The Wild Blue, Black and Tan Yonder (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Chapter 11

Tasha looked out the front window of the blimp, and said, "How are we going to get down?"

"Until that storm clears, we're going to be in a holding pattern", Shasta said. "How does it look?"

"Still dark."

Suddenly, a jolt ran through the blimp, and it looked like they were picking up speed. Tasha grabbed the seat, and said, "What's happening?"

"We caught a tail wind. Our ground speed is up to 300 knots, and it's getting faster."

"Can't you do something?"

"We don't have that kind of power. I'll let go some air and see if we can rise above it."

Shasta reached up and pulled out the air valves. They could hear a hiss, and the altimeter turned green, but the ground speed was still increasing, and the airfield was now getting farther away. Within seconds, the ground below gave way to the beach, then the open sea.

At Squeaky Toy Tower, Walter said, "This doesn't look good."

"Where are they going?", Easy asked.

"It looks like they have a tail wind", Snoopy said.

"Is that bad?", Easy asked.

"It'll conserve their fuel", Ernie said. "But they won't be able to control the blimp until the wind dies down. By that time, they might not have enough fuel to return. Where is that Jet Jeep?"

Suddenly, they heard a loud siren. Walter pulled off his headset, and said, "Clear the tower!"

Up in the blimp, Shasta momentarily rested her paw on what she thought was the deck. Suddenly, the blimp seemed to be going into a turn. She looked down, and saw two pedals. 

Pushing down on the left one turned the blimp to the left, and pushing the right one turned the blimp to starboard.

"I found the rudder controls", she said. "Now, let's see if we can steer away from the tail wind."