Chase Me Faster
Catherine Gale and John Steed and Emma Peel
THE AVENGERS
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by Caroline Miniscule
Chapter Two: The Plot Thickens - Page 2 I - Present Day continued And that had been the start of it. They'd rushed upstairs to consult with Joan Alexander, who expressed certain reservations. While Cathy Gale looked 50, she was 70, but she was 'tough as old rope,' as she herself expressed it, and the three of them retired to the aircraft hangar where Alexander's ''Lil Stinker II'' was stored. Cathy demonstrated her ability to climb out of the cockpit and onto the top wing, and then vault lightly off onto the floor with nary a jar. ''It's different of course with the wind ripping at your body at sixty miles an hour,'' Joan pointed out. ''Not to mention the fact that you'll be very high up in the sky.'' Cathy Gale nodded. ''Not to worry, Joan. It's been many years since I've stared death in the face, but I winked at him then and I'll wink at him while I'm on the wing of your plane. But I want to do this. I have done many things in my long life but I have never danced the Charleston on the wing of a plane, and I think it's time I did.'' The next day, early, a practically unrecognizable Cathy Gale, in leather helmet and goggles, with a parachute on her back as well the requisite safety lines holding her to the plane, took a practice flight at her own airfield, and it went without a hitch. Now...now was the time. ''You're on, Mrs. Gale,'' came Jackie's voice in her ear. Cathy took a deep breath, then reached up and caught hold of the strut in front of her. Carefully, moving very slowly and surely, she rose in her seat and climbed out onto the fuselage. The wind caught at her and tried to whip her away, but Cathy's grasp was firm. She rose up onto the top wing of the plane, securing the safety lines that held her. Jackie had circled around and they were coming up on the airfield now with its packed stands. Cathy flicked a switch, and the amplifier she wore on her back began to roar out with joyous music. Cathy flung her hands up in the air and began to dance. The crowd roared with approval, not that Cathy could hear any of that. Jackie did a pass in front of the stands and Cathy, complete in leather helmet, huge goggles, white scarf, jacket and leather jodhpurs - the trademark uniform of Gladys Roy, the American wing walker who had made this act famous back in the 1920s, rotated her hands and kicked up her feet and smiled broadly.  Gladys Roy doing the Charleston, from Women Fly website
Later that night, Jackie, Joan, and Cathy toasted each other around a private table. (Jackie was drinking Pepsi, Joan and Cathy had scotch.) The switch at the end of the flight, when Jackie had taxied up and Cathy had disappeared while Joan took her place, had worked perfectly. ''I put so much blush on my face to make sure I had that wind-swept look that I almost tipped over,'' Joan chuckled. Then she sobered. ''But I have to say, Cathy, that it was very difficult accepting their congratulations when I knew it was you who had done all the work.'' ''Don't think of it like that, Joan. I stepped into the breach for a friend, that's all. It's not as if you couldn't have done it, if you hadn't been hurt. That makes it all right in my book.'' Joan nodded. ''Well, you certainly saved the day. I'll have bookings from now to the end of time. Thanks, Cathy.'' ''Thank you, Joan. It was a great experience.'' |
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Icons are from the Avengers Forever website