I woke up looking into Caroline's eyes. She said, "I woke up a little bit ago and realized I'm in your control. I want to be here though. I like being in your control. Strange isn't it. We don't really know each other but we really do. Is loneliness a means of meeting someone?"
"We found each other, Caroline, and we can be something special for each other right now, whether or not we will be the same in the future."
"I like it, Mark. I'm very happy to be with you and to be held by you. We better get up or you'll find out how horny I get."
"In that case, let me take one of those pills."
"You better not, I want to see those grandkids of yours. I know they're not babies, but they are still your special grandkids."
Out at the airfield, I refueled the aircraft and checked all of the listed items. Once in the air, Caroline and I began talking about everything that she had ever done and she was asking me about my childhood. Soon we were lined up to land at Cheyenne. They had a small independent airfield southwest of the city, in addition to the main regional airport, and the Air Force Base where Gene did something that he didn't discuss. Thinking that Gene probably used the small airfield, I chose to land there.
The runway was new, smooth blacktop and we were directed to park up near the operations building. As soon as we shut the engine down, Sandy and the three kids came running out of the operations building. I was hugged tightly by the kids, and when I introduced Caroline, the kids hugged her the same way. Caroline had big tears in her eyes because of the acceptance. Sandy hugged Caroline and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She said, "The kids know that anyone Grandpa brings is special."
Sandy and the kids crawled all over the aircraft, looking at it. Sandy summed up my opinion of the plane well, "This is a modern baby 172. I'll bet it flies nice too, Gene will be begging you to fly it as soon as he gets home. He's been calling about every hour to see if you're here yet. If I tell him you've arrived, he'll probably take off from work unless he has some problem he has to take care of."
I had to ask, "Sandy, how did you know I was landing? You haven't waited out here all day have you? I could just have easily gone to the city airport."
Sandy was hugging me, "You think too much like Gene to go into the city airport. We live right over there in that loose subdivision that borders the land here. We know the operators here real well and I told them to call us as soon as a strange aircraft called in. It was a gamble, but we figured it would be you."
I said, "That wasn't very bright of me not to ask where to come in, especially since I haven't been out to see you here since you've built the house. I didn't realize you were building right next to an airport."
"We both wanted this place since we both give flying lessons now. I can leave the kids with a neighbor when I have a daytime lesson. Mark is just about old enough to watch over his brother and sister. Come on, let's go to the house for some lunch."
Worrying about the plane, I asked, "What about the plane. Shouldn't I move it away from operations?"
"Naw," Sandy said, "they will tie it down out here so everyone can come look at it. You're flying a curiosity. There will be fingerprints all over it by tonight. Clint, the operator, asked for you to please leave it out here for him."
We pulled the two bags from the aircraft and rode directly across the runway, over a well worn path, to Gene's and Sandy's house. Gene had done a hell of a job. With help from some of his friends and promises of free lessons, he built his own place that was larger than a moderate sized family would need. He had a small hangar-sized garage that had two entrances. The one entrance facing the airport was where he put an airplane he was working on and the other entrance was used for parking a car. That side of the garage was cluttered with a big lawn tractor and a couple of dirt bikes. The kids immediately had to show us all of their toys.
We had a nice lunch of sandwiches and iced tea before Sandy got a call from Gene. The call lasted only until Sandy said we were here. He must have hung up on her as she looked at the phone and shrugged her shoulders. She looked at the clock on the wall and said, "He'll be here in fifteen minutes or less, should we time it?"
Caroline was having a good time playing with the two little ones. Suzy and Dan had her on the floor playing with both dolls and trucks. Since Suzy was a year older than Dan, she was able to manipulate Dan to play her games more often than his. I could see though, that when Dan was tired of too much playing with dolls, he would go off by himself.
Gene came through the door, walked straight to me, and hugged me. "How are you, Dad, you feeling okay? Have you healed up good?"
