Now, professional photographers have turned to various tricks and expensive equipment in order to create the illusion of what we call a depth of field, but by and large, you can’t understand how big or how small a thing might be unless you’re standing in its presence, measuring its size against your own, and I always imagined that this airplane, as legendary as it is, as capable of flying all the way around the world, was . . . well, bigger. But she is not big at all. Not an unnecessary ounce of metal encumbers her. She’s designed for utility, form following function as the modern designers insist, but what a form. The sleek lines of her, the way her nose tilts just so, the cocky angle of her tail. You can just about hear the soft whistle of the air as it whooshes along her sides. I gather my courage at last and run my fingertips along the curve of her cheek. There is not a flaw on her, not a dimple.

“How did she get here?” I ask.

“She flew in, what do you think?”

“Just flew here to Hanalei? From where?”

“Don’t you know all that already? You and Irene, you’ve been huddled up like sisters.”

I examine my fingers for dust. “We haven’t gotten to the part about the race yet.”

“No kidding?”

“You know her. If she doesn’t want to talk about something, she just stops the conversation right there. Don’t worry. I’ll get it all out of her eventually.”

I move around the nose to the wing, duck under the wing and lay my hand on the edge of the door, which is positioned near the tail.

Kaiko shifts on his crutches. “Say . . .” he mutters.

“How do you open this thing?” I ask.

“Beats me. You know something? I think we oughta—”

“Wait a second. She climbed in near the cockpit, didn’t she? There’s this photo …” I turn to the wing. If there’s one thing on this airplane that beats my idea of size, it’s the engine. There are two of them, large enough to hide a man inside, and the propeller blades stick from the front of this thing, long and curved and what’s the word? Deadly. I test the wing with my two hands and prepare to hoist myself up.

“Now, wait just a second!” says Kaiko.

“I won’t hurt anything, I promise. Just peek inside.”

“Hold on! I never said anything about—aw, come on, Janey—stop that, she’s gonna kill me!”

I pull the hatch open and drop myself inside. “Don’t worry! I’ll just be a minute. Take a few photos and . . . and . . .”