Wings

“Oh shut up.” She gave him a shove, and Chris came over to join them. He was eating again, and Cassie made a face watching him. He'd been eating like that since he was fourteen, and he was still as thin as a scarecrow. Jessie was standing right next to him, beaming up at him in silent adoration. She worked at the local library. She was a serious girl, and she gave all the money she earned back to her parents to help support her four younger sisters. And it was obvious to everyone that she was crazy about Chris. She was very sweet to all the O'Malleys, especially the younger children.

“Don't you ever stop eating?” Cassie asked him, with feigned irritation.

“Not if I can help it. If you time it right, you can pretty much keep eating from the time you wake up till you go to bed at night. Mom says I eat more than the entire family put together.”

“One day you're going to wind up a fat old man,” Billy warned him, with a wink at Jessie, who giggled.

They were all in a good mood, and there were a few really glorious feats, but none that matched Cassie's of the year before, her horrifying dive and last second recovery.

“I hated it when you did that,” Chris admitted to her; “it made my stomach roll over watching you. I thought you were going to crash.”

“I'm too smart for that,” she said smugly. But she was glad he wasn't doing anything dangerous. Altitude never got anyone into much trouble. It wasn't very exciting either, but she was happy knowing he was safe, and not taking any chances.

“So what's happening in LA,” Billy asked during a lull, and she told him about her work and their new planes, but she didn't say anything about the world tour. She wanted to talk to her father about it first. And then she was going to mention it to Billy. She had been thinking about it a lot, and if she did it, she wanted him to fly with her. He was the best pilot she'd ever seen; even after a year in Los Angeles flying with some real greats, she still thought Billy was better.

He went back up after they chatted for a while, and won another first prize, to prove her point. And shortly after that, there was a near disaster when two planes almost collided, but there was a last minute save, and after some gasps and screams from the crowd, every thing turned out all right. But it made everyone think of the year before, when Jimmy Bradshaw crashed at the air show. Needless to say, they didn't see Peggy there this year, but Cassie had already heard from Chris that she and Bobby Strong were getting married. She had no regrets about him at all. Her life had moved far past him. But she wished him well, and she was happy for Peggy.

Chris was standing with her just before his big event, and they were chatting about some old friends, and then they called his group to their planes.

“Well, here goes nothing.” He looked nervous, understandably, and he looked at Cassie and grinned, and she reached out and touched him.

“Good luck, kid. When you come back, we'll get you something to eat. Try and hang on till then.”

“Thank,” He grinned at her as Jessie went to find one of her sisters.