Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Rankin jumped when he heard the phone ring. He’d expected to feel relief at hearing Florence was in custody. But instead, he was startled to realize he felt sick as he walked toward the phone to answer it.
“Hello,” he said heavily into the receiver.
“Rankin, you’ve gone too far this time,” his wife declared. “Us being married doesn’t give you the right to lock me away in a sanatorium. How can you even call yourself a man of God and treat your wife like this?”
“Where are you?”
“Well away from the goons you sent to kidnap me illegally,” she replied tartly.
A tiny part of him was glad Templeton’s people had failed to capture her. He’d been progressively having more regrets about this whole scheme and what it would do to his reputation as a God-fearing pastor and husband.
“What was I supposed to do? Your fellow pilots are dying, Florence. Every morning, I wake up to more reports of sabotage. Cliff Henderson is using you without any regard for your life. If you can’t see that, you need treatment.”
“You bet I do see it!” she snapped, surprising him.
“Then stop allowing yourself to be a target. Come home!”
“I can’t, Rankin. I’m out here fighting to do the same things as men. If I quit and walk away from this fight, the women who come after me are going to have to fight twice as hard to be allowed to fly. This nation promises every citizen freedom, and I want my slice of it.”
“If I agreed that women might one day be capable of flying as safely and as well as men, I might see your point. But I don’t see how women will ever be as capable as men.”
“We’re as capable as male pilots right now!
That’s what I’m out here proving!” she exclaimed.
“I am literally doing the exact thing the men are right this very minute. Can’t you see that?
You said you’ve been reading the newspapers every morning.
Then you know we women are flying a grueling, difficult race under worse conditions than the men, thanks to the limited power of our engines and all the attempts to scare us into quitting or kill us.
The proof that women can do this is right in front of your face! ”
She took an audible breath and said more calmly, “I’ve always admired your intelligence and logic, Rankin.
Use them now. The evidence is all before you.
Women can fly like men. We are flying like men.
None of the arguments against us flying have proven to be true.
We’re not too emotional. We’re not too fragile or weak. We’re not too afraid.”
Her appeal to his intelligence and logic forced him to consider her words.
“Even if you’re right, I do not like the idea of you flying. It’s dangerous, Florence. Too dangerous for the mother of my child to engage in. As parents, we must consider the example we set.”
“We’re going to have to agree to disagree about that, I’m afraid.
I know you didn’t choose me as a wife, but you’ve always known I’m a risk-taker by nature.
That’s never going to change. If you take me out of the cockpit, I’ll go back to riding fast horses or I’ll find something else thrilling to do.
It’s just who I am. I’m sorry you don’t like that, but I can’t change who I am any more than you can change not liking this aspect of me. ”
Pancho might have had a big temper, resorting to insults and crude humor to express it, but when she was truly serious about something, she tended to make shockingly rational arguments, as she was doing now.
He said, “The papers are saying that saboteurs, unsuccessful at scaring you women into canceling the race, are now trying to kill you. Is that true?”
She answered, “It’s clear that someone has been trying to interfere with the race, yes. But we have plenty of security now. Besides, running away isn’t how you deal with injustice. Isn’t that what you say to William all the time?”
He reluctantly made a sound of agreement.
She continued, “I have to face whoever’s out to stop us. Show them they can’t win. Show my son he should never back down when he’s on the right side of justice. Heck, I need to stand my ground to make this a better country.”
“At the cost of your life?” he demanded.
“How do you think America was born?” she fired back. “The founding fathers . . . the soldiers who fought against Britain . . . thousands of them died in the American Revolution. We have freedom now because they stepped up to demand equal rights and self-determination.”
“I’m aware of our country’s history,” he said dryly.
“It’s been over one hundred fifty years since this nation was founded, and we women are still waiting to get our share of that dream.”
“Come home. Florence. You’ve taken enough risks.”
“It will only be enough when women have the same rights as men. If you persist with this attempt to put me in an asylum, I promise you I will raise a ruckus.”
He huffed. “When are you ever quiet?”
“Never,” she responded wryly. “That’s the example I’m setting for my son.
A strong, courageous example. America is a young nation.
