Page 14 of Plane Passion

Gertie slapped her on the back. “You lucky duck! I would kill for publicity like that.”

Millie shrugged. “I know that I should be grateful for what I have instead of whining about Barney. Fortunately, the Postmaster General needs me. Now that women can vote, he thinks the publicity around a lady pilot can help him get his Postal Service funding. I may have promised to do a private air show for members of Congress.”

Nerts! She shouldn’t have said that. This martini was going straight to her head.

“Bold move,” said Gertie, raising a glass. The others joined her and took a drink.

“Please keep this to yourselves, though. I’m not supposed to talk about it.” She knew her friends would keep her secret, but she shouldn’t have blabbed.

“Don’t worry about us, dear. Our lips are sealed.” Gertie patted her shoulder reassuringly. “But enough about men. I’d much rather talk about flying.”

“Hear, hear,” said Katherine. “Gertie, I heard a flock of geese flew through in the middle of a show last month. What did you do?”

“Geese,” said Gertie, shaking her head. “Can’t stand ’em. I was in the middle of a loop-the-loop, and they came out of nowhere, flying right at me. I knew if they got in my propeller, I was a goner, so I shot out of there as fast as I could go, throwing in a barrel roll so it looked intentional. The audience thought it was all part of the show. I tell you, my knees were shaking when I landed at the end of it, but I wasn’t going to let some dumb birds be the end of me.”

“Birds,” said Katherine. “That reminds me of the time when…”

Millie glazed over, finally relaxed and tipsy. She’d heard these stories and others like them a hundred times, but they never got old. She had the very best friends in the world. If only she could fly with them every day and never see Ernie Pritchard again!

5

Ernie knew very well that Heller Airport in Newark was a nightmare to land in. Miss Aldrich had shown remarkable skill and stamina over the last few days and had remained blessedly silent since running into him at dinner. He overheard her saying something about him being handsome and arrogant, and she seemed deeply embarrassed by it. Not that he minded being called handsome and arrogant. Both were true. And he rather liked the idea of Millie thinking he was handsome. Still, it was probably best for both of them to pretend it didn’t happen and focus instead on flying.

Today’s landing would be a true test of her abilities. The runway was too short, and the airport was pinned between two factories with a canal right behind it. If you came in too fast, you’d end up in the dirt pile at the end of the runway, or worse yet, the water. He’d talked her through what to do, but now he needed to see if she could do it.

As he watched and circled, he could hardly breathe. If Millie got hurt executing this landing, he didn’t know what he would do. He was trying to get her to quit, not send her to the hospital.

She let her plane drop, just as he’d instructed. His knuckles turned white on the yoke as he watched. So far so good.

At the last moment, she turned hard to miss the Tiffany factory. It was a near miss, but that was how it had to be for the landing to be successful. A trickle of sweat dripped down his neck as she nosed down and wheels touched the ground.

It was a rough landing, but she stopped short of the dirt pile at the end of the runway, which was more than he could say for most pilots attempting it for the first time. He let out the breath slowly. Thank God she made it! That was an impressive bit of flying, though he would never admit to it out loud.

Ernie circled around once more and executed the tricky maneuver himself, touching his pocket watch for luck right before he went in.

As his wheels touched dirt, he heaved a sigh of relief. They were home safe, and he hadn’t killed Millie Aldrich. He hadn’t convinced her to quit either, though, and he knew he was going to hear about it from Mr. Dickson. He needed a plan. Maybe the Philadelphia–DC run was too easy. Maybe he needed to present her with more of a challenge.

Getting out of his plane, he surrendered it to the mechanics and then headed to the locker room. It was a relief to shed his suit. Miss Aldrich wasn’t wrong about how uncomfortable the damned things were. He headed to the breakroom for a cup of disgusting coffee to warm up, but as he turned, he bumped right into Mr. Dickson.

“Pritchard. I’m glad you’re here.” Mr. Dickson nodded towards his office. Ernie followed and sat down as Mr. Dickson closed the door. “This business with Miss Aldrich has gotten out of hand. There’s a reporter poking around asking questions about whether Millie Aldrich rescued an airmail pilot from a pumpkin patch. Would you know anything about that?”

There was no good answer to that, so Ernie stayed silent.

Mr. Dickson’s expression darkened. “I knew she’d be trouble. Women have no business in my airmail operation. Have you had any luck getting her to quit?”

“Not yet.” Ernie turned his gaze to his boots.

The deep, rumbling noise Mr. Dickson made gave Ernie the willies. “Burleson says we can’t fire her as long as she’s following the rules and doing her job. I don’t know why he foisted her on us, but we’re stuck with her until we can prove she doesn’t belong. What do you think is our best option here?”

Ernie squirmed in his seat and touched his pocket watch. Millie had impressed him. He was starting to feel a little bit guilty for plotting to get her to quit. Much though he hated to admit it, she might actually deserve to fly the mail. Not that he could afford to come to her defense in front of Mr. Dickson. He needed to keep his job after all.

Clearing his throat, he said, “I think we should try her on a harder route. New York to DC was too easy. Let’s try her on the Chicago route and see how she likes it. The cold is even more punishing this time of year, and she’ll have to negotiate ‘Hell’s Stretch’ over the Alleghenies. I’ll do my best to make sure she comes to no harm, but hopefully, it will convince her to quit.”

Mr. Dickson nodded. “I’ll update your schedules. You’ll leave Monday morning. We need her out of here so that we can get on with the business of delivering the mail. We have enough troubles without a woman here stirring things up.”

The longer this assignment lasted, the less Ernie liked it, but it wasn’t as if he had a choice. “Is that all, sir?”

“Yes, that’s all. Thank you.”