Orla glanced at her watch and saw that they’d only been aloft for ten minutes.
Whumph!
Again the wind tossed the plane, batting it almost playfully around the blackening sky. Night was coming, the moon was up and full, scudding clouds drifting across its face. Even in big planes, she was nervous. In a miniscule Cessna, a fluttering stomach and a chest tight with fear took on a whole new level. She prayed for dry land, for the lights of the airport. Peering out of the window, she saw only the dark sea below them. No lights. No ships, even: in weather like this, any sane captain would put in to shore, ride out the storm.
But not them. If they’d delayed getting out of England by so much as an hour, the police would have shut down their escape.
They’d only just made it.
Orla stifled her nerves. It was OK. They’d got away. Soon they’d be in Limerick. She could see it now in her mind: the old farm on the banks of the Shannon, the Delaney family home. From there they could go anywhere, anywhere in the world. All would be well. She breathed deeply, told herself, calm, be calm.
‘What the f-’ said Fergal.
‘What is it?’ asked Redmond.
The pilot was tapping one of the dials in front of him.
‘Fuel reading’s low.’ He tapped it again. ‘Should be showing nearly full.’
Orla felt the fear erupt, break out of its cage. Suddenly she found it hard to catch her breath.
‘How low?’ asked Redmond.
‘Ah, don’t worry. Must be a malfunction, we’ve only just filled up,’ said the pilot comfortably, not answering the question. ‘It’s nothing. Ten minutes, we’ll be there.’
Ten minutes, we’ll be there.
Fergal had hardly finished uttering the words when the engine started to sputter. Orla saw – she didn’t want to see but she couldn’t help it – she saw the damned propeller falter and stop turning.
No, this can’t be happening, she thought wildly, clutching at Redmond’s hand.
But it was.
She watched Fergal fighting the controls, trying to keep the nose up when there was no power, nothing to stop the inevitable. And finally, horribly, it happened. The tiny plane stalled in mid-air. Then it plummeted like a stone into the cold embrace of the Irish Sea.