Lost In Time

by W M Wiltshire

  The airplane touched down a mere fifteen feet from where they had been standing. It continued to roll down the grass runway before coming to rest in front a building that looked like an aircraft hangar.

  From that same direction, Daric could see two figures, a man and a woman, running toward them. Odd, he thought. The two had the running gait, like graceful gazelles running across the Serengeti, in sync with each other.

  Daric slowly got to his feet, pulling his sister up with him. Still holding onto her arms, Daric looked directly into her eyes and pleaded, “Dani, you need to trust me here. Please! You have to trust me, this one time. Just follow my lead, okay? I’ll explain everything to you first chance we get to be alone. I promise.”

  “Daric . . .” Dani’s sentence was cut short.

  “Are you two all right? You almost got run down by that airplane.” The words were coming from the figure that Daric had thought was a man, but he could now clearly see was a woman, as she checked Dani over for injuries. His mistake was understandable, considering she was wearing pants with a brown leather bomber jacket, with her short-cut hair giving her a tomboyish appearance. She had wavy blond hair, warm blue-grey eyes and a smattering of freckles across her nose. She also had a model’s tall, willowy figure and was the same height as Dani.

  “That was so close. You two are really lucky,” the second lady stated while checking Daric over carefully, touching his arms, legs and chest, while staring into his indigo-blue eyes. She was a few inches shorter than the other lady and also appeared a few years younger. She had long curly auburn hair and sea-green eyes. She carried a smaller frame than her companion and seemed more reserved and polished in her demeanour. She also dressed more like a lady, in a printed dress under a long trench coat, cinched at the waist, accentuating her curvy female figure.

  “Yes, we’re both fine, thank you,” Daric said.

  “What are you doing out here? This is a restricted area of the Union Air Terminal; for authorized personnel only. You’re trespassing,” the first lady stated matter-of-factly.

  “Sorry. We wandered out here last night by mistake. When we realized our error, we left immediately,” said Daric. Thinking quickly on his feet, he continued, “But then I noticed I was missing my pocket knife, so we came back to look for it during the day. I thought, if we were here early enough, no one would be the wiser,” Daric finished, hoping his story would be convincing enough. A quick glance at his sister revealed a look of disbelief.

  “As long as you’re both okay, no harm done,” said the first woman. “My name is Millie.” She extended her hand to Dani and then Daric. “And this here is my sister, Pidge.”

  That explained the similarity in their strides, Daric concluded.

  “I’m Daric and this is my sister, Dani,” Daric explained as he returned the handshakes.

  “I don’t know about you two, but we’ve been up since before dawn and with only a couple of cups of coffee to keep us going. We were just about to grab some breakfast. Join us, please? It’s the least we can do for almost running you down,” Millie declared.

  “But, you didn’t . . .” Dani started, before being interrupted.

  “You haven’t eaten already, have you?” Pidge asked, hoping the handsome young Daric would continue to grace her with his presence.

  “Actually, no, we haven’t,” Daric replied, accompanied by his growling stomach.

  “It’s settled then. Come on,” Pidge said. She grabbed Daric’s arm and placed it over hers, as they made their way down the runway toward the airplane that had come to rest outside the United Air Services hangar, adjacent to the Union Air Terminal.

  “Did you find it?” Pidge inquired.

  “Find what?” Daric asked, not sure what she was referring to.

  “Your pocket knife; did you find it?” Pidge repeated.

  “No,” Daric answered, knowing he couldn’t produce one if they asked him to.

  12

  “So, where are you from?” Millie asked Dani as they continued toward the hangar. “There aren’t any homes close to this airport, just miles upon miles of vineyards.” She had noticed the strange clothes they were wearing, but was far too polite to say anything.

  Taking her cue from Daric, Dani started to fabricate her own story. She and Millie were a few paces behind Daric and the clingy and overly attentive Pidge.

