- Hey, Jack. - How you doing?
- Get that nose up! - Nose up!
Look out!
Where you going, Toomey?
Are you gonna wash me out?
You really wanna fly airplanes?
More than anything else, sir.
Okay.
Give you another chance.
Look, you got the makings of a good pilot.
You're just afraid to stall the airplane.
Now, in order to land an airplane right,
you gotta make it stop flying, don't you? You gotta stall.
Most of us do that six inches off the ground, not ten feet.
I know.
- Now, you get in the back. - What for, sir?
Take us around and give me three full-stall landings right in the wind.
- I can't. - I say you can.
You're almost there.
You really think I can?
I know you can.
The point is
you've gotta know you can.
What do you say?
- I'll try, sir. - All right.
Now, just so we show it to everybody, I'm going to keep my hands outside.
I'm not gonna touch the controls.
Toomey, I'm gonna be your first passenger.
On and set. Contact.
Okay. It's all yours.
Who is that with Edgar?
It's the kid who keeps landing too high.
He's afraid of the ground. I couldn't get anywhere with him.
I gave him to Anscombe.
Get it level.
Get it level!
Toomey? Toomey.
Watch the shed. Move left!
Get it over! Move left!
I can't!
Watch the shed, Toomey!
Toomey? I got it!
Let go of the stick!
Let go!
Air speed!
- Jimmy, watch the road. - I keep forgetting to fix this chin strap.
It's all stretched out of shape, and my ears keep freezing.
I'm going to punch a new hole in it. I just keep forgetting.
What if you didn't have someone to take care of you?
What are you doing?
You don't want to go deaf, on top of everything else.
Now, Angel, that's the wrong tool.
I hit a bump, your hand slips, there goes the chin strap.
We'd have to buy a whole new cap.
Now, where's that in the budget?
There's a leather punch at the shop in Boise.
I just keep forgetting to use it.
Keep forgetting to use it.
How you doing, pal? You awake yet?
I'm getting there.
Tillie! I am tired of waiting. You're making us late!
I'm speaking to you, young lady.
You're going to go through this with your chin held high.
And you're gonna come out the other side and you're gonna be fine.
Do you hear me?
I expect only the best from you.
Tillie! I am waiting!
Just a minute.
Come in.
- Have a good trip, Tillie. - I'll try.
Ain't you going to say anything?
So long, Tillie.
I am doing this because I care for you and your future,
hard as that may be for you to believe.
It's very hard, father.
Hopefully, your aunt will know how to raise you.
I confess, I don't. I'm not a mother.
I did the best I could under the circumstances.
Under the circumstances, so did I.
Hopefully, you will return at some point
with a new attitude and a new sense of responsibility.
I sincerely hope so.
- A nine? - Yeah.
- All right. - Pull it over.
Don't want to carry it.
- Watch that starboard weight. - All right.
Thanks, Jimmy.
- See you in Boise. - See you in Boise.
Take care.
Meet me tonight around 7:00.
Come on over here for a second, would you?
- Should I bring my kit? - Yeah. Do bring your kit.
- What's that? - Lunch. I was making one for Jimmy.
I thought I'd make one for you, too.
Are you flying on Thursday?
The schedule isn't out yet.
Because if you're not, I was going to invite you to dinner.
I'm making turkey with chestnut stuffing. An old family recipe.
I'll probably get one run, for sure.
Thursday's Thanksgiving.
You never know around here.
- Edgar! - Yeah.
Edgar...
I'm not after your heart and soul.
I'm just trying to be friendly.
I know that, Rose.
I was kind of getting the idea that you liked me.
Well, I like you.
I like you a lot.
That's good enough for me.
You're a good woman, Rose.
I just think...
It'd be better if you invite some other guy over for dinner.
Thanks.
- Morning, Probosky. - She's ready to go.
Told Stiller to change the oil lines at Boise.
You're almost at gross.
- How many sacks? - Only six.
- Why's she so heavy? - Didn't they tell you? You got a passenger.
Who's the pilot?
His name is Edgar Anscombe.
I suppose he's qualified.
As far as I know.
Aren't you sure?
If you mean, does he have a logbook with lots of hours in it, the answer's yes.
However, logbooks can sometimes be works of fiction.
When he first came here, I asked him certain questions.
He answered them correctly. On that basis, I hired him.
