Wings (8 page)

“College, just last year. My parents weren’t too keen on the idea.” Bet blew a red curl away from her eye and tucked the book between the seat and the wall. “So I used my clothes allowance to pay for flight time.”

“That’s some clothes allowance. And who needs clothes anyway?” Liddy tossed her jacket and let it fall on the seat.

“Well, I have plenty, but my mother can’t bear the thought of her only daughter wearing anything out of season.”

Bet’s shoulders relaxed as the two women settled into a comfortable rhythm. She was full of questions. So much so, that she’d ask one before Liddy was able to finish responding to the previous two or three. And her questions of Liddy spun into her own experiences and ideas. It was quite a trail of words. She also let Liddy in on a huge collection of observations about the people she knew and the places she’d been. Bet led her on a tour from coast to coast and across three continents. For such a young gal, she had been around.

Liddy’s head began to throb with its need for some rest, and Bet’s energy seemed to have no end. “Sorry, girl, I gotta get some sleep.” Liddy folded her jacket for a pillow and curled up on the seat. “I couldn’t unwind last night.”

“Oh, sure, I’m sorry. I can get carried away. Hey, I can hold your seat, if you want to rest in your sleeping car.”

“No sleeping car, sister, I’m on a budget. And don’t apologize for the chitchat. I love hearing about all the places you’ve been. I haven’t traveled more than two hundred miles from the place I was born.” Liddy’s jaw strained to control a yawn and her eyes were already shut.

It was torture for Bet that she couldn’t ask why someone who had been flying so long hadn’t traveled more than two hundred miles from home, but she let Liddy be, and set about to rearranged her space. Her thoughts had soon moved on, and she grabbed her book, clicked a fingernail between her teeth and read.

The train rocked Liddy into a deep slumber that lasted until late afternoon. When she woke up from her snooze, she and Bet went to the dining car for some supper. Both ordered potato pies and fresh corn off the cob. Liddy watched as Bet inhaled her food, including two glasses of milk and second and third helpings of rolls and butter. She wondered where it was settling in the little gal.

“Hey, I was thinking. I have two bunks in my sleeping berth. Why don’t you take the other one?” Bet slathered butter on a roll like frosting.

“I’m a coach passenger. I don’t want to get kicked off the train.”

“It’s silly to leave it empty. And they’re not going to boot a lady for trying to get a good night’s sleep.”

“Hey, watch who you’re calling a lady.”

“Besides, my parents paid good money for that car. If I want to have a guest, then I should be able to.”

“Thought you said your parents weren’t too keen on you flying. Why would they pay for a sleeping car so that you can go fly for the Army?”

“The thought of me sleeping amongst strangers where I might be groped in the night…” Bet got a wild eye and ran her hands over her body. “… well, it was just too much for my mother to bear.”

They got to laughing after that and stayed in the dining car talking, while Bet had dessert.

That night Bet snuck Liddy into her sleeping berth. The walls were covered with oak paneling, and two bunks were mounted on the left side of the shoebox-sized space. On the other wall, a white satin robe and two tiny slippers hung from the brass hooks mounted at the bottom of a high shelf. At the end, a little window looked out onto the passing landscape. And that was about it. But it was a bed for the night, and Liddy felt rich.

“You can have the bottom bunk.” Bet tossed her shoulder bag in the corner.

“No, you take it.”

“Really, I’ve been sleeping up here.” Bet stepped on the second ladder rung and flipped herself onto the bed. “My mother has never wanted me to sleep on the top bunk since I was a little Betsy. We’d visit my grandmother’s lake house in the summers and I was always relegated to the bottom shelf.” Bet pushed off her shoes and let them fall near her purse on the floor. “She said I might roll off and split something open.” Bet puffed out her chest and held her fists out in front of her. “The minute I walked into this car, I decided I was going to live on the edge and sleep dangerously.”

