Free Ticket to Nowhere: Chapter 3

A Stark Mystery

Digital illustration by the author using photos by Daniel Eledut, Warren Wong, and Hernán Sartorio on Unsplash

I didn’t know whether I should be singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” or “Dust in the Wind” as I bumped along in the rear seat of an old biplane crop-duster.

Curly the pilot was giving me a guided tour, inaudible over the noise of the engines and punctuated every few minutes by a wild rolling turn to get in position to spray another wheat field as we headed toward Nowhere, Kansas.

I don’t know what war he was still fighting, but the steaks, booze, and stale donuts didn’t appreciate the air show and decided to decorate someone’s farmhouse during the trip.

It hadn’t been that hard to catch another plane out of Miami, aside from the side trip provided by that leggy blonde who refused to let me on the flight to Topeka.

“Listen, toots,” I said. “Somebody needs my help in Topeka, and you’ve gotta help me find a way to get there.”

She must have been one of those Rosie the Riveter types, because she rolled up her right sleeve, revealing a delicately muscled arm while balling her hand into a fist. “Toots is a disrespectful term…