- I see. - Morning, Edgar.
This is Mr. Hansen.
He owns the bank in town, along with most of my airplanes.
- How do you do? - Hello.
Maybe you've read his sign.
Yeah.
This is his daughter, Tillie.
She'll be flying with you this morning.
Edgar and I have some details to discuss, Mr. Hansen.
Mind waiting outside by the plane?
It's number 14. The number's on the tail.
Come along, Tillie.
Why doesn't she take a train like everybody else?
Maybe the family is air-minded.
Or maybe she saw Buddy Rogers in Wings.
Maybe her father owns your airplanes.
She represents 105 pounds of air freight in a month when the averages are down.
I was even considering mailing the phone books to Pasco just to raise them.
She suits my needs better.
Want your weather?
Twin Falls and Boise are calling overcast at 500.
Occasional breaks. Visibility obscured to the west.
- They don't know anything. - Look,
if you can't find a hole, try to be back by 11:00.
I can train the mail and avoid nasty phone calls from the postmaster.
You forgot this.
You still think some guy will fly up beside me and hold me up, don't you?
It's regulation. You know that.
Bureaucrats are very sensitive people.
I wouldn't want 'em snooping around and finding out we didn't take them seriously.
I'm a pilot.
I'm not a baby-sitter.
I know how you feel.
I even think I understand why.
But you gotta remember that passengers are the future of this business.
We're never going to make any money hauling mail.
We have to learn to haul human beings.
And that includes you.
Have a good trip.
- Your airplane's leaking. - Don't touch anything, okay?
Look, father. The thing is a wreck!
Come on. Get in. Probosky.
- I'll help you, lady. - What about mine?
- Your what? - A parachute. You have one.
It's a regulation.
What if I have to jump?
Nobody's jumping. I have to have one.
Now, if you're coming with me, get in the airplane.
I'm not going. I can't.
Do what the man says, Tillie.
Why are you doing this?
I told you, for your own good.
You keep saying that.
Tillie, you are embarrassing me in front of these men.
You say this is for me,
but you don't have to go up in a piece of junk...
Get on!
These men have a schedule to keep like everybody else.
- Sit up front. - I'll do it myself, thank you very much!
Mr. Anscombe.
She is an affliction.
But God made her that way for reasons known only to him.
- How long do you stop at Boise? - About 20 minutes.
I'd appreciate you keeping an eye on her.
Also,
make sure that she meets her aunt in Pasco.
- What's she going to do? - Run away, possibly.
She is capable of anything.
I say this to you man to man,
if you know what I mean.
- I'll get her to Pasco, anyway. - Thanks.
Have a good flight.
If you gotta go potty or anything, let's do it now
'cause once we're up, we don't come down.
No? Okay.
- When will they arrive? - They'll have headwinds for sure.
1:30, around then. I can call you when they land in Pasco.
Yeah. I'd appreciate that.
You don't have to worry. They disappear at this end.
After a certain amount of time, they reappear at the other.
It's quite safe.
Hey, kid! Did you ever do this before?
Get down.
Here we go!
Pretty.
Where are we?
Starting down for Boise.
I don't see anything!
Don't worry about it. It's down there.
Boise.
Just about three more.
That's fine with me.
- Hey, Jimmy. - Hey, pal.
You get a cup of coffee, I'll change the oil lines.
Okay. Thanks.
Coffee shop's out back.
Thank you.
- Edgar. - Morning, Lewis.
- That one jelly? - Yeah, last one. You want it?
Save it for me.
Thanks a lot.
Do you mind?
Boy...
You really had me worried coming through those clouds.
I didn't think you knew where you were going.
They ought to invent a sort of tube so people could talk.
You'd know where you were.
- Look, Millie... - Tillie.
Right. It's two more hours to Pasco,
then I have to turn around and do it again.
This is one of the few breaks I get, okay?
I was just trying to pass the time.
Have you always been a pilot?
I got my license when I was one year old.
I've been flying commercially since I was three and a half.
Are you married?
Where I come from, people don't ask personal questions to strangers.
Where I come from, people try to be civil.
Especially employees when they're talking to customers.
No. I'm not married, and I don't plan to be.
- How 'bout you? - I feel the same way.
I think that's wise,
considering the way you get along with men.
What's that supposed to mean?
Looked like your father wanted to smack you back in Elko.
