The Virtuous Woman (22 page)

Francis jerked his chin away and slapped at her hand. “If you say one word in front of her—”

“Oh, I won’t. I’ll just let nature take its course.” She winked at Kevin. “True love will find a way.”

“How poetic.” Kevin returned the wink.

“I saw that in a movie with Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. If all else fails, Francis, you can always spout poetry. I’m sure you know plenty of it!”

****

The Blue Sky Air Service did not impress the trio as they
pulled up in front of what appeared to be an old hangar with a sign that said Office.

“Come on,” Grace said as they all got out of the truck and headed toward the building. “Now, remember, Francis—”

“You keep your mouth shut, Grace! I don’t want to hear one word out of you.”

“My, he’s been feeding on raw meat, hasn’t he, brother? All right. I won’t say a word.”

Francis opened the door to let Grace go first, and the two men followed. The low-ceilinged room they found themselves in was no more impressive than the outside of the structure. Two dirty windows admitted a little light, and a ceiling fan turned slowly over the desk. The wall was covered with pictures of planes and aviators, and the air was stale with smoke and gasoline. A table to the right held a coffeepot on top of a portable stove, and two battered filing cabinets stood side by side at the rear, flanking another door that apparently led out to the hangar.

A woman was sitting at the desk, and Grace examined her critically. She looked close to thirty with bright red hair and large green eyes. As she stood up, Grace noted she was tall and had a spectacular figure. She wore a pair of men’s trousers and a tight green shirt with several buttons open at the top. From her ears dangled what appeared to be diamond earrings, and a necklace with a single green stone hung down from her neck. Grace had been picturing Babe as rather homely, and she couldn’t help feeling dismayed at the impressive-looking woman.

“I can’t believe my eyes! Francis, I never thought you’d have the nerve to show up here!” Babe’s face looked flushed. “What do you want?”

Key felt the eyes of his two friends on him but ignored them. “I’m glad to see you too, Babe.”

The woman stared at him, then burst into laughter. “You’ve got the nerve of a brass monkey! Now, get outta here!”

“Wait a minute. I haven’t told you why I’m here.”

“I don’t care. I don’t need another dose of Francis Key.”

“Aw, come on, Babe. At least listen to me before you throw me out.” He turned and said, “These are my friends. This is Kevin Winslow and his sister Grace. This is one of my best friends, Barbara Delaney, but everybody calls her Babe.”

Francis noted Babe’s startled glance when she finally noticed Kevin’s scarred face.

“Glad to know you,” Babe said, recovering quickly. She studied Grace for a moment, as if making some sort of judgment, but said nothing of her assessment. “When I kicked you out,” she said to Francis, “I meant for you to stay out.”

Grace laughed. “Francis has been telling us how much you were in love with him, Babe, but I guess the fire has gone out.”

“Will you shut your mouth!” Francis said furiously, his face flaming. He turned back to Babe and said, “Look, this is truly business. Kevin here wants to learn how to fly.”

Babe’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Kevin. “Have you had any experience?”

“Not a bit, but I’d love to learn.”

“You think you can crowd him into your full schedule?” Grace grinned sardonically.

Babe did not smile. “I run a business here. If you got the money, I can teach him to fly—if he can be taught.”

“Actually, that seems to be the problem, Babe,” Francis said boldly. “We’re a little short on cash.”

“How much have you got?” she demanded.

“The truth is, by the time we rent a place and buy a few groceries, we’ll be broke.”

Disgust swept across Babe’s face. “I’m not running a charity school here.”

Grace spoke up. “Come here a minute, will you? I wanna show you somethin’.” She walked to the door, and after a calculating look at Grace, Babe followed her out to the truck. “Look at that,” Grace said. “A brand-new Italian bike. You know what they’re worth?”

“Sure I know what they’re worth. You want to trade it in for his tuition?”

“No, I wanna give you the title to hold. I’m gonna get a job and so are those two. We’ll make your payments. Don’t worry ‘bout it. If we don’t, you can take the bike and sell it.”

Babe chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. “Sounds like a deal to me, but if you don’t keep up with your payments, I guarantee I’ll sell that bike right out from under your pretty little nose.” She lowered her eyes and deliberately took in every inch of Grace. “You his woman?”

