From the bestselling author of The Last Correspondent comes the powerful story of three brave women who go to war—and end up fighting for their lives.

Sicily, 1943. Three American women, all nurses in the Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron, are determined to do all they can for their country. Vita is fun-loving, Dot shy and sweet-natured, and Evelyn practical and determined, but for all their differences, a life of military service pulls the three together as firm friends.

When they’re selected for a daring mission, the women are proud to play their part. But disaster strikes when their plane crash-lands behind enemy lines in occupied Albania. Together with twenty-three other medics, they find themselves trapped, cut off from all communication with the squadron, and in terrifying and unimaginable danger.

As days and nights pass without hope of rescue, the group must travel on foot across unfamiliar terrain thick with Nazis and their violent local allies. Can Evelyn, Vita, and Dot survive the perilous journey through enemy territory—and finally find their way home?

“Under a Sky of Memories takes us through snowstorms, dangerous terrain, and bullet fire during a perilous attempt at survival, and throws in romance and heartache along the way. Highly recommended for fans of World War II fiction.” —Historical Novel Society

Read an exclusive excerpt below!

CHAPTER ONE 

Kentucky, USA, August 1943 

Evelyn

Evelyn lifted the hair from the back of her neck, grateful for the tem- porary relief. There was no wind to cool her skin, only the reprieve of her hair no longer sticking to her for a blissful few seconds. Her head was starting to pound, and she would have done anything for a glass of water and some shade, but instead she was standing in an enormous group outside, waiting to board one of two railroad cars. She glanced down in dismay as she realized her uniform was damp, and saw that sweat was starting to trace a wet mark across the fabric. She hated to think how she’d look by the time they reached their destination, wherever that might be. It seemed their superiors preferred to keep them in the dark until the very last moment.

As she looked around, Evelyn was grateful she wasn’t the only one suffering from the conditions. The heat was sweltering, and most of the women looked like they were about to expire; their hair clinging damply to their foreheads and their cheeks flushed pink.

“Ladies first!” someone yelled out from the train. “It’s time to board!”

Evelyn shuffled forward, exchanging smiles with a pretty woman she’d talked to a few times during their stay in Louisville, where they’d been doing their specialist flight training. Dot? She wracked her brain. Yes, definitely Dot. The training had been intense and, aside from the sheer number of men and women there, there simply hadn’t been much time for socializing; she felt they’d barely had time to get to know anyone at all.

“I feel like you could fry an egg on my forehead,” Evelyn com- plained to Dot as they ended up side by side in line, noticing the way the other woman dabbed at her forehead. “I’ve never known heat like it.”

“Me neither,” Dot replied. “I can barely breathe the air’s so hot. How are you keeping your makeup on?”

Evelyn smiled. “I think we have to just give up on makeup for the time being. All the powder in the world won’t stop our fore- heads from shining now.”

She wanted to give poor Dot a hug, she looked so forlorn. Makeup was the least of Evelyn’s worries, but from the way Dot was fretting, her appearance was obviously very important to her.

“How red do I look? Is it terrible? I feel like a tomato.” Evelyn patted her shoulder. “You look lovely. Trust me.”

Dot didn’t look convinced, but Evelyn noticed that the anxious dabbing had stopped. They shuffled forward again, and Evelyn couldn’t help but be happy they were leaving Kentucky behind. The heat had been stifling on more days than she could count, with some of the girls passing out during training. And although she was grateful they were wearing pants for their work, she would have done anything for a skirt while she waited, to catch even a whisper of a breeze against her legs.

“Come with me,” Evelyn said, gesturing to Dot when they were finally on board. “Let’s sit here by the window.”

They tucked in tightly beside each other as more nurses, medics, and officers piled into the railcar. She hoped they weren’t going to be cooped up like chickens for too long; the humidity was even more unbearable inside. An officer leaned over them to shove a window open, but when the train finally started to chug forward, the open window suddenly didn’t seem like the best idea.

“Close it!” someone yelled.

Evelyn glanced at Dot, who was holding a handkerchief to her mouth and trying not to cough. Her own throat was beginning to choke up a little, but it wasn’t until they started to move faster that the coal smoke billowing in made them all start to splutter.

