We drove straight west, or as straight west as was possible. We were out of the city in twenty minutes but were still in the heavily populated suburbs. At the twenty-five minute mark, we turned down a hidden lane and ended up in front of a large three-story home. On a second floor balcony stood a tall man with a wand in his hand.
"Daddy's going to try to impress you. I'm surprised he doesn't have his Merlin hat on. Just ignore him, he'll be fine. Your aura will capture him.
We three were holding hands in the foyer when a woman who obviously was Mercy's mom came in the room. She paused and looked at the three of us, went to Sue and kissed and hugged her, then gave me the same treatment. She then gathered her daughter into her arms and told her that she loved her.
As she let Mercy free, the tall man with the wand came into the room. With a booming voice he said, "Let's go into the living room."
As we walked into the large room, Mercy made sure she was holding my hand, as was Sue. When we stood in front of the man, I saw something in his eyes that said he was a pushover. I extracted my right hand from Mercy's and held it out, saying "It's wonderful to meet the father of this special girl."
He did the unexpected, he grabbed me and hugged me saying, "Treat my little girl well, I feel you two will be good for her, but I will still worry. I trust you son, treat her well."
Mercy started weeping and threw her arms around her dad, "Oh, Daddy, I knew you'd feel what I felt. I know Mom does too, but I just knew you'd know, just like I did last night."
Mercy's Mom was standing next to Sue, holding her hand and smiling. She said only two words, but they were strong, "All's well."
When Mercy and the man separated, he shook my hand then said, "My name is actually Merlin. My parents were magicians, so I guess they thought I would be the next coming. Please call me Merlin unless it gives you the creeps. If that's the case, call me Bob, or Joe, or whatever. This is Mercy's mother, Missy, which is short for a really weird name, Mission. Come into the kitchen where we can have some coffee or Coke and chat."
When Missy looked at me, I said, "I'm at a loss. You two know so much about us by reading our minds, or at least by Mercy reading our minds and then telling Missy who tells you, Merlin. Since you know everything about us, what else do you want to know?"
Missy spoke up, "Actually, we don't know that much about you. Mercy was doing her thing last night when she found you, but she has not dug into your mind because you are special to her. You have to tell us all about yourselves, but we'll know if you are not telling us the truth."
I tried to give them a short synopsis of my vacation, starting a business, meeting Sue, her business, and our mutual successes. I told them the only way to find it all out was to visit with us and talk with all our friends.
Missy said, "You're leaving so much out. There are so many things that have happened to you two that we may have to come down to Florida to find out everything about you. Do you have a big house for us to stay in?"
Sue answered, "We do have a big place, but we use a lot of it for my office. We have some extra bedrooms, so feel free to come. If it's too small for you we'll put you up in a nearby hotel."
Merlin said, in a matter of fact tone, "So you three are going to live a poly life style? Do you think you will be able to continue to enjoy each other after a few months?"
Mercy said, "I hope so, Daddy. Steve and Sue are perfect for me. Their minds are so full of love and friendship that I'm lost within it. It feels like heaven to be there with them. We spent the night together and Sue and I even tried to entice him, but Steve has not consummated our relationship yet, saying when the right time comes, we'll know it."
Missy surprised me, she came and sat on my lap. "Don't deprive my little girl of what is hers. Love her, make love to her, both of you. Make her scream with pleasure and let her magic encompass you. You two together are sending out billions of sexy vibrations that are driving me nuts. I'm going to have to drag Merlin off for a while."
Mercy spoke up, "See, I told you they were doing that to me last night and have continued to do that to me every second I'm with them. They have just captured me."
Sue laughed, "I always keep saying that Steve has conquered me."
Missy gave me an un-motherly kiss, then got up wiggling her bottom on the way up.
Merlin said to give him my cell phone number and to write down our address so he could send more of Mercy's stuff to us. He said, "I have a feeling you three will be traveling light back to Florida. Enjoy yourself and be careful. Mercy, go pack a light bag, take only one dress, but take three pairs of jeans and a couple pairs of shorts. If you need more, Steve will get them for you." As if by magic, a small bundle of hundreds appeared in his hand. "Take this so you have some mad money. You never take your pay from the club, so it is not a gift."
Missy was staring at me and I know I could hear her voice, "Take care of our baby, please take care of her."
Sue was obviously getting the same message as she smiled at Missy and nodded.
Mercy, Missy, and Sue went upstairs to gather clothes. I guess we had a new travel companion. This was kind of quick, even for Sue. But actually, this time, Mercy was the one choosing us, so it was different in that respect.
Merlin took me into his magic practice room. He showed me the many tricks he worked on to perfect them. He said some are tricks, some are illusions, and some, outright mind control and group hypnosis. He tried to show me the differences, but I had to tell him I was a simple guy that loved the thought that it wasn't a trick, but magic. He liked my approach and performed multiple tricks, one after another, until Mercy came in and snatched a live snake from his ear.