“What do you care? You kicked him out, didn’t you? Come on, let’s get this down on paper.”

The two women went back inside, and Babe sat down at the desk. She opened a drawer and pulled out some papers. “Sit down, Winslow. You’re now a student at the Blue Sky Air Service. What makes you think you can fly?”

“I just know it, that’s all. And I love engines of all kinds. I have an awful lot of experience with car engines.... Say, you wouldn’t need any help around here, would you?”

“We are a little short staffed at the moment. Our mechanic quit just last week.”

“How about if I work for you and you can use my wages to help pay for my lessons?”

“Sounds like a good deal for all of us. Can you start right away?”

“You bet!”

As soon as they had finalized the financial arrangements, she said, “Come on. Let’s put you to work.”

“Grace and I’ll go find a place to stay,” Francis said. “I’ll pick you up later this afternoon.”

As the two got into the truck and drove off, Babe walked Kevin out to a Stinson sitting on the tarmac. Babe asked him about the kinds of engines he had worked on, and he gave her the rundown.

Something about his attitude attracted Babe. He spoke well, and although the left side of his face was a mess, he
was handsome enough on the right. “What happened to your face?” she asked.

“Can of gasoline blew up when I was fourteen.”

“Can it be fixed?”

“A few doctors have tried.”

“Does it bother you?”

“Yes. Now I want you to teach me everything you know about this aircraft.”

Babe laughed. “All right. Let’s get started.”

****

“I can let you have it cheap.”

“I just love it,” Grace said sarcastically. “It’s a palatial mansion.”

The man who was showing the small rental house to Grace and Francis gave her a quizzical look. “If you want a palatial mansion, you’ve come to the wrong end of town.”

“It’s okay,” Francis intervened. “How much?”

“Twenty-three bucks a month. Take it or leave it.”

“We’ll take it,” he said.

“Gotta have a month in advance.”

“Sure.” Key pulled out his slender roll of bills and handed over the cash.

The owner took it and said, “Don’t burn it down. It ain’t much, but it brings in a little, and I need it these days.”

“Thanks, Mr. Doucett,” Francis said as the owner pocketed the money and left. He turned to Grace. “I guess I know what we’ll be doing for the next day or so. Cleaning up this place.”

“It’s filthy.” Grace sniffed. “Pigs must have lived in it.”

“A little soap and water will make a difference.”

“Well, you can start cleanin’, but I’m gonna find a job.”

“You mean today?”

“I mean right now.”

“I need to go buy some cleaning supplies and some groceries. A few pots and pans.”

“We’ll go together, then. I’ll find me a job while you go shopping.”

As they got back in the truck, Francis said, “What if Kevin can’t fly, like Babe said might happen?”

“He can do it.”

“How do you know?”

“I just know.”

Francis laughed and got in behind the wheel. “I hope you’re right,” he said. “What did you and Babe talk about when you took her outside?” he asked as he pulled away from the house.

“She wanted to know if I was your woman.”

“What’d she say when you told her you weren’t.”

“I didn’t tell her I wasn’t.”

Key swiveled his head around. “You didn’t?”

“No, she thinks we’re an item.”

“You shouldn’t have told her that!”

Grace laughed. “I didn’t tell her that, you ninny, but it ain’t none of her business. What I actually said was, if she kicked you out, what does she care? She drew her own conclusions.”

Key bent over the wheel and shook his head. “Woman, you have a way of creating trouble everywhere you go.”

“Francis, you love it—I can tell. Now let’s find the sorry part of town with lots of bars.”

“You’re not going to work at a bar!”

“You bet your boots I am! Jobs are hard to find, but bars always want a good-lookin’ barmaid.”

“It’s not right, Grace.”

“Stop bein’ such a preachy old man. You take care of cleanin’ the house, and I’ll take care of the job. Do you intend to keep that loudmouthed parrot in your room?”

“Of course. She gets lonesome when I’m not around.”

“Well, staple her beak when I’m asleep, wouldja?”

****

Francis was amazed at how quickly Grace found a job. The place was a combination restaurant and saloon, and it was
clear that the liquor flowed freely in the run-down joint. It was called the Green Lantern, although there were no green lanterns in sight. When Kevin saw it the next day, he disliked it as much as Francis did, but there was nothing the two men could do. They needed money fast.

