Night Over Water - Ken Follett [74]
However, being in touch with the little plane’s struggle to fly also gave her an uneasy sensation in the pit of her stomach. The wings were only flimsy things of wood and canvas; the propeller could get stuck, or break, or fall off; the helpful wind might change faithlessly and turn against them; there might be fog, or lightning, or hailstorms.
But all these seemed unlikely as the plane rose into the sunshine and turned its nose bravely toward Ireland. Nancy felt as if she were riding on the back of a big yellow dragonfly. It was scary but exhilarating, like a fairground ride.
They soon left the coast of England behind. She allowed herself a small moment of triumph as they headed west over the water. Peter would be boarding the Clipper soon, and as he did so would congratulate himself on having outwitted his clever older sister. But his jubilation would be premature, she thought with angry satisfaction. He had not got the best of her yet. He would get a dreadful shock when he saw her arrive in Foynes. She could hardly wait to see the look on his face.
She still had a fight ahead, of course, even after she had caught up with Peter. She would not defeat him just by appearing at the board meeting. She would have to convince Aunt Tilly and Danny Riley that they would do better to hold on to their shares and stick with her.
She wanted to expose Peter’s vicious behavior to them all, so that they would know how he had lied to his sister and plotted against her; she wanted to crush him and mortify him by showing them what a snake he was; but a moment’s reflection told her that was not the smart thing to do. If she let her fury and resentment show, they would think she was opposing the merger for purely emotional reasons. She had to talk coolly and calmly about the prospects for the future, and act as if her disagreement with Peter were merely a business matter. They all knew she was a better businessman than her brother.
Anyway, her argument made simple sense. The price they were being offered for their shares was based on Black’s profits, which were low because of Peter’s bad management. Nancy guessed they could make more just by closing down the company and selling off all the shops. But best of all would be to restructure the company according to her plan and make it profitable again.
There was another reason for waiting: the war. War was good for business in general and especially for companies such as Black’s, which supplied to the military. The U.S. might not get into the war, but there was sure to be a precautionary buildup. So profits were set to rise anyway. No doubt that was why Nat Ridgeway wanted to buy the company.
She brooded over the situation as they crossed the Irish Sea, blocking out her speech in her head. She rehearsed key lines and phrases, speaking them out loud, confident that the wind would whip the words away before they could reach the helmeted ears of Mervyn Lovesey a yard in front of her.
She became so absorbed in her speech that she hardly noticed the first time the engine faltered.
“The war in Europe will double this company’s value in twelve months,” she was saying. “If the U.S. gets into the war, the price will double again—”
The second time it happened, she snapped out of her reverie. The continuous high roar altered momentarily, like the sound of a tap with air trapped in the pipe. It recovered to normal, then changed again, and settled into a different note, a ragged, altogether feebler sound that made Nancy feel totally unnerved.
The plane began to lose height.
“What’s going on?” Nancy yelled at the top of her voice, but there was no response. Either he could not hear her or he was too busy to reply.
The engine note changed again, mounting higher, as if