Hang on
"Joe! Chet! Help me kick this window open!"
Joe thought he must have misheard his brother. Was he really thinking of doing what Joe thought he was thinking of doing?
"What are you going to do?" he hesitantly asked.
"No time for questions!" Frank replied. "Now help me kick out the window!"
Joe watched as Frank and Chet began to kick at the plane's window. His eyes widened in realization and fear. He was going to do it!
"No, Frank, don't do this!" he pleaded. "Please! If anyone should go, it should be me!"
Frank abruptly stopped kicking and turned to look Joe in the face. His own face was pale and his warm brown eyes wide with fear and determination.
"No, Joe!" he replied. "I have to do it! I'm the only one who knows how to diffuse a bomb!"
Frank looked his blonde-haired brother in the eyes as he placed his hands on Joe's shoulders.
"I'll be okay, I promise," he said, before giving Joe a hug. "Now help me break this window! We're running out of time!" he shouted.
Joe reluctantly helped his brother kick out the window. As he kicked, he thought about other near-death experiences he and his brother had shared. Following in their famous detective father's footsteps, Frank and Joe Hardy had had their fair share of adventures, but none quite like this one. An enemy had planted a bomb on the plane they were in and they hadn't realized it until they were in the air. There was no safe place to land nearby, and if somebody didn't do something fast, they would all be blown to smithereens. Which is exactly why Frank was now crawling out of the plane window onto the strut and towards the engine needle where the bomb was, all while his brother and their friend Chet watched him through the other window, helpless to do anything.
Joe watched in nervous anticipation, praying for his brother's survival. Suddenly he watched in slow motion as one of Frank's hands slipped off of the strut. He stood quickly, startling Chet.
"I must help him!" he shouted, his wide blue eyes frantic.
"No!" yelled Chet, standing up to restrain Joe. Joe had to admit that for a husky guy, Chet did have some good upper body strength.
"No!" Chet yelled again. "He'll be fine! Look!" He pointed out the window to where Frank had righted himself and was continuing to shimmy towards the bomb, his dark brown hair blowing in the wind. His scared yet determined brown eyes met Joe's frantic blue ones, and he gave him a reassuring smile before continuing on his way.
Joe sat and watched in desperation as Frank began to grope for the bomb. He noticed his brother's movements become more erratic, and a new fear crept in. He couldn't find the bomb! Just as Joe was about to give up hope, he saw the small bomb in Frank's hands and watched as Frank simply tossed it away. A few moments later, he heard a reassuring thud somewhere on the ground below. Frank started to make his way back, and Joe ran to the open window to help him. As Joe and Chet pulled him in, Frank collapsed on the floor in exhaustion, taking deep, shuddering breaths.
"Whew!" Joe exclaimed with a sigh of relief as he tightly hugged his trembling brother. "That was close!"
"You can say that again," Frank said shakily as he returned the hug. "Another ten or twenty seconds and it would have taken searchers a year to pick up the pieces!"
"That was a brave deed, lad!" their Scottish captain Aaron McHugh shouted from the cockpit. "And I'm grateful to ye for saving my ship! Do you want to go back to Ianburgh with your prisoner?" he asked, referring to the man they had caught trying to sneak off of the plane before takeoff and who had only told them about the bomb because his own life was at stake.
"No," Frank replied, his voice now steadier. "Let's continue with the flight as planned. Timken isn't going to give us any trouble."
Joe looked at his brother then with admiration in his eyes. That was one of the things he loved about Frank. He would never let anything stand in his path, no matter how big or small. With a new determination in his mind, Joe led the way to go question their prisoner.