AIR FERRETS ALOFT

Second in the inspirational animal fable series the Ferret Chronicles, published simultaneously with Rescue Ferrets at Sea (see below).

Again, Bach displays the same ability to set the heart pumping with descriptions of flight that sparkled 40 years ago in his spirited memoir Stranger to the Ground. Here, as in volume one, Bach chooses a young female ferret heroine who has the right stuff. Silver-furred, dark-eyed Stormy Ferret flies a Ferret-DC4 prop-driven cargo plane (about the size of a large desk) at 9,000 paws, and the excitement of her early flying scenes is never quite regained once the plot switches on. Stormy’s destiny must be guided by the afterworld’s Angel Ferret Fairies, whose captain proclaims, “We are professionals, gentlefairies. Coincidence is our business.” Somewhere down the genetic line, the Columbine ferrets must be energized by Stormy’s connection with busy, loveless Captain Strobe Ferret, who pilots a sleek FerrJet far, far above her in the sky. It seems they shall never meet, at least not in this night’s clear weather, as she soars from Seattle to Salinas and he from Los Angeles to Medford. So the Angel Ferret Fairies decide to alter the weather violently and force the fated lovers together. But mortals always fight their beautiful destinies, despite the chain of coincidences created by Angel Ferret Fairy Baxter, guardian angel to his grieving grandkit Willow, who stands to regain her heart from the joining of Stormy and Strobe. Driven to ground at Redding by weather that strips paint off the FerrJet, Stormy and Strobe meet at Mays diner, chat . . . and there’s more to tell.

Guardian Angels, suit up! Foul weather ahead, but fun.