Chapter 35 -- Return, Recovery, and Reality
Twelve of the Circle members boarded the Cessna Citation on the tarmac at the Circle Airport. They were Dave, Alice, and Pam; Dev, Sharon, and Wendy; Ty and Dori; Sean and Kat; and Owen and Julie. The group was the original eleven that had formed the Circle, plus Sharon who had married into Dev and Wendy's family. She knew she was an outlier, but asked to come along so that she could play the role of servant to the others. On that basis a couple of others had been eligible, but there wasn't the room on the plane or at the cabin, so they politely begged off to wait for a future invitation.
Mid-August in northwest Maine is warm, with an occasional day of rain as weather systems sweep across the country and exit into the Canadian Maritimes.
Alice and Pam sat in the cockpit of the sleek jet and navigated the craft up to thirty-seven thousand feet on the northeast heading that took them up to the Rangeley airport. They landed on runway 32, coming to a stop only feet from the opposite end from where they touched down, actually sitting atop the numbers 14 for the opposite runway.
Alice turned to Pam, "Short runway; a hundred more feet and we'd be in the overrun."
Pam said, "Yeah, I was a little worried there. I thought we were going into the dirt."
"Nah, we had it made. Good brakes and reverse thrusters."
"Good thing we didn't have the extra momentum of a full load of fuel."
Dev had arranged for three SUVs to be waiting at the airport for the plane. They were lined up near the tie down area with the keys in the cars. After the plane parked and was secured, the group loaded in the luggage and headed through the small town to the cabin. Dev pointed out a few of the salient landmarks and restaurants as he drove his rental car to the cabin. There weren't many of them.
The cabin had been opened and aired out. The surrounding lawn had been mowed the day before and Dev's caretaker had provisioned the house. An older woman was at the house when they arrived; the caretaker's wife. She explained about the food and drink, and a few things about the house to Dev and Sharon. The others fanned out in the building, and then walked across the lawn to the edge of the lake.
Alice turned to Dev as he joined the group, "This place is fabulous. Can we swim in the lake?"
"Yes, but be prepared for the lake to feel chilly. This is not Florida. The water temperature is probably in the low or mid seventies. By comparison, our pool was around eighty-five when we left."
Alice looked back at the cabin. The place was about a hundred feet long facing the lake with lots of glass doors and windows. The two-story log structure had a wide deck across the front with Adirondack chairs on it under the porch eaves. Many of the bedroom windows also faced the lake. Two chimneys poked through the roof. The main focus of the house was a 'Great Room' at the core of the camp with an interior balcony where the second floor hallway could look down into the room and one of the huge fireplaces.
Sharon was already in the kitchen prowling around checking on meals and beverages. Despite pleas from her cohorts she insisted that she wanted this role and wasn't at all put upon. She was driven by the service obligation of the Circle and her lovers.
Sharon produced several trays of drinks for the others consisting of beers and soft drinks. She also produced some chips, dip, and pretzels.
The group wandered around the many rooms of the 'cabin' and then congregated outside on the deck. Dev went into host mode pointing out that besides swimming there were canoes and kayaks, some ATVs with trails up the mountain behind the camp, and many nearby hiking trails including the Appalachian Trail. He suggested that the group go into town for dinner and when that was agreed, he called for reservations because there were so many of them in one group.
Dave, Sean, Kat, and Alice opted to take the kayaks and poke along the shoreline of the lake. They left as a few of the others set up a croquet course on the lawn. A couple of the others stripped down and lay out in the sun. Dev warned about mosquitoes once the sun started to set.
Owen and Julie claimed a bedroom with the intent to again consummate their marriage. They disappeared, but left the door open in case any body else wanted to join them. Julie had high hopes for a sex-filled week with all of her companions.
As the others sat around and talked, Dev suggested that in making swaps that the men retain the same five bedrooms and that the women chose their sleeping arrangements. The others liked that idea. The sixth bedroom in the camp was available for any female-female couplings or in case someone was snoring in an insufferable manner. He warned about the cool night air.
The twelve went to dinner at a place called Loon Lodge, even walking around the grounds of the posh restaurant and inn before dining. The possibility of boating and kayaking to the restaurant didn't escape anybody.
