Chapter 5: The Blocked Runway

Chapter 5: The Blocked Runway

Mel went outside. His car, which had its own two-way radio, was waiting for him close by.

The strength of the wind was frightening. Freezing air came into the car through an open window, and he closed it quickly.

It was difficult to see anything, but as he drove out to the airfield Mel could see that several planes were waiting to take off. He saw the lights and the passengers sitting ready in their seats.

On his radio he heard messages passing between planes and Ground Control. The controller sounded tired, and this made him think of his brother, Keith. He hoped that he would be all right tonight.

Mel told the controller where he was going. It took him a quarter of an hour to reach the blocked runway. Out here the storm seemed to be wilder and more violent.

A shadowy figure called out to him: ‘Is that Mr Patroni?’

‘No,’ Mel shouted, ‘but he’s on his way here.’

‘We’ll sure be glad to see him - but I don’t know what he’ll do. I think we’ve tried everything already.’

Mel asked the man his name.

‘Ingram, sir,’ he replied. ‘I’m Aereo-Mexican maintenance manager. At the moment I wish I had some other job.’

Ingram’s face was blue with cold. He told Mel that all the passengers had been taken off the plane. It seemed to be impossible to get the plane out of the mud.

‘It’ll take a long time,’ he said. ‘Most of tomorrow, I guess.’

‘It can’t take a long time,’ Mel said sharply. ‘We need this runway quickly.’

Suddenly he shook, and not only with the cold. He had the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. He had had this feeling once before, long ago.

He went back to his car to speak to Danny Farrow.

‘Where’s Patroni?’ he asked.

‘I’ll find out,’ Danny promised. ‘There’s something else, Mel. Your wife called.’

‘Did she leave a number?’

‘Yes.’

‘Please tell her I’ll be a little late.’

Mel lit a cigarette and waited for Danny to call him back.

In a few minutes Danny told him: ‘Patroni won’t be here for another hour. He’s stuck in the traffic. He says to tell the Aereo-Mexican people not to try to do anything until he arrives.’

There was another message. Cindy had phoned again. Danny didn’t complain, but Mel guessed that she had been angry and had been rude to him.