Chapter 23

Anything to Anywhere

Flight Service

 

Emily’s business started booming sooner than she had anticipated. One of the farmers in the county near Emily’s farm needed a part for his tractor, so Emily flew to Dallas to pick it up for him. She arrived at the Granger farm with the part in no time at all. When she climbed down from her Cessna, she noticed a commotion in the nearby field. It looked as though there had been some kind of accident as everyone was in a panic. As Emily approached, she realized why it was such an emergency. Mr. Granger’s young son, Tommy was lying in a pool of blood on the ground; his white tee shirt had turned a deep shade of red. The boy’s mother was crying and shouting that they had to get him to a hospital right away. It was apparent that he required a doctor for his injury. The nearest hospital that could treat this type of damage was about fifty miles from the Granger’s farm in Dallas; Emily could get him there much faster in her Cessna than Mr. Granger could in his truck. Every second could make a difference in life or death.

“Can you get him into my airplane?” asked Emily. “I can fly him to the hospital a lot quicker than driving him there in a truck.”

All of a sudden, everyone turned noticing Emily’s presence. Emily repeated the question.

They did not waste any time carrying young Tommy to Emily’s airplane. One of the farm workers followed behind them with more blankets and bandages. Emily guessed by the look of the injury that he had caught his arm in a piece of farm equipment. She did not want to waste time asking questions now. It was more important to get Tommy to the hospital, the sooner the better. Tommy’s mother climbed in the back of the Cessna with Tommy and the father sat in the front with Emily. Emily took off on the grassy field of the Grangers Farm. Emily was used to landing and taking off on grassy fields, as she had done during the war.

Emily reached altitude and flew at top speed toward Dallas. The Cessna could move quickly when necessary. Emily had never taken it up to this speed before. Once she leveled out, she radioed ahead to the airport tower to have an ambulance waiting for Tommy. Emily explained the nature of the emergency, so when she landed there was a police escort waiting along with the ambulance. It was only a short drive to the hospital from the airport.

Emily and Mr. Granger drove in the police car while Mrs. Granger road in the ambulance with Tommy. They rushed him to the emergency room right away. The parents paced in the waiting room as Emily sat with her fingers crossed as she prayed for Tommy’s recovery.

Emily had not realized it, but blood covered the front of her blouse from helping to lift Tommy into the Cessna.

The sight of the young boy lying on the ground covered in blood had brought back memories to Emily. Her mind returned to a day in London, England after the Germans had bombed the city. She remembered the scenes on the streets of London; people bleeding from various types of injuries, windows blown out of buildings, water gushing through the streets, and huge craters in the roads where the bombs had landed. Ambulances rushed the victims to hospitals as quickly as possible. It was a sight she that would never forget.

Emily recalled the first air raid she experienced when she had recently arrived in England. She had travelled to London with a few other American ATA pilots for uniform fittings at a tailor, when the ear-piercing siren screeched throughout the area. The tailors had led them to a shelter behind the shop for safety. It was pitch dark inside with only candles for light and the noise of the bombs dropping all around them was terrifying. After that air raid, she had lived through many more attacks, but the first one she witnessed had always remained in her memory. She had to adapt to the British attitude ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’.

Four hours later, the doctor walked toward them in the waiting room. He said that Tommy was doing well, and they were able to save his arm. He told Mr. and Mrs. Granger that they could visit him after he came out of recovery. Tommy’s parents breathed a sigh of relief as they thanked the doctor. Mrs. Grangers cried tears of joy.

Mr. Granger’s brother and his wife had arrived at the hospital to see if they could help in any way. Mr. Granger’s brother, Albert offered to drive Emily back to the airport. Now that they were at the hospital, they could drive Tommy’s parents back to their farm when they were ready to leave. They would stay with their son for a while longer to make sure he was recovering from the accident. Tommy would have to spend some time in the hospital as he had lost a lot of blood and his injuries were serious.

Before Albert Granger left for the airport with Emily, the Grangers thanked Emily for flying Tommy to the hospital, saying that they would be forever grateful for her kindness. Mrs. Granger admitted to Emily that she had never flown in an airplane before. She did not even realize that she was off the ground; she was too concerned about Tommy’s condition to think about it. Emily smiled at them, saying that she was glad that Tommy was doing well and that she was happy to have been able to help.

Albert Granger dropped her off at the airport; Emily thanked him as she left the car. She walked over to her Cessna and climbed into the cockpit; she taxied to the runway waiting for clearance for takeoff and then she flew back to the farm.

