D. MacHale - The Never War

“What can we do for you, Miss Olsen?” I asked.

“It’s Jinx,” she said. “Sorry to barge in like this. I just wanted to tell you what a great thing it was you did last night. It was the highlight of my night. No, it was the highlight of my year.”

I wasn’t sure of what to say. Should we admit it was us? She knew me and obviously saw the whole thing. What was the use of lying?

“We’d just as soon you didn’t tell anybody it was us,” I said.

“And modest, too,” said Jinx with a big smile. “You guys are the perfect heroes. You should be wearing white hats.”

“What does that mean?” asked Spader.

“Tell you what,” Jinx said. “I want to do something for you boys, seeing as you won’t take any credit for being heroes. I want to give you a reward myself.” ”You don’t have to do that,” I said.

“I know,” said Jinx as she strode to the door. “But I want to. Get dressed. We’re going for a ride. Dress warm.” She then blew out of the apartment as quickly as she entered. Spader and I stood there, a little stunned.

“She wants to take us for a ride,” Spader finally said.

“But Gunny told us not to leave until things calmed down.”

Spader started pulling on his pants. “Pendragon, a beautiful girl just asked us to go on an adventure with her. You can stay here if you’d like, but as for me, I’d like to know what kind of ride she wants to give us.”

I’d seen Spader like this before. There was nothing I could say that would talk him out of this. If there was a chance for adventure, then he was going to take it, no matter how irresponsible it might be. I had the choice of staying there by myself, or going along to make sure he didn’t get into trouble. To be honest, I liked Jinx and I was kind of interested in what she had in mind too. It took me a solid three seconds to reach for my clothes and start getting dressed myself.

Whatever it was she had planned for us, there was no way I wanted to miss it.

Five minutes later we were downstairs and climbing into a taxicab with the lady flier. I wasn’t totally irresponsible though. I told Gunny we were going out with Jinx. He didn’t like the fact that we were leaving, but then thought it might be a good idea for us to be away from the hotel for a while. Since the night before, the place was crawling with reporters trying to find the mysterious waiters who saved the life of the notorious Max Rose. Getting away from that circus was probably a smart thing to do.

As we rode in the taxi, Jinx wouldn’t tell us where we were headed. She said it was a surprise, but guaranteed we’d like it. To be honest, the thought flashed through my head that she might have been sent by Saint Dane, or even worse, she might actuallybeSaint Dane. But nothing about her set my radar off. I was pretty sure she was exactly who she said she was: Jinx Olsen, an incredible flier for the Coast Guard.

The taxicab took us over to the West Side of Manhattan and the Hudson River. That’s when we saw what Jinx had in store for us. When she said she was going to take us for a ride, she really meant it. There, tied up at the end of a pier, bobbing on the water, was Jinx’s airplane. Or maybe I should call it a seaplane.

It was a wacky-looking contraption, not at all like the sleek planes of Second Earth. The silver ship floated gently on the swells, looking as if it wanted to be in the air instead of pretending to be a boat. It was a biplane, which meant it had two sets of wings, one on top of the other. Between the two wings was a big, single engine. But rather than the propeller being in front, it faced backward. Weird. There were two cockpits, one behind the other, ahead of the wings. They weren’t closed in, either. When you flew in this plane, you were going to feel it in your face, and probably in your stomach, too. Painted on the silver fuselage, just under the front cockpit, was the crossed-anchor emblem of the U.S. Coast Guard.

“That’s my baby,” she said. “The V-one-fifty-seven Schreck/Viking. She may not look like much, but she’s a sweetie in the air.”

She jumped aboard and began her preflight check. I was psyched.

Spader pulled me aside so Jinx couldn’t hear and said, “Odd looking speeder, that one.”

“It’s not a speeder,” I said. “It’s an airplane.”

“A what?”

“An airplane. A seaplane, actually. We’re going to take off on the water and fly up in the air.”

For the first time since I’d known him, Spader looked totally dumbfounded. His mouth actually hung open. No kidding. Wide open. I might as well have said we were going to drink every drop of water in the Hudson. That’s how alien a concept flying was to him. ”We’re going to fly? Up there? In the air? Like a bird? In that thing?” he asked.

“Yup,” I answered.

“That’s unnatural!” he exclaimed.

“No more unnatural than putting a clear dome over your head and breathing underwater, but you do that on Cloral every day.”

“Yes, but that’s simple,” he said. “Flying is…is…impossible.”

“Want to bet?” I asked.

Jinx handed us each a brown canvas sack with straps that looked like an old-fashioned backpack. I knew what it was, but I was a little nervous about explaining it to Spader.

“Can’t go up without a chute,” Jinx said while putting on one of her own. “Just a precaution, like wearing a life vest on a boat.” She then demonstrated how to put on the parachute. Uncle Press had taken me skydiving a few times, so I was familiar with the whole deal. Even though this parachute pack was ancient, the principals were the same. I buckled in the way Jinx showed us. Spader did too. He didn’t ask what it was for, until we were all buckled up and Jinx did a safety check.

“Looks good,” she said.

“What is this for?” Spader finally asked. I looked to Jinx. I didn’t want to be the one to break the news.

“It’s a parachute, of course,” Jinx said as if she couldn’t believe he didn’t know. “If you fall out, pull on this metal ring. But try not to fall out.”

She winked and headed for the plane.

Spader looked at me with a sick expression, “If I fall out, pull this ring?” he repeated. “What happens then? I sprout wings and fly?” I laughed and said, “Sort of. Don’t worry about it. You won’t need it.”

I pushed him toward the plane, and we boarded. Jinx was at the controls in the forward cockpit. I sat in the back with Spader. It was cramped, especially with the bulky parachute packs, but I didn’t care. Jinx gave us each some leather flight caps and floppy goggles to wear. It was a good thing she had warned us to dress warmly. If we were going to be flying around in an open cockpit, it was going to get chilly.

“Buckle in!” Jinx commanded. Spader and I both found some cheesy leather seatbelts and strapped ourselves in. Good idea. Remember, the cockpits were wide open. We didn’t want to have to use the parachutes.

“Ready?” she shouted from up front.

“Hobey-ho, let’s go!” I shouted.

Spader just grunted. I think he was already nauseous.

Jinx turned over the engine, and with a throaty roar, the giant propeller behind our heads began to turn. Man, it was noisy. I’m not talking about loud. I’m talking about teeth-rattling, bone-jarring, makes-your-stomach-throb-and-your-ears-hurt noisy. At least the leather caps helped to cut some of the noise. I wished I had my CD Walkman.

The whole plane rattled from the force of the engine. I had been in a lot of airplanes-mostly big jetliner-type planes. But Uncle Press had taken me in a few smaller planes. Remember, he was a pilot. So between the flying lessons and the skydiving lessons, I was pretty comfortable in the air. But this plane was rickety. It may have been new in 1937, but by my standards it was only a couple of steps ahead of Wilbur and Orville-time. Still, I trusted Jinx. She was a national poster girl for the Coast Guard, right? She knew what she was doing. At least that’s what I told myself.