  “We don’t actually have a home; we’re orphans,” Dani stammered. “My brother and I have been on our own for years,” Dani finished, looking forlornly at the ground, hoping to add to the believability of her story.

  Daric peered over his shoulder and looked at his sister with an understanding smile, realizing she had picked up on his ruse.

  “That’s terrible. I’m so sorry,” Millie said, empathetic of the young siblings’ plight. “How do you manage to live, especially during such hard times?”

  “We get odd jobs along the way, where we can,” Dani explained. “Actually, Daric is excellent with any type of engine,” she continued. “He’s a real genius when it comes to anything mechanical. I mostly cook or wait tables at diners for what cash we actually need. But I have also done some office work, too.” She was hoping to seize what could turn out to be a very fortunate set of circumstances. She had no idea what might present itself later down the line or how long they’d be here.

  Pidge was listening carefully to the conversation and thought there had to be some way she and Millie could help these two. She knew what it was like to grow up without any money. Their father, Edwin, had consistently struggled to find and keep a job. His struggles had resulted in the family moving around a lot during her early years. She and her sister had been sent to live with their grandparents for a while until their father got back on his feet. It wasn’t until Millie was ten-years-old and Pidge eight, that the family had finally been reunited.

  “Millie, weren’t you saying the other day that you could use a little extra help?” Pidge remarked, hoping Millie would take the bait.

  Pidge strongly believed their upbringing had led to Millie’s independence. Millie had learned early on how to take care of herself and her sister.

  “She’s right, I did say that. But I can’t pay you much.” It embarrassed Millie to admit she was feeling the pinch during the depression and what little money she did have was funding her latest goal.

  “Why not let them work for their room and board?” Pidge suggested. “They said they don’t have a place to stay and I can hear Daric’s stomach growling from here.”

  “That would be great,” Daric jumped in, before they could rescind the offer. “We don’t need much, just a bite to eat and a roof over our heads at night. And we travel real light. We have only what we’re carrying on our backs,” Daric added.

  “Oh my,” Pidge whispered, astounded at what the two siblings endured simply to get by. Neither of them was dressed very well. Daric had an old faded denim shirt and faded blue jeans, with loafers on his feet. Dani had what looked like a cut-off pair of jeans, a long-sleeved plaid shirt, and sandals. She noticed that Dani was about the same height as Millie and could use some of her clothes; Daric, however, was another story. She would have to work out something.

  “I would love to get my hands on that,” Daric said, pointing at the airplane now sitting only twenty feet away.

  “That, my dear Daric, is a . . .”

  “Lockheed Electra,” Daric blurted out.

  “That’s right.” Millie was taken aback. “How could you possibly know that?” Millie asked, amazed at the young man’s knowledge of a relatively new aircraft.

  “Uh, uh,” Daric stuttered, thinking quickly. “My dad used to work for Lockheed, in their design department. I have–or I guess I should say, I had a Pratt & Whitney engine I used to take apart at home. As Dani said earlier, I have a way with engines,” Daric acknowledged as humbly as he could, hoping his near-disastrous slip
was buried in his plausible lie.

  “Really? That’s great. Then I could definitely use your help. Because I’m going to fly this airplane around the world,” Millie stated proudly.

  Daric’s jaw suddenly dropped open. Millie smiled at his reaction; she thought it was because he didn’t think a woman could fly an airplane, let alone fly around the world. In fact, Daric simply couldn’t believe in whose presence he was standing.

  Pointing to the men gathered outside the airplane, Millie continued. “They were just out testing the equipment and the radios on board. The test flights are going to help us determine the best speeds, altitudes, and power settings to obtain optimal performance during our long journey. Come, I’ll introduce you to my team.” Millie motioned for them to follow her as she closed the distance between the two groups.

  13

  “Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to the newest members of our team.” Millie began the introductions. “This is Daric and Dani . . .” Millie cut her sentence short and turned to the twins. “I didn’t get your last name.”