My father smacks me all the time.
That's his idea of how to be a father.
This whole thing's his idea.
He's sending me up to Seattle to stay with the Howards.
They have this son named William.
He's my second cousin, and he's in medical school.
He's not much to look at. They're trying to match us up.
I have no interest in him or any other boy.
How'd you get that scar?
Moravia says you're the future of aviation.
- Who's Moravia? - He's my boss back in Elko.
I hope he's wrong.
If it's true, I don't like it. You're 105 pounds of freight,
and freight doesn't talk.
May I have that doughnut, please?
Hey, Edgar. The lady wants your doughnut.
- She can't have it. - You can't have it.
I don't see his name on it. How much is it?
It's a nickel. I'll cut it in half.
It's impolite to read at the table.
- Hey, Stiller. - Yeah?
- You got a call. - Hold on a minute.
It's your boss.
I'll be right there.
- You're dripping. - What?
You're dripping jelly all over the place.
Look...
You don't want to be here, and I sure as hell don't want you here.
Now, we got another two hours and 10 minutes to Pasco,
and then we never have to see each other again, okay?
Fine with me.
Fine.
Yes, sir. I just changed 'em.
Okay. I'll pick up a couple of sets. See you in Elko.
- What's happening? - I've got to set it down!
Get down! Brace yourself! Damn, goddamn it!
Come on, baby. Climb for me!
You all right?
Hey, kid.
Come on.
Easy.
You all right?
- I'm all right! Leave me alone. - Come on. Kid, sit down.
- I don't wanna sit down. - Where you going?
Come back here. You just crashed in an airplane.
I know what I just did!
Suit yourself.
Don't do that!
I'll do it if I want to!
- What are you lookin' at? - That river.
- What about it? - Do you know which one it is?
I don't know.
Maybe it's a fork of the Snake.
People live along rivers.
- So? - So, we ought to climb down there.
How do you get down there in one piece, anyway?
We'll stay up by the wreck. That's the rule.
They can see a wreck from the air. They can't see people.
- Go on up there and sit down. - I could make it if I had to.
Say you did.
Then you gotta walk maybe 15, 20 miles to the nearest anyplace.
You got no food, no equipment. Go sit down.
What are you gonna do, argue with everything I say?
I may.
Hey, kid.
- Did you ever crash in an airplane before? - No.
- I have. - So?
That means I got experience and you don't.
It means you're a two-time loser!
Wait a minute. You blaming this on me?
You're the pilot.
Do you know what I had to do to go through the trees
to just snap the wings off, and not wrap up in a ball?
- I know it wasn't my fault. - Yeah?
Let's consider that for a minute.
That heap up there that used to be an airplane had a Wright J-5 engine in it.
The most dependable engine in the world.
Lindbergh crossed the ocean behind one.
We've never had one of those go wrong on this line until today.
So who's the jinx?
What's different about this trip, on this day, but you?
Stop yelling at me!
You're a prize.
You're a real goddamn prize.
How do you like it?
Separate quarters. Ladies in there and gents out here.
- This way we don't have to see each other. - Fine with me.
Hey. Hey!
What do you smell? Gasoline!
Go ahead, light it. See how far you fly without an airplane.
Stupid little brat!
I shouldn't have taken you. I don't fly passengers.
If you hear anything, call me.
Good. All right.
Hello. It's Moravia at Elko.
Give me station 36, will you, please?
This should be a lot of fun. The guy's a lush.
I don't know if it's an emergency. I don't know, operator.
It may be an emergency and it may not. I don't know yet.
Why don't you just do your job and let me get on with mine?
Jesus Christ.
Number 36. What do you want?
Airplane?
I can't even see the track.
How do you expect me to see a goddamn airplane?
All right.
The answer to your question is no!
I don't see nobody!
On the other hand, number 12 came through
half an hour ago.
Triple-headed with 57 cars.
That's a good haul for this time of year
if you know anything about railroading.
State troopers got nothing. They're putting out the word.
What about aircraft? What's available?
I called the National Guard at Spokane.
They got three DH-4s they'll lend us,
but they don't know when they can get out 'cause they're socked in
and they're calling overcast and snow flurries in the morning.
I got a private Waco Taperwing at Boise and maybe a guy with a fleet,
only his phone's down.
If the Guards get out, we'll have 'em work south.
Our planes will stay us through Boise.