Her father breathed a sigh of relief when heard the hum from the engine of the Cessna as Emily brought it in for a landing, so he drove out to the hangar to give Emily a ride back to the house. He was anxious when she did not return after delivering the part to the Granger farm; her mother was beside herself with worry. Emily told her parents that she would be back in time for lunch; it was now almost time for supper.

They arrived at the house and Emily sat down on the porch, it had been a long emotional day. Mama looked relieved when Emily got out of Daddy’s truck, but then she gasped as she noticed the blood on her shirt. She almost dropped the glass of lemonade that she held in her hand as she stared at the bloodstain on Emily’s shirt.

“Don’t worry mama, it isn’t mine,” said Emily as she was starting to feel exhausted. Mama handed Emily the lemonade. She needed the cold drink as she realized that she had not eaten since that morning. Emily told them the story of what happened at the Granger farm that day. Mama made her a chicken sandwich and brought it out to the porch for her. They were proud of Emily, but felt badly for Tommy and his parents. At least Tommy was alive and on his way to recovering.

“I hope all my deliveries are not like that one,” smiled Emily.

The next evening daddy read the accident report in the local newspaper. There was a picture of Emily climbing aboard her Cessna at the airport. Below was a reporter’s account of how she had transported Tommy in her airplane to the hospital, which probably had saved his life. Emily was not aware that a reporter had taken her picture at the airport.

The following day the same reporter showed up at the farm; he asked if he could write an exclusive story about Emily and a full account of how she flew the seriously injured little boy, Tommy, to the hospital in her Cessna.

Mr. Granger had already told everyone in the county how Emily had saved Tommy’s life that day, so Emily agreed to answer some of his questions. He also wanted a picture of Emily and Tommy together at the hospital. Emily said he would have to get permission from his parents first.

The Grangers consented to the photo, so the following day the reporter agreed to meet her at the Dallas Hospital to have the picture taken of her and Tommy for the newspaper. Emily had a parcel to pick up at a manufacturer in Dallas, so she flew to Dallas in her Cessna to meet the reporter. She arranged to meet the journalist at the hospital before she picked up the package for delivery to Fort Worth. She was pleased to see that Tommy was feeling much better. He was excited to have his picture in the paper with Emily.

Emily felt like the local hero, it was embarrassing; she had just wanted to help Tommy. The newspaper was making too much of it as usual because it was a local human-interest story. Everyone loves a hero, thought Emily.

Daddy read the news article about Emily aloud to everyone after supper:

Emily Reid, pilot and owner of a flight delivery business in the Fort Worth area, saved the life of Tommy Granger after he suffered life-threatening injuries from an accident on his family farm. Miss Reid was making a delivery to the Granger farm in her Cessna airplane shortly after the accident occurred. Emily Reid suggested that she fly Tommy to the Dallas Hospital in her airplane, as she could get him there much quicker than driving in a truck. Emily Reid is a veteran pilot of both the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) of Britain as well as the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of the USA. She served in both organizations during WWII and was one of the first women to fly military aircraft in Britain as well as the USA. She now owns and operates her own flight delivery business ‘Anything to Anywhere’ that she operates from the Reid’s family farm outside of Fort Worth, owned by her father Jake Reid.

Eli and Ethan felt very important because their sister Emily’s picture was in the newspaper. Everyone at school would read about the heroic event written about how Emily had saved the life of Tommy Granger. The twins would be the focus of attention at school for days.

A few days later, companies from Fort Worth to Dallas called Emily, requesting her services to deliver everything from farm equipment parts to medical supplies. She received requests from VIP’s of Banks who required transportation to destinations in the State of Texas for business meetings. She had more deliveries than she could handle.

Mike had just bought another Cessna, a newer model than her own Cessna. Emily hoped that he was serious when he offered to help her out as he had suggested when she purchased the Cessna from him. She flew her Cessna over to his farm to have a talk with him. She had not seen him for at least two weeks because of all the orders she had to deliver; she was working from daylight until dark. She hoped he was sincere about his offer to help her out.

Mike heard the aircraft approaching and met Emily at the landing area. Emily jumped down from the plane and gave Mike a big hug.

“What does it feel like to be the local heroine,” asked Mike with a smile.

“Exhausting,” replied Emily. She was too tired to be jovial or engage in small talk, she asked him right away. “Is your offer still open to help me out in my flight delivery business?”

“What do you want me to do,” asked Mike. He could sense that she desperately needed his help.

“Can you do some deliveries for me this weekend; I have a backlog of parcels that need to be transported between here and Dallas.”