"You see, my upstart daughter plays tricks with me and on me continuously. Now where did she get that snake? It's supposed to be in the aquarium in the living room."
Mercy laughed, with Missy following. Missy sent me another message as we left, "Love her, make her a woman."
We waved at them as the Suburban took us back to the yacht club. Mercy told the driver to park the car and come eat lunch with us; he would be taking us out to the airport that afternoon. Okay, I wondered if we were leaving.
Dewey and Sheila were back, with her sporting a nice engagement ring. It wasn't big, but it was nice, nearly the size of Sue's, good choice. The driver's name was Brent and he met us at the restaurant where we had soup and big roast beef sandwiches, complete with jalapenos, lettuce, and tomato.
After lunch, Sue said she wanted to go out to the local small aircraft airport to see what kind of airplane she wanted to buy. The only thing she had ever flown was a Cessna, but she wanted to try an air coupe. "I know those things are expensive, but I fly and so does Steve, so we need an airplane. I think a four passenger would be okay, but I might look at something larger. Perhaps I'll just get two, a little one and a larger one. Not like Dewey's, but something like a turbo six or eight place. I'm sure they fly about the same as a little one, just faster, and with more people. Oh, Dewey, can we rent your plane, or is Florida too far away?"
Dewey said, "Most of the companies that use it are from the west coast, but Florida isn't that far. We would just ferry it down to you and fly you wherever you wanted to go. You might even want to buy one like mine and rent it out like I do. There are lots of companies down there who use rental airplanes.
"I don't know about that, but I wish John were here, he knows so much about airplanes. Since he isn't doing anything, I might have him fly down to help me pick one out. Right now I want to go out and see some for myself."
All of us rode out to the airport in the Suburban. There were three companies that were selling airplanes. When we walked into the first place, Mercy became uncomfortable and told Sue that we should leave. She said that there was something wrong that gave her the creeps.
The second place was a true Mom and Pop. They had mostly older Cessnas, a couple of Mooneys, one ancient Beechcraft, and a couple of Pipers. All looked well kept, but none tweaked Sue.
The last place was all business. A man tried to describe all the aircraft he had, but Sue finally said, "I'm a girl, I need to shop. If I can't touch and feel something, I'll never buy it."
We got up and wandered over to the huge hangar. The aircraft were grouped by manufacturer. First we looked at Cessna. There was a nice late model 172/175 that Sue liked. Next we looked at the turbo Cessna and Sue fell in love with a 206. We had jumped multiple price brackets all at once and were told that Sue would need some special instruction to fly it. We looked at some Mooney aircraft, and a couple of the popular Beechcraft A36s. I liked the Beech, but I had heard that some of them were difficult to fly. We wandered back over the newer 172 and Sue asked the man if she could fly it. She understood that she would have to pay regular rental rates, but she would have to fly it before she bought it.
Mercy climbed up into the airplane and sat in the back seat with her eyes closed. She sat there a long time until finally a smile came over her face. She looked comfortable sitting there so I didn't say anything. An attendant pushed the plane out of the hangar and Sue began a detailed preflight. The engine cover was snagging and the attendant said, "Ah, the oil is fine, you don't have to check it."
Sue said, "I wonder when the last time it was checked if everyone who flies this thing says the same thing."
The attendant looked embarrassed and discovered an extra pin that someone had installed on the cover. It must have rattled in the wind, that's why the extra pin. Sue checked the oil and it was marginal, so the attendant went for a quart. Sue read the engine meter then looked at the sheet that she had been using to describe the aircraft. She pointed to the hour meter then the sheet, saying that was an expensive mistake.
When the aircraft was all buttoned up the salesman got into the left seat leaving Sue to be a passenger instead of the pilot. She told the man that there was only an hour and a half time in the tanks and he said the gauge must be off but said they would only be up for fifteen minutes.
He started the plane and instantly began to taxi. I could see that Sue made him stop and go through the normal pre-flight warm up and run-up, then let him radio before taking off. Mercy was in the back seat, smiling the whole time.
They took off, circled the field then came straight in for a landing. When they landed Sue asked him to taxi the plane over by the office. The guy thought he had a sure sale. They didn't know hard-nosed Sue very well. They got out and the guy didn't even try to assist Sue or Mercy out. I ran over and helped both to step down.
When we all entered the office the man headed toward an office waving at Sue to follow. Instead she walked down the hallway and through the door marked President. She knocked on the door jamb as she went through. We stayed in the hallway to hear what she would say.
Sue began with, "You don't sell many airplanes lately, do you."
"What do you mean?"
"With rude, inconsiderate, salesmen, you're not going to sell me one, that's for sure. First your ground man tried to talk me into passing on checking the oil because the engine cover has been modified. Once we got it opened, the oil was almost two quarts low. Then the gentleman, and I use that term loosely, didn't want to give me the chance to fly a plane I wanted to buy. He just told me to sit in the right seat so he could fly the pattern and land. He didn't even give me a chance to touch the controls. Third, I should report you to the FAA because you are responsible for false advertising. This brochure says less than a hundred hours since major overhaul and the total time is supposed to be 1,016 hours. The plane would be very desirable at that, but I saw the hour meter, it showed 2,128 hours. So the plane is more than a hundred hours overdue for the thousand hour major overhaul inspection. Um, could I see the log book for the plane?"
