Homeward Bound

"I appreciate all your comments and criticism. Only through helpful critique, whether positive or negative, can I hope to improve. Thank you."

Temuchen

*

"To forget is only human;

to forgive, divine."

The sky was devoid of color, the dark clouds washing away any attempts to paint the ambient surroundings with anything remotely cheerful.

She stared outward over the sound, tears running over her cheeks and falling from her quivering chin, as the ocean broiled with white froth exploding from the cresting waves.

She was alone on this tiny strip of beach sitting on a small grassy knoll, her knees drawn up and captured within her arms. "Johnny, my sweet Johnny...I am so very sorry," she whispered as she wiped her eyes and sniffled. Dear God, it's been two days since he disappeared, she thought.

John's father had called her, informing her of John's plane vanishing off radar somewhere in the mountainous regions just north of Mount Rainier. She knew John's parents were aware of the problems she and John had, knew of his brother's involvement but her father-in-law never once hinted his feelings to her, never displaying any signs of reproach.

But, she knew they were terribly disappointed in her, and with David. He was the oldest; therefore, was supposed to be responsible, to be there for his younger brother. Of course everyone knew John had always been the more mature of the two. She thought back. Why did I let it happen? How could I have been so stupid, so weak?

Now, John was missing. The guilt consumed her as she remembered the last thing she said to him. She had called him a bastard! JoAnne hung her head within her arms and cried, her shoulders heaving as the sound of huge gulping sobs drifted away on the ocean breeze.

"Brzzzzzzz—brzzzzzzz...brzzzzzzz—brzzzzzzz," she felt the vibration of the cell phone through the pocket of her woolen coat. With a sigh, she retrieved the annoying little device and answered.

"Yes?"

"JoAnne? Where are you, are you alright?" Anne Jardine, JoAnne's mother sounded worried.

"I'm okay, mom...really...I'm fine. I just needed to be alone for awhile. Are the girls all right?"

"Yes, the girls are doing the best they can for now but they need their mother. JoAnne you need to be with them. Have you heard anything?"

JoAnne closed her eyes and stifled a cry. "No...nothing yet. Frank said he would call as soon as he had news."

"Oh...okay honey. Please come home...for the girls."

JoAnne looked at the swirling dark waters and said, "I'll be home in a little while. Tell the girls I won't be much longer."

"JoAnne, I'm so sorry about John but...I just know he will be fine. Have faith in him."

"Mom, it's not me that needs faith in him; I will always have faith in John. I only hope I be allowed to re-build his faith...his trust in me. The only thing I can do now is pray and hope he will come back to me, I pray God will bring him back to us so I can show him what he means to me and the girls!"

JoAnne was unable to hold back her emotions and cried before she disconnected. Nearly twenty minutes passed before she was able to gain enough control to stand and walk back to the car.

*******************

Frank LaRouche was at the Tacoma Narrows airfield waiting for the latest news from the numerous search and rescue choppers looking for his son. Standing just outside the tower, he tossed his third cigar crushing it beneath the toe of his boot. Glancing at the brooding clouds, he grimaced. A storm was coming and, from the looks of those clouds, a big one.

In the distance, he heard the familiar slap of rotor blades and saw the orange and white of two U.S. Coast Guard helicopters returning to the field. His lips taut, he closed his eyes for a minute. He already knew of their negative results looking for John. That left two other birds searching for his son's Comanche.

His eyes stared at the distant mountain range, worry scored in the deep furrows of his forehead. "What the hell happened, John?" he said to himself. His friends in the FAA told him the last transmission from John was his mayday and that one of his engines had failed; but, his son was too good a pilot to allow one engine to bring him down. Something else must have happened. But, where the hell was he?

"Frank?"

Frank turned and saw Jake Holsen approaching. Judging from the expression of Holsen's face, Frank knew this wouldn't be good, Jake Holsen was coordinating the air search.

"Frank, you probably noticed the weather. We're going to suspend the search until this blows over. I'm sorry."

"How much longer till you call it off, Jake?"

Jake looked away for a second before looking into Frank's eyes. "I'm calling it now, Frank. I don't want my guys up there when the storm hits. I am truly sorry but I have to do this."

Frank drew out another cigar, cut the tip and lit it before commenting, "Yeah, I know you're sorry but that's John out there. Hell, you're a second father to him!"

