that, perhaps Ireland, and his family, in particular, ought to learn some of the English strategy. They could use it to meet the Irish drive for freedom, and it could be used against them Lobsterbacks if they still wanted war with the Prots.
The British needed more manpower, and they knew that conscription wouldn’t work with the Irish. They began releasing people from the jails, selling land back to owners at cheap rates, offering stipends to colleges for service. Some people were cooperative, but ulterior motives were present. Learning how to fight the Brits on their own terms made for a more formidable rebellion that had more of a chance of winning freedom from John Bull’s yoke. Also stealing plane parts and sending them to Sinn Fein and Protestant militants was lucrative and gave the freedom fighters more sophisticated weaponry.
As far as Craine went, his scars healed beautifully. He and Malkia really began to hit it off well. His size and muscular frame kept other boys away from her. She spent Sundays with his family, and he spent Friday nights at her house to celebrate the Sabbath. Their family consisted of four girls and a big bruiser, Mendel, who was her older brother. He knew Craine from school and liked him because he took his side once when a group of anti-Semites tried to jump him. Her father, Moses, did not like a goy in his house, especially on Shabbos. However, the combination of Malkia’s threat to leave home, his friendship with Mendel, and the fact that Craine was passing his push cart in downtown Belfast, while a bully was threatening to turn over the sheenie’s cart. Craine picked the hater up by his neck and told him that if he didn’t apologize to Mr. Doleman for the slur and threat immediately, today would be his last day on Earth. Needless to say the apology was delivered forthwith.
Craine began to learn Hebrew and Yiddish in bits and pieces and participated in the blessings and prayers. He began to be considered one of the family, as was Malkia in his house. He even began to attend Shul with them, and she began to attend Church with them. There was no talk of conversion or better or worse faiths. First Mendel, then Moses started to come over to the Mikawbers. Tyndall and Moses debated their theologies, while Mendel and McTavish arm wrestled, Malkia and Craine started to sneak away to be by themselves in the woods.
One spring Sunday, the sky was pure blue, and Malkia wanted to show Craine her favorite spot. They walked through the green of the north woods to a hill through which a clear brook ran. They followed the brook to its end, where it began to slope down into a valley in which daisies and marigolds bloomed with their rainbows of colors. The sight was breathtaking. Craine told his fair colleen that as beautiful as the field was, it did not hold a candle to her. She dropped his hand and drew him to her, then she circled her arms around his neck. He drew her lips to his and kissed her, very gently. She drew his mouth to her and kissed him with all the passion she had within her. She pressed her breasts against him and could feel him begin to swell. Craine began to unbutton her blouse and loosen her undergarments. She began to unfasten his belt and felt his tumescence. She pulled him down to the ground in the grass and begged him to enter her. He brought his mouth to her breast and said it was like the goblet of wine that David drew from the royal cup of Israel. She moaned at his words and pleaded to be taken. They began to quiver and rock together. Craine began to moan, “My sweet Malkia you are the bliss of the Rose of Sharon.” And they reached their peak and lay with each other.
Suddenly Craine felt a slap across the back of his head. He looked up, startled and saw Moses’ backhand and his father, along with Mendel. Their expressions were not pleasant. Moses addressed his daughter sternly. “You are no longer of my house. You have had carnal knowledge of a gentile and are unwed. I pray that this act does not destroy our friendship, Tyndall.” Tyndall answered that it would not and that he would take Malkia in until the couple made other plans.
In the next week, both a Rabbi and the family reverend of the Mikawbers officiated over their wedding, and Moses sat Chiveh for his daughter. She was not allowed in her father’s house again. She was not pregnant. Moses was friendly with the family, as was Mendel, but they vowed that they’d never again acknowledge the presence of Malkia.
Craine knew that though his family loved them both dearly, economics dictated that their stay would be temporary. Craine was only fifteen, but he was huge for his age and grew a mustache to look older. Malkia did not want to be separated from him and knew that he had been talking about wanting to learn how to fly. They had heard about Lafayette Escadrille, in which Frenchmen and Americans that felt they had to get into the war against Germany had formed a squadron to fight as a unit until America entered the war.
Although the Protestants wanted to enjoy British protection because of the Catholic threat to them, the Mikawbers were different. Tyndall and his family believed if one put his trust in others, it had a price. They wanted home rule and also wanted Sinn Fein to know that they were responsible to uphold the writings that granted religious and civil liberty to all Irishmen. In keeping with this philosophy, Craine and Malkia agreed to send plans and parts of the aeroplanes home to their Da.
They left after a short honeymoon, for Bar-le-Duc where Lafayette Escadrille was based. The commanders were Dr. Edmund L. Gros and Norman Prince. Cdr. Prince made a comment about this not being a woman’s war, and Craine stepped up and told the commander that his wife was not an ordinary woman. He retorted with, “She damn well better not be.” He proceeded to ask them how much experience they had with flying. When they admitted that they had none, he curtly stated that they would receive their first lesson in fifteen minutes and would be expected to learn how to fly, master the weapons and parts of the plane, know how to land, in six weeks, and to toughen their bodies by exercises and learning how to take a fall at the same time. If they could not do this, they would be sent to the infantry or go home and blow their noses. By the dictates of the times, he was tougher on Malkia until she proved she was tougher than he was. He touched her inappropriately while teaching her how to break a choke hold, and she touched him inappropriately with her foot, a smack to his jaw while he bent over, and banging his head on a rock as he fell. Craine was busy learning himself and did not see the event. When he found out that night, he marched over to his tent and clobbered the commander so that he flew across the room and beat him bloody with a table leg he broke off the officer’s table. Unbelievably, they had respect and friendship for each other throughout the war after this.
They had mastered what they had to do in two weeks, instead of six. By the time July came around they got to prove themselves at Verdun. This battle was a 10 month ordeal with Germany trying to secure the western front and France trying not to let them pass.
Under the command of Petain, the bodies were scattered on the ground with more density than a typical field of wheat. Movement was not successful or strategically advantageous for either side; in the end 970,000 men lay dead for nothing. To defend the area, the air had to be cleared. Malkia hovered behind her husband like a mother bear and sent three Huns crashing to the ground. Craine found her trapped by three Fokker planes. He had one of them in his sights and blasted him into the Kaiser’s mustache. She shot down the one to the side of her, and he led the one in front of her off and lured him to crash into a tree and explode. As he flew off, he tipped his plane at an angle to say goodbye.
The next cheery opportunity to demonstrate air prowess came at a river that provided a potential breakthrough point for the British army, the Somme. The motivating factor for this battle was a week long artillery bombardment. The Germans had merely to get out of their dugouts and destroy the oncoming waves of British soldiers. As a result England lost 57,470 men. The artillery had to be stopped. Britain needed help in getting out of the way of the guns to get across the river. Lafayette Escadrille devised a strategy to send two bombers to the river with 10 fighters to each bomber. Craine was in a two seater with a Frenchie, named Rodin La Monde. They were holding their own weight, keeping the fighters off of the bomber, when a wolf pack of German planes came out of the clouds. They were led by their own greed into a trap and knew it. They tried to blast their way out of the deadly circle any way they could. They could not get above the Bosches because every time they tried, a German would go up with them. Craine started to climb then quickly descended and nailed the Boche on the bottom, while Rodin threw a grenade on the one above. The flames broke up the circle, and the others could be taken one at a time.
On the way back to base, they followed the bomber, and the tail caught fire. Craine guided the plane to the tail gunner’s cockpit, and Rodin stretched