The Shirley Flight Air Hostess Series
Stories from the Cherry Ames Annuals
1958 Cherry Ames Annual

The duties of an air hostess extend much further than as laid down in the book of regulations - at all times she must be calm and collected and, for right or wrong, use her initiative."The Tiger of Kawnpore" by Judith Dale

While walking in Benares, India, Shirley Flight is warned by an old fakir that she should remember the number '26' and also remember the head of the tiger.  Shirley is shaken when, after her flight takes off, she notices that her V.I.P. passenger, the Rajah of Kawnpore, is sitting in seat #26.  The Rajah expresses concern that something will go wrong on the flight.  Shirley attempts to reassure him but cannot squelch his fear that he is about to be overthrown from power.  The Rajah asks Shirley to keep a small brooch, the Tiger of Kawnpore, in safekeeping for him.  Is the old fakir's warning a coincidence, or an ill omen of things to come?

Midway into the flight, one of the engines explodes, crippling the plane.  The crew fights to keep the plane aloft as they head towards the nearest airport.  After an unsteady landing, the plane is surrounded by rebels who seek the Rajah's brooch.  The rebels vow to resort to violence if they do not leave in possession of the brooch.  Shirley thinks quickly and sets a plan into motion that saves the Tiger of Kawnpore and the lives of everybody on the plane.

1960 Cherry Ames Annual

Out there in the snowbound village, doctors were fighting an epidemic. Seventy miles away, the giant airliner was grounded by snow drifts, and Shirley had time on her hands - time to think of that stranded village, and to think out a plan for getting help there."Whirlybird Volunteer" by Trudi Arlen

Shirley's flight is stranded in a blizzard in Edmondton, Canada, until the weather clears.  While in the Communications Office, Shirley overhears the Royal Canadian Mounted Police calling for medicine to be sent to Indian Lake to help with a mysterious illness that has stricken many of the Indians.

Shirley is deeply concerned when she learns that the weather has made it impossible for a plane to get medicine to the settlement.  Shirley suggests a helicopter and impulsively insists upon traveling on the helicopter to the settlement to nurse the patients.  Shirley is warned that her captain may not approve, but Shirley goes in spite of her misgivings.  Shirley works tirelessly to care for the sick and helps the doctor to determine the cause of the illness.  Shirley returns to the airport and finds that her captain approves of her impulsive gesture of goodwill and that all is well.

1961 Cherry Ames Annual

Air Hostess Shirley Flight never thought that a simple game of noughts and crosses, played with a millionaire's daughter, would lead to such sinister events and threatened disgrace."The Kidnapped Heiress" by Judith Dale

Shirley's latest extra-special V.I.P. is Valerie Farson, the daughter of Henry T. Farson, the American chain store multi-millionaire.  Valerie is traveling with her uncle, Hank Vincent, who seems unusually eager for Shirley to play noughts and crosses with Valerie and for Shirley to give Valerie her autograph for Valerie's collection.  Shirley thinks little of it at the time, but later Shirley realizes how she has been duped.

Mr. Vincent tricks Shirley into taking Valerie home, where they find the house empty.  Valerie goes into the backyard to retrieve a key and disappears!  Valerie's father arrives home while Shirley frantically searches for Valerie.  Mr. Farson has received a ransom note with Shirley's signature at the bottom.  The letter states that Shirley has abducted Valerie, and Shirley cannot defend herself against the accusation since her signature is on the letter.  Some shrewd thinking on Shirley's part gives her the solution, and Shirley reunites father and daughter and proves her innocence at the same time.

1962 Cherry Ames Annual

An air hostess develops an instinct about people, and as Shirley Flight well knew, it was usually right, even when all the evidence pointed to its being wrong."Three Gold Watches" by Judith Dale

A man boasts that he will be a thousand pounds richer when he leaves the London airport after his arrival in London.  Shirley concludes that the man is a smuggler, and she attempts to discover the man's identity.  Timid Theodore Timson is seen immediately after the conversion, and Shirley at first thinks that Timson is the smuggler.  However, Shirley's intuition is rarely wrong, and Shirley feels that Timson is no more than he appears to be.  Shirley does have another suspect, Max Fortane, whose voice sounds similar to that of the man she overheard.  However, Fortane is the tour leader and surely not a smuggler.

After the plane's arrival in London, Shirley helps Theodore Timson through customs and is deeply disappointed when three gold watches fall out of his coat sleeve.  Mr. Timson is taken into the interrogation room, pleading his innocence of any wrongdoing.  Shirley recalls how Max Fortane offered to help Timson through customs and seemed disappointed when Shirley insisted upon helping the man.  Shirley suddenly realizes why Max Fortane wears an arm sling for an arm that is merely bruised and unmasks the true smuggler right in front of the customs officials.

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