If the weather holds.
This is one call I don't wanna make.
Have the operator get me Bruno Hansen.
I saw your fire. I'm cold.
- What's that? - Oil.
What for?
To make smoke in case a plane comes over tomorrow.
We have a fire.
If we had some food, we could almost live up here.
You got a gun.
This is accurate to about 50 feet.
Might hit something if it stood there waiting for you.
You could try. I'm hungry.
Then they'll find us, that's all.
You don't know my father.
He has friends in the State House.
He'll move heaven and earth, to say nothing of the Howards
who have entertained the governor of Washington.
Then maybe all those nice folks will come out and look for us.
Except they'll be looking about
60 miles south of where I should've been.
The reason for that is I took a shortcut over the mountains to get rid of you,
instead of turning back to Boise like I should've. They'll find us.
Next spring! We'll be two blocks of ice.
- I can't listen to you anymore. - That's the truth.
Want me to lie to you like you're a kid?
You wanted a way to talk to the pilot so you know where you are?
I'll tell you.
You called me a two-time loser.
- It was just an expression! - You're right.
You're absolutely right.
Last time I crashed like this, I killed a man.
George Toomey. 18 years old.
Perfectly good human being, till I killed him.
Maybe you didn't want to know that.
You're not the jinx.
It's me.
The big thing you did wrong today was to go flying with me.
Now you know where you are.
You better not hit me.
Why would I do that? What good would that do?
Jimmy!
You heard.
What happened?
It's hard to say.
He may have picked up some ice.
Could've got stuck over the clouds with no way down.
- Who's in there with Moravia? - Mr. Hansen.
The banker.
His daughter was with Edgar.
We might as well get in.
I was thinking I ought to stick around.
I've got your dinner in the oven.
I don't know.
Everybody else is staying.
Maybe I should, too.
They don't pay you to sit around here and worry.
If they need you, they'll call. That's what we put the telephone in for.
Think of that poor girl up there on a night like this.
I'm thinking about Edgar.
- Morning, kid. - Morning.
The management regrets they're out of corn flakes
and French toast, but
here.
What is it?
Pine needle tea.
Jesus Christ.
Nice and clear today.
Wind shifted to the west.
- What are you making? - A snare.
- Can I help? - No, thanks.
I grew up around boys. I ought to know something about hand tools.
I even know how to shoot a gun.
Are you still mad about last night?
I'm not mad about anything.
I sure didn't do it on purpose.
Didn't say you did, did I?
Anyway, I'm sorry.
- Change your mind about leaving? - Nope.
What are you going to do with that thing?
I'm going to try some hunting.
That's what I said last night.
I just think it's better to do something than sit around.
On the basis of your vast experience.
That's right.
What should I do?
If a plane comes over, put the oil on the fire
and don't let it go out.
Can you handle that?
Kid! Guess what! I nailed one!
What?
I shot a rabbit!
Hope you can cook!
Easy, fella.
Here you go.
Mr. Anscombe!
Mr. Anscombe.
- What happened? - Goddamn wolves!
I had a rabbit, too.
You better close that off.
I know what I have to do.
Get me your bag.
Take it off.
- What are you looking for? - A needle and thread.
Here.
I'll do it.
You can't reach.
I'll do it! You'll bleed to death and tell me you can?
All right. Do it.
Well?
You're one of a kind, Tillie. You can do anything you put your mind to.
What would you have done if I wasn't here?
You don't like to talk much, do you?
You don't have that problem, do you?
No.
No, I talk all the time.
I'm a flibbertigibbet.
That's what my English teacher, Mrs. Wilson, calls me.
"Tillie Hansen, you are a flibbertigibbet."
Sounds like a noise a chicken would make.
Mrs. Wilson kind of looks like a chicken.
- How come you ain't screaming? - I am screaming.
You just can't hear me.
- All right. That's enough. - One more stitch.
- Don't argue with me! - One more stitch!
Tie that off.
Pull it through. Tie it right there.
All right. Here, get...
Just put that on.
All right.
That's it.
Come on, easy!
I have to do it tight.
What was that you were saying before, to yourself?
You're one of a kind?
Sometimes I hear my mother talking to me.
Talking to you? Is she dead?
She used to say things like that when I was down about something.
- Here. - Okay.
Sorry.
There you go.