“Grace has got this all figured out, Kev,” Francis said with resignation. “First, you and I will clean the house up. After that, I’ll do the cooking, and you do the flying.”

Francis and Kevin worked hard for two days to get the house more livable while Grace went to work. They were grateful the tiny two-bedroom house wasn’t any bigger. The bathroom took all the effort the men could muster to get it presentable. They couldn’t use the filthy mattresses that were in the house, so they bought cots for the men and a mattress for Grace’s room. The rest of the furniture was worn but useable, and the stove seemed to work fine.

After the house was cleaned up, Kevin went off early each morning and stayed until late afternoon at the air school. Francis did some work around the house but spent most of his time writing. Since Grace worked until late, she also slept late, usually getting up shortly after noon.

“You know,” Kevin said to Grace one night when he had waited for her to come in, “this may sound crazy, but this is the best time I’ve ever had in my life. At least since I was fourteen.”

“You’re easy to please, Kev.” Grace was tired. She had spent the evening fighting off amorous Cajuns and truck drivers, and she was ready for bed. She patted Kevin’s cheek and said, “You’re gonna learn to fly if it kills us all. Good night, brother.”

“Good night, sis.”

****

Kevin’s flight training included a great deal of book study as well as the actual time in the air. One day he was cleaning one of the old biplanes they had used as a crop duster. He
longed to try it, but Babe told him, “That’s the most dangerous kind of flying there is, Kev. You’re a long way from that.”

He worked carefully as if it were a new plane and stopped when he heard an unfamiliar female voice. “Hi there. You’re new, aren’t you?”

Kevin started to stand up and bumped his head on the underside of the wing. It smarted, but he turned around to see a young woman there. She was smiling at him, and he waited to see the disgust on her face when she saw his face. But he saw nothing, and he thought,
She covers her feelings pretty well.
He had given up trying to hide his scars, for there was no point in it. People would see them anyway.

“Are you a student?” he asked.

“Me? No, I’m studying to be a nurse. I’m Babe’s sister. My name is Lucy. You must be Kevin Winslow.”

“That’s me.”

“Babe told me all about you.” She was not as tall as her sister and was somewhere around twenty, Kevin guessed. She had an abundance of rich brown hair and warm brown eyes, a beautiful complexion, and a trim figure. The woman came closer and smiled up at him. “My, you are a tall fellow. How tall are you?”

“Five feet fourteen inches.”

For a moment Lucy looked blank, and then she laughed. “Six-two, I take it.”

“That’s about right. You say you’re a nurse?”

“I’m studying to be.”

“Why do you want to do that?”

“Why do you want to be a pilot?”

Kevin grinned. “Fair enough,” he said. “Have you ever flown?”

“Not me. I let Babe take care of that. Where are you staying?”

“We rented a house—about five miles from here.”

Lucy smiled and nodded. “It’s good to have you here, Kevin.”

“I’m afraid I’m not a very good student. I think your sister’s disappointed.”

“Oh, she fusses at everybody, but she’s pleased with your progress. She told me.”

Kevin’s eyes lit up. “She did? Well, she’s kept it from me.”

“You’ll have to come over sometime—you and your friends. You like Cajun cooking?”

“What I’ve had of it is great.”

“Good. I’ll look forward to that. See you later.”

Kevin watched her go and felt a twinge of regret. Pretty girls were never interested in him, he thought. But he went back to washing the plane and found himself whistling in a way he had not done for years.

****

Francis looked up with surprise to see Babe’s Ford Roadster pull up in front of the house. He had been sitting on the porch trying to think his way out of a chapter that wouldn’t work, and when she got out, he rose to greet her. “Hello, Babe. Where’s Kev?”

“He had some extra work to do. I told him I’d stop by and tell you.”

“That’s nice of you. Would you like to come in? I just made a pie.”

They went inside, and Key brought out the fresh apple pie, still hot from the oven, and two plates. He served up two slices and pushed one of them toward Babe, handing her a fork. He poured coffee into two white mugs. “If you don’t like our grub, don’t eat here,” he announced, grinning. “I saw that once on a restaurant sign in El Paso.”