After dinner, Dev led the group into the small town to a small hut called Pine Tree Frosty and everyone had an ice cream. Behind the hut there was a pond full of well fed ducks that apparently thrived on the remnants of ice cream cones.
Back at the cabin, there were some pairings that got the evening started. Dave ended with Kat and Sharon as love partners for the night. They made good use of the king-size bed in his room, however, they too left the door open. Nobody joined them that night, but the three slept well with the cool air coming in the wide-open windows. Nighttime temperatures had dropped into the low sixties, resulting in the two women snuggling against Dave for warmth. The loons on the lake called incessantly to each other throughout the night, but the sounds were soporific and soon the trio was asleep after their active lovemaking session with one another.
* * * * *
Sunday evening just before sunset the elegant and graceful corporate jet touched down just past the numbers on Circle Airport runway 27. After reverse thrust and brakes were applied the jet came to a stop and taxied to the tarmac. Alice and Pam were at the controls and surprised to see the Gulfstream 650LR parked there with the hangar doors open. The Cessna 182 and Cessna 150 were also outside but parked off to the side so as not to interfere with parking the Citation.
As the engine spooled down and Alice got up to open the door of the craft, they saw Elsa and Cindy coming towards the plane in two of the golf carts that the Circle routinely used to shuttle around the property.
As the door opened, Alice greeted her 'ground crew'. "Hi. What are you guys doing here? We didn't think we'd see you until mid-week."
"No problem. Mark wants to swap back today because he's flying up to New York tomorrow morning for some investors meeting. He's considering letting a couple of companies in on EneRG -- the battery company. Dave should know about it, but I don't think he knows the specific investment houses coming onboard. There's potentially a shitload of money involved."
Dave appeared behind Alice at the door of the plane, slightly hunched over due to the lack of headroom. "I do know about it. Are you going up with him Cindy?"
"Yes. We want to broaden the investor base and diversify a little. Don't worry your stock won't suffer; if anything, it'll increase in value as we get nearer to the IPO."
"Oh, I know. Mark and I talked several times a day this week."
Cindy rolled her eyes. "No one knows how to take a vacation anymore."
"Do you have to go?" Alice asked.
"Yeah, I'd like to have a little light to land the Citation at the Meadows Airport, so as soon as you're off the plane, we're off to the Meadows. What's the fuel load left onboard?"
"VFR no problem for a sixty mile jaunt. There's probably 1,500 pounds worth."
Pam asked, "Anything we need to know about the Gulfstream?"
Cindy responded, "Nope. We made one round-trip in it to St. Louis and back. We filled the tanks at SRQ and brought it here a couple of hours ago. How was Maine?"
"Getting chilly at night, but otherwise beautiful. We had fun."
"Anybody get pregnant?" Elsa teased.
"Only those that were pregnant before they went. So far as we know that's only one of the pilots."
Pam waved her hand at the two women waiting for the others to disembark and claim the luggage that had been in the hold.
Ten minutes later, Dave, Alice and Pam watched as Elsa and Cindy taxied the Citation out to the runway and ran through the checklists prior to taking off. The jet roared down the runway in a short-field takeoff and was off the ground well before the end of the runway, aided by a nice headwind.
The threesome took one of the golf carts up to the circle of homes and carried the modest amount of their luggage inside. A few minutes later they joined the others on the patio for Sunday evening cocktails and conversation. Most of the conversation revolved around the various activities that the twelve travelers had engaged in while in Maine: kayaking, canoeing, swimming, long hikes up several mountains, and even doing some logging on Dev's property to harvest some deadwood that might fall on or near the house in a strong wind.
Little had changed around the Circle in the week the group had been gone. The one piece of news from the home group came that evening during the cocktail hour. Daryl, Karen, and Candy stood with Bridget at their side and announced that Candy was pregnant. Sean and Christiana would have a little brother or sister sometime around mid-May of the following year. Candy beamed with joy and Daryl and Karen looked pretty happy, too.
After the announcement, Pam made a beeline for Candy so they could compare notes about due dates and the like. Pam was due in the same timeframe. Dave and Alice looked at each other when Julie and Tan joined up and the four women started talking in hush-hush tones with each other.
Dave asked Alice, "Is Julie pregnant? Tan?"
Alice shrugged. "I think she and Owen have been trying. I don't know about Tan."