"You shouldn't have taken off work. You could have waited until this evening, normal time."
Gene was grinning, "No way, I had to get home to see my Dad. Who's this lady playing with my children who have ignored me coming home?"
"Gene, This is my real good friend, Caroline, Caroline, my son, Gene."
Caroline made the observation, "You look just like your dad except you're taller and a little heavier."
Sandy said, "I try to feed him right so he'll lose weight, but I know that when he travels he probably eats steak and potatoes every night. He's been traveling a lot lately, too."
Gene said, "Dad, I'm so happy you finally came to visit. You always make us fly down to see you. It's about time you flew up to see me. What did you fly?"
Sandy jumped in, "You have to go see it, Gene. It's the new Cessna 162 Skycatcher. It looks like a regular airplane, not one of those kites."
"Let's go see it, Dad. Sandy, we might take it up for a quick spin. We'll be back for supper, though."
Gene and I got in his pickup and drove across the field toward the operations building. Gene used his radio to get permission to cross the runway, then drove up and parked outside the building near the aircraft.
Several people were looking at the plane and peering into the cockpit. When Gene walked up, they began asking him about the plane and did his dad really fly it out here?
Gene introduced me to some of his fellow aviation buddies. They indicated that Gene had been responsible for getting the new runway as the field had become the meeting and storage place for the local military Aero club. It's amazing how much attention you get when some military people begin spending all their free time somewhere.
Gene asked, "Does it need fuel or is it good to go for an hour or so?"
"You know the answer to that, Gene; you always take off with a full load unless you're compensating for weight."
We got the fuel truck over to top off the tanks then Gene wanted to go over the preflight list to see what might be different. The big difference was the Continental engine and the method of checking the oil level.
We unclipped the tie downs and hung them on the rail by the operations building then loaded up. All the curious folks reluctantly retreated to the sidewalk to watch us take off. Gene, used to taking command, got into the left seat, and was going through some familiarization when he looked up. "Sorry, Dad, I didn't mean to assume I could just take over. Do you want to fly it?"
"No, Son, you're curious, go ahead. I'll watch to make sure you do it right."
Gene laughed and said, "I feel like I'm twelve again. We sure did have a lot of fun flying just about every small aircraft made back then. This is a slick plane. It's wild what they are doing with this Light Sport designation."
After Gene had read through the takeoff procedures and associated information, we started up and let it warm. A few minutes later he was requesting runway access.
Up, up, and away. As soon as we were off the ground, Gene said, "We'll go south towards the mountains. North is all the Air Force Base and Regional airport traffic. I want to see how it handles stalls." We went through the activities an instructor pilot would require of a student, going farther south as we flew.
Gene said, "We're close to Denver, want to see how the plane handles altitude on takeoff?"
"Not really, no need, Cheyenne is over six thousand feet. It just always seems you have to climb to get to Denver."
"We should be getting back anyway," Gene said guiltily. "Sandy will have a big supper cooked for us. This is really great that you came out to visit, Dad."
Gene gently landed the aircraft, saying that it handled just like the larger Cessna and was super to fly. Again, he parked up next to the ops building and made sure the fuel truck would visit the airplane before long. We hooked the plane up to the tie downs and drove back across the runway and field to go home.
Gene was saying, "I'm trying to get this area out here tilled, leveled, and planted in grass so we can use it for some of the experimental junk that people are building. We could also use it for an additional takeoff and landing area for people to get used to grass strips. A few of us that live over on this side are thinking of building our own hangars, too. The big garage works for my stuff, but wouldn't work for anything larger. I'm thinking my next bird is going to have two engines. The Mouse is worth enough to make a deal on something. I'm not looking yet, but probably will soon. Sandy wants a bigger airplane, too. She says we might be able to get a few charters out of it. As it is, we get two or three flights to Denver to take people to get on a plane down there, or would that be "up" there?"
