Chapter 7: Out on the Airfield

Chapter 7: Out on the Airfield

The biting wind blew across the airfield. It was as strong as ever and it drove the falling snow ahead of it.

As he drove to runway one seven, left, Mel was shaking with cold although it was warm in his car. Was he shaking just because of the cold, he wondered, or was it also because of his memories?

The pain in his foot helped to remind him of something that had happened 16 years before, when Mel had been a pilot during the Korean War.

One day he had had a strange feeling, the knowledge that something terrible was going to happen. Next day his plane was shot down into the sea. It was sinking fast and his foot was trapped. He had saved his own life by cutting at his foot with a knife. After a long time in hospital he was able to walk, but he would never be able to fly a plane again.

The strange feeling that he had had before that experience was with him again now.

Only two of Lincoln International’s runways, one seven, right, and two five, were in use now. One seven, left, was being cleared and would soon be back in use. The longest and widest of the five runways was three zero, which was blocked by the Aereo-Mexican plane.

Since the storm began, men had been working on the runways. They had to work quickly and carefully, as more than 4 inches of dry snow on the ground was dangerous for a large plane. Mel wished that the public could see the way these men worked, and the great machines they used.

When he reached the men, one of them called to him; ‘Why don’t you join us, Mr Bakersfeld? Have a ride on a snowplough!’

Mel smiled. ‘Thanks. I will.’

He climbed in beside the driver of one of the machines. He knew the man. Usually he worked as a clerk.

‘How are you, Will?’ Mel asked.

‘Fine. A bit tired.’

‘Everyone’s tired. All I can say is, it can’t go on for ever.’

‘I like this work,’ Will told him. ‘It makes a change from working in the office.’

Mel understood his feeling. He too needed to get out of his office sometimes, and stand on the lonely airfield in the wind and snow. That was where he always went when he needed to think hard about something important. He had plenty to think about tonight. The airport’s future, and his own.