Jake frowned and growled, "You think I don't know that...that I don't think about John? You really believe I want to call this thing off?"

Frank sucked on the cigar and held his breath for a moment before exhaling, the bluish white smoke quickly dissipating in the wind. He could feel the beginning drops of rain and stared at Jake.

"Hell, I know you don't want to shut down the search. I'm sorry...I'm just upset. I'd do the same if I were you."

He turned away to stare at the mountainous sky line, the rain building in strength. Jake reached out and squeezed his old friend's shoulder before returning to the tower. Frank stood there awhile longer, the rainfall now falling in heavy sheets.

He thought of Jo, his daughter-in-law. He knew she was hurting, was frightened of losing John. When he first heard what David and Jo had done, he was furious...with David. Frank knew David and how he operated, how he treated women.

Frank thought of Bree, David's ex-girlfriend and fiancée. While David was attending sub school back east, Bree decided she needed to party with her girlfriends and, as the fates would have it, met a guy at one of the college watering holes. Evidently, one of his oldest boy's buddies was at the same bar and witnessed Bree getting very intimate with this guy.

When David returned, word got back about Bree. When he confronted her, she blew him off saying he was an idiot for listening to false rumors. Two weeks later, David followed her when she again went out for the evening with her girlfriends and discovered her secret liaison with this other guy. Without saying a word, David had walked up to the booth they were cuddling in, and before Bree could react from her shock, reached down, grabbed her left hand and removed her engagement ring. David never said a word to either of them. By the time Bree was able to wrest free from the booth and chase after David, he was gone.

Frank recalled the countless number of times she called the house trying to reach his son but David had written Bree off. In fact, David had written off all women.

Frank grimaced as he recollected how David changed. All women were fair game to him, married or single. Fuck em then leave em became his standard. Several times, he tried talking with his son but couldn't break through that wall. Now, David had gone after JoAnne. Why he did Frank could never figure out. Frank shook his head saddened over the whole affair. Through the pouring rain, he stared at the far mountains. David was gone and now John was missing.

**************

"Uhhhhh...wha...what happened?" I opened my eyes finding everything dark. For a moment, I a felt rising panic thinking I was blind but slowly I could make out shapes and shadows through the darkness. A crushing sensation emanated from my waist as I was trying to clear the cobwebs from my head. Becoming aware of my surroundings, I remembered what transpired...I had crashed. Shit, I thought, I went down. The last thing I recalled were tree tops smashing against the airframe. Where the hell was I?

Groaning, I closed my eyes and tried taking a deep breath, a piercing ache to radiating from my left side. A busted rib or two? Probably. I would have to wrap my torso when I...when I what? Fuck, I have to get out of the plane. Panic set in again when I thought of fire. I just knew the plane was on fire and I would soon become a brochette. I sniffed the air...no smoke, yet. I couldn't even detect any fuel leakage, only the scent of pine and fir.

The fuselage angled a good thirty degrees to the left which explained the crushing sensation to my abdomen. I was still belted in. I pulled the quick release and, falling against the bulkhead, cried out. The Comanche suddenly pitched forward, sliding downward. When the plane came to a sudden halt, I fell against the instrument panel my forehead bouncing off the wheel. My head felt as if there was a tiny gremlin with a sledgehammer, the hammer slamming against the inside of my skull.

"Ahhhh...," I groaned rubbing my temples until some of the ache left. After a moment, I decided it was time to take stock of my current predicament. First, where the hell was I? Grabbing the seat, I pulled myself to the side window and looked out but couldn't see a thing in the darkness. Reaching behind the seat, I grabbed the flashlight and looked once more.

"Fuck me!" I was in the goddamn trees, maybe about forty plus feet above the ground. The fuselage was jammed between three Douglass firs, the wings and engines long gone. It was a miracle the fuel hadn't ignited. Now, it was going to take a miracle to get me out of here. Looking aft, my eyes widened in shock...I was looking into open space. The tail section was ripped off just behind the rear seats creating a new problem...as if I needed any more. The ELT, or Emergency Locator Transmitter, was probably somewhere miles away and non-operational. Why am I still alive? I wondered.