The guy was sputtering. You could see his face go completely red. He stood up and said, "Let me see that brochure." He then went out to the front office and pulled a logbook from the shelf and looked at it. We then walked out to the airplane, where he struggled with the engine cover till Sue showed him the extra pin that had been installed. She even told him that the cover was probably rattling and that the modification was a good one. With the cover up he checked the meter with the logbook and his red face drained in color.
He went to the airframe I.D. tag and checked the numbers. He was nodding his head. He came back to Sue and said, "You're right so far. If we were to make this better would you want to buy the plane?"
"If you can resolve the log book, we'll talk."
He asked us to wait for him and he went in and you could hear yelling. Someone had been using the plane extensively and not logging the use. That was against the law. I don't know how much trouble you can get into, but the guy was stealing time from the plane, therefore stealing from his employer.
The salesman came out and checked the hour meter, snorted then went back in. One of the ground attendants came roaring up in a motorized cart and went in. There was more yelling and then the attendant came out with the logbook and checked the airframe number and the cockpit serial number. Then he checked the time meter. He could only exclaim, "Whew."
He looked at Sue and said, "You know airplanes, don't cha, Sweetie? I've always told that asshole he was going to get caught using airplanes. Oh, I heard what he told you about what you had to do with the206, that's not true. If you don't have an instrument ticket, you can't file IFR, that's all. If you're checked out in the bird, you can fly it. You want me to check you out?"
"Sue smiled and said, "That would be great, I want to fly the plane, though, to make sure it feels good. Can I, or am I just going to be a passenger?"
"Left seat and all, Honey. I'll go get the logbook and we'll take it up for a spin."
Sue looked around and said, "That's the way it's supposed to be done."
Sue and Mercy went back to the hangar and watched as a couple of attendants jockeyed planes around to roll the 206 out. Sue checked for water in the fuel like the checklist stated, then went to each of the spots listed on the checklist. She was down to one of the entries and had to ask about it. The attendant/ mechanic turned salesman showed her what was meant by the turbo receiver inspection. He showed her how the prop on some of the turbos had pitch adjustment, but this one was fixed.
Mercy had already climbed in the back seat and was buckled in when Sue and the mechanic climbed up. The mechanic went through the in-cabin check list with Sue, then had her do the start procedure. I could see them checking gauges and commenting. He directed Sue to adjust the radio frequency and had her advance the throttle to taxi away from the hangar toward the active runway.
I watched as the plane went to the end of the runway and was given clearance, then rolled onto the runway and ran up the engine. The plane literally leaped forward, lifting off a quarter way down the runway. I watched as the aircraft climbed, knowing some of this was really new to Sue.
They were gone for nearly a half-hour when the guy from the big office came out and told us to watch how she landed. She gently touched down with all three wheels at once. I had thought she would touch with the main wheels then drop the nose but she executed the three-point landing perfectly.
They taxied up to the office area and were busy inside for a couple of minutes then got out. Mercy was smiling happily as she took off a set of headphones before getting out.
As the mechanic and Sue went over the airplane, looking at the tires, the finish, the underside of the wings and everything about the airplane, Sue was asking good questions and getting good answers. She did know airplanes better than I did. When she was done, she stood back looked at it then came over to me to hold my arm. Mercy came over and held my other one. Sue nodded her head to the mechanic and said, "I'll take it. I'll need you to enter my check ride and sign my logbook for me. I want the equivalent of an annual done on the whole plane. Make sure it is perfect, as I'm going to fly it back to Florida in a couple of days. Before we go, Steve and I are coming back out to fly it for a couple of hours and do some practice landings. Do you have an FAA office out here?"
He pointed and Sue took me over to it and had them check out my name and social security number. She had them make up a makeup logbook for me from my old records and list what I would need to get my license back. They wanted me to do thirty hours total, ten instructor hours and twenty solo. Sue took me back over to the sales place and asked the owner if he could do a quick annual and a thousand hour on the 172. The mechanic said to consider it done and it would be complete by morning and the logbook up to date with accurate entries. He said he had figured the salesman was screwing up and had kept track of where he was and what he was doing.
Sue told them that I needed to get my license back, as I would need to be able to fly the new plane as well. Sue said she would rent the little plane wet or dry, or lease it, however they wanted. The owner said that since it was his plane, that if she paid for the gas, she could use it as much as she wanted. Sue asked for an instructor pilot that had time to spend some long days with me and the guy said, "I have just the man, my dad. He lives to fly and will fly till your husband's wheels fall off."
We made arrangement to meet them at the field at eight in the morning. Sue said she would send me with plenty of sandwiches and coffee. This was going to be like work, flying ten hours a day.