It was a nice day at Tarrytown Airport. The skies were blue, clouds limited to white patches across them and birds sang as the sun warmed all with the powerful rays necessary for beings to survive.

Only Jay Jay didn't feel much like flying and being happy.

Snuffy, a very close friend of Jay Jay's, was away on a very important business trip and wouldn't be back for a while.

He missed the shy green skywriter a lot, and wished he could come home soon and play games and fly by Lightning Bug Lake with Tracy and Herky. They were busy with deliveries last time he had checked, and he had no deliveries to do at the moment so he was mighty bored.

So he said, "Well I'll just check again to see if there are any deliveries I can do."

Suddenly his radio crackled into life.

"Jay Jay, I need you to take some new books to Miss Jones for the library. Can you do it?" Brenda Blue inquired.

"Yes I can!" Jay Jay replied, brightening up. Finally!

So he was loaded with the books and once given the all clear, he set off for the library.

The journey was plain sailing and once done, he was then sent to Farmer Ben's farm for eggs to take to the bakery.

"Thank you Jay Jay." Smiled the baker, William Heats. I don't know how Tarrytown will cope without you."

"You're welcome." replied Jay Jay, though the praise made him feel a little sad. He thought of Snuffy again.

"Well I best head back to work…and I suppose you'll be busy too." Mr Heats added.

"Yes sir." he managed, before flying away, thinking of Snuffy.

Well that hadn't worked.

…

That afternoon, Big Jake told Jay Jay that the other young jets were free, so he, along with Tracy and Herky, headed up to Lightning Bug Lake to play Jet Frog.

They did have fun, until their minds were on one thing;

Snuffy.

That put a dampener on their afternoon.

…

"I miss Snuffy." Sighed Jay Jay.

"I miss him too." Said Tracy.

The three looked at Snuffy's hanger. It was empty.

"He's one of my best friends," said Jay Jay despondently, "to say I miss him is an understatement."

"Here, therrre's something I want to tell you guys. I know how it feels to miss someone a lot." Herky piped up. "I had an old friend that I cared about but don't see her anymore.

"Who?" Asked Jay Jay and Tracy simultaneously, unable to prevent their curiosity.

"Captain Alice."

"I was in my really young days at Tarrytown." Began Herky. "I didn't know anyone, and I was bored and sometimes a little scared. But a young woman met me, and we just said hello. She said her name was Captain Alice. She was working at Sandy's Landing as the ship's captain. She was really kind and funny and knew a load of great stories of all the places she'd been to see. She saw jungles and rivers and mountains and all sorts of animals that one can't imagine." He smiled. "She would tell me tales of adventure and excitement, and in turn I told her what it was like to fly."

"What did she look like?" interrupted Tracy, "You never told us!"

"Oh sorrrry." He started again. "Alice wore a grey uniform and braces, and also had long dark black hair that was past her shoulders. She was quite plain and had freckles as well. But she wasn't ugly- I could never think of her that way inside or out."

"What ship did she work on?" Asked Jay Jay.

"Do you remember the ship that Captain Wentworth works on- that big blue cargo ship?" He asked. "Captain Alice used to man it."

"Well what happened?" They asked, curious to hear of Alice's fate.

"One day," said Herky quietly. "She had a horrible accident at sea. There had been rumours that that the boat she was on was too dangerous to work on without maintenance. She thought that everything that had been checked properly, so she just signed the papers and got on with it. Little did she know that-" Herky stopped and took a deep breath.

"A crane hook plummeted on top of her." He said simply.

The others gasped.

"Oh no! Poor Captain Alice." Jay Jay whispered in shock.

"That's horrible." Breathed Tracy. "Did she recover?"

Herky replied. "No, she didn't. I'd rather not into detail how she died, but it was horrible. But what's even worse is that I can't see her again." He finished, miserably.

"Oh Herky I'm sorry." said Jay Jay sadly. "If only I knew…"

Deep down however, this new knowledge about his helicopter friend made him feel a little better about Snuffy being away. At least Snuffy will come back.

Suddenly the three jumped as they saw Big Jake standing by them.

"Big Jake! How long have you been there?" Asked Tracy in shock.

"Just got here." He shrugged. "Just wanted to let you kids know that Snuffy's finished business now so he's returning to Tarrytown tomorrow!"

"HOORAY!" The three cheered. This was great news. Definitely news to cheer them up after hearing about Captain Alice.

They all decided to get a good night's sleep so that they could welcome their friend back to Tarrytown the next day with all the cheeriness they could muster.