I remained on the floorboard, my breathing sending spikes of pain into the left side of my chest. Damn it! If I had a busted rib, I stood the chance of piercing a lung. Feeling around, I found my bag jammed behind the co-pilot's seat and pulled it forward. Opening the bag, I fumbled through some clothing until I found what I needed, a heavy t-shirt I always took with me on these trips. Tearing the material into a strip, I tightly wrapped the cloth around my torso overlapping the strip and tying it off. Um...yeah, that felt a little better.

I knew somehow had to get down from this perch before gravity decided to kick in. Going through the bag once more, I grabbed my old pair of sweat pants and laid them over my shoulders. I tried pushing on the door but it was wedged tight against the tree trunk. Scooting over between the front seats, I looked out the open part of the fuselage. A large tree branch had jammed all the way through the airframe.

Crawling over the center console, I was able to hunker down on the rear floorboard. I closed my bag and tossed it out the end of what used to be the rear cargo hold. I listened as the bag crashed through the many tree limbs and heard the final smack as the bag hit the ground. Well, that didn't take too long, maybe I'm not as high up as I assumed, I thought.

I slowly slid over the rear seats and balanced on a portion of the airframe just behind the rear seats. I could hear the creak and pop of the shredded aluminum frame as the fuselage shifted from my exertions and re-settled. Making matters worse, I heard the familiar ping of rain drops on the frame, in the distance the resonance of rolling thunder. Oh great, a storm's approaching, icing on the cake!

Reaching the tree branch, I noted it was strong enough to easily hold me. Pulling my ball cap down, I zipped closed the front of my leather jacket and thought, now or never. I played the flashlight over the branch and carefully lifted my legs onto the branch, one arm wrapped around the limb. A jagged piece of metal skin was hooked onto the branch and I, cautiously, lifted myself over that chunk of metal trying to avoid any contact with the sharp aluminum membrane. Finally, I was completely sitting on the branch and able to slide to the massive trunk. As I balanced on the limb, I could feel the rain continue to build. Using the sweat pants, I was able to swing one of the leggings around the trunk while holding the other. Once done, I tied the leggings together, securing myself to the tree.

No sooner had I accomplished this feat, a screech of metal assaulted my ears. The airframe, filling with water from the pouring rain, began sliding on the wet branches, the weight pulling in forward. The branch I was sitting on began to bend, the wood crackling from the stress. Fearing the thick branch would break off, I perched as close to the tree trunk as I could get, cinching the sweat pants even tighter around me.

"Grrrrriisshh...wooosh," the fuselage grated loose from its roost and vanished into the dense forest, followed by the sound of breaking limbs and branches, my own branch snapping back into place. Seconds later, I heard the crash of what was once my beloved Comanche smashing into the ground with a resounding thump. Rest in peace, I whispered looking into the darkness.

Shivering, I reached inside my jacket and removed a small packet I had taken from my emergency kit. Unfolding the shiny silver material, I covered myself trying to protect as much of myself as possible from the elements. Soon, I was feeling some warmth return as I hid beneath the flimsy emergency blanket clutching it firmly against me, protecting me from the wind and rain. I needed to remain on my current resting place until morning or at first light; any attempt to climb down in this darkness was too dangerous. Again, I increased the tension on the sweatpants, making sure I was secured in case I fell asleep. The branch was large enough to curl up, so I tucked both feet under my legs, folding my arms around the knees.

Nothing more to do now but wait for morning.

*********************

JoAnne sat at the dining table staring out into the back yard, a glass of Chardonnay in her hand. For the time being, at the behest of JoAnne, the girls were staying with her mother.

"John," she sighed. She brought the glass to her lips but didn't drink. She thought she had been cried out; however, her eyes moistened, tears flowing over her cheeks.

"Dear God, what have I done? Why did I hurt the only man I have ever loved?" JoAnne thought back over the past few months. John had been so busy, always flying off out of town for days. When she approached him and asked if he could spend some time with her and the girls, he would stare and say, "Jo, I would love to but I need to get the systems operational. I promise you I'll be done with this after two more weeks."

It was always two weeks, she thought. He never seemed to find time for her or for Jodie and Samantha. For that matter, it had been months since he held her, touched her intimately or made love to her. She was lonely. but, that was no excuse for her betrayal with David.