My goodness, the kid had a bunch of plans and/or dreams. I knew he made good money, but not exactly how much. I know he is employed by the Defense Department but I'm not sure of what division. I think that was classified. He used to work on rotary wing storage as they called it. In other words, helicopter armament, but that was all Army stuff. Now he's been at this base, involved in a project for close to seven years, with no end in sight. Who knows what they do out here in Wyoming. I guess that was the point.
We had a great supper and played outdoors with the kids. It's really neat to watch Dan ride the little 50cc motorcycle out in the back. Mark rode like an adult and had a few jumps built, along with some tight corners to ride around. The kicker was Suzy riding a 125cc bike. It was bigger than she was, but she was fearless. She was jumping higher than Mark, but couldn't drag the bike around a corner like he could. She just wasn't big enough to man-or-woman-handle the bike the way a bigger person could.
Gene said, "Mark is about ready to give up motorbikes and start flying. I think you had me handling the stick when I was nine or ten. I remember our best times together were flying. I think that's what happened with Sandy and me. We met because of flying and we're raising our kids with airplanes. It's just natural that they should fly as soon as they can."
We, that is Gene, Sandy, Mark, and I, had a pleasant time talking about life while Gene, Sandy, and I were having a beer in the kitchen, watching Caroline playing with the two younger ones. The evening was really pleasant.
After the kids had been put to bed and it was time for the adults to go to bed, Sandy and Caroline had already had a conversation and we were put together in the spare bedroom. Caroline hugged me and said, "That was just perfect. Playing with the little ones was really a lot of fun. I think if I could do that often enough, I could forgive myself for never having kids."
"You know, Caroline, you should go over and volunteer at the daycare at the clothing company. You could play with kids a couple of days a week and help out where you would be needed. You're in great shape. I can't believe how limber you are. You get up and down off the floor like a kid. I guess I just need to lose some weight."
"You're just right for me, Mark; you are perfect to snuggle with."
We quickly dropped off to sleep.
Suzy was sitting on the bed staring at my face. When I opened my eyes, she held her finger to her lips and made a "Shhh" sound. "Grandpa, don't wake Caroline up. Come on, get up, I want to show you something outside this morning. You'll like it."
I slid from bed and put on my pants and shoes. I slept in my drawers and T-shirt, so it was easy to get going.
Noticing the kitchen clock said just after five, Suzy and I went out the back door and she led me out into the field. She squatted down and pointed. Beneath some tall weeds and grass; a mother rabbit was sitting on a nest. Suzy must have been around the nest enough that the rabbit wasn't overly afraid of us. I could see her panting, so I moved back a ways. Suzy said, "She has babies. There are three of them left. She used to have more, but I think a cat got one."
Suzy stood up and took my hand. She said, "When I first came over here, the mama rabbit jumped up and ran. I watched it and it didn't run that far. When I didn't follow, it ran back by me. Mom said that the mama rabbit did that so I would chase her and not harm the babies. I found the babies, but I didn't touch them. I did look at them. I try to come out every morning to see how she's doing."
We walked back to the house with a few backward glances at the well-camouflaged nest. Inside, Suzy said, "I usually fix my own breakfast because Dad doesn't get up until six. Mom gets up then too most of the time. Mark and Dan sleep late, because they never want to go to bed at night."
Suzy pushed a chair over to the counter and used it to get a box of CoCo Crispies out of the cupboard. She got two bowls and two spoons and put them on the table. She got out two small glasses and two bigger glasses and put them with the bowls.
With practiced ease, she poured two bowls of the nasty cereal, then poured some milk in each bowl of cereal. Next, she filled our two bigger glasses with milk, then brought out a half gallon of orange juice and filled the two small glasses. Before putting the orange juice container back in the refrigerator, she pointed to a word on the container and said, "See, Grandpa, I have a little of Florida every morning. When I drink my orange juice, I think of you."
Doesn't that choke you up?
