Ширли Мерфи - The Flight Of The Fox

But Charlie's dad's surprise was, to Charlie, the best part of all. And it was such a crazy, impossible surprise, that Charlie couldn't wait to write to Rory about it.

It was a week before Charlie received a letter from Rory so that he knew where to write.

Dear Sonny,

Here we are in Smithson, only a hundred miles away, and it's taken us three days to get here! First thing, some fool eagle took us for a flappin' bird and almost tore our wing off before he realized his mistake. And then, on our second gas stop, we had to haul the gas in a bucket clear across a pasture in the middle of the night, and the farm cat nearly got Crispin.

"Well, anyway, here we are at last in Smithson. Not much of a town, but the flying has been great. The Fox flies like a dream, if I do say so myself. And yesterday I let the youngster sit up in the front cockpit with me. There's just room if you don't mind crowding. I let him work the controls a little bit.

We plan to be in Falter at the end of next week, so you could write to us there % General Delivery, if you have time.

Your friend, Rory

And Crispin added at the bottom;

Dear Charlie,

It's wonderful! Everything is so little down there. And the clouds are real, Charlie. They're like towers in the sky! We fly around them, and sometimes even on top of them! It's like sailing on the wind, Charlie. And one time a big airplane flew by above us and turned around and came right down and looked at us. That scared me. But it's wonderful all the same, and I wish you could be here with us.

Love, Crispin

Charlie wrote back, % General Delivery, Falter:

Dear Rory and Crispin and the Fox,

You'll never guess what happened. Never! Do you remember Mary Starr Colver, and that she is a famous pilot? Well, she was at the air show. That was my dad's surprise. She got to talking to him, and when she found out his name was Gribble, she said she knew another Gribble, from Skrimville, and she told him about the parts I'd written for, and he said that had to be Charlie Gribble, and she said yes it was. She had taken her models to Allenville to fly as a benefit for an air school she wants to open for homeless kids. And do you know why she collects models? You'd think someone who can fly wouldn't bother about models. But Mary Starr Colver can't fly any more. She crashed her Mooney 201 three years ago in the Reno Air Races, and she has to be in a wheelchair now. She crashed it because of something faulty in the engine. She can still get into a plane, though, and a friend of hers flew her up to Allensville. And — well, you won't believe this part! Do you remember the plane that passed you close by after you left Skrimville? The one that came back to have another look? Well I told you you wouldn't believe it, but that was Mary Starr Colver, flying with her friend. They saw you. They saw the Fox, and Miss Colver said, "That can't be a radio control, look, there's no antennae!" So they banked around, and she told me she thought she was cracking up because she could have sworn she saw two {please pardon the expression) mice flying that plane, and she said she even thought they were wearing flight helmets.

Her friend accused her of drinking, and then he laughed. But Mary Starr Colver saw you! And she said that the funniest thing about it was, the plane was a Fairey Fox. That was one reason she told me about it. She said there weren't all that many models of the Fairey Fox. She looked at me real funny when she said it, but 1 didn't say anything. 1 just grinned kind of stupidly and asked her if she had been drinking.

Write soon and let me know where you are. Mrs. Critch saw the envelope of your letter in the mail, and she said she guessed I had a girl friend at last, and didn't she have small handwriting!

Your friend and love, Charlie Gribble