As they got undressed and put on their night clothes, the fly girls laughed and gabbed and then slipped into their beds. Yak-yak between the bunks continued until Liddy drifted off. Bet was chatting away when she realized she hadn’t heard her new friend say ‘really’ or ‘u-huh’ in a while. Her curls stretched and bounced when she hung off the side of the bunk to check out the situation. Liddy was sleeping peacefully.

Bet pushed up and flopped back on the mattress but wasn’t tired, so she sprung back up and switched on the wall sconce. She bunched up her pillows behind her head, propped her book open on her bent knees, twirled a ringlet, clicked a nail and read.

When Liddy woke the next morning,
Bet was standing at the little window crying.

“What’s wrong?”

Bet blubbered something incoherent.

“What’s wrong?” Liddy pushed off the blankets and sat on the bed.

Bet pointed out the window. “Look at it.”

Liddy left the bunk to see what Bet was so distraught about. The passing landscape was desolate—dotted with mangy bushes and swirls of dust spun just above the ground that was patched with curly yellow grasses. The view spread for miles with no interruption of hill or mountain. She looked back at Bet. “What?”

“Look at it.” Bet blew her nose into a brightly flowered handkerchief.

“What were you expecting exactly?”

“I knew what it might be like. I spent a summer in Oklahoma with my Aunt and Uncle when I was nine—the worst summer of my life.”

“And you’re here because?”

“No one believed I’d get on the train.”

“No, what’d they think you’d do?”

“Chicken out and go back home to Boston. Go home and marry some man my parents fall in love with.” Bet sopped the snot from her nose. “Sure they bought my ticket, but they didn’t think I was actually going to use it. You should have seen them. My parents, my brothers and their families when they took me to the station… they stood there at the train car door patronizing me with their eyes
, Isn’t she amusing? When is she going to stop acting like a child and give up this silliness?
You know I even chose to take the train instead of fly because it meant I would have to leave sooner. I couldn’t stand the scrutiny.”

“So, you’re running away from home are ya’?”

“I like to think I’m running to something, although I don’t know what that might be.” Bet pressed her forehead against the window with her eyes shut tight. “What have I done?”

Liddy slipped her arm around Bet’s and squeezed her hand. “You want to know what you’re running to, Bet Bailey?” She waited for Bet to lift her head and search for the answer. “Wings, girl, pretty silver wings.”

The rail to Texas rolled on,
and restlessness set in. With each stop the train made, the hope of someone interesting climbing aboard filled Liddy and Bet with anticipation. From the seating car they watched out the window as the passengers said their goodbyes and boarded the train, while others disembarked to be greeted by their loved ones.

An older man left the train and looked lost. He stared up and down the emptying platform until the whistle blew for departure. Then, without an apparent greeting or word, a young lady approached him and took his suitcase, and the man followed her as they walked away. He got Liddy and Bet making up stories about the strangers.

“Ooh, that man right there.” Bet tapped the glass and pointed. “You start.” Three porters were loading five large trunks into a luggage car, while a smartly dressed man instructed them.

“Okay,” Liddy squinted with concentration. “His name is Neville Brink and those trunks are filled with jewels and priceless masterpieces.” Liddy flipped her palm over and gave Bet her cue.

“Okay, okay I’ve got it.” Bet studied the scene out the window. “He stole them.”

“Is that all?”

“No. Patience!” Bet held her hand up. “He stole them from his employer, Carlisle Worthington the III, a cruel and ruthless man.” Bet flipped her hand back at Liddy.

“Very nice, Bailey.” Liddy gave Bet a nod and drummed her fingers on the glass. “Neville had worked for Carlisle Worthington for many years and had given up everything for his job, even love—”

“Oh, oh, I got, I got it. Let me go.”

Liddy shook her head and grinned at Bet. “Okay, but it better be good.”

“It is,” Bet promised. “But he did love and her name was Vanessa. Vanessa was the daughter of...” she searched for her next line.

“The town’s shopkeeper,” Liddy offered.

“Okay, good... Vanessa was the daughter of the town’s shopkeeper, but Neville knew his job was to be in total service to his employer. So he had to smother the flames until the day he would have enough money to take Vanessa for his bride.”

