stopped fighting her then, and near tears, he let his hands go slack on his set of the controls, and let her fly it. She knew less than he did perhaps, but she seemed to have a relationship with the plane that he couldn't come close to. And he knew that in his hands they would almost surely be destroyed. Maybe in Cassie's there was some hope. For an instant, he closed his eyes and prayed, wishing he had never let her talk him into taking off in the storm.
They were both drenched in the open cockpit, and the plane was rising and falling on terrifying downdrafts. They would drop a hundred feet or so, and then rise again, although more slowly. It was like being dropped off a building when they fell, and then crawling up the side again, only to be dropped again, like a paper puppet.
The clouds were almost black as Cassie fought with the stick, but she seemed to sense their altitude almost by instinct. She had an uncanny sense about what the plane would cooperate with, and seemed to work with it to get where she wanted. But they had no idea where they were anymore, how far they had gone, or exactly how high they were. The altimeter was going crazy. Cassie had some idea, but they had totally lost sight of the ground, and a rapidly moving line of clouds had disoriented them completely.
“We're okay,” she shouted encouragingly back at Chris, but he couldn't hear her. “We're going to be fine,” she kept saying to herself, and then she began talking to the Jenny itself, as though the little plane could follow her directions. She had heard about some of her father's and Nick's tricks, and she knew that there was one that would get them out of this mess, if it didn't kill them. She had to trust her own instincts for this, and she had to be very, very sure… she was talking to herself, into the wind, as the plane began to drop dramatically. She was looking for the lowest edge of the clouds, and counting on finding it before they hit the ground, but if it was too low, and she dropped too fast, or if she lost control for a single instant… it was called scud running, and if you lost… you died. It was as simple as that. And they both knew it, as the little Jenny dropped toward the ground as quickly as Cassie would let it.
Their speed was terrifying by then, the howling of the wind deafening, as they flew through the inky wet blackness. It seemed like a bottomless place they were (ailing into, filled with horrifying sounds, and terrifying feelings, and then suddenly, almost before she knew, she sensed before she saw, both the treeline, and the ground, and then the airport. She pulled sharply on the stick, and pulled herself up just before they'd have hit the trees. They got lost in the clouds again for a moment or two, but she knew then where she was, and how to approach the airport. She closed her eyes just for a second, feeling where she was, and how fast she could drop, and again she saw the trees, but this time she was in full control. She came in just over them, as the wind tipped her wings, and almost knocked them over. She pulled up and circled the airport again, wondering if they could land at all, or if in the end it would be impossible because of the force of the unpredictable winds. She wasn't afraid, she was just thinking very quietly, and then she saw him. It was Nick waving frantically. He had seen what she'd done, seen her running just under the clouds, and almost hit the ground. She was less than fifty feet above it. He ran to where she should be, and tried to wave her in, on the farthest runway. The angle of the wind was just enough gentler there to allow her to make a breathtaking landing. The little Jenny screeched all the way down the runway, with the wind hard on their faces, and Cassie gritted her teeth so hard her face ached. Her hair was plastered to her head from the rain, and her hands were numb from clutching the stick, and Chris was sitting behind her with his eyes closed. They bounced hard when they hit the ground, and he opened them. He couldn't believe she'd brought them in, he had been sure they were as good as dead; he was still in shock when Nick came rushing up to them, and physically dragged him out of the plane, while Cassie just sat there shaking.
“What the hell are you two lunatics trying to do? Commit suicide, or bomb the airport?” They had come pretty close to the roof on the way down, but Cassie had decided that was the least of their problems. She was still amazed that she'd brought them in at all, and she had to fight to repress a grin of relief. She'd been so damn scared, and yet a part of her had stayed so cool. All she could do was think about how to get out of it, and talk to the little airplane. “Are you crazy?” Nick was shaking him, and glaring at her, as Pat came running out from the airport.
“What the hell is going on here?” he shouted at all of them, as the wind buffeted them, and Cassie began worrying about the plane. She didn't want her turned over and damaged as they sat in the wind on the runway.
“These two fools of yours went out for a joyride in this. I think they're trying to get killed, or destroy your airplanes, I'm not sure which, but they ought to have their butts kicked.” Nick was so furious he could hardly speak, and Pat couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He stared at Chris in utter astonishment. “You went out in
“I… uh… I just thought we'd go up and come right down… and…”… he wanted to whine as he had as a child, “But, Daddy, Cassie made me…” But he said not a word as his father tried to hide his pride in him. The kid had guts, and he was a hell of a pilot.
“And you landed her in this? Don't you know how dangerous this kind of weather is? You could have been killed.” Pat couldn't hide the pride in his voice, it was beyond him.
“I know, Dad. I'm sorry.” Chris was fighting not to cry, and Cassie was watching her father's face. She knew only too well what she saw there. It was raw pride in the accomplishments of his son, or so he thought. It was meant for her, but it went to Chris, because he was a boy, and that was just the way things were. The way they always had been. Whatever she did in life, she knew she had to do it for herself, not for him, because he would never understand it or give her credit for it. She was “only a girl” to him. That was all she ever would be.
Pat turned to look at Cassie then, almost as though he could hear her thinking. And then he looked at his son again with an angry scowl. “You should never have taken her up in this. It's too dangerous for passengers to be out in bad conditions. You shouldn't have gone up yourself. But never take a passenger into weather like this, son.” She was someone to be protected, but never admired. It was her destiny, and she knew it.
“Yes, sir.” There were tears standing out in Chris's eyes as his father glanced at the plane, and his son, in fresh amazement.
“Put her away then.” And with that he walked away, and Nick watched Chris and Cassie put the plane away. Chris looked so shaken he could hardly walk, but Cassie was calm, as she wiped the rain off the plane, and checked the engine. Her brother only looked at her angrily and stalked away, determined never to forgive her for almost killing him. He would never forget how close they had come, and all because of one of her whims. She was completely crazy. She had proved it.
She put the last of her tools away, and she was surprised when she turned to find Nick standing just behind her. He looked very much like the storm she had just flown through. Her brother was gone, and her father was waiting for them inside the airport.
“Don't
“I don't know what you mean.” She looked away from him. Now that she was back on the ground, she felt drained. The exhilaration was almost gone, and what she felt now was the backlash of the terror, and the exhaustion.
“You know damn well what I mean!” he shouted at her and grabbed her arm, his black hair matted around his face. He had stood staring up at her plane, willing her in, willing her to find the hole in the clouds, to make it. He couldn't have stood losing both of them, seeing them die, and all for a joyride. In the war, they'd had no choice. But this was different. It was so senseless.
“Let go of me.” She was angry at him. She was angry at all of them. Her brother who got all the glory and didn't know how to fly worth a damn, her father who was so obsessed with him he couldn't see anything, and Nick who thought he knew it all. It was their secret club, they had all the toys, and they would never let her play. She was good enough to fuel their machines and work on their engines, and get their oil and grease in her hair, but never to fly their planes. “Leave me alone!” she shouted at him, and he only grabbed her other arm. He had never seen her like this, and he didn't know whether to spank her or hold her.
“Cassie, I saw what you did up there!” He was still shouting at her. “I'm not blind. I know Chris can't fly like that! I know you were flying the plane… but you're crazy. You could have gotten yourself killed… you can't do
