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Ninety Days Inside The Empire: A Novel by William Appleman Williams

Flying Home to Church

Page 27

"Don't let it spoil the love between you and Nathan."

He put his hand under her arm to her breast and edged his knee between her thighs. And sighed.

"How'd you get so wise, Susan? I will tell him I am sorry."

And the next morning he did that and they hugged each other and went on from there. But the issue was still alive.

-- Somehow, someday, we will have to get through that.

But not just then because the first thrump of the line squall hit them and jolted Run-Run wing-down off to starboard.

-- I've been bein' dopy. "Where you goin', Number One?"

"No place I can't get back from. Follow your leader."

"Better tell Base we's goin' north."

"If they don't know their radar ain't worth shit."

"Good thinking, Sir." Run-Run did not like to make reports that even hinted at trouble.

"You been trackin' us?"

-- Oh, my; ways you don't know, friend.

"You the Conductor and I's the Gandy Dance. The rails is straight."

-- I hope.

"Up five."

"Roger. Let's go north three and cut fifty knots. Don't fight this. Just wiggle it."

They became all business busy jiggling and jimming around the northern end of a very powerful and active line of massive thunderheads. Cat loved it. It was awesome and he felt that tingle down the back of his thighs like when he and Susan had each other delirious exploring each other as they never had before. Maybe it was those two things, loving Susan and flying, that gave him a good feeling about going to church every now and again. It was a good way to express that sense of wonder; that knowing that somehow you were being graced. To say thank you.

-- God, this is a beautiful storm. I am so happy to be right here now flying with this man I dearly love going home to this woman who gives so much meaning to my life.

They were twelve, maybe fifteen thousand feet below the massive anvil-shaped tops, and the light from the sun and its reflections off the water produced color and shadow that could distract one into trouble. The combination of pure black and naked white and of lightning and rainbows was very seductive. One had an urge to fly through those arches of color.

The storm was growing steadily to the north. The adult thunderheads were calving full-grown children. Sometimes they popped out like the burst of fresh-shucked Iowa corn in an iron skillet being skittered along the logs in a fireplace. Other ones appeared as if some hidden giant was lazily blowing bubbles from a soap pipe when the thought came to his head that he should do something creative.

-- Cat smiled at the memory of Run-Run's comment on the runway: "Just fly the airplane, sonny."

Mostly they were weaving through and above clouds that kept on and off instruments. When they hit an open spot Cat used his knees on the stick to free his hands to do a tight running plot of their position from ground sights. The push of the storm was driving them ever farther north and he knew they'd have to make a serious correction when they got west of the monsters.

Almost as soon as they broke clear behind the line the base came in through the static.

"Operations to Run-Run One. Give me a position in three minutes."