The Adventure Girls in the Air

  Chapter XI

  THE SEARCH

  At the corner bus-stop the yellow and green vehicle emitted eight youngpeople who immediately scattered in different directions to their homes.Phyllis went off with David and Janet, while Carol went in the oppositedirection with Madge and Peter Arnold. Valerie and Bruce walked slowlytoward Gale's house. It was their intention to see why she had notappeared at the airport and also to discover if she knew where BrentStockton was.

  As they stopped at the Howard gate they met Mr. Howard just arrivingfrom the opposite direction.

  "How was the air-meet?" were his first words.

  "Marvelous!" Valerie declared.

  "Did Mr. Stockton's plane win the race?" he asked next as he latched thegate after the three of them.

  "Yes," Bruce said, "his plane won, but if Stubby hadn't flown it, itwouldn't have."

  "What was the matter with Brent?" Mr. Howard asked in surprise. "Ithought he was to fly it himself?"

  "He hasn't been at the airport all day," Bruce explained.

  "But why not?" Mr. Howard wanted to know.

  "That is what we want to find out," Valerie put in. "He brought you backfrom Quebec last night, didn't he?"

  Mr. Howard frowned thoughtfully. "No, he didn't. I came back today onthe train. I'm just coming from the station now."

  "Then Gale is with you?" Bruce asked.

  "No. She started back last night with Brent in his plane."

  "But where is she?" Valerie demanded. "I certainly thought she would beat the races today."

  "Haven't you seen either her or Brent since the take-off yesterday?" Mr.Howard wanted to know in a worried voice.

  The young people had to admit that they hadn't.

  "Gale is probably in the house somewhere," Valerie said after a moment."Something might have kept her home."

  "But Brent----" Bruce said uneasily.

  The three of them went toward the house. The honeysuckle vine gave off asweet, heavy scent in the late afternoon air. Bruce seated himself onthe banister while Valerie sank down on the swing and idly rocked backand forth. Mr. Howard went immediately into the house. Valerie picked upa magazine and turned the pages while they waited. Bruce whistled in alow tone under his breath. It was quite a while before Mr. Howardreappeared. When he did his face wore an unusually grave expression.

  "Where's Gale?" Valerie asked immediately, sensing that something waswrong.

  "I wish I knew," Gale's father replied heavily. "We'll have to notifythe authorities immediately."

  "What for?" Bruce interposed.

  "To find them. Gale and Brent took off last night. They haven't arrivedback here. Something must have happened--a crash."

  "How terrible!" Valerie whispered in awe.

  There was a short, charged silence. They could not readily grasp thefact of a crash--yet that must have been what happened. The races hadmeant so much to Brent and also to Gale that it must have been anaccident that delayed them. There could be no other reason.

  That day was but the first in the long days of anxiety and mystery. Therest of the afternoon was spent in setting in motion the wheels thatwould find the two who had vanished into the sky. Bruce stayed with Mr.Howard while Valerie went off to notify the other Adventure Girls ofwhat they were afraid had happened.

  It was at the Kopper Kettle, gathered as usual to spend an hour or sobefore dinner in talking, that Bruce found them with the news. TheAdventure Girls with David and Peter were discussing Marchton's chancesin the next football game when Bruce appeared. Immediately all thoughtof sport was dispensed.

  "Have you learned anything?" Valerie asked before Bruce had even time toseat himself among them.

  "Yes," he said slowly.

  "What?" Phyllis asked anxiously.

  "The plane is smashed--a complete wreck."

  "And Gale and Brent?" Carol put in.

  "Brent is in a hospital nursing a fractured shoulder and a couple brokenribs," Bruce replied.

  "And Gale--what about her?" Janet insisted.

  "That is what is so strange," Bruce said slowly, reluctantly. "Gale hasdisappeared."

  "Disappeared!" the others echoed. "But how--where----"

  "Mr. Howard talked to Brent on the telephone," Bruce continued with histale. "After the crash last night, when Brent could drag himself free ofthe wreckage, he started out to find help. He thought he saw a light inthe distance and made for that. The sleet and snow was thick and fast.He couldn't go very swiftly, the ground was uneven and it was pitch darkbut he kept on going as best he could. He knew he must come to somethingeventually. He had left Gale pinned in her seat by the branch of a treewhich was too heavy for him, hurt as he was, to move."

  Bruce paused and not a sound came from the others. They were hangingbreathlessly onto his every word.

  "At last he saw a house ahead of him. He hurried forward but all hisknocking on the door brought no one. He turned away and went on. Laterhe came to another place. By now he was worn out completely. He couldhardly stand. He could do no more than stumble up to the door. The lasthe recalls was leaning against the door and as it gave way, of fallinginto the dark room beyond."

  "Go on," in a faint whisper Janet voiced the feelings of all of them.

  "Well, the next thing he knew he was in the hospital. The people wholived in the house he had come to had taken him there. At once he sentout a party to the plane, but when they got there Gale was gone."

