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searching, searching the world and searching her soul for what she really wanted.
    Maybe the reason she sat on this plane was that Gil was all she had now.   Three years previously her father, a physician, had died.Then, last year, her mother.There was no one else for her now.No brothers, no sisters, no children.No one.
    The girl in the aisle seat across from her leaned toward her.   "You're Boss Gilmore's wife, ain't you?"
    Latisha had noticed the girl earlier.   She was a beautiful young girl, twelve, maybe thirteen years old, half-white and half-oriental, her beauty surpassing anything either race had to offer.
    "I'm Latisha Gilmore.   My husband is James Gilmore."   That was quite enough of the Boss Gilmore business.
    "And what's your name?"
    "My name's Jeannie Dickinson."   "My mama said she's gonna work for your husband."
    "Work for my husband?"
    "Yeah.You know, on the side."
    Damn him!He's at it again! Setting up a prostitution ring.
    Maggie stretched her arm past Latisha to touch the girl's hand.   "I'm Maggie Britt.   I'm pleased to meet you, Jeannie."
    "Hi," Jeannie said.   "This is my first airplane ride.   No, like I mean it's my second.   We came from Seattle this morning.   That's where we're from.   See," she said and she turned sideways so Latisha could see the back of her maroon jacket.   "Salvatore's Bar," it said.   "Seattle."
    "This is so exciting," Jeannie continued.   "I never saw so many reporters.   That's what I want to be, a reporter."
    Latisha nodded.She'd noticed Jeannie in the Anchorage airport following Sarah Chu from NBC News.   Jeannie was enthralled with the newswoman.   For her part, Latisha spent a lot of time in the ladies' room ducking Sarah Chu and other reporters.
    A teenage boy walked down the aisle.   As he passed between Latisha and Jeannie, he stared at the exposed thighs and the garters on Jeannie's mother's leg.   The woman was in a drunken sleep.   The boy walked back a few seats and turned around to pass by for another look.   When he was gone Latisha adjusted her own skirt and pointed toward Jeannie's   mother.
    Jeannie straightened the skirt and turned back to Latisha.   "That boy didn't even notice me.   Mama's wearing all those things for Sam Wong.   I argued with her about them.   Like I said they were old fashioned, but she said Sam likes them.   Sam's my daddy.   He and Mama got married last week in prison."
    "Oh," Latisha said.
    Latisha felt something inside herself - a real physical craving - that wanted to mother this little girl, any little girl, her little girl, or - her little boy.
    Jeannie sat back in her seat and Latisha did too.   "By the way," Maggie asked, "is your husband going to work in the factory?"
    Latisha couldn't help smiling.   "Gil?In a factory?   No, he's going to open a nightclub."
    "A nightclub?"   Maggie said nothing for a while.
    Latisha guessed her thoughts.   Maggie, too, had received all the literature from Frank Villa, telling everyone how tough it was going to be on Adak.   "It rains or snows eighty-five percent of the time," Villa had said.   "It's the only place on earth where you can have high winds and fog at the same time.   The wind has been clocked at 140 miles an hour, there are only about ten clear days in an entire year,   earthquakes often damage homes and buildings,   and in a few months our federal money runs out.   We work or we starve."   There was no mention of a nightclub.
    Maggie changed the subject.   "I brought along a new set of dishes and some slip cover material.   They say home is going to be some old barracks."
    "That's what I heard."
    "My mother gave me the curtains her mother brought from Germany.   It's going to be so much fun to make a home for my Joe."
    Maggie's enthusiasm was catching.   Maybe Gil would change.   She did love him.
    Latisha yawned. "I'm sorry," she said.   "It's all this traveling."    She pushed her seat back and closed her eyes.
    Maggie stayed in