“But,” Liddy cut in, “Worthington found out about Neville’s plans—”

“How?”

“He read his diary, okay?”

“Okay.” Bet nodded with satisfaction.

“He didn’t want his servant to leave him. It wasn’t that he was fond of Neville, but he believed he owned him and it infuriated him that this man thought he could choose to leave. So…” Liddy waved a hand-off to Bet.

“So, Carlisle Worthington crafted an evil scheme.” Bet shifted her eyes. “He set out to woo Vanessa and make her fall in love with him and succeeded.”

“Wow, Bailey, you’re scary.”

“Thank you.” Bet raised her eyebrows. “When Neville found out, he was devastated.” She pointed at Liddy.

“He knew he had to get away, so he told Carlisle Worthington he was leaving. Worthington was maddened that his plan had failed. So he used his influence to drain Neville’s bank account, and he went through his room and found what cash he had hidden. Neville knew he had no recourse because he was only a servant and he felt trapped like a caged animal. And then Worthington…” Liddy pointed at Bet.

“Worthington broke off his relationship with Vanessa…” Bet held up her hand and closed her eyes for a moment and then continued, “… and told her that he had never loved her. He asked her how she believed he could possibly love someone so beneath him. Vanessa ran back to Neville. He still loved her and couldn’t stand to see her in pain. So he took her back and the two of them came up with a plan to bring Carlisle Worthington the III to ruin.”

“I don’t know, Bailey. I don’t think Neville would take her back. She obviously didn’t really love him.” She nodded off Bet’s choice with a grimace.

“You can’t do that. You have to continue with whatever I say.”

“Okay,” Liddy agreed reluctantly and continued, “So they hatched a plan to ‘bring him to ruin’. They hired Vanessa’s seedy cousin to rob the estate of the most powerful family in the local society and they had him hide the goods in Worthington’s private quarters.”

“I’ve got it, Hall. Let me wrap it up.”

“Be my guest.” Liddy sat back and folded her arms.

“Vanessa tipped off the police and Worthington was arrested and shamed. He had no family and the estate was left without an heir. Neville and Vanessa took what they could fit in five large steamer trunks and set out for an exotic island where they would live out their days in love and luxury.” Bet took a bow from her seat, collapsed back and wiped the back of her hand across her forehead.

“Well, maybe he was in love,” Liddy questioned. “But I’m afraid Vanessa may be a bit of a gold-digger and a tramp.”

“Liddy.”

“Okay, they lived happily ever after, in ‘love and luxury’.” Liddy applauded Bet’s finale. Just then ‘Neville’ walked into the car with a beautiful woman on his arm, and Liddy and Bet looked wide-eyed at each other and laughed until tears streamed down their cheeks.

None of the scenarios they came up with for their next story subjects was anything but sad. After leaving the train, two little girls held onto each other tightly as they walked nervously to an elderly couple, where they reluctantly accepted cheek kisses and rigid embraces. Liddy and Bet watched the girls follow the couple down the platform until Liddy said, “Cards?” The guessing ended and then began the first of many hands of Gin.

As the train rolled to yet another platform, Liddy and Bet saw a couple dozen service men waiting to board, and they both brightened. They hoped some of the men would choose their car. When eight of the uniformed gods appeared in the walkway, Liddy waited till the men were situated in their seats and then wasted no time.

“Lucky us, come on.” Liddy grabbed Bet’s hand, pulled her out of the seat and pushed Bet down the aisle. “Hello, gentlemen,” Liddy greeted. “You’re just in time to save us from death by boredom.”

Making no attempt to hide their pleasure, two of the soldiers were first to jump up and move their duffle bags to the overhead rack, clearing seats for the women. Bet took a seat and Liddy was still standing when an officer entered the car and met her in the walkway. She stood, blocking the aisle and found herself looking up at the man.

His evergreen eyes were so sure and full of life, and he held a smirk that sent a weakness tingling through her body. She scanned his decorated chest and stumbled on the shiny metal wings. Liddy had never been caught up in a man and wasn’t even aware that she was staring.