“I’m just an old-fashioned housewife and why try to make me into anything else?” she pleaded with Dick when he tried to urge her. The fearlessness of her modern daughters frightened her. She was always afraid when she was in the air, much preferring to stay on the ground.
Terry saw her look of anxiety now.
“Come on, Mother. Send us away with a smile. I know you’re going to wish us luck, but we need your confidence as well. We’re perfectly safe. And remember, if there is any message for us, telegraph to Harbor Grace.”
With a smile and a wave of her hand, Terry stepped into the plane. Prim spun the propellor and the motor roared. With a bound Prim jumped into the rear cockpit.
Skybird headed into the wind as she taxied along the field and Terry, pulling back gently on the stick, sent the little plane into the air. She circled the field twice for goodbye, then she began to climb and took her course northward.
Alice Mapes slipped into the chair beside her husband. Her face was white. Her hands were trembling.
“Do you suppose it’s all right for them to go?” the mother asked, her voice husky with anxiety.
“I’d trust Terry anywhere in a plane,” Dick Mapes answered confidently. “And if anyone can find the boys, she can.”
Long after Skybird had disappeared, Alice and Dick Mapes sat gazing into the clouds, as if they could follow their daughters all the way to their journey’s end.
Dick was calm and hopeful and patted his wife’s hand reassuringly as she voiced her fears.