Eagle in the Sky - Smith Wilbur. Страница 2

they turn deep indigo blue.

All right then, let's begin.  The aircraft was waiting on the concrete

apron.

This is a Cessna 150 high-wing monoplane.  Barney began the walk-around

check with David following attentively, but when he started a brief

explanation of the control surfaces and the principle of lift and

wingloading, he became aware that the boy knew more than he had owned up

to.  His replies to Barney's rhetorical questions were precise and

accurate.

You've been reading, Barney accused.

Yes, Sir, David admitted, grinning.  His teeth were of peculiar

whiteness and symmetry and the smile was irresistible.  Despite himself,

Barney realized he was beginning to like the boy.

Right, jump in.  Strapped into the cramped cockpit shoulder to Shoulder,

Barney explained the controls and instruments, then led into the

starting procedure.Master switch on.  He flipped the red button.

Right , turn that key, same as in a car.

David leaned forward and obeyed.  The prop spun and the engine fired and

kicked, surged, then settled into a satisfying healthy growl.  They

taxied down the apron with David quickly developing his touch on the

rudders, and paused for the final checks and radio procedure before

swinging wide on to the runway.

Right, pick an object at the end of the runway.  Aim for it and open the

throttle gently.

Around them the machine became urgent, and it buzzed busily towards the

far-off fence markers.

Ease back on the wheel.

And they were airborne, climbing swiftly away from the earth.

Gently, said Barney.  Don't freeze on to the controls.

Treat her like, he broke off.  He had been about to liken the aircraft

to a woman, but realized the unsuitability of the simile.  Treat her

like a horse.  Ride her light Instantly he felt David's death-grip on

the wheel relax, the touch repeated through his own controls.

That's it, David.  He glanced sideways at the boy, and felt a flare of

disappointment.  He had felt deep down in his being that this one might

be bird, one of the very rare ones like himself whose natural element

was the blue.  Yet here in the first few moments of flight the child was

wearing an expression of frozen terror.  His lips and nostrils were

trimmed with marble white and there were shadows in the dark blue eyes

like the shape of sharks moving beneath the surface of a summer sea.

Left wing up, he snapped, disappointed, trying to shock him out of it.

The wing came up and held rock steady, with no trace of over-correction.

Level her out.  His own hands were off the controls as the nose sank to

find the horizon.

Throttle back.  The boy's right hand went unerringly to the throttle.

once more Barney glanced at him.  His expression had not altered, and

then with a sudden revelation Barney recognized it not as fear, but as

ecstasy.

He is bird.  The thought gave him a vast satisfaction, and while they

flew on through the basic instruction in trim and attitude, Barney's

mind went back thirty years to a battered old yellow Tiger Moth and

another child in his first raptures of flight.

They skirted the harsh blue mountains, wearing their mantles of

sun-blazing snow, and rode the tail of the wild winds that came down off

them.

Wind is like the sea, David.  It breaks and swirls around high ground.

Watch for it.  David nodded as he listened to his first fragments of

flying lore, but his eyes were fixed ahead savouring each instant of the

experience.

They turned north over the bleak bare land, the earth naked pink and

smoky brown, stripped by the harvest of its robes of golden wheat.

Wheel and rudder together, David, Barney told him.Let's try a steep turn

now.  Down went the wing and boldly the nose swept around holding its

attitude to the horizon.

Ahead of them the sea broke in long lines of cream on the white beaches.

The Atlantic was cold green and ruffled by the wind, flecked with

dancing white.

South again, following the coastline where small figures on the white

sand paused to look up at them from under shading hands, south towards

the great flat mountain that marked the limit of the land, its shape

unfamiliar from this approach.

The shipping lay thick in the bay and the winter sunlight flashed from

the windows of the white buildings huddling below the steep wooded sides

of the mountain.

Another turn, confident and sure, Barney sitting with his hands in his

lap and his feet off the rudder bars, and they ran in over the Tygerberg

towards the airfield.

Okay, said Barney.  I've got her.  And he took them in for the

touch-down and taxied back to the concrete apron beside the hangars.  He

pulled the mixture control fully lean and let the engine starve and die.

They sat silent for a moment, neither of them moving or speaking, both

of them unwinding but still aware that something important and

significant had happened and that they had shared it.

Okay?  Barney asked at last.

Yes, sir, David nodded, and they unstrapped and climbed down on to the

concrete stiffly.  Without speaking they walked side by side through the

hangar and office.  At the door they paused.

Next Wednesday?  Barney asked.

Yes, sir.  David left him and started towards the waiting Cadillac, but

after a dozen steps he stopped, hesitated, then turned back.

That was the most beautiful thing that has ever happened to me, he said

shyly.  Thank you, sir.  And he hurried away leaving Barney staring

after him.

The Cadillac pulled off, gathering speed, and disappeared round a bend

amongst the trees beyond the last buildings.  Barney chuckled, shook his

head ruefully and turned back into his office.  He dropped into the

ancient swivel chair and crossed his ankles on the desk.  He fished a

crumpled cigarette from the pack, straightened and lit it.

Beautiful?  he grunted, grinning.  Crap!  He flicked the match at the

waste bin and missed it.

The telephone woke Mitzi Morgan and she crept out from under her pillows

groping blindly for it.

"Lo.

Mitzi?

Hi, Dad, are you coming up?  She came half-awake at her father's voice,

remembering that this was the day he would fly up to join the family at

their holiday home.

Sorry, baby.  Something has broken here.  I won't be up until next week.

Oh, Dad!  Mitzi expressed her disappointment.

Where's Davey?  her father went on quickly to forestall any

recriminations.

You want him to call you back?

No, I'll hold on.  Call him, please, baby.

Mitzi stumbled out of bed to the mirror, and with her fingers tried to

comb some order into her hair.  It was off-blonde and wiry, and fuzzed

up tight at the first touch of sun or salt or wind.  The freckles were

even more humiliating she decided, looking at herself disapprovingly.

You look like a Pekinese, she spoke aloud, a fat little Pekinese, with

freckles, and gave up the effort of trying to change it.  David had seen

her like this a zillion times.

She pulled a silk gown over her nudity and went out into the passage,

past the door to her parents suite where her mother slept alone, and

into the living area of the house.

The house was stacked in a series of open planes and galleries, glass

and steel and white pine, climbing out of the dunes along the beach,

part of sea and sky, only glass separating it from the elements, and now

the dawn filled it with a strange glowing light and made a feature of