  "No wonder," Carol said. "It must have been hours after he left that therescue party arrived."

  Bruce nodded and was silent.

  "And they don't know where Gale is?" Phyllis declared, rather thanasked.

  "No," Bruce continued. "It had snowed a lot after the wreck and allaround the plane the snow was unbroken. No footsteps to show how she hadgotten out or in what direction she had gone."

  "What are they going to do?" David wanted to know.

  "Keep on looking for her I suppose," Bruce sighed. "As soon as Brent canleave the hospital he says he is going to join the hunt."

  "He should," Janet declared. "I wish I could. How long will it be beforehe gets out?"

  "He says he is going to leave tomorrow. He insists the doctors can straphis ribs so he won't hurt himself by walking around. Of course he won'tbe able to fly because of his shoulder and all--but at least he will beup there at the scene of the crash." Bruce's voice told them there wasnothing he would like better than to be there also.

  When the young people broke up their gathering it was to go home subduedand quietly thoughtful, hoping every minute for some word of Gale'ssafety. It had been arranged that the minute Bruce heard anything he wasto telephone Valerie. Valerie would in turn phone Janet and so on. Theword would be relayed from one to the other. But the telephones remainedsilent--all that night, the next day and many days after.

  School went on as usual, and after school were the football games,basketball, or their meetings at the Kopper Kettle. But in all there wassomething missing and they knew it was the sunny presence of Gale. Galehad been one of the most popular girls in the school and expressions ofsympathy came not only from the students but from the faculty as well.

  On the third day of the unsuccessful search a plane with two passengerslanded at the Marchton airport. Brent had had to secure another to pilothim and while Stubby made friends with the new pilot Brent went in toMarchton to Gale's home. After a long talk with the girl's parents hewent to the Kopper Kettle to meet the other young people. They welcomedhim eagerly, hopefully, but he could tell them nothing new.

  Phyllis regarded the young aviator with thoughtful eyes. Brent waspaler, he seemed taller too, now, with his right arm in a sling, hisshoulder thick under bandages and his tweed coat, his eyes darkened withworry.

  "You can find nothing," she said again.

  "Nothing," he replied hopelessly. "The snow is so deep up there in someparts that we can't get about very easily. There are lots of out of theway farms to
which she might have wandered."

  "But surely the people would have notified the authorities," Bruce putin.

  "I suppose so," Brent admitted.

  "Besides," added Janet, "how did she get out of the plane? If the branchthat pinned her into the seat was too heavy for you to lift, certainlyshe couldn't have."

  Brent shook his head. "I don't know where she is, but I've got to findher. I blame myself for the whole mess."

  "It wasn't your fault," Valerie said quickly and the others agreed withher. "You couldn't tell the storm would come up or that you would runout of gasoline."

  "But I should never have left her in the plane!" Brent said restlessly.

  "You had to get help," Bruce said. "You thought you were doing the bestthing. It was the only thing----"

  "I know," Brent said hastily, "but just the same----" he stood up. "I'vegot to get back to the airport. We are flying up again tonight, but I'llbe back in a day or two--to let you know how things are going."

  "Do you think I might be able to help up there?" Bruce asked eagerly.

  Brent looked at him. "Honestly I don't. There are hundreds of peoplelooking for her--police, newspaper men and all. Everyone knows aboutGale--it was in all the papers and broadcast on the radio. I don'tbelieve there are three people within a radius of hundreds of miles thathaven't seen her picture in the newspapers or heard about her. Sooner orlater something will come to light."

  "Sooner or later," Phyllis echoed drearily.

  "You will tell us the minute you learn anything," Valerie pleaded.

  "Of course," Brent said with an attempt to be cheerful. "And I wouldn'tworry too much if I were you. I'm positive Gale will turn up all right.Anyway, I'll be down again in a few days. Meanwhile, perhaps you canthink of something that might help in the search."

  Brent went off to the airport, with an attempt to leave a brightenedatmosphere behind him, but his attempt had failed. The others were moremystified than ever about what had happened to their missing member.

  "I've always liked to solve puzzles," Carol declared, "but this has mestumped! What on earth could have become of her? If everyone has seenher picture in the papers as he says, why haven't we heard something?"

  "You know the old saying 'No news is good news' so maybe we should beglad we haven't heard anything," David put in.

  "But the suspense is terrible," Janet sighed. "I have to write acomposition for English tomorrow--I think I will make it the 'Dangers ofFlying.'"

  "Flying is no more dangerous than driving an automobile," Peter put inscornfully. "Airplanes have saved hundreds of lives. Look at the timethat aviator flew that serum to those Eskimos up north."

  "And the time last winter when airplanes dropped food to people strandedin their homes by blizzards and unable to drive miles to the nearesttown for food," from David.

  "They are as safe as anything else nowadays," declared Phyllis.