“Close those damn windows!” someone yelled again, and as Evelyn scrambled up to attempt it herself, a woman who looked completely unflustered appeared beside her and stood on tiptoes, pulling with her. Her hair was perfectly coiffed, swept over and pinned at the sides, with soft curls falling over her shoulder, and her high cheekbones made her look more movie star than nurse.

“Thanks,” Evelyn said.

“My pleasure. I’m not about to arrive anywhere in a uniform covered in soot.”

Evelyn studied her, wondering how anyone could look so put together when she herself was such a hot mess, her hair in damp tendrils around her face. She’d seen this woman during training and noticed how beautiful she was, with her big blue eyes and porcelain skin, but with hundreds of them stationed there, they’d never properly met. There was something about the way the woman had managed to breeze so gracefully through training, always smiling and always with the most impeccable posture, which had made her impossible not to notice.

“Evelyn,” she said, holding out her hand. “And this is Dot.”

“Vita,” the other woman said warmly, her hand soft as she shook first Evelyn’s and then Dot’s. “It’s lovely to meet you girls.”

“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” Evelyn asked.

Vita shook her head. “No, but I have a feeling we’re about to find out.”

She perched beside them as their commanding officer stood, clearing his throat loudly.

“Ladies and gents, I suggest you get used to the conditions because it’s going to be a long ride,” Captain McKnight boomed, smiling as he surveyed them. He was perhaps as old as Evelyn’s father, although he had the bright-eyed, square-shouldered disposition of a much younger man. “We’re heading to Camp Kilmer in New Jersey, which will be your final training destination before you’re sent offshore. So settle in and try to get some shut-eye before we change trains.”

New Jersey? Evelyn shut her eyes for a moment, trying to picture a map in her mind. But that would have to be . . .

“How long is the train ride, sir?” Vita called out. “Twenty-four hours, give or take,” the captain replied.

Evelyn slumped back in her seat, hearing Dot’s groan and knowing exactly how she felt. How will we all survive twenty-four hours of this?

“I’ll see you later, ladies,” Vita said, rising and giving Evelyn a beaming smile. “I’m going to find somewhere cooler to sit, but I’m sure we’ll be crossing paths in New Jersey.”

Evelyn almost laughed, but she was so hot and tired she didn’t bother. Somewhere cooler. Unless Vita persuaded an officer to physi- cally fan her, she doubted there was anywhere on board that didn’t feel as unbearable as a desert in the middle of the day. But there was something about Vita’s attitude that was contagious, and Evelyn found herself smiling back at her anyway.

“Have you ever met her before?” Dot whispered, once the other woman had gone.

Evelyn turned to look at Dot. “I’ve seen her around, but we’ve never spoken. Why?”

“She terrifies me,” Dot confessed. “I mean, she’s just so . . .”

“Beautiful? Intimidating?” Evelyn finished for her.

“Exactly,” Dot sighed, fanning at her face with her hand. “We were in the same training group together, and she didn’t just look picture-perfect all the time. She was fearless too. I was so worried about getting everything wrong, but she tackled it all head on, even the physical course, and she was always first to call out an answer.” She shook her head. “I suppose that’s normal for someone like her, though—to have an answer for everything.”

“You mean someone so pretty?” Evelyn asked.

“Someone from money,” Dot whispered. “There were rumors she’s some wealthy heiress, but you didn’t hear it from me.”

“Well, she seemed friendly enough,” Evelyn mused, even though it made total sense that Vita came from money. It would explain her confident demeanor. “Although girls like her can . . .” She stopped herself from saying what she thought.

“What?” Dot asked, looking worried. “Girls like her can what?”

Evelyn shook her head. “Well, it’s just that some girls do this because they like the idea of an adventure, that’s all. I hope she takes it seriously once we’re posted.” What she meant was that if Vita did come from a privileged background, then Evelyn only hoped she had the stamina when the going got tough.

The next moment, they heard laughter and then Vita’s unmistakable drawl drifting from the adjoining railcar.

