Wings

“Hi, kids.” He pushed aside the food. He and Nick were talking anxiously about the planes they could use, and the men they needed. They were trying to send four planes with supplies and rescue teams. Everything and everyone were assembled, except for the pilots. And so far, they were still two men short, and they were trying to reach them. Pat was going to fly the new Vega himself with Chris. Although, if he'd had to, Pat could have flown solo. Another of their best men had come in, with his co-pilot, and they had each been assigned planes. But they needed two more men to fly the old Handley. It was tricky to fly and because of its age and size, it was wiser to have two men flying it in this kind of weather. Nick could have flown it alone but it wouldn't have been a wise decision. And he wanted someone good to fly it with him. Silently, he looked over at Cassie, but he said nothing.

They heard from two more men shortly after that. One was bone-tired after a sixteen-hour flight around the country, delivering mail in terrible weather, and the other was quick to admit that he'd been drinking.

“That leaves one,” Nick said unhappily. One man left they needed to hear from. He called in finally around ten, with a ferocious earache. “End of the line, O'Malley,” Nick said pointedly. They were one man short for their mission. Pat read his mind easily, and began shaking his head, but this time Nick wouldn't listen.

“I'm taking Cassie with me,” he said quietly, as Pat started to sputter. “Don't waste your time, Ace, There are hundreds of injured people waiting for help and supplies, and I'm not going to argue with you. I know what I'm doing, and she's coming with me.” The only other choice would have been to let her co-pilot the Vega with her father, and Nick knew he wouldn't let her do it. Nick grabbed his jacket and started moving toward the door, and he held his breath as Pat stared at him angrily, but made no objection.

“You're a damn fool, Nick,” Pat growled at him, but he said nothing more as they gathered their things, and he called Oona and asked her to wait for them at the airport.

Cassie followed Nick quietly out to the familiar plane, feeling something deep inside her tremble, and for just an instant she saw her father look hard at her with eyes full of anger and betrayal. She wanted to say something to him then, but she didn't know what to say, and a moment later, he was gone, with Chris, in the Vega.

“He'll be all right,” Nick said as he helped her to her seat, but she only nodded. Nick had stuck up for her, as usual; he believed in her, and he hadn't been afraid to say so. He was an amazing man, and she just hoped she wouldn't let him down as they flew the old plane in bad weather all the way to Missouri.

They did the usual check on the ground, and then checked inside carefully. She knew the plane well, thanks to Nick, and as she strapped herself in, she was suddenly excited at what they were doing and she forgot all about her father. They were carrying emergency supplies that had been brought to them at the airport. The other planes were also carrying supplies, and two doctors and three nurses. Help was coming from four states. There were nearly a thousand people injured.

Nick took off cautiously but smoothly. There had been no ice on the wings, and the snow had thinned. It had almost stopped as they reached their final altitude of eight thousand feet and flew southwest toward Kansas City. It was a two-and-a-half-hour flight for them, although her father and Chris would make it in a little over an hour in the Vega. It was turbulent most of the time, but it didn't bother Cassie or Nick. Cassie was stunned by the beauty of the night, and how peaceful it was to be at the controls in a night sky full of stars now. It was like being on the edge of the world, in an endless universe. She had never felt so small or so free or so alive as at that moment.

Nick let her fly the plane much of the time, and when they reached a good-sized field near the train wreck, he brought it in for a landing.

There were wounded everywhere when they got to the train, supplies being brought in, medical personnel trying to help people lying on the ground, children crying. Nick and Cassie and the others stayed to help until dawn, and by then the state police seemed to have everything under control. Ambulances and medical personnel had come from all over the state. People had driven, flown, they had come as soon as they could. And in the morning, Nick and Cass flew home with the others. She had scarcely seen her father all night, as they did everything they could to help the rescue workers.