  "Maybe so," Janet said, unconvinced.

  "You can have breakfast one morning in New York and the next inCalifornia," added Valerie. "Think of it!"

  "I'm thinking of it," Janet said. "So what?"

  "Look at the time saved," pointed out Peter. "Suppose your life dependedon reaching a certain point at a definite time. What would you do?"

  "Fly," Janet said, "and maybe I would get there and maybe I wouldn't."

  "Did you read the piece in the newspaper the other day about a man whohad flown thousands of miles, spent hundreds of hours in the air, andbroke his neck by falling down the cellar stairs?" Bruce said. "I'mstrong for airplanes."

  "He should never have gone down the cellar," Janet smiled.

  "The pilots of the airplanes are just like the old pioneers. They areexploring new worlds in the air," contributed Phyllis. "People thinkthey are crazy in trying flights to all corners of the world andstratosphere hops. People thought Columbus was crazy, too. Yet wherewould we be today if it wasn't for him?"

  "We would probably be living in a tepee and using war paint," laughedCarol.

  "Perhaps you better forget I said anything," Janet interrupted. "I don'tthink I'll write my composition tomorrow."

  "Well," Phyllis sighed and looked at her watch, "I've got to go home."

  Phyllis' departure was the signal for the group to break up. As shewalked slowly home to the forlorn house on the top of the hill Phyllis'mind was busy with thoughts of Gale. She entered the house and startedup the stairs to her customary retreat for studying before dinner whenher Aunt's voice halted her.

  "Phyllis! Come here!"

  Her heart heavy with misgivings Phyllis made her way reluctantly downthe stairs again to the kitchen where her Aunt was. The tone of herAunt's voice had been angry and Phyllis was afraid there was anothertirade against herself in the offing. Perpetually she lived in dread ofher Aunt's scoldings and punishments. She had done nothing wrong thatshe knew of, but quite often some little inoffensive act was the signalfor her Aunt's anger to flare up.

  Now as she approached the kitchen door with slow and uneven steps shewas afraid. Phyllis stopped on the threshold to watch her Aunt who wastying a bandage around the hand of Minnie, the woman who came in twice aweek to help with the cooking and housework.

  "Did you want me, Aunt Melba?"

  "Of course I want you or I wouldn't have called you. Don't stand there!Minnie has burned her hand and all the preserving to be done! You've gotto help."

  Phyllis opened her lips to tell her Aunt of the difficult historyexamination on the morrow, one which would require hours of study, butshe swallowed the words and went forward. She would have to studytonight after her Aunt was in bed.

  "Come, child! Make yourself useful. Rinse those jars."

  Phyllis moved like an automaton under her Aunt's disapproving eyes.

  "Has anything been heard about Gale Howard?" her Aunt asked after awhile.

  "No," Phyllis said in a low voice, "she is still missing."

  "Hmph! Probably run off for some fun somewhere never thinking of theworry to her parents. She's a wild one, that girl. I never liked----"

  "She is a fine girl," Phyllis interrupted hotly. Her Aunt never failedto rouse Phyllis' resentment when she talked about her friends. "Thereisn't a nicer girl in Marchton than Gale Howard. She is a friend ofmine, too," Phyllis finished proudly.

  "I won't have you associating with that crowd from the high school!" herAunt said, coldly despotic. "I have told you time and time again. Youshall not----"

  "I shall too!" Phyllis said, for once in her young life openly defyingher Aunt. "I shall see them whenever I can. You won't let me have anyfriends! Even now you want to separate me from them by not sending me toBriarhurst because they are going there."

  "Phyllis! How dare you speak so? Go to your room!"

  Without another word Phyllis whirled and marched from the kitchen. Shemounted the stairs to her room and closed the door behind her. Only foran instant a smile hovered about her lips. There was more than one wayof escaping from working in the hot kitchen. Not that she haddeliberately, with such an intention, spoken so rashly to her Aunt! Herwords had been forced from her. Now she was regretting them with all herheart, but she would not say she was sorry! She wasn't sorry, and whatshe had said was true--every word! But it would make life so difficultfor her. Her Aunt's disapproval hung over the house like a dark cloudunnerving Phyllis more at every moment.

  What her Aunt had said about Gale had made Phyllis angry. Gale was herbest friend. They would have done anything for each other. More thanever now, when they did not know where Gale was, what had happened toher, or when they would see her again, Phyllis could not let anyonespeak slightingly of her.

  It was hard for Phyllis to remember how many hours she and Gale andValerie and the other girls had spent together when now perhaps Gale wasneeding them and they didn't even know it. She knelt by the window andlistened to the cool late autumn air rustling the tree branches againstthe window pane.

  After a while her thoughts returned to the present. She rose and took up
her history book. Tomorrow's examination would mean a lot to her marksand she must be ready for it. But with the worry of Gale, and her recentquarrel with her Aunt fresh in her mind, she found it difficult toconcentrate on the book before her.