[Vfw-times] Adventures In Chattahoochee Hollar - On Eagle's Wings - PART 1 (6/?)

[Heartsh0t at aol.com]

“Attention folks!” Mr. Thomas Richards said, drawing the audience to 
silence.  
Cloudchaser sat in his idling biplane, looking for Stephanie.   At last, he 
spotted
her, sitting with her family in the middle of the stands.  Cloudchaser smiled 
at
her.   He was several years older than her, but the little vixen had set 
wings to
something in his heart.

“Attention!  Without further ado, we will commence the air show!”

The crowd cheered, and with another shot of the mayor’s gun, Cloudchaser set
off.   He rode close by the stands, purposely, to make sure that dainty 
little fox
saw his wave.   In the stands, Mr. and Mrs. Foxley eyed their oldest daughter,
who was laughing and waving back to the pilot.   The two vulpines then smiled 
at
each other, knowing that something special was blooming inside those young
hearts.    Cloudchaser once again gave his plane full throttle, and was 
lifted off
into the air in minutes.  The wolf knew the outline of his program and the 
order of
what stunts he was supposed to perform, but he impishly went off the straight
and narrow.   He looked down at the crowd below and circled about, and dived
for Mr. Parker’s barn again.

“....and you’ll see that Mr. Shaconage is not only a barnstormer, but is a
wingwalker as well!   When Cloudchaser reaches the altitude of...hey, wait a
minute!  What is that pilot up to?  Well, I don’t believe it ladies and 
gentlemen,
he’s going to fly through Mr. Parker’s barn again!”  the mayor exclaimed.

The air gypsy angled his plane towards mouth of the barn and once again flew
through with calculated precision, trailing stands of golden hay behind, and
sending the mayor scrambling for his program papers again.  The chickens in
the upper loft flew out of the small window and cackled their discontent at 
the
inconsiderate pilot.   The crowd exploded in a gush of laughter and applause. 
 
Cloudchaser glanced quickly at the fair vixen in the stands, who was laughing
and clapping her hands at his shenanigans.  'Good!   I’m glad she’s finally
enjoying herself', the rufine pilot thought.  Suddenly, Cloud had an idea!   
The
wolf passed by the stands again, moving his arms as if he was playing a 
fiddle. 
Mr. Richards and Mr. Foxley caught on to the idea.   

“Okay you fiddle players out there in the audience, how about playing a tune 
for
the show?” the mayor asked, looking over his podium at the crowd.

Mr. Foxley reached under his seat, pulled out his fiddle and stood up in the
stands.   He played a few strings while the others were getting their 
fiddles.  

“Daddy, could you play 'Millionaire’s Hoedown' for me and Mama?” Stephanie
asked, looking up at her father.

The fox looked at his daughter and winked at her, and gave his wife a winsome
smile.   He looked at the other fiddle players in the audience and began to 
play a
few notes of the old traditional song.  The other players smiled and all 
joined into
one accord into the lovable hillbilly song.

With a grin, Cloud set his plane to full throttle once more as he set his 
plane into
an upward pitch and climbed into a higher altitude, performing a rollover.   '
Life
can’t get any better than this', the rufine thought as he felt the welcoming 
rays of
the sun envelope his body and the cool wind rushing through his fur.  He urged
the 'Golden Eagle' in an upward spiral towards the sun.   Cloud leveled his
biplane and tipped the nose into a freefall, heading straight towards the 
ground! 
He knew better than that!  Such a maneuver could cause his engine to stall, 
but
at this moment, his spirit was soaring higher than his little Jenny ever 
could!  
Images of that little vixen’s face full of merriment and delight filled his 
eyes and
mind.  Seeing her laugh in the stands, her long hair blowing in the wind, and 
her
bright mesmerizing eyes left him in a spellbind, his heart completely 
enthralled!
Getting lost in the enrapturing thoughts, Cloud shook his head to clear his 
mind. 
The rufine then tipped the plane into a right yaw, sending it into a 
corkscrew,
falling ever so fast towards the quickening ground.


