Wings

It was a time when the world was on the brink of war

and the skies were filled with adventure…WINGSA novel of daring, courage, and freedom

PRAISE FOR

DANIELLE STEEL“STEEL IS ONE OF THE BEST!”—Los Angeles TimesTHE PLOTS OF DANIELLE STEELS NOVELS TWIST AND WEAVE AS INCREDIBLE STORIES UNFOLD TO THE GLEE AND DELIGHT OF HER ENORMOUS READING PUBLIC.”—United Press International“Ms. Steel's fans won't be disappointed!”—The New York Times Book Review“Steel writes convincingly about universal human emotions.”—Publishers Weekly“One of the world's most popular authors.”—The Baton Rouge Sun

PRAISE FOR DANIELLE STEEL'S

WINGS“THIS IS DANIELLE STEEL AT HER FINEST and shows a new elegance and style…. Her heroine is strong and tough from the very beginning. Steel gives us a character of appeal and charm. [She] takes her love of planes and her ability to spin a web of romance and turns WINGS into a serious look at the growth of an industry.”—Ocala Star Banner (Fla.)“A PAGE-TURNER FROM BEGINNING TO END! … [Steel] does a good job of capturing the intense pleasure flying brings to … men and … women.”—Booklist“The narrative takes off, with a mix of colorful characters bringing the heady early days of aviation to life. She knows how to make her writing fly to the top of the bestseller lists!”—Publishers Weekly“YOU WILL ENJOY THIS BOOK. [Steel] refreshes you on some history in keeping with the setting of the novel.”—Baton Rouge AdvocateA MAIN SELECTION OF

THE LITERARY GUILD

AND

THE DOUBLEDAY BOOK CLUB

Also by Danielle Steel

THE HOUSE     THE GIFT TOXIC BACHELORS     ACCIDENT MIRACLE     VANISHED IMPOSSIBLE     MIXED BLESSINGS ECHOES     JEWELS SECOND CHANCE     NO GREATERLOVE RANSOM     HEARTBEAT SAFE HARBOUR     MESSAGE FROM NA M JOHNNY ANGEL     DADDY DATING GAME     STAR ANSWERED PRAYERS     ZOYA SUNSET IN ST. TROPEZ     KALEIDOSCOPE THE COTTAGE     FINE THINGS THE KISS     WANDERLUST LEAP OF FAITH     SECRETS LONE EAGLE     FAMILY ALBUM JOURNEY     FULL CIRCLE THE HOUSE ON HOPE STREET     CHANGES THE WEDDING     THURSTON HOUSE IRRESISTIBLE FORCES     CROSSINGS GRANNY DA N     ONCE IN A LIFETIME BITTERSWEET     A PERFECT STRANGER MIRROR IMAGE     REMEMBRANCE HIS BRIGHT LIGHT:     PALOMINO The Story of Nick Traina     LOVE: POEMS THE KLONE AND I     THE RING THE LONG ROAD HOME     LOVING THE GHOST     TO LOVE AGAIN SPECIAL DELIVERY     SUMMER'S END THE RANCH     SEASON OF PASSION SILENT HONOR     THE PROMISE MALICE     NOW AND FOREVER FIVE DAYS IN PARIS     PASSION'S PROMISE LIGHTNING     GOING HOME WINGS

To the Ace of my hearty

the pilot of my dreams…

the joy of my life,

the quiet place I go to

in the dark of night

the bright morning sun

of my soul

at dawn….

the bright shining star

in my sky,

to my love,

to my heart,

to my all,

beloved Popeye,

with all my heart and love,

always,

Olive.

1

The road to O'Malley's Airport was a long, dusty thin trail that seemed to drift first left, then right, and loop lazily around the cornfields. The airport was a small dry patch of land near Good Hope in McDonough County, a hundred and ninety miles southwest of Chicago. When Pat O'Malley first saw it in the fall of 1918, those seventy-nine barren acres were the prettiest sight he had ever seen. No farmer in his right mind would have wanted them, and none had. The land was dirt cheap, and Fat O'Malley paid for it with most of his savings. The rest went to purchase a beat-up little Curtiss Jenny, it was war surplus, a two-seater plane with dual controls, and he used it to teach flying to the rare visitor who could afford a lesson or two, to fly a passenger to Chicago now and then, or take small cargo loads to anywhere they had to be flown to.

The Curtiss Jenny all but bankrupted him, but Oona, his pretty little redheaded wife of ten years, was the only person he knew who didn't think he was completely crazy. She knew how desperately he had always wanted to fly, ever since he'd seen his first plane on exhibition at a little airstrip in New Jersey. He'd worked two jobs to make enough money to pay for lessons, and he'd dragged her all the way to San Francisco to see the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in 1915, just so he could meet Lincoln Beachey. Beachey had taken Pat up in his plane with him, which had made it all the more painful for Pat when Beachey was killed two months later. Beachey had just made three breathtaking loops in his experimental plane when it happened.