Chapter 19 #3
Marvel shrugged. “I have no reason to distrust him, but I don’t know him from Adam either. I trust my brother with my life, and he’s going to meet me in Phoenix tonight. He’s the best mechanic I know. Walter Beech sent a replacement engine to Phoenix, and Joe’s going to replace the one I have now.”
“Maybe you should have him bring that new engine here,” Pancho suggested.
“Ayers will disqualify me in a heartbeat if I don’t take off on time. By the time Joe loads the new engine on a truck and drives it down here, there wouldn’t be time to install it before we take off.”
She started to argue that Marvel’s life was more important than this race, but Marvel cut her off.
“Look. I’m just jumpy with all the strange things happening to so many planes.
My engine ran mostly fine today, and I’m betting it’ll get me to Phoenix.
” Pancho wasn’t convinced. She opened her mouth to say so, but Marvel stopped her again.
“Now that I know there might be an issue, I’ll back off the throttle a little.
I’ve got plenty of speed over the rest of the field to spare.
And if there is a carbon monoxide problem, I’ll make sure I stick my face into the wind every minute or two. ”
“I don’t like it. You and I may be ready to bleed a little for this race”—she reached up to touch her neck—“but neither of us came here to die for it.”
Marvel shrugged. “There’s always the parachute they made each of us wear. Worst case, I’ll crawl over the side and ride my fancy new chute down to the ground.”
Pancho studied Marvel intently and saw none of the hesitation from before.
Her friend was confident in her decision.
But she felt a cold ripple across her skin.
It was a feeling of impending catastrophe .
. . She forced herself to acknowledge the word that described her feeling: catastrophe.
No! She was not going to think like that!
But the feeling of dread persisted. She fought it but finally lost the battle to keep her doubts to herself. “I’m worried about you, Marvel.”
“You’re the one with bullet holes in your plane,” Marvel declared. “I’m not quitting, Pancho Barnes. Don’t you dare call me your sister and say another word about quitting!” And on that note, she strode off toward Thea.
Pancho balled her hands into fists, fighting the desire to argue with Marvel until she changed her mind.
Problem was, the one thing every pilot had to get straight inside their own head was beating back the dark specter of doubt.
Taking off without confidence was a sure way to get into trouble or end up dead.
Any pilot who couldn’t strap on courage every time they strapped into their plane didn’t belong in the cockpit.
If she truly cared about Marvel, she wouldn’t say anything more to cast doubt in Marvel’s mind about her decision.
Still, keeping her mouth shut didn’t sit right with her, even if she wouldn’t feel any differently if it were her engine acting up a bit.
She supposed she could take her concerns about Marvel’s plane to a race official, but she didn’t trust any of them, not now.
Not after what that farmer had said. Flying was risky enough without all these other complications.
Sabotage, corrupt race officials, mobsters using the race to run booze .
. . her head hurt just thinking about all of it.
Someone clearly wanted her and the other racers to quit. While other women might be able to walk away from flying, she’d been born to do this. It was in her blood. Heck, it was in her soul. The need to fly made her heart beat inside her chest. No, she would never quit.
Startled, she blinked away a sting in her eyes.
Now what had made her tear up? The answer, of course, was no surprise.
She’d gotten emotional because she knew Marvel felt exactly the same way about flying.
She was happy to have found someone who understood and shared her passion.
But she was sad because it made her worry about her new friend.
If she loved Marvel, she wouldn’t try to stop her either.
She gave herself a mental shake and headed over to hear what Thea decided to do.
Understanding burst through her all of a sudden.
Was this how Rankin felt about her? Did he worry that her passion for flying would lead her to take risks that might kill her?
She doubted he felt more than passing affection for her, but she had to give him credit for worrying about the mother of his son.
They were different sorts of people.
Okay, she was different. Pancho knew it, celebrated it, and loved that trait about herself the most. That was why the derby was so special to her. Marvel and the others were her kindred spirits.
For the first time, Pancho thought about tossing in the towel.
There were a lot of types of fear, and standing there looking at Thea, Pancho realized that she was dealing with a completely new sort of apprehension.
Sure, they’d all managed to prevail against those intent on bringing them down, but it was only day two of the race.
The bad guys only had to win once.