Flying down a rainbow — Background and Themes

Gold Prospecting from the Air

The catalog subjects include “Gold miners – Fiction” and “West (U.S.) – Fiction,” and the excerpts bear this out. An old-timer’s aphorism—“Gold’s a funny old gal. She’ll flirt with you for years and then go throw herself on some total stranger’s neck”—sets the tone. Jimmy’s passenger, Weber, is a veteran prospector who has spent years combing creeks and hills. The pair fly over the Canadian wilderness, searching for a rumored strike near Keno. The story blends two modes of travel: the airplane’s speed and the prospector’s intimate knowledge of trails and creeks. Weber identifies Stink Creek from the air, recalling his many journeys along it. The gold rush is imminent, but the excerpts do not reveal whether they reach the strike or stake a claim.

The Crash and Its Aftermath

The crash sequence is the most detailed event in the excerpts. Jimmy spirals down over a narrow valley, aiming for a patch of young aspens, but a concealed rock ledge demolishes the plane. He wakes hours later with a broken arm, a swollen eye, and a bandaged head, lying on a blanket near a fire. Weber, who protected himself with blankets, is bruised but mobile. The wreck is total: “the Calico Peacock nosed head on into the rocks and crumbled into a tangled mass of wreckage.” The catalog does not list survival or injury as subjects, but the excerpts focus on physical damage and injury. Jimmy’s first concern after regaining consciousness is not his own pain but Weber’s chance to reach the gold strike before the rush.

Loyalty Over Gold

When Jimmy urges Weber to hike to Keno alone and stake claims for both of them, the old man refuses. “I reckon gold ain’t worth that much, son,” he says, and insists on building a fire, making coffee, and waiting for help. The dialogue reveals a moral choice: Weber has spent a lifetime missing strikes, but he will not abandon an injured partner. The catalog subjects do not include friendship or sacrifice, yet the excerpts hinge on this decision. The story’s title, “Flying Down a Rainbow,” suggests a chase after an elusive prize, but the crash scene suggests that the real value may lie in human connection. The excerpts end with Weber tending the fire, and the reader is left to wonder whether rescue arrives before the gold rush passes them by.

The excerpts offer a self-contained episode: a plane rebuilt from scrap, a flight into the wilderness, and a crash that forces a choice between wealth and loyalty. Readers should note that the catalog’s “Science Fiction” label may be misleading—the story is grounded in 1920s aviation technology and frontier prospecting. The text is brisk, with dialogue that carries the plot, and the ending is not included in these excerpts. Pay attention to how the author balances technical repair details with the prospector’s folksy wisdom; the two voices create a tension between modernity and tradition that drives the narrative.

The rain drumming on the windows brought back that afternoon with the pilot and the prospector, the way trust settles quietly between two strangers. Later, I found myself reaching for A knife in time — Reading Notes, and it felt less like a new book and more like turning the page to a familiar ache.