“Sure,” replied Mike with a grin. “I’ll follow you back to your place and we can divide up the deliveries between the two of us. We’ll have it done in no time.”

Emily breathed a sigh of relief. She climbed into her Cessna and took off in the direction of her farm with Mike following behind her. It was the first time she had seen his new Cessna; it was a beauty, bright red, with white and blue trim. Very patriotic thought Emily with a smile.

They landed at the hangar that Eli and Ethan had completed building for her Cessna a few days ago. Mike was impressed. He thought about asking them to build one for him at his dad’s farm.

Mike followed Emily to the back of the hangar where she had a small desk with a phone and a storage area. She had a list of parcels that she had to pick up and deliver. She divided the list, giving half of it to Mike in one area. It did not seem so overwhelming now. Between the two of them, they could deliver all the parcels on time. They each took off in their aircraft with their lists of deliveries with the parcels as well as a planned flight schedule that Emily had made up. They agreed to meet back at the hangar when they completed the deliveries, so they could organize the invoices.

Mike returned first with his receipts and the payments that he collected for Emily. Within fifteen minutes, Emily landed; she hopped down from the Cessna with a big smile on her face. They sat in Emily’s little office at the back of the hangar and sorted out the billing and cash. They seem to work well together. Emily and Mike were discussing how much he should receive for helping, when they heard her dad’s pickup truck pull up to the hangar. Mike said he did not want any money, consider it a favor for a friend, but she could pay for his fuel. Emily agreed with a smile.

Daddy came out to tell Emily that dinner was ready, and when he saw Mike, he asked if he would like to join them. Mike looked at Emily and she nodded in agreement. Mike replied, “Yes, thank you for the offer,” with a smile.

He had heard that Mrs. Reid was a fine cook and he was hungry. The three of them squeezed into the front seat of the pickup truck and headed back to house.

Emily’s mother was happy to see Mike and set another plate at the table. She liked Mike; she thought he would be a good husband for Emily. Daddy felt the same way; it would be nice to have a son- in-law who shared the same interests with him, such as automobiles. He noticed that Mike and Emily seemed to work well together, also, they shared a common interest; they both loved flying their Cessna airplanes.

Mike complemented Mrs. Reid on a delicious meal and then he told Eli and Ethan what a fine job they did building the hangar for Emily’s Cessna. They both thanked him, but said that they could not take all the credit because their dad guided them along the way.

Mike had to fly back home before it got too dark to navigate. Emily drove him out to hangar in her dad’s pickup truck. Her dad allowed her to drive the truck on the farm without a license.

Mike kissed Emily goodnight and she thanked him again for helping her out with the deliveries. Mike said, “You are welcome. It gave me a reason to fly my Cessna. You can count on me anytime that you need help with deliveries.”

Emily waved, smiling, as he started down the short dirt runway. She had a lot of paperwork to do, which she decided to do on Sunday and she had more deliveries scheduled for Monday.

Emily had so many orders she was unable to accept some of the requests, which was not good for business. She had to hire someone to help with the deliveries as well as the paperwork. She was a week behind in completing her invoices. Mike had a job, so she could not keep asking him to help out, although he did seem to have a lot of time off. Emily had worked all day Saturday delivering parcels. Mike was coming to visit her that evening; she would ask him how he felt about helping out on his days off.

Mike arrived on Saturday night to find Emily sorting through invoices. Mike agreed to work with Emily on his days off. He was working as a flight instructor at a civilian flying club near Dallas until he found a job that was more permanent. He would let her know what days he was available each week.

He enjoyed delivering parcels and passengers for Emily’s business; it was another excuse to log more hours in his new Cessna. He loved to fly as much as Emily did, not to mention the fact that it gave him a reason to spend more time with her.

They managed to keep up with the deliveries, but the paperwork was falling behind. Mike ended up staying a couple of evenings a week to help Emily with the bookkeeping. Emily’s business was becoming a two-person operation.

One evening, a few months later, Mike drove over in the Buick Roadster to help Emily with some accounting. Her business was profitable, Emily was making more money than she had ever dreamed she would make. She suddenly realized that the business would not be as successful without the help from Mike.

Emily’s dad was sitting on the porch when Mike pulled up in the Buick. Jake Reid could not take his eyes of the Roadster. Mike handed him the key asking if he would like to the Roadster for a ride. Jake nodded smiling as he took the key from Mike. Jake had a Buick of his own in the garage, but it was a big family-size sedan. It was a beautiful car, dark green with lots of chrome, but he always dreamed of owning a sporty Roadster like the one Mike drove.