We ate our delicious, ugh, nutritious, I doubt it, breakfast. I can tell you that orange juice and chocolate cereal don't go together. Suzy was happy, so I was happy.
Gene came into the kitchen and poured himself some coffee that had automatically begunbrewing while Suzy and I were eating. Gene sat with us and said, "I see you've been indoctrinated into the chocolate breakfast brigade. Let me get Sandy a cup of coffee, that'll get her out here."
Gene poured a cup of coffee and went down the hall. He came back with a smile on his face. Sandy came in and sleepily sat at the table. She said, "I see you have someone who was your alarm clock this morning."
Suzy said, "I wanted to show Grandpa the mama rabbit. We didn't see the babies because she was covering them."
Sandy said, "I told you not to go outside the house in the morning unless I'm up with you."
"But Grandpa was with me, Mama, he's as good as you to watch out for me. No one will bother me when my Grandpa is with me."
Caroline came into the kitchen and said, "That's what the judge down in Tampa thinks too. Your grandpa is a pretty good guy, Suzy."
Suzy jumped up and said, "Come with me, Ms. Caroline, come see my mama rabbit." Suzy paused then asked, "Mama, can Ms. Caroline come with me so I can show her the rabbit?"
Sandy just grinned and waved them out.
The two were back in the kitchen quickly. I had poured a cup of coffee for Caroline and gone to get my morning pills to get them out of the way. When I got back, Gene asked, "What are you two going to do today?"
I said, "You gave me the idea yesterday. I think Caroline and I will go down to Denver and have a look at the city. I haven't been to Denver in years. What do you think, Caroline, want to do some sightseeing?"
She said, "I'd love to."
Sandy and the kids looked disappointed, so I said, "How about Caroline and I come back after lunch and we'll go do something around here. We just don't have an airplane big enough for everyone to ride in."
Gene said, "How about I call Henly and see if he'll let you use his Apache? That will carry the six of you. You're checked out in it, Sandy, and Dad's flown many of them. What do you think?"
The kids were all yelling, "Do it, Dad, call, please. We want to go."
Sandy grinned and said, "There's nothing I'd like better than to fly with your Dad, call Henly, he owes you anyway."
Gene called and it was agreed that Sandy and I could use the old Piper Apache. Gene said, "The plane is pristine. The man is so meticulous that you better put it back with a full load of fuel and no fingerprints. You won't believe how clean the old plane is. It's a gas guzzler though. You're not going to like what it costs to fly down there and back."
"It's not important today, Gene. Too bad you can't come along, too."
"That's okay; I took off a little yesterday. We have some tests to do today, so you won't have any problem since you're flying south and not out around the air base. There will be all kinds of NOTAMS (Notice to airmen) about increased restricted airspace. Even the regional is going to be shut down for a couple of hours. Make sure you come in under five thousand when you come back and don't circle wide if you have to land on runway 15. The wind should be from the north, so you should be coming in from the other direction, on runway 33."
While Gene got ready to go to work, the other kids ate. Sandy fixed Gene a breakfast sandwich and sent him off with a lunch pail. She said, "When they're doing tests, they don't eat unless they bring something along with them. He has a couple of sandwiches and four bottles of water. That should hold him."
We were over at the operations building by eight, checking out the Apache in the nearest hangar. The plane was clean in and out. I was going over the airplane when an old guy came up to me and asked, "Are you Gene's dad?"
I nodded and stuck out my hand, "Mark Robins, Sir."
"So you taught that hot rod to fly, huh? I'm Jack Henly and this beauty is Morning Sun. I've always called her that as the first time I saw her, she was framed by the morning sun. I had to have her and by some stroke of luck, she was for sale. She's a fifty-nine but you won't find one in better shape. I have your son go with me now when I want to go up. I've lost my ticket. Can't pass the medical any longer. I may look into Light Sport if I think I can be safe."