Down below, the crowd began to panic, but the fiddlers continued with their
song.  Over and over they played the little tune, not once breaking their
concentration.  Voices of fear and consternation from the audience floated 
their
way up to the rogue pilot, drawing a wide grin across his rufine face.  Terror
leapt into the heart of the young vixen that had seemed to capture his 
affections
so.  Stephanie closed her eyes.  'Please Dear Lord, surround Cloudchaser with
your angels and uphold him, keep him safe.'  Wiping a tear and clenching her
handkerchief, she opened her eyes and trusted the Lord.   With firm resolve, 
she
also made up her mind to trust the brave young pilot as well.  

Cloudchaser let the plane drop 1,100 feet before pulling up the rearing little
Jenny, fifty feet from plummeting into Jabe Parker’s field!   The little OX-5 
spat in
discontent, but obeyed the urgings of its master.  The fiddlers finally had 
to stop
to watch the astounding spectacle, each whispering a prayer of thanksgiving 
that
the pilot’s life was spared.  The crowd, who had stood up to watch the 
bloodcurdling sight, sighed a breath of relief seeing the irrepressible 
barnstormer cheat death once again.

“Now that, ladies and gentlemen, was certainly a hair-raising experience!”
chuckled the mayor, wiping sweat off his brow.  “Kindly take your seats, 
folks,
and Mr. Shaconage will perform his amazing feat of wingwalking!”

Jack Foxley and the other fiddle players picked up the merry little tune 
again and
started to play as the crowd settled down into their seats.  Once more, Cloud
sent his plane into an upward pitch, gaining altitude as he threw his plane
mercilessly into full throttle.  Members in the audience below were waving 
hats,
handkerchiefs, and small American flags at the brave air gypsy.  Cloudchaser
had become a hero!  Breathing deeply, the red wolf climbed higher into the 
sky,
reaching an altitude of 700 feet.  He didn’t want to climb too high, 'because 
the
crowd won’t be able to see me when I get out of the plane', he thought.  
Leveling
his plane and setting a straight course of flight, Cloud slowly climbed out 
his his
seat, gripping the outer edges of the cockpit.  Then, hand over hand, he made
his way past the front cockpit as a wicked little gush of wind tried to pry 
his
fingers lose from his tight grip.  Cloud re-affirmed his grip and looked down
fearlessly for a moment and smiled at the crowd below.  The little Foxley 
girl was
down there watching him from the comfort and safety of the stands.  Reaching
for a strut, Cloud stepped unto the bottom wing.  Without a moment’s 
hesitation,
he reached for the top wing and hoisted himself up into a crouched position 
atop
the upper wing.  After testing the air current, Cloud slowly rose to a 
standing
position and braced his slippery boots to either side of the wing.  Slowly and
carefully the wolf put one foot in front of the other walking to the opposite 
side. 
One careless move, and a strong gush could topple the pilot hopelessly over 
the
edge!  The crowd below held their breath as the fiddlers continued their 
play. 
Stephanie nervously gripped her handkerchief and despite her fear, forced
herself to watch the red wolf walk across those wings of death.  Certainly the
mighty arms of the Saviour was guiding his child, protecting him from those
harsh winds and gravity!

After walking to the end of opposite wing and back, the barnstormer crouched
down and lowered himself to the bottom wing.  Reaching for a strut at a time,
Cloud walked to the end of one wing and laid down.  Anchoring a foot around a
strut, the fearless Cloudchaser hung himself upside down, suspended in 
mid-air! 
Again, the crowd gasped for air, unable to move.

Suddenly, the little Jenny started losing altitude!   At a slight grade, the 
plane
started its descent towards the field!  Someone in the crowd saw Cloudchaser’s
plight and pointed it out to the other onlookers.

“Look, he’s going down!”

Stephanie closed her eyes and steepled her hands in silent prayer.   The crowd
remained speechless, frozen in place.  The red wolf quickly but carefully made
his way into the second cockpit of the plane and settled down into the seat. 
Cloud then pulled up on the controls, leveling his plane.  The pilot veered 
off to
the left and sent it into a rollover.   The crowd drew another sigh of 
relief, and
Stephanie opened her eyes.  'Thank you', the vixen prayed silently.