“You know what?” Evelyn said, wishing she hadn’t been so quick to judge Vita. “I take that back. I’m actually pleased she’s in our squadron. I have a feeling she’ll be good for morale, even if she’s a hard act to follow.”

Dot’s eyes were wide, as if she were still anxious about what Evelyn had said before. Evelyn reached out to pat her hand.

“I didn’t mean to worry you,” she said. “I, for one, can’t wait to get to New Jersey. We’re so close to receiving our orders now.”

Dot nodded, and Evelyn saw the way her fingers went to her throat, fingering her necklace.

“Is that a ring you have there?” Evelyn asked.

“Yes.” Dot’s fingers froze. “My engagement ring. I didn’t want to leave it behind.”

Evelyn leaned forward and Dot held it out to her. “It’s beautiful, Dot, absolutely beautiful. I bet your man is missing you terribly.”

Dot just smiled, and when she didn’t say anything further, Evelyn simply closed her eyes, trying to follow the captain’s orders and get some much-needed shut-eye. Right now, it seemed like the only way to make the journey halfway bearable. And if she didn’t sleep, she was only going to start fretting about her sisters and her father. Leaving them behind had been the toughest thing she’d ever done, and she was only ever one step away from running straight back home to be with them again.

###

Evelyn stepped quietly downstairs and found her father sitting at the table in the kitchen, his boots by the door and his shoulders slumped for- ward. She’d just put her little sister Katie back to bed, holding her after a recurring nightmare about their mother had woken her yet again, and the house was otherwise quiet, with her other sisters already long asleep. “Hello, Father,” she said, touching his shoulder as she passed.

His hand found hers, palm closing over it for a moment, although he said nothing. Evelyn took out a bowl and ladled some stew, placing it in front of him. This was how they always were now; he’d barely spoken since her mother passed, his smile no longer bright, his eyes no longer sparkling. He never left the house without dropping a kiss into her hair or pulling her close for a hug, but there was a fog of sadness hanging over him that had never lifted.

“Dad, I need to talk to you about something. About the war,” she said, sitting across from him, her hands tightly clasped. She lifted her gaze, forcing herself to look at him.

His eyes were steady, warm, as he blinked back at her, and she cleared her throat. She shifted, not sure how to say what was on her mind, even though she’d been practicing saying it inside her head all day.

“There’s a shortage of nurses, Dad, and I would like to train to be one,” Evelyn told him. “Rachel is already older than I was when I took over the house, and Clare is old enough to help out. I know you need me here, but our country needs me too.”

He blinked at her, his expression giving nothing away.

“I’ve done my best—for three years now I’ve looked after you all, and tried to become like Mama, but I . . .” She swallowed, not wanting to say that she needed a break and that she just couldn’t do it anymore. “I want to do something meaningful for our country, and I would very much like to be a nurse. There’s even a new program for nurses to train to airlift soldiers to hospitals.”

When her father still didn’t say anything, she reached for his hand. “I want your blessing, Daddy. I won’t leave you if you say no, but this is important to me. I want to be part of something, instead of just trying to fill Mama’s shoes each day.”

She quickly brushed the tears from her eyes. She missed her mother so much—the pain so raw, so visceral, that sometimes she’d drop to her knees, a gasp catching in her throat as she rocked back and forth, crushed beneath the memories, beneath the longing.

“You’re just like her, Evelyn. So like your mother it almost breaks me sometimes.”

Her breath whooshed in and out as she stared at him, not used to hearing this many words fall from his lips in a week sometimes, let alone in one evening.

“I’ve let you take your mother’s place when it should have been me,” he said, staring into his bowl.

Evelyn stood and went to him, bending low and wrapping her arms around him as he held her too, and she was certain he was crying quietly just as she was, her tears damp against his shoulder.

“You have my blessing,” he said. “Just make sure you teach your sisters how to cook before you go.”

They both smiled and she sat back down across from him, her heart beating fast as she thought about what to do next. She would miss her sisters like mad, but if she didn’t get away from home, she’d become so stifled beneath the weight of those who depended upon her that she doubted she’d ever emerge. And they would survive without her, just as she’d learned to survive without her mother.

Copyright Soraya Lane 2021