Read Online On Wings of the Morning by Dan Verner - Free Book Online Page A

fire
    You must realize
    Smoke gets in your eyes.
     
    “You’ve done this before,” Betty smiled.
    “I’ve been practicing,” Otto admitted.
    They practiced for about half an hour. Betty said, “Let’s take a break and have something to eat.”
    “All right,” Otto said. She led him by the hand over to the sofa. A small bell was sitting on the coffee table. Betty picked it up and rang it. The maid Otto had seen earlier appeared at the door.
    “Sarah, we’ll have our refreshments now.”
    The maid nodded. “Yes, Miss Betty.” She left the room and came back in a few minutes with a tray laden with cookies and a carafe of coffee.
    “You like coffee, don’t you?”
    “I sure do,” said Otto. Sarah set the tray on the table and backed up.
    “Will there be anything else?”
    “No, Sarah, that’s all we need for this evening. Thank you.”
    Sarah curtsied and walked smoothly out of the room.
    “So, Otto, what do you plan to do after graduation?”
    “Continue to work on the farm, I suppose. Mata thinks I should take some courses at the Ag school, but I don’t want that to interfere with my work at the airport.”
    “Will you take me up some time?”
    “I’d be glad to, Betty. I’ll have more time to do that after we graduate.”
    “Sure. It’s a date, then.”
    “What are you going to do, Betty?”
    “Well, my father says I can work as a teller in his bank. But I have to be twice as good as anyone else since I’m the boss’s daughter.” She laughed. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
    “Sure. Go ahead.”
    “Would you mind if we drove my car to the prom? You’re planning to drive your father’s pickup, right?”
    “Yes, I was.”
    “Well, that’s fine, but I think my convertible would allow us to make a grander entrance. My father said you could drive it.”
    “Gee, that’d be swell, Betty, but I wouldn’t want to take a chance of wrecking your car. It’s OK if you drive.”
    “If you’d like.”
    “I would like.”
    They finished their snack and practiced dancing some more. About eleven, Otto said, “I’m going to have to be going, Betty. I have to be at the airport early on Saturdays.”
    “Certainly. Thank you for a nice evening. You’re a good dancer.”
    “So are you. Thank you for having me over.”
    She walked him to the door. He stuck out his hand. “Well, good night, Betty.”
    She looked startled for a moment, then took his hand and shook it. “Good night, Otto.”
    ***
    They practiced their dancing a couple more times before the prom, and then the big night arrived. Otto dressed up in his Sunday suit. Mata was practically dancing with delight, waving her Brownie camera around. Otto posed for pictures in the living room. Maria looked at him with tears in her eyes. “You are so handsome, Otto.”
    Hans held his paper in front of his face. He had told Otto that he regarded dances as frivolities that he would have no part of.
    Mata took picture after picture. Finally Otto waved her off. “I’ve got spots in front of my eyes, Mata. I won’t be able to see to drive.”
    “It’s just so exciting!” she exclaimed. “You must tell me all about it!”
    “I’d better be going.”
    “Have a wonderful time,” Maria told him.
    “I’ll be late,” he said as he went out the door.
    He set the throttle and spark on the old pickup and pulled the choke wire, turning the crank through a full revolution. The engine caught, and he jumped into the seat.
    He drove quickly to Betty’s house, nervously thinking ahead to the dance. Would he be able to think of anything to talk about? Would he say the right things? The wrong things? C’mon, Kerchner, you’ve known Betty as long as you’ve been in school. Just act normal.
    He pulled into the circular driveway and parked off to the side as Betty had told him to. He went to the front door and was greeted by the same maid. “Come in, Mr. Kerchner,” she told him. “Miss Ross is expecting you.”
    She ushered Otto in to