“And now, as the last part of the show, Mr. Shaconage will hang upside down on
a trapeze by his teeth!” the mayor announced.

The crowd roared, cheering Cloudchaser on for this final daring act.  'Oh, 
I’m so
glad it’s almost over', thought Stephanie.  'I don’t think I can take much 
more of...'

“Hey, isn’t this a great show?” Travis asked Stephanie, face full of wonder.

“Well, I...”

“Oh come off it Stephanie,” Anna retorted.  “You’ve been a scardy-cat ever 
since
he left the ground!”

Stephanie gave her sister an angry look but held her peace.

“Okay, that’s enough, Anna!” said Mrs. Foxley.  “Look, you’re going to miss
 Mr. Shaconage’s last act!”

All three vixens looked up in time to see the wolf maneuver his biplane into a
complete loop.  Travis was in complete awe, sitting with his mouth wide open.

“Wow!  Mommy, I wanna do that.  I wanna be a pilot.  Can I fly in Mr. 
Shaconage’s plane?” Travis squeaked.

“No!”

“But he said that I could.  He doesn’t mind.  He’s gonna be givin’ away 
flights
after awhile.”

“I said no, and that’s that!”

“But some of the other kids are gonna get to,” Travis whined.

“No, and that’s final!  Don’t ask me again!”

“Awwwwwww!” Travis said, disappointed.   The vulpine boy crossed his arms
and sulked.

“Look!” Anna said, pointing at the little golden plane.  

Cloudchaser climbed out of his seat again and headed slowly towards the front
of the biplane.  Once more, he grabbed a strut and stepped out on the wing, 
and
lowered himself, hand over hand to the undercarriage of the 'Golden Eagle'.  
Below, he saw the trapeze hanging from the landing gear.  Very carefully, he
grabbed the trapeze and lowered himself down to the last rung, hanging by his
hands.  Taking a deep breath, the pilot put the rung between his teeth, and 
let
his hands go of the small ladder!

“Look there, look there!” Travis exclaimed, tugging on Stephanie’s dress and
hopping up and down in his seat.

“I see him Travis!” Stephanie said, trying to hide her fear.   She did not 
want her
fear to become his weakness.   She loved her little brother so!   The vixen 
gave
Travis a squeeze and pointed at the brave red wolf hanging by pure strength 
alone. 

“He has to be very strong to be able to do that!” Stephanie added.

“Yeah, I wanna be a daredevil just like him!” Travis cried, despite his 
mother’s
opposition.

Cloudchaser hung as long as he could, and then grabbed the small ladder and
climbed up.   The wolf climbed up the side of the fuselage and onto the lower
wing.  After climbing back into the cockpit, Cloud dived towards Jabe Parker’s
barn again!  Seeing that plane coming in for another close dive, Mr. Richards
leaned over his program papers on the podium to prevent them from being
scattered to the winds.


The crowd roared with laughter as the pilot flew through the barn, upsetting 
the
poor chickens again!   The crowd breathed a final breath of relief when Cloud
landed his 'Golden Eagle'.   Mr. Foxley  threw back his head and screamed at 
the
top of his lungs, “YEEEEAAAAAHAAAAAA!”,  as he held his fiddle high into the
air as the pilot landed!  The other fiddlers caught Jack’s spirit and did the 
same.  

“Thank you Daddy,” Stephanie told her father and gave him a tight hug.

“You’re welcome, Pumpkin,” Mr. Foxley said, hugging his daughter close to his
side.  “You’re still my Pumpkin, aren’t you?”

“I always will be, Daddy!”

Fans young and old rushed out to greet the lovable, brave pilot.  The mayor 
was
almost overwhelmed.   “Thank you,  Mr. Shaconage, thank you for that
outstanding performance!  Such skill and talent!   Your performance will be 
the
talk of the town for many years to come!  And thank you Mr. Foxley, Mr. Chavis
and Mr. Smith for playing your wonderful instruments through the show!”