Chapter X - The Battle in the Sky

The kids were in Darryl’s van. They were on their way to the airfield at Halleyford, about thirty kilometres from Lychford. Darryl was very interested in Glen’s message.
‘I argee with Tom and Frankie,’ he said. ‘There is something important under Lychford Green airfield. Glen wants you find it.’
Suddenly, there was a loud noise in the sky above them. For a moment, a dark shape covered the sun.
‘It’s a Spitfire!’ Tom said.
‘It’s Glen!’ Regan whispered.
Darryl laughed and shook his head.
‘No, it isn’t Glen,’ he said. ‘That’s a real Spitfire. It flies from Halleyford airfield? Good,’ Jack said. ‘The past and the present are getting very mixed up!’
Darryl and the kids were going to fly in an old plane – a De Havilland Dragon Rapide. There were eight seats for passengers in the plane, but they were very close together. Darryl and the kids climbed in. The heaviest people sat at the back, the lighest in the front. The pilot got in last. Regan was sitting nearest to him.
The pilot started the engines and the old plane began to move. And then they were in the air.
The children looked down. The cars on the roads were tiny. The little fields were green, yellow and brown squares.
‘We’ll soon be over Lychford Green airfield,’ Darryl shouted after ten minutes. The noise of the engines was loud and he had to shout. ‘Get your camera ready, Tom.’
The pilot took the plane lower. Now they could all see the airfield. They could see the old control tower and the other broken buildings. They could see the little round hill above the underground Ops Room. There were the three runways. And there were the Facelift Construction trucks. But there were no people working on the airfield.
‘Facelift Construction hasn’t started work yet,’ Jack said to himself. ‘Perhaps we will be able to use the metal detector. We really must get onto the airfield again.’
‘Have you taken your photos, Tom?’ the pilot shouted.
‘Yes, thanks. I’ve used all the film,’ Tom said.
‘OK. I’m turning back now. We don’t …’

Suddenly, there was complete silence. Had the plane’s engines stopped? Frankie turned round quickly. Jack was shouting at her. She could see his mouth moving, but she couldn’t hear his words. Behind Jack, Darryl was sitting very still. His eyes were open, but he wasn’t seeing anything.
Regan and Tom were shouting now, but Frankie couldn’t hear them either. Jack pointed at the pilot. Regan touched the man on the arm. The pilot didn’t move, but the plane flew on. What was happening?
There was a dark shape in the sky, coming towards them. Then there were two dark shapes. And close behind them were two more. They were planes.
Tom knew what the planes were. They were Messerschmitt 109s – German fighter planes from the Second World War! The Messerschmitts had guns and now they were shooting at the Dragon Rapide. The kids saw the bullets hitting the wings of the plane. But there was still no sound.
‘Is this happening now or in the past?’ Jack asked himself.
The Dragon Rapide turned slowly. Now it was going down. The ground was coming nearer and nearer.
Frankie quickly unfastened her seat belt. She moved carefully towards the pilot. He was holding the control column in his hands, but he was not controlling the plane. Frankie put her hands over his hands, and tried to pull the column back. It was very difficult, but at last the control column moved. Soon, the plane was flying straight ahead again.
And now there were three more planes in the sky. They were Spitfires! The first Spitfires fired its guns. Its bullets hit one of the German planes and the Messerschmitt began to fall.

Then suddenly, the sky was empty. The Dragon Rapide’s engines were roaring loudly. The children could hear the wind again. And the pilot was speaking.
‘… have much fuel,’ the pilot was saying. ‘Have you all enjoyed the flight? Was it exciting?’
‘Oh, yes, we enjoyed it very much,’ Frankie replied. ‘It was very exciting.’ And the kids all laughed.

When they were back in Darryl’s van, the four friends told him what had happened.
‘Was that battle another Psychic Stain?’ Jack asked him.
‘No, Glen made that happen,’ Darryl said. ‘He was probably telling you to do something. But what?’
‘If Glen can do that, he must be very powerful,’ Regan said. ‘He can take us into the past whenever ha wants to.’
‘Perhaps we are giving Glen his power,’ Jack said.
‘Yes, that’s possible,’ Darryl replied. ‘Well, I’m going to get that metal detector for you this evening. Where do you want to go now?’
‘Take us to Radnor Road, please,’ Jack said. ‘I want to visit Mr Terry Bowles.’
‘Why?’ Regan asked.
‘I want to see that diary,’ Jack replied. ‘The diary is very important. I’m sure about that!’