Mike found Emily sitting at the dining room table covered with paperwork once again. He gave her a kiss on the cheek, sat down, and started sorting the invoices with her. Emily looked exhausted. Mike had planned to take Emily out that evening to a nice restaurant for dinner in Fort Worth, but Emily seemed swamped with work once again.

Two and a half hours later when the bookwork was completed, Emily asked, “Mike, how do feel about going into partnership with me. You helped to make this business a success; it would not have happened without you. You have seen the books; I am making enough money to support two people with you helping part-time. We could double the profits if we both worked full time.”

Mike was not expecting a business proposition. He thought about it for a moment and then he said, “You have built up a large cliental and you are right we could expand more with two of us working full time. Maybe we could even hire a bookkeeper.”

They both laughed. Emily said, “I would like that very much.”

I could ask daddy’s lawyer to write up a partnership agreement for us to make it legal.

On the other hand, said Mike with a smile, “You could marry me, and save all that paperwork.”

Emily was not expecting a marriage proposal; she was speechless as she stared at him in surprise.

Mike smiled at her, “A simple yes or no will do. I brought a ring with me in case the answer is yes.”

He took a blue velvet box out of his pocket opening it for Emily. She stared at the ring; it was beautiful. Mike said apologetically, “I planned to take you out for a special evening and ask you in a more romantic surrounding, but we always seem to end up doing paperwork instead.”

She smiled, as she reached over to kiss him. She was still speechless, but now she had tears in her eyes, she nodded as she managed to whisper, “Yes.” Mike slipped the ring on her finger as they stood up putting their arms around each other as they kissed again. Emily’s dad walked in to the room at that moment. “She sure runs smooth,” he said referring to the Roadster and then he suddenly stopped as he stared at both of them as they kissed. He was returning the car key to Mike.

Trying to not to look embarrassed for interrupting them, he uttered a ‘sorry’ and turned to leave.

Emily announced, “Daddy, wait, we are engaged.” She held out her hand with the ring on her fingered. We also decided to be partners in the fight delivery business.

Jake Reid beamed with happiness for his only daughter and his future son-in-law. A small celebration followed in the front sitting room. Mama was planning the wedding celebrations already, but Emily did not mind as long as she kept it simple with just family and a few friends. She did not have time to plan a wedding and it made mama happy.

Eli and Ethan offered to build another hangar for Mike’s Cessna if he would give them flying lessons, since he was a qualified instructor. Mike looked at their parents for approval before he answered. Daddy agreed; mama was so happy about the wedding that she agreed too. After all, they were boys. Flying airplanes was something boys should do. Emily laughed and rolled her eyes, mama would never change. Mike agreed to give them both lessons. The twins liked Mike and were happy to hear that Emily was going to marry him, so he would be their brother-in-law.

The flight business along with married life kept Mike and Emily extremely busy for the next year. They hired a bookkeeper to work three days a week, but it turned into a full time job after three months. They also managed to repay the money that Emily borrowed from her dad for the Cessna.

Jake Reid had a section of land cleared for the newlyweds on the Reid Farm where they could build a small house. Meanwhile, they lived at the big farmhouse with Emily’s family, where there was more than enough room for everyone.

Jake made space in the large garage for Mike’s roadster, where he parked his big Buick sedan. He was more than happy to take the Roadster for a spin at least once a week as Mike had suggested.

Eli and Ethan added a larger office for Mike and Emily’s flight business in the new Hangar, which they built for Mike’s Cessna. In return, Mike gave the twins flying lessons whenever he could spare the time on a weekend. Eli and Ethan both loved to fly and they had about twenty hours of flight time logged in their logbooks already.

Mike and Emily had hired builders to construct the house; it was almost finished, they looked forward to moving into their cozy little home. It was a one floor plan with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a sitting room, but they designed the house so they could add more rooms in the future if needed. Emily and Mike decided that the exterior of the house would look good painted white, accented with dark green shutters and a small front porch.

The carpenters were working on the kitchen cupboards today; they had finished the installation of all the windows as well as the front and back doors. The completion of the house would take approximately one more month. Mike and Emily had already purchased bedroom furniture, as well as two chairs with a matching sofa for the sitting room. The furniture company would deliver everything when the house was completed.

Emily had gone shopping with her mother to pick out curtains for the windows, dishes, and other household items that they needed. They stored them in Emily’s bedroom at the farmhouse until they moved into their own home. Her parents bought them a set of four chairs and a table for the kitchen as a housewarming gift for their new home. Everything was going smoothly as they continued with their flight delivery business while they waited for the completion of their house.