we are doomed to fall. So you’d better get a grip on yourself and wake up. This is your last chance. So don’t blow it.”

He took the belt in his hand, careful not to touch the man’s, or else he felt he could hit him. Or maybe worse…

He secured himself and just waited for further instructions with a single look at the man. The answer came after a few moments of silence. It seemed that the man got lost in thought. It was in that kind of situation that he wished he could read people’s minds. If people learnt how to communicate and show how they were really feeling, then everything would be much simpler.

“First of all, you have to learn to check out your plane before you go on a flight. Every single time. In and out. We will see the outside once we have finished that first lesson.”

He should have asked Jørgen to teach him by heart everything he needed to know. He had never thought that moment would have felt so awkward.

“Most importantly, always make sure you’ve got enough fuel. If you find yourself above one ocean far away from here and realise you have just run out of fuel, you are most likely to die. Or if you are lucky enough, you will be captured by the enemy.”

He was aware he could get easily killed. He just had to be more cunning than death itself.

He showed him all the things he needed to do before they started flying for real. You couldn’t do anything without a minimum of theory first.

“Use that button to start the engine. And make sure you won’t mix it up with one of the others.”

He pushed said button and started a bit as the plane made a roaring sound, like a wild animal who would have just woken up from a deep slumber.

“Use that button now to start moving.”

He did as told and slowly the plane left the building.

“You need to gain speed before the plane can rise from the ground.”

It was overwhelming. He wasn’t doing anything. The plane was moving on its own…

“Hold the control column. Just like when you are driving a car you have to hold the wheel. It is more complex than a car, of course, but one thing can’t be exactly the same as one another.”

He took it with one hesitant and slow hand. It was funny how it was completely different from the wheel of a car. Well, a car couldn’t fly. So it was only logical.

“Keep your feet on the rudder pedals.”

He noticed there were pedals too in a car, three of them.

“You’ve got to have a good feeling and instinct to make one with the plane. Otherwise you are bound to fail. You need to sense when it is ready to rise up in the air. You can’t count on chance for this.”

He always found the words to reassure him…? What if he didn’t have that “feeling”? What if he wasn’t made for this?

He would soon find it out anyway….

The plane was going faster and faster and its sound was growing more and more deafening by the minute.

The tension was rising. His heart was beating way too fast. He tried to think about what Jørgen had told him, but he needed to remain focused. There was no room for distraction. There wasn’t much time to think. He needed to make a move quickly because he felt that Arthur wouldn’t tell him when the right time would be for the plane to rise. He was testing him.

He glanced at the man who was staring straight ahead. His hands became all sweaty at the thought of his mouth opening. He needed to be reactive. He could do it.

He waited, waited and waited again. His hand was so sweaty that it was slipping as it was holding the control column. He brought it back up, his fingers slowly sliding on the black material. It went down again, and then up again, It kept bobbing for a while as he was trying to regain focus. He stole a quick glance at Arthur who didn’t even seem to notice his back and forth movements with it.

He closed his eyes as his hand had just come to a still. He tried his hardest to make one with the machine, to listen to it, to understand it, to know when it would be ready to rise up. But it felt weird. He let the roaring sound guide him. He inhaled sharply.

Now was the time.

He moved the control column the right way. It was like a car anyway. So there was nothing complicated in making it move. If you wanted to go right, you turned the wheel on the right, and if you wanted to go left, you turned to the left. And if he wanted to go up, he just had to push toward the sky.

It felt like his head was going to burst and that his ears were burning. He could feel it. They were slowly going up. And it ignited a strange sensation in him, one that he couldn’t really describe. He wondered if birds felt that way when they were flying.

“Not that bad for a first time.”

Oh. Well, he took that as a compliment even if the way he said it could have made anyone thought he didn’t mean it. He opened his eyes again as a small smile made its way on his face.

“Don’t rejoice too soon. This is only the beginning.”

He swallowed nervously as his smile faded.

He should be just like him, he guessed, and show no emotion, just staying neutral, but not emotionless.

“Where are we going now?”

And he shouldn’t ask too many questions either. He had to keep that in mind.

“Don’t push the control column anymore. We are high enough. I will tell you. Just keep going straight ahead for now.”

But he couldn’t help wondering, how could you possibly get your bearing when the only thing you could see was the sky ?

He thought about it for a few moments.

The Sun. That was it. And the stars at night. He could remember what he had been taught. It was like when you were on a boat and all you could see was water.

Suddenly his stomach started aching again, and goosebumps seized his body.

What if the Germans attacked them while they were up there ? What would they do ? They were only supposed to train…

“And the Germans…”

They could attack at any time. He was still surprised that they hadn’t already destroyed the whole area, so they couldn’t do anything against them any longer… Maybe they were just waiting for the right time to strike.

“”They shouldn’t attack at this time of day. I’ve planned everything carefully. But if they were to attack, we would strike back. We’ve got munitions.”

He said nothing. He didn’t even nod. He still had to learn how to fight on a plane.

The plane was going fast. He couldn’t help thinking how they could go anywhere they liked if they could. They could fly over the whole city of London and even go further. They could go to Brighton, or go all the other way round and discover that was north of London. He could even go back home. The thought made him have a lump in his throat. If he could and if there was enough space, he would go back to the Hopkins’s and take them to a safe place. As well as Emma and Jojo. And Mrs. Hopkins’s parents.

And George too.

He didn’t know where though. It seemed that there wasn’t a place that was safe anymore in this world…

How could they get to that point in the first place ?

He guessed he could never understand…

They flew for one whole hour. Except for giving him directions and reminding things he should never forget, Arthur didn’t talk. As expected.

He couldn’t believe he had enough patience to teach him how to fly. Well, he had only been doing his job after all…

As soon as he was off the plane he only wanted to get back on it and do it again.

“We will have another lesson tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

He nodded and they parted ways. He smiled to himself as he started walking away.

He couldn’t wait to tell Jørgen about that.