tingling, exhilarating fear ran like electricity through her bloodstream. Beneath her she could feel the wheel jolting over the rough grass, and then they jumped, touched again, and back into the air. Her first flight had started.
She could see Matt’s strong hand on the controls and relaxed a little. He spoke into a microphone attached to his head gear, but she couldn’t hear what it was that he said. She no longer wanted to know. This minute little machine dancing through the clear night sky was the most wonderful experience of her whole life.
CHAPTER FOUR
Slowly they climbed higher into the black sky. Beneath her stretched the continent of Africa. If anything had been needed to convince Sara of the vastness of that great land mass it was this flight through the night. Occasionally she could see a fire lit by some travelling nomads, Masai perhaps, or the electric lights of some more civilized dwelling. But mostly there was just black nothingness.
As her eyes became more accustomed to the darkness she could make out odd shapes beneath her — the occasional hillock, a small group of trees, and once a number of animals grazing. Zebra, perhaps? Anything that her imagination cared to make them.
Matt took the aeroplane down a little when they passed over a native village where they were celebrating something with a dance. She could see the long lines of twirling figures in the firelight and wondered at their stamina when Matt told her that it would go on for hour after hour. For a moment she thought she caught the sound of their drums, but then they had moved on and the dancers became nothing more than a blur behind them.
For the most part Sara sat in silence, not liking to disturb the fierce concentration of the man beside her. She was only too conscious that her life was literally in his hands, and although she knew that he must have clocked in hundreds of accident-free flying hours, she had no intention of taking his mind off what he was doing.
It was he, therefore, who broke the silence. He was sitting back in his seat, his whole body relaxed , but his sensitive fingers always attuned to the slightest pull on the joystick.
‘A bit different from the VC 10 s and Boeings, isn’t it?’ he said.
‘Very,’ she agreed. ‘But better. More personal.’
His eyes met hers in the dim light and she knew that she hadn’t bluffed him at all, he was well aware that she had never flown before. A little chagrined, she wondered how she had given herself away. And then, as though he read her thoughts, he told her.
‘You can’t hope to pull the wool over my eyes with such a guilty look on your face!’ he said laughingly. ‘I shan’t hold it against you!’
She laughed too, a little uncertainly.
‘It wasn’t that I wanted you to think me more experienced than I am,’ she said anxiously. ‘I didn’t want you to be worrying about me, or — or to feel that you had to make it any easier for me than for — for anyone else.’
‘Message understood!’ he reassured her. ‘You don’t want any favouritism because of your uncle. But that doesn’t mean that you have to be any more spartan than any other girl would be.’
He smiled at her, a warm, gentle smile that softened his rather harsh features for a moment. Sara hastily changed the conversation.
‘Why are we going to Arusha?’ she asked. ‘Has someone had an accident there?’
He shook his head.
‘My cousin’s wife is expecting a baby and she should have gone down to Tanga or Dar-es-Salaam, but they were having labour problems on the estate and she put it off. It’s not due yet, but she’s having pains and Joe rang through to ask me to bring Cengupta over just in case.’
S ara’s professional side rebelled against these haphazard methods.
‘Isn’t there a doctor any nearer?’ she asked indignantly. ‘She should have had regular check-ups to make sure that everything is going to be all right—’
‘It’s just as quick for me to fly from
She could see Matt’s strong hand on the controls and relaxed a little. He spoke into a microphone attached to his head gear, but she couldn’t hear what it was that he said. She no longer wanted to know. This minute little machine dancing through the clear night sky was the most wonderful experience of her whole life.
CHAPTER FOUR
Slowly they climbed higher into the black sky. Beneath her stretched the continent of Africa. If anything had been needed to convince Sara of the vastness of that great land mass it was this flight through the night. Occasionally she could see a fire lit by some travelling nomads, Masai perhaps, or the electric lights of some more civilized dwelling. But mostly there was just black nothingness.
As her eyes became more accustomed to the darkness she could make out odd shapes beneath her — the occasional hillock, a small group of trees, and once a number of animals grazing. Zebra, perhaps? Anything that her imagination cared to make them.
Matt took the aeroplane down a little when they passed over a native village where they were celebrating something with a dance. She could see the long lines of twirling figures in the firelight and wondered at their stamina when Matt told her that it would go on for hour after hour. For a moment she thought she caught the sound of their drums, but then they had moved on and the dancers became nothing more than a blur behind them.
For the most part Sara sat in silence, not liking to disturb the fierce concentration of the man beside her. She was only too conscious that her life was literally in his hands, and although she knew that he must have clocked in hundreds of accident-free flying hours, she had no intention of taking his mind off what he was doing.
It was he, therefore, who broke the silence. He was sitting back in his seat, his whole body relaxed , but his sensitive fingers always attuned to the slightest pull on the joystick.
‘A bit different from the VC 10 s and Boeings, isn’t it?’ he said.
‘Very,’ she agreed. ‘But better. More personal.’
His eyes met hers in the dim light and she knew that she hadn’t bluffed him at all, he was well aware that she had never flown before. A little chagrined, she wondered how she had given herself away. And then, as though he read her thoughts, he told her.
‘You can’t hope to pull the wool over my eyes with such a guilty look on your face!’ he said laughingly. ‘I shan’t hold it against you!’
She laughed too, a little uncertainly.
‘It wasn’t that I wanted you to think me more experienced than I am,’ she said anxiously. ‘I didn’t want you to be worrying about me, or — or to feel that you had to make it any easier for me than for — for anyone else.’
‘Message understood!’ he reassured her. ‘You don’t want any favouritism because of your uncle. But that doesn’t mean that you have to be any more spartan than any other girl would be.’
He smiled at her, a warm, gentle smile that softened his rather harsh features for a moment. Sara hastily changed the conversation.
‘Why are we going to Arusha?’ she asked. ‘Has someone had an accident there?’
He shook his head.
‘My cousin’s wife is expecting a baby and she should have gone down to Tanga or Dar-es-Salaam, but they were having labour problems on the estate and she put it off. It’s not due yet, but she’s having pains and Joe rang through to ask me to bring Cengupta over just in case.’
S ara’s professional side rebelled against these haphazard methods.
‘Isn’t there a doctor any nearer?’ she asked indignantly. ‘She should have had regular check-ups to make sure that everything is going to be all right—’
‘It’s just as quick for me to fly from
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