"I didn’t say that."
‘‘For your information, Mr. Expert Aviator,’’ Brandon Chambers went on angrily, ‘‘the Japanese have equipped their Air Corps with Howard Hughes’s fighter plane.’’
‘‘What?’’ Canidy asked.
‘‘The Mitsubishi A6M,’’ Brandon Chambers said. ‘‘It’s a carbon copy of the low-winged monoplane Howard Hughes designed. I saw it being tested. He offered it to the Army and Navy, who were too dumb to take it. I don’t know how the Japs got their hands on it . . . I heard through the Swedes, but that could be just a story . . . but they’ve got it, and they’re mass-producing it.’’
‘‘Is it any good?’’ Canidy asked.
‘‘It’s better than anything we have, including the F4F-3,’’ Chambers said flatly. He turned to face Ed Bitter and went on. ‘‘If you have some schoolboy notion that you’ll be able to sweep the Japanese from the skies like Superman, and come home a hero in a couple of months, covered with glory, forget it.’’
‘‘I’m a naval aviator,’’ Ed Bitter said levelly. ‘‘I’m going to go over there and be very careful and learn the practice of my profession. And then come back to the Navy and teach others what I have learned. That is not a schoolboy notion.’’
‘‘You’re a goddamned fool!’’ Brandon Chambers exploded. ‘‘The first thing a pilot who has been there learns is that only goddamned fools volunteer for anything.’’
Ed Bitter stood up, white-faced. That somehow interfered with the acoustics, and Sarah Child had to strain to hear him.
‘‘Thank you for your concern and your hospitality, Uncle Brandon,’’ he said stiffly, artificially. ‘‘Dick and I will be going now.’’
‘‘Let me put one more question to your friend,’’ Brandon Chambers said. ‘‘Is Eddie doing this because he is still young and stupid enough not to want to look like a coward in front of you? He can’t quit now, in other words, now that you’ve led him into this?’’
‘‘I didn’t lead him into anything, Mr. Chambers,’’ Canidy said coldly. ‘‘Nor he me. We were asked, separately, and we accepted separately. The fact that we’re friends hasn’t entered into it.’’
‘‘Then answer me this: Why are you doing it? Why are you going to go halfway around the world to fight a well-equipped, well-trained enemy in obsolete fighter planes?’’
‘‘Two reasons,’’ Canidy said after a moment. ‘‘For one thing, it’s going to get me out of the Navy. With a little bit of luck, in a year I can be out of uniform once and for all, and finally working as an aeronautical engineer, which is what I am, and what I want to do. I’ve got an offer from Boeing.’’
‘‘And the other?’’
‘‘For the money. Six hundred dollars a month, and rations and quarters, is twice what I am making now. And there’s five hundred dollars for every confirmed kill.’’
‘‘At least,’’ Brandon Chambers said, ‘‘he has reasons.’’
‘‘So do I,’’ Ed Bitter said.
Brandon Chambers said nothing else for a minute, and Sarah saw Ed Bitter staring off into the pine forest. After a moment, Dick Canidy got to his feet.
Ed Bitter’s leaving, Sarah Child thought. He’s had a fight with his uncle, and he’s leaving, and he’s going to get killed in the war and I’ll never see him again.
But then Brandon Chambers got to his feet and waved at Ed’s chair.
‘‘Oh, sit down, Eddie,’’ he boomed. ‘‘I promised your mother I’d give it my best shot to talk you out of it, and I have. I also told her that I thought it would be a waste of time.’’ He looked at Dick Canidy. ‘‘I’m sorry I had to put you through this, Dick. I hope you understand.’’
‘‘Yes, sir,’’ Canidy said. ‘‘No problem.’’
‘‘Robert!’’ Mr. Chambers called out.
‘‘Yes, sir?’’
"Enough of this stuff,’’ Mr. Chambers said. ‘‘Bring us some whiskey."
5
The servants set up a supper buffet by the pool, but the bugs came out; so before they could start to eat, Jenny Chambers ordered the whole thing carried back inside the house.
The separation by generation went into effect. The girls and Charley Chambers and his friends were drafted into helping the servants move the dishes and the tables. Ed Bitter and Dick Canidy went into the bar with the ‘‘adults.’’
Charity saw her watching them go in, and whispered in Sarah’s ear: ‘‘I like the tall one.’’