"Take a look at that little Cessna over at the operations building. It's a Light Sport. I'm in the same boat you are. If Sandy wasn't flying with me today, I couldn't go up in your Morning Sun."
"Sandy's a good pilot. She knows how to fly safe. I guess she has to, carrying her babies all the time. Gene said you checked him out in an Apache when he was seventeen or eighteen."
"We used to fly anything we could get our hands on. That was something we could do together. That's probably why we are so close."
The old man said, "My only kid flies, but he doesn't own a plane. He thinks living in the city is more important. He doesn't have a family just him. At least I still have my wife and the Morning Sun."
"We'll take care of your aircraft, Sir. We'll bring it back in one piece."
"I know you will," the man said. "Perhaps when you get back, Sandy will take me up for a few minutes. I haven't flown for over a week now."
"I'll tell her. I'm sure she will take you up for a while."
The kids, Caroline, Sandy, and I pushed the airplane out of the hangar. Sandy checked the plane over, with Mr. Henly following her around. We loaded the kids and Caroline, making sure they were belted in, then waved to Mr. Henly as we started the old piston engines.
Both belched a little gray smoke on startup then settled down to warm up. As all the indicators came up to normal, Sandy requested takeoff clearance. Soon we were taking off, turning in a tight bank, while climbing and heading south toward Denver.
Sandy said, "This plane doesn't have a lot of avionics, but then I don't think old Henly ever considered flying instruments. I think he flew most of his life following roads and using the gyro compass.
As we neared Denver, Sandy requested permission to cross some semi-restricted air space and we flew over a series of runways that were not marked in any way. Who knows what that is? Soon we were setting down on the private aircraft runway at the big airport. We were able to park near the operations building and had the fuel truck come out and fill us up before we toured the city. Henly's tie down straps were coiled perfectly with rubber bands around them. We would have to work to get them as exact. I took note of how he had them arranged so I would put them back the same way.
They had a car rental agency at the private terminal so we rented a mini-van to go see the city.
We drove all over, looking at the various sights. We went by Coors Field then on a lark, we drove out to the Coors Brewing Company. It was just a great big plant. No snow covered mountains framing it, just a big factory.
While downtown, we had lunch outside and fed pigeons some left over hot dog buns. After walking around downtown, we headed back to the airfield.
Sandy and I took a long time coiling the tie down straps to look exactly like the others in the little bin. I placed them just right so they looked perfect.
In a few minutes, we were on our way back to Cheyenne. As we landed from the south, we saw some very sleek looking aircraft flying on the deck of the prairie doing some low level passes. We were probably not supposed to see that, so Sandy and I just grinned at each other.
When we set the plane down and taxied to the hangar, old Mr. Henly greeted us. I got out with Caroline and the kids, while Sandy beckoned the old man to get in. I helped him up into the right seat, made sure he was buckled up, and Sandy started up and rolled away.
She revved up higher than normal all the way back on the overrun area of the runway. When she took off, she lifted off using less than a third of the runway, and banked real tight to head south. She kept a low altitude as they flew out over the prairie and foothills in that direction.
I took Caroline and the kids into the operations building where the kids knew everyone in there by name. We all used the bathroom and had a bottle of water while waiting as Sandy gave Mr. Henly a ride in his Morning Sun. A lot of people talked to me about the Cessna. I told them that I was being allowed to use the airplane as a bonus of my job. Caroline said it was because the guy who owned the dealership and maintenance facility liked me. Both were probably true.
An hour later, Sandy parked the airplane in front of the hangar. I had the fuel truck come over and filled the tanks without spilling a drop. The plane was still clean on the outside, but I did use the battery operated vacuum to clean up the inside. Sandy wiped down the entire inside and cleaned the windscreen and the side glass before we thought the plane was as we had found it. Mr. Henly was smiling proudly standing by his aircraft as we drove home.
At the house, Caroline said, "Using an airplane to move around to visit and sightsee makes for a broader realm, doesn't it?'