She thought back to the week before John caught her with his older brother. David had dropped by the house. John had flown down to San Francisco for two days, something about a software glitch. When she answered the door, David was standing there in his Navy blues looking very impressive. "Hi Jo, thought I'd drop by and see how you're doing."

"David! It's great to see you but John isn't here. He's in San Francisco for a couple of days. I just finished brewing some coffee, would you like some?"

"I'd love some," he replied and stepped across the threshold.

She remembered his smile as he entered and followed her into the kitchen. JoAnne recalled how scrumptious he looked at six foot three inches, curly blond hair and deep blue eyes and that smile...oh that smile. She had always found David very attractive since the first time John had introduced them. She even remembered when her future husband laughed as he warned about his older brother. He had quite a reputation as a ladies' man, something of a wolf in a naval officer's uniform.

"Be careful, Jo...I've lost a few girlfriends to this hound," said John as he grinned and slapped David on the back.

Oh yes, she was quite taken with John's brother but never let on how David affected her. She loved John so much but David had a dangerous magnetism about him. She didn't like that feeling.

She recalled when they sat on the backyard swing, drinking coffee and talking about John.

"John is the luckiest man I know, I am so envious of what he's got," said David looking into the blue sky.

"David, you have nothing to be envious of," I heard myself say. "You're attractive, fit and you look damn sexy in that uniform. Any woman would love to get their claws into you." Again that smile, those beautiful teeth flaunting their perfectly matched pearly whites at me.

"No Jo, he does have something I've always wanted, have desired for some time."

"David, I..."

"JoAnne, I've wanted you for so long." David took my hands and gently pulled me to him, I could smell his masculinity.

"No David, I can't!" I tried pulling away from him but he was too strong, or I was too weak. "David, think about your brother, what...what about John?"

"I don't want John, I want you," he replied his lips pressing against mine.

God forgive me but I felt my knees go weak as I returned his kiss. I felt his hands glide over my body exploring those hidden places searching for those locations only my husband knew of and I didn't have the strength to force those hands away. I felt his tongue push against my lips and, without thinking, I allowed him access as my own tongue betrayed me by its act of intimacy with his. I could feel him reach up to release the top button of my blouse. I knew what he was doing, where he was going but I couldn't stop it; by now, I didn't want to stop it. I had lost all control. As he unbuttoned my top, I felt his warm hand slip in and, cupping my bra, caress my breast. He slid his finders under the cup pushing it off my breast and gently tweak my nipple between his finger and thumb. God forgive me but I was so hot and felt moist heat grow between my trembling thighs.

"Ohhhh....," I moaned. Those hidden voices telling me to stop his advances and tell him to leave, I shoved back into the deep recesses of my mind. My defenses were gone, his assault had won the battle...I was his.

I vaguely remember David holding my hand while he moved down the hallway to my bedroom. I balked when I saw the bed John and I slept in and pulled back. David looked at me and drew me into his arms. He leaned down and kissed me and again tried to move me into the bedroom. I resisted and David frowned, then weighed his options and nodding steered me into the guest room. My mind couldn't fathom how I could be so defenseless as to surrender to his advances but still have enough control not to allow him into John's bed.

David wasted no time once in the guest room. I realize now, he was concerned I would change my mind. Quickly, he removed my clothing and laid me down on the bed. Standing beside me, he disrobed and lay next to me, his hands caressing my body. As his lips met mine, his hands ensnared my mons, his fingers delving into my damp folds. As his fingers entered my soaked pussy, his lips traveled downward and captured a breast, gently suckling at my nipple. By this time, I was on fire, my very soul succumbed to lust.

When I felt David maneuver between my legs, his cock nestling between my engorged lips, reality suddenly came crashing down.

My body stiffened and I gasped, "No, David...I can't...," but I never finished my sentence. David recognized the change in my attitude and knew he had to move quickly before I physically stopped him. Suddenly, he slammed into me and I screamed, my body arching off the bed. Once in, he began thrusting with an intensity I found disturbing but yet amazing. He didn't look at me, his eyes closed and his teeth clenched as he pounded my flesh. Soon, I was lost in his exploitation of me. My legs wrapped around his waist as he hammered away at my abused pussy, my mind set only on the unbelievable sensations coursing through my heaving body.