If I start foaming at the mouth, just shoot me, okay?
Found something.
Here.
I lost my appetite.
Have it later.
You hear those wolves?
They're all around here now.
They're not going anywhere.
They don't have anything better to do.
- Will they come over here? - No.
You did okay.
It's good.
I can understand your point of view. Now listen to mine!
Someday the world will be entirely populated with bureaucrats like you
because the real people will kill themselves out of frustration!
I, myself, do not want anything out of you!
They do! They want to be rescued!
I'm relaying to you what they'd say if they could speak to you themselves!
Have you heard about the weather?
- How's it look? - There's a hole over the Tuscarora mine.
- The whole front's breaking up. - Everybody goes!
Come on, let's go! On the double!
At least the search is on.
- Is that everyone? - One more. Stiller.
He's bringing the afternoon mail from Pasco.
He knows to keep his eyes open.
Got about two hours of light left.
What a mess.
Then let's go down the cliff.
Why do you do that?
Because we can't make it, that's why.
Those wolves are going to hang around. Anyway...
We were dead the minute the engine quit.
- I didn't want to say it. - What's the use in talking that way?
- 'Cause it's the truth. - It ain't the truth.
It's just what you think is going to happen.
- You made a snare and you shot a rabbit. - So what?
So I'd rather be trying things than just sitting on my butt.
All right.
Let's go. We're going. Take what you need.
I was thinking more like a couple of sweaters.
See, I told you I grew up with boys.
Jesus.
You live by yourself?
Yeah, that's right.
Don't you have any friends?
Not in particular.
Who's that guy that drove you to work?
Where'd you see him?
Out the window of Mr. Moravia's office.
I don't miss much.
Stiller. He's the guy I work with.
- How about that woman? - What woman?
The one that gave you the lunch.
That's Rose, Stiller's sister.
- Is she your pash? - My what?
Your passion?
I don't know. When you...
When you're flying all the time, you don't...
You don't really have much of a chance with women.
I think you hide behind that scar too much.
You ever do anything with her?
What do you mean, "do anything?"
You know what "do anything" means!
You're blushing.
You probably have veins close to the skin.
I've known people like that.
I'm hungry.
Wait a minute.
It's Stiller!
Jimmy!
Jimmy, over here!
Damn it!
Did he see us? Is he coming back?
Forget it.
- What's the matter? - I'm all right!
Don't touch me!
- I didn't expect this to happen. - Yeah, sure.
We've only got 50 yards to go to the bottom.
Now, come on, let's make a move.
- Come on. - I can't move.
- What? - I can't move!
All right, let me look.
It's probably broken.
Great.
Here.
- Take one of these. - What is it?
- A pain pill. - I don't want it.
- Shut up and take it. - I don't want it!
Don't argue with me. Just take it.
Now I'll have to think of something else.
I think I'll lower you down.
How?
Go back up to the wreck and get some cable.
- You can't go back up there. - I'll just have to.
You just have to sit here and shut up.
You can do that much, can't you?
It'll be dark soon.
You afraid of the dark?
I was thinking of you coming back down!
Hey, kid.
I'm sorry.
I'll get you down in the morning.
Did it look like an airplane?
I can't say for sure.
What can you say for sure?
It was just a flash out of the corner of my eye.
It might have been wings.
It might have been a couple of trees.
Couldn't you have gone back to make sure?
It's pretty hard to tell one ridge from the other.
Besides, I was running low on gas
and worried about getting back myself.
Show me on the map.
That was the other problem.
My compass was messing up on me.
I didn't know where I was.
Not until I saw the rail line running into Baker.
It's somewhere around here.
You mean you let your pilots fly without knowing where they are?
The wind blew me down there.
You can't always tell what the wind's going to do.
You're talking about hundreds of square miles.
Suppose you were wrong.
You'd be responsible for sending everybody in the wrong direction.
You were right to report the sighting.
But you can see the problems it caused.
What do you think I should do?
My wife.
All right, stick by the phone. I'll call you if I need you.
Now that I've seen your company in operation,
I do not think much of the men you hire.
I can see why you might think that.
Stiller thinks mainly of his own ass.
Anscombe has half a face.
I myself have a
leg made out of Philippine mahogany.
Stick around this place a little more, you'll find Probosky,
my chief mechanic.
He's missing three fingers, the result of a propeller and an over-anxious student.