If we want to survive, we’ll have to stand our ground.
My best friend lost her life in this fight, and you can bet I will not be frightened into submission!
Why don’t you go look in the mirror and ask yourself why you need me to be submissive to you? ”
“I want you to be part of this family. As the scriptures say—”
“Scriptures?” she interrupted. “Here are a few things from the Holy Book for you to think about. Christ started his own ministry, forged his own path, and broke with centuries of tradition. He swept aside the old traditions and made new ones. The apostles challenged the law of the land to follow him. Jesus didn’t send women back to the kitchen when he preached.
He let them stay and listen beside the men.
If you need me to hide at home, that’s a problem with your ego, not a problem with me. ”
He was stung, but the logical part of his brain reluctantly whispered she might have a point.
“Flight is the future of this nation, and I aim to be part of it. I am a part of it.”
“But you could die!” he exclaimed.
“I’m not a coward, Rankin, and I’m not afraid to face my Maker,” she replied seriously. “Maybe you’re not proud of anything else about me, but I hope you can appreciate that I’m not running away from this fight.” She went silent, her piece apparently said.
Would she do it? Raise a ruckus? Would she reveal his indiscretions? It would ruin her reputation, too. But then, she’d already done that by flying all over creation in those blasted planes of hers.
Reluctantly, he had to admit that he believed her threat. Worse, if any of the many women he’d slept with corroborated her accusation, she would have grounds to divorce him. Maybe even to get custody of William.
He tried for a long time to think of a way out of this mess while static crackled quietly on the line. Finally, he took a deep breath. “Fine. We have a deal. You finish this race, and then you come home. And there will be no statements to the press about me or our marriage.”
She inhaled in what sounded like genuine surprise, then said quietly, “Thank you.”
He sighed deeply. “I will reach out to Willard Templeton,” he said reluctantly. “I’ll have him call off his people and tear up the court order.”
For once, Pancho didn’t gloat at getting her way, which surprised him. She sounded sorrowful when she said, “This marriage was arranged for both of us and not what either of us expected. I’m sorry it’s not turning out the way you wanted, Rankin.”
“Thank you, Florence.”
She sat in front of the phone, staring down at her bandaged hand for a long time after her husband hung up. She believed him when he said he was going to tear up the court order. She’d heard the sincerity in his voice when he made the promise.
It felt as if she’d closed a chapter in her life. For all these years, she’d pretended she didn’t know about his infidelity. Pretended that everything was fine in their marriage. But now the truth was out. He knew that she knew about his affairs. And they both knew their marriage was a sham.
For the first time in as long as she could remember, she was completely free of the fetters that had bound her to other people’s choices for her. This was her life now. Her choices.
“Well, Marvel,” she said softly, “I’m not quitting on you. I may not have a plane, but I’ll be there in Cleveland when it ends, just like I promised you.”
Something stirred inside of her. It felt like a gentle spring breeze at the end of a long, hard winter. She took comfort in knowing that a piece of Marvel would always be with her and live on in her and the other women pilots who’d raced beside her.
“What do you mean, they’re still flying?” Horace yelled into the phone, his composure shredded.
“The Feds have taken over the race. They’ve got soldiers everywhere, and I’m no longer in charge of any decisions.” Dr. Ayers sounded completely defeated. “There’s nothing more I can do. The women are going to finish the derby.”
Horace opened his mouth to tell Ayers to figure something out. But his throat closed up so tightly that no words could escape the horror gagging him.
Dr. Ayers hung up at the other end, and Horace replaced the receiver with a trembling hand.
What am I going to do? Lazovsky won’t let me see another dawn!
Panic raked its claws down his back. He had to run!
Go somewhere so far away that Lazovsky could never find him and never reach him!
He forced himself to stop panicking and think.
The idea of fleeing did have merit. He headed for his desk and flipped open the morning newspaper to find the shipping schedule.
He was in luck! The SS Bremen was due to sail from New York for Le Havre, France, the next morning.
American mobsters didn’t have the same hold on Europe that they did here.
He didn’t allow himself to mourn leaving everything behind.
He picked up the phone and called his solicitor.