  “It’s Delaney,” Dani supplied.

  “As I was saying, our two newest members, Daric and Dani Delaney,” Millie finished.

  The three gentlemen were hard-pressed not to stare at the two strangely dressed newcomers in front of them, especially the scantily clad beautiful young woman. But before an uncomfortably long silence became embarrassing, one of them broke the uneasiness and began the introductions.

  The first gentleman stepped forward, extending his hand. “Nice to meet you. My name is Paul Mantz. I’m the technical advisor.”

  Paul Mantz evoked the image of a dashing aviator often seen in the movies. He was shorter than Daric, but carried a compact muscular form, with brown hair combed off the forehead revealing a slightly receding hairline. He had soft brown eyes, shielded by long bedroom eyelashes that any woman would have envied. He also sported a well-trimmed mustache.

  “I’m Harry Manning,” the next gent offered, when Paul had finished with his introduction. “I’m the navigator and radio operator.” He was the same height as Millie, slim build, brown curly hair, clean shaven and weighing about one-hundred and sixty pounds.

  “Nice to meet you,” Daric said in awe. He couldn’t believe with whom he was shaking hands and, more importantly, with whom he was standing. He took a quick glance over at Millie, then at Dani to see whether any of this was registering with her. Apparently not.

  “And I’m Joe Gurr, from United Airlines here in Burbank. I was just aboard to test some radio equipment. I’m not part of this team, only on loan as a courtesy.” He was shorter than the other two men at five-feet-six. His small build afforded him easier access to the small confines of the airplane’s cockpit.

  All three men were in various stages of peeling off their khaki flight jumpsuits. Underneath, each was dressed in a business suit: jacket, pants, pressed white shirt and narrow neck tie. Somewhat formal attire, for an early morning test flight, Daric thought.

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving. I’ve been up since 2:00 A.M. and I’ve only had coffee. Let’s grab something to eat,” Paul urged as he made his way over to the Union Air Terminal entrance.

  “That’s just where we were going too,” Pidge stated, grabbing Daric’s arm and dragging him along. “I’m famished.”

  The rest of the party fell in behind and covered the short distance to the terminal and a decent hot meal.

  14

  The group entered the spacious well-kept terminal. A floor-to-ceiling, unfinished, wooden wall separated the office/lounge area from the adjacent hangar section, which was large enough to accommodate three aircraft. In the area where the group gathered, there was a small glass-enclosed office to the right of the entrance. Opposite, was a waiting lounge, with a sofa, two tub chairs and an end table covered with old, well-used magazines, as you might see in a doctor’s office. Toward the back, there was a small kitchen with a pass-through to a Formica-topped serving counter, complete with red padded stools for patrons. There were also two round tables with wooden folding chairs that could accommodate groups of up to six people. Over the doorway to the hangar section, a sign pointed to a restroom.

  As soon as Dani saw the sign, she realized it offered her a chance to get Daric alone. She was going to seize the opportunity, not knowing when another would present itself. She had questions that needed to be answered, sooner rather than later.

  “If you would excuse us,” Dani said to the group as they entered the hangar. “Daric and I need to freshen up before we eat.” Dani pulled Daric from Pidge’s tight grip. “We’ll be right back,” she finished as they made their way toward the hangar door.

  “Yeah, don’t wait for us, go ahead and order, we won’t be long. Need to get some of this grime off first,” Daric yelled over his shoulder, trailing behind his sister. She still had a firm grip on his arm and was hauling him through the doorway as a mother would a defiant child.

  Daric knew Dani was at her wits end and needed to know what was going on. He feared she wouldn’t take the news very well. He just hoped she didn’t make a scene, or worse.

  Dani and Daric proceeded in silence to the restroom. The room proved to be small, with a toilet and sink; both had been white once upon a time. Neither Dani nor Daric said anything until the door had closed behind them.

  Dani wheeled around and confronted Daric. “What the hell is going on?”

  They were well out of the hearing range of the others. Daric knew it was time to share what he knew with his sister. He took a moment to compose himself. He wanted to break the news as gently as possible.

  “You know Dad’s been working on his special project for years, right?” Daric eased into his story.

  “Yeah, so? What’s that got to do with us?” Dani’s frustration was evident in her tone.

  “These bands we have on, I believe they brought us here, somehow.” Daric wasn’t explaining things very well.

  “What are you talking about?” Dani asked, confused.

  “When we put these on, we were in Dad’s lab, like you said.” Daric held his arm up to show Dani the band on his wrist. “Next thing we know, we’re in the middle of an airstrip. And as near as I can figure, we’re somewhere between late 1936 and early 1937.”

  “What?” Dani was trying to digest what she thought she’d just heard.

  “Think about it a minute. Dad’s been working on Einstein’s theories of relativity. Think back to your basic physics classes. Einstein’s theories proved that time travel was possible. And it would appear that Dad has built the first-ever working time machine. Or should I say bands?” Daric was looking in awe at the metallic band on his wrist.

  “You can’t be serious?” Dani still didn’t believe what she just heard.

  “Look around you, Dani. Didn’t you notice the cars parked outside the hangar? The blue one is a Buick Century sedan. The brown one is an Auburn Speedster. And the black one is a Plymouth Model coupe. They were all built in the 1930s,” Daric pointed out, clearly proud of his knowledge of classic cars.

  “And the airplane out there, the one that almost ran us down, it’s the Lockheed Electra 10-E.” Daric paused. He took a deep breath before finishing the whole picture with the final piece of the puzzle. “That airplane was flown around the world by the one and only Amelia Earhart, a. k. a. Millie. And as you well know, she never completed her world flight.” Daric finished and waited for a reaction.

  Dani just stared at her brother, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. Then she uttered only three words: “Oh my God.”

  15

  “Hey, you two, breakfast is getting cold.” There was a knock at the door. “We took the liberty of ordering for you, so come on.” Pidge had been sent to hurry the new team members along.

  “Daric, we need to finish this . . .” Dani whispered anxiously, holding onto
her brother’s arm.

  “Later, I promise,” Daric assured her as he pulled the door open and left the restroom.

  “Lead the way, Pidge, I’m starved,” Daric said. He draped Pidge’s arm over his and the two of them walked in step as they left the hangar section. Dani followed behind them. As she passed the Formica counter, she casually glanced at a newspaper perched on the corner. The date read March 7, 1937. Her jaw dropped.

  The three approached the table where the rest of the group was in the midst of finishing their meals. A rather heated conversation was underway. Paul looked up as the threesome approached; he stood up and pulled out a chair for Dani. “What took you guys so long?”

  “Sorry, we were talking about how lucky we are to have a roof over our heads for a little while,” Daric quickly explained. “It may be trivial to you, but it means a lot to us.”

  Millie leaned toward Dani. “Are you all right? You look a little pale.”

  Dani, still feeling a little off balance, looked into Millie’s concerned face. “Yes, I’m fine, just hungry, I guess,” she responded quickly. “I’ll feel better after I eat something, I’m sure.”

  Actually, Dani had lost her appetite in the restroom, but she had to put up a good front. So she picked up her fork and slowly moved her scrambled eggs around her plate before taking a small mouthful. Daric, on the other hand, was having no trouble putting away his meal.

  “This is fantastic,” Daric enthused around a mouthful of food.

  “The way you’re inhaling that, you’d think you hadn’t eaten in days,” Pidge said. “I’m so sorry,” she added quickly. “I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t consider that maybe you hadn’t eaten in a while.”

  “That’s okay, not to worry,” Daric reassured her, turning his charming smile on Pidge, who couldn’t help but smile in return.

  Paul, trying to get the group to focus on the business at hand, said anxiously, “Good, glad you’re enjoying your meal. Now, can we get back to business?”