Author's note.
It seems that there is no end to this story. As soon as I try to draw it to a close, the characters find some more trouble to get into.
I hope that you guys are still enjoying reading it, as much as I am enjoying writing it, and thanks for sticking with me.
As always, my thanks to Dr. Mark for his tireless work, and Theswiss for his work with the server.
As Nova would say - stay awesome.
KR
PM
Caleb 71 - Sarah and Arnie
It had been quite late before I'd got to sleep.
After a shower and a drink, Gracie, Dana, and I had played a lot of the night away. They both had agendas and it seemed that they'd discussed things beforehand. I was happy to go along, not only having a great night, but enjoying reconnecting with a pair of very close friends and lovers that I thought had drifted away.
I understood their reasons for moving out and even applauded it. If it meant that we could continue as we were before, without things getting more awkward or complicated, then I was all for it.
I woke as usual at four with Gracie and Dana both draped over me. Since it had been closer to two that I'd gone to sleep, I decided to have a lie-in and set my phone alarm for six. Flying tired was not a good idea and, although I needed less sleep than I used to, two hours didn't really cut it.
Dana moaned when my phone alarm beeped to let me know that I needed to get up.
I slid out of bed, and showered, in preparation for leaving for the airport. I'd told Arnie I'd be there at eight.
I made breakfast, having brought the ingredients for that too, and took it into the girls, where they were still dozing in bed.
"Breakfast," I said, placing the tray on the bed.
I took my own plate, and settled down in a chair to eat, while the two girls sat up side by side in the bed, each taking a plate for themselves.
"You have to go soon?" asked Gracie, a glint in her eye.
"I'm afraid so," I said. "I'm flying to Nevada and back today."
"Wasn't that what you were doing when you crashed?" asked Dana.
"It was," I said. "But in a different kind of plane. The one I'm flying today has its own parachute, so if there are any problems we can just drift gently down to the ground."
"Really?" asked Dana. "I never heard of that."
"I'm sure it will be fine," said Gracie. "Let us know you arrive back safe though, won't you."
I smiled at them.
"I will," I said. I started collecting my things together.
"Thank you both for last night," I said. "It was wonderful."
"It's us that should be thanking you," said Gracie. "For dinner, and...and breakfast too."
I smiled at them.
"Have a good day," I said heading out of the bedroom.
They followed me to their front door, each kissing me soundly before I left.
"Next time," I said, "you guys should come to us. I'm sure the girls would be pleased to have you over."
Gracie grinned. "That would be nice," she said. "Maybe when you get your new house?"
I gave each another peck on the cheek, and then headed down to my truck.
It was about a forty minute drive to the airport from their new place, and I arrived at a quarter of eight.
Sarah was already there. Ness had given her a ride over so she wouldn't have to walk.
Sarah got in my truck as I pulled up, and Ness came to the driver's window, which I rolled down.
"Did you have a good time?" asked Ness after our greeting kiss.
"I did," I said. "How about you guys. Did you have a nice night?"
"I don't know about Mary and Amanda," she replied. "They're not back yet. Jules, Melanie, Sarah and I had a girl's night. It was fun."
I looked across at Sarah who, for some reason, was blushing.
"Did you have fun?" I asked her.
"Melanie and Ness are a bad influence," she said. Ness just grinned.
"See you guys later," she said, and then to Sarah, "No joining the mile high club with Arnie. He needs to concentrate on his flying. Although I'm sure he might let you play with his joystick a bit if you ask nicely."
Sarah blushed even more but laughed.
"See what I mean?" she said to me.
As Ness walked back to her car, Arnie pulled into the parking lot.
"Morning," he said getting out of his car. "Did you check the weather?"
"I did," I said, having done so on the internet while I was making breakfast.
"It's going to be a clear day, with some scattered clouds. Perfect flying weather."
He grinned at me. "Then let's get going."
He led us into the flying school where we briefed on the flight. This took slightly longer since we had to brief Sarah on emergency procedures before we left.
Then we went and did our external checks on the plane which had been fuelled in preparation for our journey today.
Everything checked out and we moved inside and began the pre-flight checks.
Between Sarah getting into the plane and us joining her, Arnie pulled me to one side.
"Dad says that you fly like a pro. He is convinced that you have as much, if not more, flight experience than I do. He also said that you were only taking lessons to get signed off."
