Chapter 4

Waiting

Auntie had been waiting at Merrill Field in Anchorage now for five hours. Hundreds of small planes had come and gone during the period and the excitement of watching them was long ago over.

“Where is that girl?” she said with frustration. The weather’s good. There’s no excuse for this. If I know Helen, she’s probably in Homer, shopping on the Spit or something, while I sit here wasting my day.

Auntie had taken several trips to the bathroom while she waited. She really wanted to get going. She needed to get home to her husband, Harvey, and cook dinner for the family. She had left her cell phone at home. She finally decided to give up on her niece and leave the airport.

“When you get here, girl, you can just call me. I’m tired of this game you’re playing.” She started up her car and headed home to Mountain View.

The phone was ringing when she walked into her home. She ran to answer it.

“Hi, my name is Sally. I’m a volunteer with Special Olympics Alaska. I was told to call you and find out if you know whether the team from Pebble Lake is coming in today as planned. We’re holding dinner and three hotel rooms for them.”

“As far as I know they are. I just got home from waiting for them at Merrill Field for five hours, but they never arrived. They might have stopped at Homer. My niece Helen is flying them, and sometimes she stops off there to bring me fresh seafood.”

“If you hear from them, could you please give us a call? My number is 555-2351.”

Once Auntie hung up the phone, her anger turned to worry. Helen was an excellent pilot, not the least bit careless. She had never worried, but maybe this was the time she needed to. What should she do? Call the airport, 911, police? She had no idea. Were they just messing around in Homer or—she could hardly stand to let the thought enter her mind—had the plane gone down with all six people on board?