It was almost an hour since Tanya had left Mel. She remembered his words: 'It will give me an excuse to come and see you again.'

She knew that he had to go to a party with his wife, but she hoped that he would come and see her before he left.

The 'excuse' that he had spoken of was his interest in the message received by Tanya while in the coffee shop. The stowaway was with Tanya now. A little old lady from San Diego. She was wearing a black dress, and looked like somebody's grandmother on her way to church.

'You've done this before, haven't you?' Tanya asked her.

'Oh yes, my dear. Quite a few times.'

She sat there looking quite untroubled by her conscience, Tanya wondered if many people realized how many stowaways there were on planes these days. Probably not. Airlines tried to keep quiet about it.

The old lady's name was Mrs Ada Quonsett, and she would certainly have reached New York if she had not made one mistake. She had told her secret to another passenger, who had told an air hostess.

'All right,' Tanya said. 'I think you'd better tell me all about it.'

'Well you see,' the old lady began, 'My husband's dead, and I have a married daughter in New York. Sometimes I get lonely, and I want to visit her. So I go to Los Angeles and get on a plane to New York.'

'Without a ticket?'

Mrs Quonsett looked surprised. 'Oh my dear, I couldn't possibly afford a ticket. It's difficult enough for me to find the money to get to Los Angeles on the bus.'

'Do you pay for the bus ticket?'

'Oh, yes. They always check the tickets on the bus.'

'Why don't you fly from San Diego?' Tanya asked.

'I'm afraid, my dear, they know me there.'

'You mean you've been caught at San Diego?'

'Yes,' the old lady said quietly.

'Have you been a stowaway on many different airlines?'

'Oh yes, but I like Trans America best.'

Tanya wanted to laugh. She could hardly believe her ears. 'Why do you like Trans America, Mrs Quonsett?' she asked.

'Well, they're always so nice to me in New York. After I've stayed with my daughter for a week or two and I want to go home, I go to the airline offices and tell them.'

'You tell them the truth? That you came to New York as a stowaway?'

'Yes, my dear, of course.'

Tanya was amazed. 'And what happens then?'

The old lady looked surprised. 'Nothing happens. They send me home. Sometimes they get a bit angry and tell me not to do it again, but that isn't much, is it?'

'No,' Tanya said, 'it certainly isn't.'