Luther crashed to the floor with Eddie and Harry on top of him.
Margaret realized she was still alive.
She suddenly felt as weak as a baby, and she sank helplessly into a seat.
Percy dashed to her. She hugged him. Time stood still. She heard herself say: “Are you all right?”
“I think so,” he said shakily.
“You’re so brave!”
“So are you!”
Yes, I was, she thought; I was brave.
All the passengers began to shout at once; then Captain Baker yelled: “Quiet, everybody, please!”
Margaret looked around.
Luther was still on the floor, facedown, pinned and harmless with Eddie and Harry on top of him. The danger from within the aircraft was over. She looked outside. The submarine floated on the water like a great gray shark, its wet steel flanks gleaming in the sunshine.
The captain said: “There’s a naval cutter nearby and we’re going to radio to it right away and tell them about the U-boat.” The crew had come through from number 1 compartment, and now the captain addressed the radio operator. “Get on the horn, Ben.”
“Yes, sir. You realize the submarine commander may hear our radio message and run for it.”
“All the better,” the captain growled. “Our passengers have seen enough danger.”
The radio operator went up the stairs to the flight deck.
Everyone kept looking out at the U-boat. Its hatch stayed shut. Its commander must have been waiting to see what would happen.
Captain Baker went on. “There’s one gangster we haven’t caught, and I’d like to bring him in: the skipper of the launch. Eddie, go to the bow door and lure him aboard—tell him Vincini wants him.”
Eddie got off Luther and went away.
The captain spoke to the navigator. “Jack, collect all these damn guns and take the ammunition out.” The captain realized he had cursed, and added: “Pardon my language, ladies.”
They had heard so much foul language from the gangsters that Margaret laughed at him apologizing for saying “damn”; and the other passengers nearby laughed too. He was taken aback at first and then saw the joke, and he smiled.
The laughter made everyone realize that they were out of danger, and some of the passengers began to relax. Margaret still felt peculiar, and she was shivering as if it were freezing cold.
The captain nudged Luther with the toe of his shoe and spoke to another crewman. “Johnny, stick this guy in number one compartment and keep a close watch on him.”
Harry got off Luther and one of the crew took the man away.
Harry and Margaret looked at one another.
She had imagined he had abandoned her; she had thought she would never see him again; she had been sure she was about to die. Suddenly it seemed unbearably wonderful that they were both alive and together. He sat down next to her, and she threw herself into his arms. They hugged one another tight.
After a while he murmured in her ear: “Look outside.”
The submarine was slowly slipping beneath the waves.
Margaret smiled up at Harry and then kissed him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
When it was all over, Carol-Ann would not touch Eddie.
She sat in the dining room, sipping hot milky coffee prepared by Davy, the steward. She was pale and shaky, but she kept saying she was all right. However, she flinched every time Eddie put his hand on her.
He sat close, looking at her, but she would not meet his eyes. They spoke in low voices about what had happened. She told him obsessively, again and again, how the men had burst into the house and dragged her out into their car. “I was standing there bottling plums!” she kept saying, as if that was the most outrageous aspect of the whole episode.
“It’s all over now,” he would say each time, and she would nod her head vigorously, but he could tell she did not believe it.
At last she looked at him and said: “When will you have to fly next?”
Then he understood. She was frightened about how she would feel the next time he left her alone. He felt relieved: he could reassure her about that, easily. “I won’t be flying anymore,” he told her. “I’m resigning right away. They’d have to fire me otherwise: they can’t employ an engineer who deliberately brought a plane down the way I did.”
Captain Baker overheard part of the conversation, and interrupted him. “Eddie, there’s something I have to say to you. I understand what you did. You were put in an impossible position and you handled it the best you could. More than that, I don’t know another man that would have handled it so well. You were brave and you were smart, and I’m proud to fly with you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Eddie said, and there was a lump in his throat. “I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel.” Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Percy Oxenford, sitting alone, looking shocked. “Sir, I think we all should thank young Percy: he saved the day!”
Percy heard him and looked up.
“Good point,” said the captain. He patted Eddie on the shoulder and went over to shake the boy’s hand. “You’re a brave man, Percy.”
Percy cheered up instantly. “Thank you!” he said.
The captain sat down to chat with him, and Carol-Ann said to Eddie : “If you’re not flying, what will we do?”
“I’ll start that business we’ve been talking about.”
He could see the hope in her face, but she did not really believe it yet. “Can we?”
“I’ve got enough money saved to buy the airfield, and I’ll borrow what I need to get started.”
She was visibly brightening by the second. “Could we run it together?” she said. “Maybe I could keep the books and answer the phone while you do repairs and refueling?”
He smiled and nodded. “Sure, at least until the baby comes.”
“Just like a mom-and-pop store.”
He reached out and took her hand, and this time she did not flinch, but squeezed his hand in return. “Mom and Pop,” he said, and at last she smiled.
Nancy was hugging Mervyn when Diana tapped him on the shoulder.
Nancy had been lost in joy and relief, overwhelmed by the pleasure of being alive and with the man she loved. Now she wondered if Diana would cast a cloud over this moment. Diana had left Mervyn indecisively, and she had shown signs of regretting it, off and on, ever since. He had just proved that he still cared for her by bargaining with the gangsters to save her. Was she about to beg him to take her back?
Mervyn turned and gave his wife a guarded look. “Well, Diana?”
Her face was wet with tears, but she had a determined expression. “Will you shake hands?” she said.
Nancy was not sure what this meant, and Mervyn’s wary manner told her that he, too, was uncertain. However, he offered his hand, saying: “Of course.”
Diana held his hand in both of hers. New tears came, and Nancy felt sure she was about to say
Mervyn looked solemn. “Thank you, Di. I wish you the same.”
Then Nancy understood: they were forgiving one another for the hurt that had been done. They were still going to split up, but they would part friends.
On impulse, Nancy said to Diana: “Will you shake hands with me?”
The other woman hesitated only for a fraction of a second. “Yes,” she said. They shook hands. “I wish you