"Yes," I said. "You can sit in the back with Sarah."
He grinned at me. "That transparent?" he asked.
"Like glass," I said. "I know the FAA would probably object, but nobody is going to know other than the three of us, and we won't tell."
I did have the fleeting thought that if we did crash, and all died, then the FAA would know by the position of the bodies in the wreck. I didn't think that we would care about it at that time, so didn't mention it.
Arnie climbed in beside Sarah and then I got in the pilot's seat.
"You don't get off quite so lightly," I said passing Arnie the checklist so he could call out the preflight checks.
With preflight completed, I started the engine and contacted the tower for permission to taxi and take off.
The flight to Nevada was uneventful. I'd debated having a fuel stop, as the Cirrus' range only gave us about seventy miles over the journey. That was calculated seats full and, since there were only three of us, I figured we'd have a bit more of a margin. Nevertheless, I'd decided that if I got below a certain level, before I reached a set point in the journey, I'd drop into a local airstrip and top up.
I'd fill up the plane, in Nevada, for the return journey and, since I'd be not flying directly back, but stopping at two other airstrips to satisfy the requirements of the flight, I would top up at one of those as well. I'd also be flying solo so would use less fuel per mile than on the outbound.
Throughout the flight, Sarah and Arnie chatted. Sarah seemed to be having a nice time with Arnie pointing out interesting landmarks as we flew.
We flew almost directly over the crash site, but despite all of us looking, we couldn't see any sign of the wreckage. Arnie said that the NTSB had not yet recovered the plane. I wasn't sure how they would go about it, but that was their problem and not mine.
The landing at Nevada was as uneventful as the flight and we taxied off the runway. I needed to fuel the plane, and Arnie needed to find his ride home.
"Right," said Arnie after he helped me fuel the plane. "You get yourself off. Your return flight is going to take longer than ours, so we'll beat you back by quite a margin."
"I'll wait until you're ready to leave," I said. "If there's issues with the plane, I don't want to leave you stranded here."
We walked across the apron together, to where a twin engine plane was sitting. Sarah and I waited by the plane, as Arnie went into an office in the adjacent building.
"You okay?" I asked Sarah while we waited.
She smiled at me.
"I am," she said. "Other than you, I don't think I've ever met a guy like him before."
"In what way?" I asked.
"He's just so..." she seemed to be struggling to put it into words, "comfortable."
"Comfortable?" I asked, amused.
"I don't know," she said. "Trevor... and all the other boys I knew... seemed to be trying to be something that they're not. Always trying to prove they're better than they are. It's as if they don't like who they are and want to be someone different.
"You and Arnie seem to be the person that you want to be. I'm not saying that you're arrogant, or that you think you're perfect, but it's like you understand who you are and are content with that person.
"You both have ambitions and are looking to improve yourselves. But it's not because you don't like who you are now, it's more that you feel like you haven't yet reached your full potential. Does that make sense?"
"I think..." she began, but then Arnie emerged from the office, and she stopped talking and turned to him with a smile.
"Everything good to go?" she asked.
"She's all fuelled and ready to go," he said.
Sarah frowned.
"She?" she asked. "Why do guys do that. Why are their cars, or in this case planes, always female?"
"Because they share the same characteristics," I said.
"You mean they're beautiful?" she asked with a grin.
"I was thinking more temperamental and expensive to maintain," I grinned back. Arnie wisely declined to comment.
"And we love to be inside them,"
I added telepathically.
Sarah who had been about to complain about my calling her temperamental and expensive, suddenly blushed scarlet and slapped my arm. Arnie, having obviously not been party to my last comment, laughed.
"You're a braver man than I am," he said. "And of course I completely disagree with everything he said," he added to Sarah.
"I hope not everything,"
I caught Sarah's unspoken thought, realizing that she'd meant me to.
Caught by surprise, I actually laughed out loud at that. Arnie grinned at me thinking I'd reacted to what he'd said.
Sarah and I shared a glance, as he continued to do the external checks.
"Right," I said. "I'm going to get ready. I'll leave at the same time you do, but I need to do my own checks."
Sarah came over and hugged me, giving me a quick kiss. "Thanks for letting me come with you," she said. "Fly safe."