Carson, that pilot you met this morning,
was shot down during the war and spent the night in a foxhole,
during which he breathed some mustard gas which left him with one lung.
All of us should've gotten out of this business a long time ago.
The only problem is...
In addition to being crippled, we're all addicts.
Flying is all we care to do.
Stiller...
If I fire him, and no one else gives him a job,
as no one would who has a choice in the matter,
Stiller would wither and die.
As they all would.
As I would.
Therefore, considering we are all cripples and addicts,
I'm of the opinion we're doing as good a job as could be expected.
If you have any complaints, take them to your congressman.
While you're doing that, ask him for some more money,
some more rotating beacons,
some twin engine planes that go over the mountains instead of going through.
Maybe a radio so they don't have to spit into the wind,
to find out which way they're going.
Aside from that, don't tell me how to do my job.
I don't tell you how to do yours.
It hurts.
I know.
Take your mind off it. Think about something else, something nice.
Like what?
I don't know.
Anything nice.
What about that boy up in Seattle?
There ain't no boy in Seattle.
There isn't?
I made that up.
Why'd you do that?
How should I know?
I don't know half the reasons I do things.
The only boyfriend I ever had
banged me on the floor of a caboose in a Western Pacific rail yard.
Watch your language.
That is the right language.
It sure wasn't love.
He promised he would take me to Reno.
But he lied.
Then my father found out about it,
and there was this big scandal.
He decided to get me out of town as fast as he could.
That's why I was in a mail plane in the middle of winter.
That was okay, because if they didn't want to see me again, I didn't, either.
Don't cry. You're not the type.
Yes, I am.
Underneath.
You're the one that called me a jinx.
Yeah, but I took that back, didn't I?
My father...
My father told me I was spoiled merchandise,
ruined for life.
You're all right.
Somebody's going to snap you up. You wait and see.
I mean, you saw what happened in Boise.
What happened?
Didn't you see all those guys in the diner were
breaking their necks trying to look you over?
- I didn't see that. - Sure.
How often does a girl like you come into a place like that?
You see, in the morning we'll
take the old elevator down and
be on our way.
I wish it could've been you.
It would've been better.
Go to sleep.
I think he should go back.
Back where?
Wasn't even sure where he was.
What if it was them?
He wasn't sure.
He did the right thing.
Let the National Guard go look.
That's what they're there for.
Ladies,
would you mind holding it down?
I'm trying to think.
What if it was my brother that was down?
Quit!
I don't even want to think about that.
Edgar would go after him.
You don't know that for sure.
I think he would.
You marry a mail plane pilot and see how anxious you are to send him off.
I just think that when the time comes, we all have to take care of each other.
Nobody else will.
You'd hold your breath every time he left
and you wouldn't let it out again until he'd come home.
I hate airplanes.
I don't even know what keeps them up.
They're made out of sticks and bed sheets.
I don't know why they just don't open up
and drop Jimmy out like a stone into water.
That's right, Evelyn.
You don't understand anything about it.
You've never done it.
You don't know why I do it.
So would you please just hold it down
and let me think,
okay?
That's Capital Peak.
What's Edgar doing there?
Okay, let's stop here.
Easy! Easy!
I'll give you another pill.
Can't carry me all day.
Don't talk with your mouth full.
You can't. We both know that.
I'm not going to carry you.
You should just leave me here.
You can go on ahead, and if you find somebody,
then you can send them back for me.
Just when I'm getting used to you?
You mean that?
Yeah, I mean that.
What are you doing?
I'm going to make a travois,
a thing the Indians used to use to carry stuff around in the winter time.
Pretty smart.
A pilot's gotta be.
You put yourself down in a field someplace,
it's pretty much up to you to get yourself out.
The National Guard de Havillands got out
after numerous problems with their plumbing.
What are you doing here? I didn't call for you.
Been thinking it over, Mr. Moravia.
That's always a good sign.
It had to be them. I know where they are.
I'll get back to you, Frank.
Here, come on. Show me on the map.
I figured out
I must've been somewhere around here.
But I couldn't understand what Edgar was doing there.
Then I realized, if he was fighting the weather
and wound up somewhere east of the mountain about here,
he would've had a straight shot over the mountains into Pasco,
so instead of turning back,
he must've took the chance that he had enough gas to make it.
You always take chances like that?
