Flying was amazing.Lance was right—nothing to be afraid of. The plane was shaky, but if it hadn’t come apart yet, Kaci could trust it would make it back to the airfield where they’d started. And her redneck heart had come out of hiding and was enjoying the thrill of it.
She would absolutely get on that airplane and go to Germany. And she wouldn’t be afraid, and she wouldn’t hyperventilate, and she wouldn’t cause any international incidents by melting down in any airports. She had her passport, her tickets, and her schedule. Everything would be?—
Crunch.
The plane swerved and dipped. Feathers plastered the windshield. She gripped her own legs, because there wasn’t an armrest. “What was that?”
Lance didn’t grin.
Nor did he answer.
One of the readouts on the dash blinked red, and another was flashing something.
“What was that?” she repeated.
He flipped a switch, then tugged at the wheel. “Bird,” he said shortly.
“A bird? A bird as in—wooo.”
The plane dipped again, but this time, itpitched her sideways toward Lance.
“Kaci,” he said, his voice clipped but steady and forceful, “sit still. And trust me.”
Oh, god. Sweet baby Jesus and Jehoshaphat and Jim-Bob.
They were going to crash.
A beeping came through her headphones. Lance hit the button to silence her comms, and all she could hear was the irregular whir-sputter-whir of the engine.
The plane tilted sideways.
Lance’s lips were set in a straight line. He kept one hand on the wheel, his feet doing something with the pedals, his other hand flipping various knobs and switches. He was talking, but she couldn’t hear him.
“Lance?” she said.
He didn’t answer.
“Lance!”
He flipped the switch to turn her headphones back on. “We hit a bird, and itdamaged the propeller,” he said.
“Oh, my God.”
“Kaci, listen. Are you listening?”
She thought she nodded, but she wasn’t sure. The ground was getting closer. Not fast, not like in the video game, but still closer.
“We’re going to land on a strip of farmland a little ways up the road, but I need you to keep calm and trust me.”
He was using thatI am god of the airvoice. The cocky voice. TheI’m an invincible pilotvoice.
Her daddy had used that voice.
She whimpered.
“Hold tight, Pixie-lou. We’re just fine.”
All went silent again.
