Page 50 - Demo

Natch!36Chance had already stacked several dozen boxes with the samesnack logos on their sides.%u201cAlrighta!%u201d Lucky sat alongside Jinx and buckled up, whileChance climbed up front to take the navigator%u2019s spot next to Ace,the pilot. Jinx did not share Chance%u2019s enthusiasm for flying. WhileChance was already leaning over and confirming the details oftheir flight plan with Ace, Jinx was tightening his seat belt anddouble-checking that he had all his medications, airsicknessbags, blankets, snacks, assorted reading materials, and his luckytotem, a small woodcarving of a red-tailed hawk. Whimsy hadgiven it to him as a thank you for suggesting the red tail. Henever flew without it. Jinx was an experienced flier. It wasunlikely that he would get motion sick or even be slightlyuncomfortable, but it was best %u201cnot to roll the dice%u201d.Lucky was somewhere between them, literally andemotionally. He was excited about reconnoitering the Far Southand was not immune to Chance%u2019s buoyant tales of what theWhirlicopter could do, but he%u2019d have been equally as contentpulling visual references with Thena and Whimsy. He loved howtheir minds worked%u2014so creative and free-spirited, unbound bythe usual barriers (practicality, budget, schedule, logic, logistics,gravity) that so often caused others to pause. One minute theywere musing over tails, paws, and fur density, and the next ontofins, tentacles, and exoskeletons. Would it be better to see in thedark, taste the air, or sense movement through one%u2019s skin? Was itmore effective to announce one%u2019s lethality or blend into theenvironment? Nocturnal or diurnal? Tall as a redwood, round asan elephant, or tiny as a virus? Did the elegant line of the pinkfeather-clad neck balance the long spindly legs? Would it bebetter to have stripes or spots? Camouflage or contrast? Leavesor spikes? Float like a butterfly or sting like a bee (Thena was saidto have inspired that little ditty; she had a thing for boxers)?Lucky could sit with them for hours, but Fate had intervened.They%u2019d had a fling with Jinx the previous summer that hadn%u2019tended well, and Fate couldn%u2019t bear the thought of being stuck in aWhirlicopter with him and Chance for the length of a