Page 51 of Plane Passion

As the clouds parted, she yelped.

Right below her were the tops of trees, almost high enough to catch on her wheels, and to her right, far too close, a peak loomed. Yanking on the stick, she steered away and up, narrowly avoiding a collision.

Heart pounding, she climbed. Her frozen hands gripped the stick for dear life as the visible world disappeared once again.

No more flying below the clouds, she decided as she swore a blue streak into the muffled emptiness of the cloud cover. She was going above them. Landmarks be damned. She would have to trust her compass and hope the clouds cleared before Cleveland.

Up she climbed until she broke through into the sunlight. It was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. She was safe, at least for the moment. She could see where she was, avoid any mountain peaks, and steer her steady course in the right direction.

She prayed that wherever Ernie was, he was safe and that he didn’t worry too much for her safety.

Two hours later, the clouds broke, and she could see land again. She caught sight of railroad tracks and then the tall spires of a city in the distance.

Cleveland. It had to be.

She checked her fuel and was relieved to see she still had more than enough to reach her destination.

Circling the city, she spotted the airstrip at last and came in for a landing. Never in her life had she been so grateful to feel wheels touch earth.

As she ground to a halt and climbed out of her plane, she looked for Ernie. He should have arrived before her. But she didn’t see him.

“Has Pritchard arrived yet?” she asked the mechanic that guided her plane into the hangar.

“Haven’t seen him, Miss Aldrich. I’m sure he’ll be along soon.”

Oh, no. He was still out there? What if something happened? Did he try to circle back for her? He should have known better than to do anything so foolish.

She went inside to warm up and got herself a cup of coffee. It was markedly better than the mud back in New Jersey. The heat and aroma started to unwind some of the fear and anxiety that had her clenching every muscle throughout the trip. She was on the ground, safe.

But where was Ernie? He didn’t have the fuel to stay up much longer. She went and sat beside a window where she could see the airstrip, watching avidly.

Ten minutes passed. Twenty.

If something happened to him, she would never forgive herself. She was sure that his lateness had to be the result of his turning back to try to find her. Foolish man. She’d been flying longer than he had. Couldn’t he trust her to find her way?

Half an hour had passed, and she began pacing. What if something had happened? How would they know? When would they know? Was there a time beyond which they considered him lost? Would someone be sent to look for him? She would volunteer in a heartbeat. Should she volunteer now? No. Better to wait and see. There was still a chance.

She sat down again, staring out the window, willing something to happen. Her foot tapped, and then she stopped it. Then it started tapping again. She had to do something with all this nervous energy. She couldn’t just sit here.

Reaching a sudden decision, she headed back to the hangar to her plane. “I’m going back out to look for him,” she told the confused mechanic.

“Miss Aldrich, he could be anywhere. There’s no point in going yet. He could still get here safely. We need to wait.”

The man made sense, but she had no patience. “I have to go up. I have to find him.”

“Well, you can’t take this plane. I’m in the middle of a repair.”

The fuselage was opened to reveal the engine, and the man had his tools.

“Is there another plane I can take?”

“No.”

“What about that one?” she said, pointing.

“Doesn’t have an engine in it at the moment. We’re waiting for a replacement.”

“And that one?” she said, pointing again.