Wings

“You're not going anywhere,” he reiterated again that afternoon, “and that's final.” But in her mind, she was still going to make the decision. She talked to Nick about it again, and he could definitely see opportunities for them to take advantage of her, but there were so many benefits to her in the process that he wasn't at all sure it mattered. The money, the fame, the planes, the test flights, the records she could set, the benefits to her seemed almost endless. It would be impossible to turn them down. But he had no idea how she was going to convince her father.

She talked to Billy about it too, and he knew Desmond Williams from the West Coast, though only by reputation. Some people said he was a fair man, others clearly didn't like him. He had offered a job to a girl Billy knew from San Francisco and she had hated it. She had said it had been too much hard work, and she felt as though they owned her. But Billy confided to Cass that she had also been a miserable pilot. For someone like Cassie, it could be the opportunity of a lifetime.

“You really could end up another Mary Nicholson,” he said, citing one of the stars of the day. But Cassie couldn't imagine ever being that famous.

“I doubt it,” she said gloomily. The difficulty of the decision was driving her crazy. She didn't want to leave her home and family, but she also knew that she had very little else to stay for. And if she wanted to fly, Williams Aircraft was the place to be, no matter how many dumb photographs they took of her in her uniform, or how many interviews she had to give. She wanted to fly airplanes. And Williams had the best ones.

“Give it some thought, kid. You may not get another chance,” Billy advised her solemnly, and in their offices, Nick was telling Pat much the same thing. She was a brilliant pilot, and there was nowhere for her to go from here. She'd be hanging around the airport all her life, and flying dusty routes around the Midwest with a bunch of guys who would never fly as well as she did.

“I told you not to teach her to fly!” Pat roared at him, suddenly angry at everyone, Nick, Cassie, Chris, all of them. It had to be someone's fault. And the worst culprit of all was the devil himself, Desmond Williams. “He's probably a criminal… going after innocent young girls, looking to rob them of their virtue.” Nick felt sorry for him. After all these years, and with almost no warning at all, he was about to lose his little girl. And Nick knew how he felt. He hated it as much as Pat did. But he also knew they had no right to hang onto her. She had to fly… like a bird… and it was time for her to soar with the eagles.

“You can't stop her, Pat,” Nick said quietly, wishing he could say how much it hurt him too. “It's not fair. She deserves so much better than we have to give her.”

“That's your fault,” Pat boomed at him again. “You shouldn't have taught her to fly so damn well.” Nick laughed at the reproach, and Pat helped himself to a slug of whiskey. He knew he wouldn't be flying that day, and he was deeply upset over losing Cassie. And he still had to tell Oona about Cassie's visit from Desmond Williams.

And when he did, that night, Oona was shocked. She imagined all sorts of terrible immoral things. She couldn't imagine Cassie living anywhere but home, certainly not in Los Angeles, living alone as a test pilot and a publicity spokeswoman for Desmond Williams.

“Do girls do that kind of thing?” she asked Pat unhappily. “Pose for pictures and all that? Do they wear clothes?”

“Of course, Oona. It's not a striptease parlor, the man builds airplanes.”

‘Then what do they want with our little girl?”

‘Tour little girl,” he said miserably, “is probably the best pilot I've ever seen, including Nick Galvin, or Rickenbacker. She's the best there is, and Williams is no fool. He can see that. She put on a hell of a show two days ago, at the air show. I didn't want to worry you, but she almost killed herself, the little fool, pulled herself right out of a spin no more than fifty feet off the ground. I damn near died. But she did it, and never turned a hair. Did a lot of other crazy stunts too. But she did them perfectly. And he knew it.”

“Does he want her to fly stunts?”

“No, just to test planes, and set some records if she can. I read the contract, and it sounds fair. I just don't like the idea of her going away, and I knew you wouldn't either.”

“What does Cassie want?” her mother asked, trying to take it all in, but there was a lot to absorb in a short time. And they all knew that Cassie had to make a decision before morning.

“I think she wants to go. She says she wants to go. Or she says she wants the freedom to decide her own fate.”

“And what did you say?” Oona asked with wide eyes, and her husband grinned sheepishly.

“I forbade her to go, just like I forbade her to fly.”

“That didn't get you very far,” Oona smiled, “and I don't suppose it will this time.”