Touch the Sky (Young Underground #8) Read Free

straight. ”
                  Peter would have tried to help, but he knew he couldn ’ t do any better. The airplane jerked and pulled and bobbed as if it had a mind of its own.
                  “ Well, at least we have pontoons instead of wheels, ” Peter said.
                  “ Pontoons? ”
                  “ Floats. ”
                  “ That ’ s not going to do us any good when we crash. I ’ m sorry, Peter. ”
                  Peter held his breath as they dropped out of the sky — more slowly now but just as surely. They were going to crash. Then suddenly, Matthias gave a jerk.
                  “ He moved! ” Peter shouted. “ Keep this thing up just a little longer, can you? ”
                  Just before they would have slammed into the ocean, Henrik somehow pulled up the nose, and the plane rolled up like a roller coaster. Peter held on even more tightly as he felt himself lifting out of his seat. Matthias ’ s head was jerked around, and he groaned. An instant later, his eyes were wide as he looked at the two.
                  “ Matthias! ” Henrik yelled at the man as he struggled to steer their bucking airplane. They were coming back down, and Peter could see their wing tip was about to catch a wave. If it did, he could imagine how they would tumble into the ocean.
                  Matthias was awake now. He looked confused, but he grabbed the control stick from the frightened Henrik, stomped at the rudder pedals, pulled back the nose of the airplane, and yanked out the throttle to full power. Peter could have reached out his side window and touched the top of a green, frothy wave, but he just hung on and ground his teeth together.
                  “ What happened? ” Matthias asked as they straightened out. He pulled them up and around to the left, skimming smoothly over the shipyard buildings of Helsingør Harbor. A group of workers on their lunch break below looked up in surprise. “ Last thing I remember, we were at three thousand feet. ”
                  Peter looked at Henrik, waiting for his friend to say something. Henrik looked as pale as Peter felt.
                  “ We thought you were ...” Henrik whispered, trying to catch his breath.
                  Peter looked down at his hands and realized that he had been digging his fingernails into Matthias ’ s shoulders. One by one, he unhooked his fingers from the man ’ s brown leather jacket. But he didn ’ t want to look out the window anymore. He didn ’ t want to see anything else. He just wanted to stop the plane and get off as fast as he could.
                  “ We thought you were dead, ” finished Peter. “ And Henrik was trying to fly the plane. You woke up just in time. ”
                  “ How long? ” Matthias searched their faces. He glanced down at his wristwatch for a clue. “ A minute? Two? ”
                  “ I don ’ t know, Matthias, ” Henrik finally answered, crossing his arms and shivering. “ But can we stop this thing now? ”
                  “ I am so sorry, boys. ” Matthias shook his head. “ This hasn ’ t happened to me since I was a little boy. ”
                  “ You just ...” Henrik searched for the words. “ You just fainted or something. Only we couldn ’ t wake you up. ”
                  Matthias circled around so they could land in the still water of the harbor, the same stretch where they had taken off only an hour before.
                  “ I am so sorry, boys, ” he repeated. “ You know I would never do anything to put you in danger, if I could help it, that is. I ... ah ... I just never thought I would pass out like that. ”
                  “ It ’ s not your fault, ” Henrik told