If he didn't, the mail would never get through.
This is Capital Peak.
They must be on this ridge, about halfway down the big saddle.
There's a clearing in the timber. What I saw must've been wings.
Get the mail out by train.
He's going to take out number eight.
Come on, get up there as quickly as you can.
You'll have company by this afternoon.
I'm sending everyone up as soon as they land to refuel.
He comes through, after all.
Yeah.
Yeah. Maybe our luck is changing.
We could get married.
What makes you say that?
I just cancelled all the letters out on our names.
Did you ever do that?
You write some boy's last name, and then you write yours underneath.
You cross out all the letters that are the same,
and if there's a lot of crosses, that means you can get married.
A lot of ours do.
I don't know, kid. I'm too old for you. I'm 31. How old are you?
Almost 17.
Means when I'm 21, you'll be almost 36.
That ain't so bad.
- Edgar? - What?
- I have to pee. - God.
How are you back there?
I'm pulling, you talk.
It hurts too much.
You talk.
No, it's hard for me.
Haven't had a lot of practice at it.
When I was a kid up in Michigan, we'd go hunting
and we'd be out there three days and not say ten words to each other.
Everybody just does what has to be done.
- Never told you about my first instructor? - No.
His name's Sloniger. God, he could talk.
He'd yell at me, scare me to death.
I was all thumbs for a while, you know, the way you are.
Damn it, he stuck with me.
You know, he finally sent me off solo, and
I cried.
It's true.
Before then, I never felt like I belonged anywhere.
My parents never really bothered too much with me,
and I kinda grew up all over the place, you know? But...
That day I was up there and I was by myself. I was just
weaving through clouds, and
I knew that I belonged
someplace.
You know what I mean?
I don't think that...
I don't think there's anything in the world that's more important than that.
What are you doing that for?
Because I care about you.
Put that down.
You can't make it dragging me.
You look like a jerk.
You know me. I'll do what I say.
What is this, your mother talking to you or something?
My mother's dead, and we're here.
And you'll never make it if you have to take me.
You don't want me anyway.
Is that what you think?
You think that, then you just do it. What the hell?
Don't try to rattle me.
Your father gave me $20 to keep you from running away,
but, if you wanna do that,
that's fine.
Take the gun and blow your guts out. See if I care...
Tillie, don't move!
I won't get any further on my own.
If you hadn't been with me, I wouldn't have gotten this far.
I would have sat down, on that first night by the fire
and just waited for the snow to cover me over.
I don't want to go back there without you.
Really?
Yeah.
- Edgar. - What?
What is that?
My God. I think
that's a telephone line.
Look, you just stay here
and I'll be back as soon as I can.
All right?
I'll go see.
Mister, can I use your phone?
Who are you?
- What are you doing? - I'm a pilot that crashed.
Airplanes ain't safe.
Airplanes ain't dependable.
Look what happened to you.
Put that down!
That's railroad property!
Mister, I gotta eat something.
Put that down!
You roach!
Been a home for me, man, employed for 50 years!
They still got a place for me on the railroad.
Now, listen, I got a kid up there who's hurt bad.
- I gotta take her something, all right? - Leave it be!
- I'll pay for them, all right? - Go on! You drop 'em!
Now you get out of here.
Easy.
Just take it easy.
You know you ain't going to make it.
Damn!
Edgar!
Help!
Come on, Tillie, you can do it!
Come on, guys.
Let's get out there.
Okay, let's get her.
- There's Edgar! - There he is.
Move the stretcher over here.
- I got you. - Let me by, please.
Over here.
- Yes, sir. - Let her breathe.
I got her.
We'll buy you a drink, Edgar.
- Watch your step. - Come on down, Edgar.
You gave us a scare, ol' buddy.
- Daddy! - Don't talk.
Everything is fine.
And you don't have to go anywhere you don't want to.
I want to go home.
Daniel.
George.
You really had me scared there, you know?
Gently, boys.
Edgar!
Mr. Anscombe.
Thanks.
Sorry, I never got her to Pasco.
I want to see Edgar alone.
You are going to the hospital!
I wouldn't argue with her, sir. It's not worth it.
That's what people do when they love each other, isn't it?
I'll never forget you.
You're going to the hospital now.
Will you come see me?
I guarantee it.
Now I suppose you want some time off.
A day or two.
Take Thanksgiving.