Gustav sits in the pilot’s seat until the blades stop rotating. He takes off his headset and smiles at me. Then he climbs out of the helicopter and comes around to my side and opens the invisible door and helps me out and onto the not-invisible grass.
Solid ground.
I have no idea where we are. I ask, “Do you know where we are?”
He answers, “We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be. I promise.”
We look at each other, and I can see that something has changed inside Gustav. He’s more than just a boy building a helicopter. He’s a man who flew a helicopter. I hug him, and it’s not the kind of hug I’d give China or Mama; it’s the kind of hug I’d give Wolfgang if I was Stanzi. I can hear Gustav breathing the smell of my hair into himself. I can feel him relax in my arms. I want to kiss him again. I’m about to when a woman walks out from the brush to our right.
“Welcome!” she says.
She’s dressed in a pair of dirt-covered stonewashed jeans and a sweatshirt. Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and it’s going gray at the sides. There is no doubt that she can see the helicopter.
Gustav says, “Are you Patricia?”
She nods.
“Nice to meet you.” Gustav shoves his hand toward her and she shakes it. She looks as if she could cry for a month. I have no idea why.
“I’m Stanzi,” I say. “This is Gustav.”
“You know Kenneth?”
Both Gustav and I look perplexed. This causes her to look more concerned than happy. She glances behind her every five seconds or so—as if she’s checking to see if she’s been followed.
She looks at the helicopter. “You have to hide it,” she says. “Or else they’ll destroy it.”
“Where could I hide it?” Gustav asks. “It doesn’t fit anywhere else.”
She thinks in her head. She talks to herself. She is like a person who has split in two. “They don’t come up here anymore. They won’t see it. Maybe we can leave tomorrow. Maybe we can leave tonight.”
“Leave?” Gustav asks. “I’m sorry. I’m out of fuel.”
I turn to him. “You are?”
“I am. Completely. Had we not found this perfect field, we would have crashed.”
At the word, my body shivers.