Page 105 of Rescued Faith

“Have you ever flown before?” she yelled over the wind and engine noise.

“Took one lesson with a friend who flew crop dusters. One.”

“Well, that’s…something.”

“Nothing about this looks familiar.” He adjusted the mic again. “Hello? Mayday!”

Penny grabbed the pilot’s headset and slipped it over her ears.

“Crawford? Is that you?” The voice was a little crackly but unmistakable.

Yeah, there wasdefinitelya God out there.

“Jude. Man, you gotta help me. The pilot is dead. We’re losing altitude.” Bryce somehow kept his voice steady.

“I know. I’m in the airport control tower. We have someone coming. Tell me what you see.”

“A lot of blinking lights on these panels.” Bryce grabbed the two-handled joystick. He seemed to struggle to steady out the plane and pull it out of the big circle they were making. “I’m trying to steady her out, but it’s fighting me. We’re down to six thousand feet.”

“We need to slow you down.” A new voice came through the headset. “Can you see the altimeter?” The guy on the other end walked Bryce through the panel. “Now pull back on that lever a bit. Try to keep those rudders steady.”

Bryce took a moment to buckle himself in. “Penny, you should go back and sit. Please.”

She hated to leave him, but there was nowhere else to go. She couldn’t move the pilot. She could at least keep an eye on the governor and let Bryce focus on trying to land this plane. Because they were going to need another miracle to walk away from this.

THIRTY-FIVE

“Bryce, the good news is you’re already headed back toward Last Chance. We see you on the radar.” The voice in the headset was steady and calm. Thank goodness one of them was, because Bryce sure wasn’t feeling all that calm at the moment.

But wait…he saidthe good news. “What’s the bad news?” Bryce asked.

Silence.

“Dude, what’s the bad news? I need to know what’s going on.”

“Uh, there’s a mountain in the way and no good place to land.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Bryce’s pulse spiked. “Okay…what we do?”

“I’m going to walk you through this every step. We already have rescue crews and a chopper heading toward you.”

Guess that was something. But at this point it was up to God and him to land this plane. He yelled back to Penny and the governor to buckle up and brace for impact.

Bryce couldn’t let the panic take over. He repeated every line the stranger on the speaker said and followed each direction.Maybe it was a blessing he couldn’t see much except the black night sky outside the window.

“You’re doing well, Bryce. Now lower those flaps. It’s going to decrease the speed even more.”

The altimeter continued its countdown. Three thousand miles. Two. One.

He could see the outline of trees, a rugged terrain. The ground rushed toward them too fast. “Now, Bryce, now! Pull up! Keep it steady!”

Bryce braced himself, feet pressed hard against the floor. “Hold on!” At the last second he threw his hands around his head as the ground rose up.

The impact took his breath away. Penny screamed. The engines whined. Metal clashed. Time hung in the air as Bryce was slammed by a force like the hand of God Himself pressing him against the seat.

Then silence.

Bryce breathed again, slowly moving his body, beginning with his fingers. They worked. He didn’t wait for pain or anything else to register. He found his buckle and released the latch.

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