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Night Flight

By Diane Munson, David Munson

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Glenna Rider clutched the wheel of her parents’ van, training her eyes on the dangerous curve ahead. Her dad’s erratic breathing made it hard to focus. Gusty wind shoved the van across her lane to the right. Fear stuck in her throat.
“Dad!” she cried. “The wind’s strong. Am I too close to the edge?”
“Nope.”
He leaned over to check the speedometer.
“You’re doing fine,” he assured her.
She stole a glance at him in the passenger seat. His voice had sounded calm, but his face seemed tense. Could he be afraid too? This was only her second time driving since she received her learner’s permit. She had overestimated her driving ability in offering to buy groceries for Mom, but it was too late now.
Glenna navigated the curve, chewing her bottom lip. Snow flurries swirled across the windshield. With each wind gust fear bolted through her. Hoping to make it home before the roads became slippery, she turned up the heat. Her eyes locked onto the rearview mirror.
A yellow Hummer roared up behind her, the driver’s beady eyes threatening her to get out of his way. She pressed down on the gas pedal.
“Slow down, Earnhart,” Dad cautioned.
“But a crazy guy is hugging my bumper.”
“That doesn’t matter. The speed limit is for him too. He’ll have to slow down.”
Glenna lifted her foot, easing off the gas. The van slowed and thankfully, the SUV dropped back. Following another sharp curve, Glenna’s eyes flew to the mirror to check the SUV. The yellow beast nearly smacked her bumper. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins.
“He’s almost in our backseat!” she cried.
Anger radiated from the man’s eyes. She was frantic to pull off the road. But she had nowhere to go. A dangerous drop-off lurked by the edge of her lane. The shoulder was nothing but a strip of gravel.
“He is egging you on to speed. Don’t be rattled. Keep your foot steady on the gas.”
Without thinking, her foot lifted off the pedal.
“Glenna, don’t slow down,” Dad said, his tone prickly. “Maintain a safe speed.”
He whipped his head around before resting a firm hand on her shoulder. “He can’t pass you. There’s a double yellow line.”
“But a car is coming in the other lane!”
She gripped the wheel so tightly, her nails dug into her palms. Headlights from the SUV shone in her mirror. As Glenna pressed her foot on the accelerator to go faster, the driver blasted his horn. He swerved around her. Would he hit the oncoming car? Glenna’s heart banged against her ribs.
“Wow, Dad! What should I do?”
“Stay calm. Let him pass and he’ll go on by.”
The SUV tore past the van like a speeding bullet. The maniac driver hit his brakes and screeched to a stop. Glenna jammed the brake pedal with both feet. Dad lurched forward against the seat belt.
Oh God, help me!
She tried not to shut her eyes and stopped with inches to spare. The driver leapt from his SUV, swinging a baseball bat. Glenna screamed. Dad poked her right arm.
“Drive on the shoulder. Be quick.”
He whipped out his cell phone. Glenna fought panic. The man coming straight at them looked crazy with his unshaven face and eyes sparking like a savage storm lived in his heart.
She could do this!
Her legs quaked, but she sped past his SUV, the van’s tires bumping over the loose stones. Dad punched in numbers on his phone. Glenna bit down her bottom lip. Her eyes roamed to the mirror again. The angry dude ran to his vehicle, swinging the bat.
“Dad! He’s coming after me.”
“It’s Bo Rider,” Dad shouted into the phone. “My fifteen-year-old daughter is driving our blue van. A driver is in road rage.” He paused. “We’re on Waterford Road near Wheatland. Middle-aged man in yellow Hummer forced my daughter to stop. He came at us with a ball bat.”
Glenna’s foot bore down on the gas as she fled away. Her instructor never covered dangerous psychos in driver’s training. Then she recalled the jet exploding above her head in Israel. But shouldn’t life be safer in Virginia? She looked for a place to turn off.
Seeing none, she asked in a wobbly voice, “Dad, will you drive?”
“You’re okay. Dad is here.”
He spoke into the phone again, “No, I don’t have the license number.”
“The police will swing into action any second,” he told Glenna after ending the call.
She clung to the steering wheel, her insides shaking. Then help arrived. At least she hoped so. She heard a siren blaring in the distance, coming closer. Then from behind the SUV, red and blue lights flashed.
“The police are behind you,” Dad said. “What should you do?”
Her heart thumped hard before she pulled the van off the road, onto the skimpy shoulder.
“Good job. Let’s see what the Hummer does.”
The Hummer thundered past, the wind shaking the van. As the police car shot by them, the siren blasted Glenna’s ears. Her arms trembled. She checked her side mirror before pulling onto the road.
“There’s a gas station past this curve. Turn in there. You’re doing real well.”
Glenna followed his directions and came to an abrupt stop. Tears burst from her eyes.
“I can’t drive home, Daddy. I can’t!”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and said firmly, “Don’t quit on me.”
“My legs feel limp like wet spaghetti.”
Her words sounded like defeat. Dad must have thought so too. He folded his arms.
“You can do it, Glenna. Gather your courage. In Israel you made heaps of progress. Remember the tunnels you and Gregg explored beneath the Old City?”
“Those men came after my brother with a stick,” she said, lifting her chin.
“Lesson is you survived. Ready to drive home? Mom’s waiting for the chicken.”
In Israel, she’d started “building a backbone,” as he said. Up ahead, she saw police lights.
“He’s still out there,” she said. “You drive, please.”
“Nope. I’d like you to drive us home. Just keep your eyes on the road.”
Glenna forced out a sigh before putting the van into drive. “Okay, but don’t tell Mom.”
“I won’t. She has enough on her mind with the twins cutting their teeth.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Glenna said with a sigh. “She already thinks I’m too young to drive.”
She circled around the gas pumps. Before driving out, she saw him staring at his phone.
“What is it, Daddy?”
“I’ll tell you when we get home.”
Glenna’s heart lurched. Had something else happened?

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