I agreed and said, "Gene and I went all over the United States when he was young. We had a great time and he learned a lot about the country he lives in. It's served him well. He's a good provider and a good dad."
Sandy said, "And a great husband. I like his dad too. Mark, you don't feel like a father-in-law. It's like you're Gene's best friend or his brother."
"Thank you, Sandy," I said, pleased to hear that. "That is the nicest thing you can say to a dad."
She commented, "My mom and dad are close, but they live down in Arizona in a retirement community now. They don't do much or want to do much. You're still active, still busy. It's nice that you still are able to and want to get out and about."
"Well, Sandy," I said, "when I get like Mr. Henly, I'll have to have a young sidekick to get me around. Perhaps young Mark can do that sometime, or even Dan or Suzy."
Caroline commented, "If Suzy is like she is now, she'll come tend you for sure. She's crazy about her grandpa."
Gene came home with a smile at his regular time. He said, "Had a great day. Even saw an old Apache come in low then take off again over at the airfield. Pretty slick the way you didn't even get to the outer perimeter of the restricted airspace. Did you take old Henly up?"
Sandy nodded as she was fixing supper. Gene changed clothes and went outside to play with the kids. I left Caroline inside with Sandy and went out to play too.
We ended up playing catch with a softball and ball gloves. Dan wanted to try to hit some balls and I pitched underhanded to him with his Dad catching and coaching. He did hit a few, then it was Suzy's turn. She hit a few, then Mark took a turn and blasted the balls way into the outfield. Dan and Suzy had races to see who could get to the ball first.
After supper, I told Gene and Sandy, "We'll head back tomorrow morning. We might come up again soon, but this was perfect for a little get away. I'm sure there will be lot of work piled up for me to do. Thank you both for such a great time."
Caroline was playing on the floor with the two little ones, but they all had been listening. Suzy came and said, "You know I have to go back to school soon. I guess it's okay that you have to go home. I'm glad you got to see the mama rabbit."
Dan was clutching me and said, "I like for you to come. We don't get to see you much, Grandpa. Come see us in the winter when the snow blows straight across the field. It looks like it's snowing sideways."
"Oh, Dan, I like Florida in the winter just for that reason. The cold is hard on me. I'm sure it's hard on your folks, too."
Gene said, "My twelve minute morning drive to work is about forty minutes in the winter. The drifts are horrible. We have backup heat for the house, plus generators, and very heavy clothes in case we have to evacuate. The winter can be deadly out here."
Sandy said, "The man is over-prepared. We haven't had to use any of them, so he has to start everything monthly to make sure it will all work if we ever need them."
Defensively, Gene said, "I learned all about being prepared. Down in south Florida where we used to live, the hurricanes used to knock the power out all the time. Up in Tampa they hardly ever had a problem. The last one to cause much flooding was that one starting with an "E" I think. Ah, Elena, that's what it was. That one didn't hit, but it stayed off the coast and blew us away for a few days. I was in college then and we had a big hurricane party."
In bed that night, Caroline said, "I really like your family. Thank you for sharing them with me. This was special."
"We'll do this again, Caroline. I'm sure I can save up enough to rent another plane soon to fly up here. It's only about fourteen to fifteen hours flying time. We have to stop for fuel, but then again, we also need to hit the bathroom more often at our age. As you saw, we can easily do the trip in two days. We might make better time going back as the wind will blow us back a little faster. It almost always will give the eastbound airplanes a little boost."
Not long after we had shut the lights off, the patter of little feet came straight to the bed and a small body climbed under the covers to snuggle into me. With Caroline on one shoulder, and Suzy snuggled into me on the other, I was feeling very good.
Sandy looked in the doorway. The moonlight coming into the window showed the little head on my other shoulder. I gave Sandy the okay sign with my left hand. Sandy smiled and went back to bed. That mama rabbit was checking up on one of her brood.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious