by Davis, Mary
Copyright
ISBN 978-1-60260-047-8
Copyright © 2008 by Mary Davis. All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the permission of Truly Yours, an imprint of Barbour Publishing, Inc., PO Box 721, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683.
All scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
All of the characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events is purely coincidental.
Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.
One
Washington, 1920
Lizzie Carter shaded her goggle-covered eyes with her hand as she looked toward the blue sky. A yellow bi-plane flew overhead. It sent her heart racing. To be free of gravity that held her to the ground and free of injustice toward women. One day she would fly, too.
“Lizzie, look out!” her twelve-year-old brother, Ivan, yelled from the passenger seat of the Ford Model T.
She turned her attention back to the winding dirt road leading from town to their small farm and saw the maple tree coming straight toward her. She slammed her feet on the brake and clutch as she cranked the wheel to the left and skidded just past the huge trunk. Her right tire plunked into a rut and hissed out all its air.
She shoved her goggles up and got out to survey the damage. “Well, isn’t this a fine pickle.”
Ivan got out and removed the jack, then began loosening the bolts that held the spare tire on. “Hurry up, Lizzie. I want to see where he lands.” Ivan kept one eye on the sky as he worked.
She was just as eager not to lose sight of the aerial phenomenon. Never did she expect an aeroplane to be flying over her small town of Cashmere. She shaded her eyes. The bi-plane was but a spot on the far end of town. There was no way to catch him. She kicked the dusty road. There was no hurry now.
Ivan had the car jacked up, and she removed the flat tire as Ivan lifted the spare into place. She tossed the tire on the floor of the backseat. When Ivan finished and turned toward the empty blue sky, he looked as disappointed and dejected as she felt. He slammed the automobile door after he got in, but it bounced back open. Three times. He jumped out and pushed the door closed. “I’ll just walk home.”
“Get in. We’ll drop this tire off at the station to be repaired and head in the direction he was flying. I’ll drive all the way to Wenatchee if I have to. He likely landed there. He probably needs gasoline. Someone oughtta know where he went or if he landed.” Lizzie opened the throttle, pressed the clutch, and pushed the starter button. The Ford rumbled to life, and she lowered her goggles into place.
Ivan crawled in through the open window and tumbled into the passenger seat, struggling to right his lanky body.
“I guess you don’t care about fishing anymore?” Ivan had talked her into taking him up Tumwater Canyon to fish.
She eased the clutch back into slow speed, and when they were going fast enough, allowed the pedal all the way up into high speed and partially closed the throttle. They were off toward town to find that aeroplane.
She pulled into the gasoline station, shut off the engine, and jumped out while Ivan remained slumped in the front seat.
“Hi, Bill.” She waved at the aging station owner who came out immediately.
“Hello, darlin’. I filled up the gasoline tank on your Tin Lizzie not more than twenty minutes ago, so you must have come back for my charmin’ good looks.” Bill gave her a gummy grin.
She smiled back at the friendly old-timer. “Where are your teeth?”
“They was hurtin’ me so I spit them out. I was about to paste them back in when you pulled up again. If I put them back in, will you give me a kiss?” Bill puckered his already puckery lips.
She shook her head. “I blew a tire on these stupid rutted roads. Can you fix it for me?” She pulled it out of the back.
Bill took the tire and set it on the ground in front of him. “Shoot, Lizzie, you know I can fix anythin’.”
“Thanks, Bill.” She gave him a peck on his leathery old cheek.
Bill let out a hiss that was supposed to be a whistle, then hopped around on one foot. “Lizzie kissed me, Lizzie kissed me.”
She had to smile. She’d made an old man happy. “I’ll come back later for the tire.”
“It’ll be ready.” Bill had a spring in his step as he rolled the tire into the garage.
Lizzie climbed back into the black Model T, opened the throttle, and pressed the electric start. “I’m going to stop by the post office and tell Daddy about the tire.” Daddy didn’t drive because of his false leg, but he wanted to know everything that happened with “the heap of scrap metal he paid good money for.” Daddy hated all automobiles; thought they were from the devil or something. But missing a leg and not being able to walk to town had softened him to the idea of having one even if he didn’t like it. Daddy had depended on her for everything since Mom died seven years ago.
Ivan’s eyes widened. “You aren’t going to tell him about going to Wenatchee and looking for the aeroplane, are you?”
Did her brother truly think she was that stupid? Was it because she was a girl? Or was he looking after his own hide? “Daddy’s let me drive to Wenatchee before.”
“With him in the front seat with you.”
“He never said I couldn’t go. And who’s going to tell him, anyway?”
Ivan pressed his lips tight and shook his head.
She motored two blocks over and parked in front of the post office. “I’ll be right back.”
Ivan crossed his arms and slunk lower in the leather seat.
She went inside and waited as her dad hobbled his way over to the mailboxes and retrieved mail for Mrs. Stevens. His peg leg thumped on the wooden floor. “Here you go, Mertle.”
Lizzie went over to her dad when he was through. “Have a seat.”
“Too much work to do.” He smiled at her. “But I’m always glad to see my beautiful Elizabeth.” Her dad refused to use her preferred nickname. He said Elizabeth was a good sensible name. Lizzie was for flappers and floozies. “I thought you’d gone home.”
“We were on our way when one of the tires went flat. We dropped it off at Bill’s Garage. I just came to let you know and see if you need anything.”
“Nope. I’m fine.”
The automobile’s horn started a wild beat. She looked out the window and saw Ivan get out and wave his arms frantically to her.
Daddy peered toward the window. “What’s his problem? Sometimes I wonder if he’s touched in the head.”
Ivan pointed toward the sky.
“Oh, he’s just fussing to go.” She scooted toward the door as she spoke. “He’s sore at me for making him change the flat. I promised him I wouldn’t be long. I’ll be back at closing. Love you, Daddy.” She slipped outside and held the door open for slim Mrs. Baker and her three-year-old son.
Ivan grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward the car. “Hurry. He’s back. He’s flying toward the west side of town. I bet he’s going to land in that old field of Mr. Johnson’s.”
Lizzie jumped in and pressed the electric start. The engine choked. Then she remembered to open the throttle. She was sure glad she’d talked Daddy into the new electric-start model when they bought it last January. It was a whole lot easier on the body than the old crank models. No sprained wrists or broken bones.
She didn’t want any trouble, so she kept to a leisurely pace as she headed back the way they’d come until she got to the edge of town, then pushed the autom
obile as hard as she dared on the rutted road. She couldn’t afford another flat tire. She had no spare now.
❧
Lieutenant Pete Garfield touched the wheels of his Curtiss JN-4D down as softly as possible on the uneven field. It was a beautiful landing. One of his best, but he was sure his traveling companion on this short flight would find complaint in it somewhere. Old Finn had complained about everything else. Not everyone found joy in being free of God-given earth. He didn’t mind. It left more open blue sky for him to trek across. There was nothing else like it. Free from everything down below. Free from condemning glares and accusations. Free to be with God on His own terms. But sadly, he was back on the ground.
He scratched the head of the little brown terrier who shared his seat. “You liked it, didn’t you, Fred?”
Fred leaned back and licked his chin.
He maneuvered the aeroplane to the far end of the field and turned it around, ready for its next flight. A Model T was bouncing across the uneven ground toward him. His first customer. Small towns could sometimes be more profitable than the large ones.
He unhooked Fred from his harness and climbed out onto the wing with him. He jumped to the ground, set Fred down, then turned to help Finn.
Finn, now out on the wing with a death grip on one of the wing’s tension wires, slapped his hand away. “Haven’t you done enough?”
Fred barked and hopped on his back feet, trying to coax a smile from Finn by waving his front paws.
Pete stifled a laugh at Finn’s gruffness. “I’m only trying to help.” As long as the seventy-something-year-old man was still feisty, Pete didn’t worry about him giving up on life.
Finn held out a gnarled hand. “Well, then give me a hand so I can get back on earth where I belong.”
Pete thumped his palm to his forehead. “Why didn’t I think of that?” Taking a firm hold of the old man’s arm and wrapping his other arm around Finn’s back, Pete helped ease his dear friend’s thin frame to the ground. “See. Safe and sound just like I promised.”
“Safe and sound! I nearly died up there.” Finn pulled off the leather helmet. His white hair was in disarray, sticking up in all directions. He slapped the helmet onto the wing, pulled his crushed hat out from under his coat, and poked his fist inside before ramming it onto his head. “I’m never going up in that contraption again.” He walked away.
Pete smiled at Finn’s back. It had only been a short trip from Wenatchee over to Cashmere. It had taken him a long time to talk Finn into letting him fly him over. It was faster and smoother. Obviously, Finn didn’t think so. He didn’t like motorized “contraptions.” Pete felt much safer in his aeroplane than he did in an automobile.
Finn opened the door of the Ford and tipped his hat to the doll climbing out of the driver’s seat. Pete hustled over to Finn. The old man shouldn’t get all the accolades from the young lady. He doffed his helmet and finger-combed his brown curls before joining Finn at the black Model T.
The lady brushed her light brown hair with red highlights back from her face. Almost a cinnamon color. He could tell a mock bob hung just below her chin. He’d seen it before. Ladies who didn’t want or weren’t allowed to cut their long hair into the modern bob pinned their hair back at the nape of their neck, leaving enough pulled forward to simulate a bob. It told him a lot about her. She was trying to be a modern woman, perhaps even a flapper, but wasn’t quite there yet. Real flappers had no inhibitions and cut their hair whether family and friends protested or not.
He bowed. “Lieutenant Pete Garfield at your service.”
She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, the boy of about twelve piped up.
“You flew in the Great War?”
He wasn’t going to have to finagle his war exploits into the conversation. The boy had done it for him. He liked this boy already.
“I certainly did.”
“Did you battle the Red Baron?”
“As a matter of fact, the baron and I did share the same sky once. It was a fierce dogfight. There were German Fokkers, British Sopwith Camels, French Nieuports all over the sky. It was hard to tell who were the good guys. The sky was full of smoke from the automatic guns and shot-up aeroplanes, mostly Germans.” He glanced toward the doll to see if she was captivated with his exploits at war. She was staring off toward his aeroplane. Was she picturing him in that craft in the battle? He hoped so. “We were lucky not to crash into each other. I caught a glimpse of a red tri-plane Fokker and knew it was Baron Manfred von Richthofen. I banked right and got on his tail. I was just about to shoot him down when artillery fire came out of nowhere and took the Red Baron out of the sky. The rest of the Germans were so scared they turned tail and flew home to Mama as fast as they could.”
Tail wagging, Fred rose up on his back paws again and waved his front ones to the boy.
The boy got down on his knees and scratched Fred behind the ears. “What’s his name?”
“Fred.”
“I’ll see you around.” Finn gave Pete a wave and strode off.
“I’ll be right back,” he said to the doll and quickly caught up to Finn. “You want me to walk into town with you? I bet I can get the doll and the boy to give us a ride.”
“I’d like to keep my feet on solid ground. I never did like motorized contraptions. I’ll be fine. I got business to attend to here.” Finn always was a loner, drifting from one place to another, in and out of people’s lives. And town was not more than a mile away.
He watched Finn walk off, then turned back to see the boy putting on and adjusting the helmet that Finn had left on the wing. He walked up to the boy. “You got a name, kid?”
“Ivan. Can I have a ride in your aeroplane?”
“Sure. Where’s the doll you came with?”
Ivan pointed toward the front of his craft.
She stroked the nose like a favored pet. No doubt dreaming of the pilot who flew her.
“What’s her name?” The two looked alike, and he guessed brother and sister.
“Lizzie.”
“She’s your sister, right?”
The boy nodded.
“Thanks. Um, don’t go climbing around on this until I tell you it’s okay.” He patted the side of his aeroplane, then strode around the other side and peeked around the nose at the doll. His heart stirred. This was the one. He always picked one girl in every crowd that he’d steal a kiss from before he flew off to a new place. Even though the crowd so far only consisted of her and her brother, he knew she was special, and he wanted a kiss from her. “Hi, Lizzie.”
She sucked in a breath as she looked up at him. “How did. . . ? Never mind. Ivan.” She turned back to his aeroplane.
“Her name is Jenny.”
“The nickname for the Curtiss JN-4D.”
“That’s right.” He was impressed she knew that and was about to impress her with his knowledge when she went on.
“Does it have the standard ninety horsepower OX5 engine?”
He stared openmouthed at her. Most men didn’t know the specs of his craft. How could a doll? He nodded dumbly, then managed to say, “I painted it yellow.”
“Yellow looks good on her.” Lizzie never took her eyes off the Jenny and slowly walked the length.
Her close scrutiny of his craft made him a little uneasy. What was she looking for? Did she know more than just rote memory specs?
“In the Great War, I flew a British Sopwith Camel with a synchronized Vickers gun firing through the propeller and a rear-mounted Lewis.” She didn’t seem interested so he added, “I normally charge five bucks for a ride around the sky, but for you, Lizzie, I’ll do it for free.” That ought to give her a thrill and get him a kiss. But she didn’t even glance his direction.
“Can I have a free ride, too?” Ivan had come from somewhere and broken the connection Pete was trying to form with Lizzie.
“If you fetch my gasoline for the day, I’ll give you an extra-long ride.”
Ivan slapped his thigh. “Ho
t dog.”
Three more cars rolled onto the field. “Time for this flyboy to go to work.” He winked at Lizzie, who’d finally looked up at him, then walked over to the growing crowd that would become his paying customers. People were fascinated with aeroplanes and would pay for a ride, and he was just the man to relieve them of their money and give them an adventure they would never forget.
Two
Lizzie watched the lieutenant taxi his Curtiss JN-4D down the bumpy field. He found a smooth strip and pushed the throttle. The engine roared, and the Jenny took off down the field, then up into the air. Lizzie sucked in a breath, and Fred barked at his master leaving him behind. She felt the same. What it must feel like at that first moment when you knew you had left earth. You knew you were free.
The JN-4D circled the field and came swooping down low over the crowd. Lizzie’s hair fluttered in the back draft, and she gave a loud whoop. The Jenny climbed high and steep. Up, up, up. Lizzie held her breath as the aeroplane went over and flew on its back before looping back around to the upright position. She finally exhaled.
Next he rolled the aeroplane sideways several times. She cheered right along with the crowd as he passed over. Then the Jenny climbed high into the air, turned, and came back down.
He started spinning out of control. Around and around.
Gasps came from the crowd. Lizzie couldn’t breathe and held the dog tight to her chest. Her heart beat faster and faster as the yellow aeroplane raced, spinning toward the ground. He was going to crash.
“No!”
Women in the crowd screamed.
Just then, he pulled out of it and waved to the crowd as he flew over. Lizzie stared for a moment, comprehending what had just happened, then set the dog down and jumped to her feet, applauding. She wanted to do that.
Pete landed again, jumped down, and swooped off his helmet. “Who wants to take the first ride? I promise to keep your ride smooth and level. No stunts with passengers onboard.”
Lizzie stared at the man who’d taken her breath away and made her heart race with his aerial stunts. She wanted to push her way through the dozen-and-a-half or so people and beg to be the first, but she wanted more from this flyboy than just a ride. So much more. She would just have to wait. When he’d garnered his wages from everyone else, he’d be more amiable to her request.