Reclaiming Sofia

"When...?"

She squeezed his arm.

"I'll call you. By Thursday, OK?"

"OK."

+

"This is an airplane? Really?" Ryan turned, looked up and down the airport flightline. There were many small aircraft, but this seemed the smallest.

"Yup."

"I think I could put it in my pocket, Sofia. What is it?"

"It's a Sling 2. Designed in South Africa, of all places. Here, give me a hand." The woman unfastened three chains under the aircraft. He shook his head and she smiled.

"Afraid it'll run away?" he quipped.

"This little thing only weighs like 800 pounds. A good breeze will flip it over." A fabric cover over the bubble canopy was removed, folded and stowed behind the seat.

"Um, you said a picnic, Sofia..."

"Mmm-hmm. There's a cooler under the tail; get it for me, would you please?

"Lunch?" he asked, passing it to her.

"Mmm-hmm."

He looked inside the cockpit as Sofia stowed the cooler behind the other seat.

"Um, you rent this thing?"

"It's perfectly safe, Ryan. You can rent them, but a few of us got together and bought this one. We share upkeep and fees, take turns using it. It's a light sport aircraft, sort of halfway between a powered hang glider and a general aviation plane like a Piper or Cessna."

She lifted a small book with spiral binding, looked at him.

"How about you find a spot and let me do my magic? Five minutes?"

"Gotcha."

Talking to him as she moved, the young woman began circling around the small craft, using a dipstick to verify fuel levels, moving control surfaces, peering here and there.

"Of course, it doesn't have the same performance as a 'real' one, but it's pretty good and a lot cheaper than the alternatives."

Kneeling under the wing, she drained an ounce or so of fuel into a what looked like a bar shot glass, examined it, then dumped it onto the pavement. Seeing the expression on his face, she grinned. "Checking for water in the fuel tank. Generally considered a bad thing."

Apparently finished, she wiped her hands on a rag, tossed the checklist into the cockpit.

"Is this one of the ones you don't need a licence for?"

"Half-way. The requirements are much more relaxed." He marveled at her bright smile in the morning sunlight. "Not that that's a problem for me."

He joined her chuckle. "I suppose not. How often...?"

"I fly a 'real' one every couple of months. It's never enough. I could spend forever up there."

There was a lightness, a happiness in her voice he hadn't heard before.

"Hop in. No -- right side, please. Just step on the seat and wiggle your way down."

Ryan watched out of the corner of his eye as Sofia slid rather more gracefully into the left-hand seat, smiled inwardly at the way her jean shorts stretched over her bottom. Once seated, he was surprised at the amount of room inside. It was hardly spacious, but neither was it claustrophobic.

"Seat belt, please."

"Oh. Of course."

The harness was unfamiliar and it took him longer than Sofia. Finished, his eyes were drawn to the way her shoulder belt pressed between her breasts, stretched her blouse, accentuated her figure.

Sofia handed him a set of headphones with a small microphone. "You won't need these for a little bit. For right now, just keep your hands to yourself, OK?"

The man settled his hands on his knees, trying to avoid touching the control stick protruding between his legs. He started a little when it moved back and forth, pushed left and right against his thighs. A moment later, he felt the peddles under his feet shift, watched as the woman made some entries in a thin logbook.

Working from the checklist, Sofia's fingers and eyes darted from place to place. A large screen in front of her lit up. It was clearly based on a map of some sort, but much of what he was seeing was unfamiliar, almost mysterious. Seeing Sofia talking into her own mic, he put the headphones on and was immediately even more confused with the professional chatter filling his ears.

She turned, checked that his safety belt and harness were fastened, smiled.

"All set?" Her voice in the headphones was surprisingly loud, surprisingly clear. He couldn't see her eyes behind her sunglasses. Not wishing to touch anything, he merely nodded.

She reached over, pointed at the end of the control stick. "Here's the switch so you can talk."

He realized that he could smell her shampoo. To his sudden embarrassment, he felt himself stiffening and shifted his hands to cover his groin.

"But, for right now, Ryan, please keep still until we're in the air. I need to concentrate."

He nodded. Sofia turned back to her instrument panel. His eyes were again drawn to the curve of her bosom under her blouse. He felt his manhood stiffen a little more, turned away to look at the next airplane over.

The engine started. More unfamiliar radio commands could be heard; the engine roared for a moment, then slowed down. A moment later, the small aircraft began moving, stopped, moved again.

"Brakes work. And... here we go," she said. The smile on her face was stellar, he thought.

In short order, Sofia had the craft racing down the middle of the runway and they were aloft. A few more cryptic words in his ears and she turned to him, smiling.

"Sorry about that, Ryan. Takeoffs and landings are when you really need to pay attention."

It struck him that she was in her own element here, as happy as he had ever seen her.

"No worries. This thing is peppier than I thought it would be."

"It's supposed to take a bit over a quarter-mile to take off, but the air is a bit thinner here. Thankfully, it's early enough that the air isn't that hot yet."

"Less lift?"

"Yup."

"You still haven't said where we're going."

"Special place. I found it flying practice runs with a Reaper."

He waited a minute, looked at the scenery, looked at her profile. She was remarkably pretty, he thought.

"Going to tell me about it?"

"Nope." She turned towards him and grinned mischievously. "I don't think you would believe me anyway. It's not far."

The two made idle talk before Sofia started to descend. Much of the region was mountainous, but here and there were level patches, mainly in valleys. It was towards one of these she flew.

She flew a scant hundred feet over the ground. Ryan could see her eyes searching, back and forth. Looking down, he saw very little.

"Looking for something in particular?"

"No. I mean, I'm hoping not to see anything - animals, new holes, anything like that.

"OK," she said. "Looks good." She adjusted the controls, the engine slowed and the little airplane settled in for a surprisingly soft landing. Sofia taxied to near one of the cliffs which defined the valley, turned off the engine.

Ryan was suddenly aware of the sun's heat through the canopy. He looked around.

"Here?"

"No, silly. Near here. Come on."

Sofia reached behind the seats, pulled out the cooler and handed it to him

"Here. Hop out and make yourself useful."

The basket wasn't all that heavy. Ryan was surprised to see her lift the tail of the diminutive aircraft and turn the nose into the wind before tying a length of nylon rope between the front wheel and a nearby tree.

"It 'sits' pretty well," he quipped. "You could probably teach it to 'stay'."

"Funny. Let's go, anyway."

"Where are we going?"

"Follow me."

The young woman led off towards the base of a looming cliff. She seemed to know where she was going, although he couldn't discern any sort of trail. Close to the bottom, almost at a mass of fallen boulders, she stopped, turned towards him. The sun was hot now and, looking around, she saw a low rock in the shade. Sitting down, she patted the space beside her in invitation. Once he had joined her, she turned, looked up at him, a serious expression on her face.

"Ryan." Her voice was gentle but almost insistent. "This is a... special place for me. It's my secret place, a place I can go to feel calm and peaceful."

He nodded, sensing this was important.

Sofia paused, as if searching for words.

"There's more," she said, softly. "I'm not sure, but I think this was an important place for the natives who once lived around here. You'll see once we're inside, but..."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that we need to respect it. Does that make any sense?"

"I think so."

Sofia's solemn face suddenly blossomed. Her smile was amazing, he thought.

She leapt to her feet. "Good! Thank you!" She seized his hand, pulled him to his feet. "Come on! It's amazing!"

She led them into a maze of rocks, sharp-edged, some large as a car, many much larger. She stopped once or twice, retraced her steps. Then the narrow space gave way to the mouth of a cave. A large cave.

Inside, the light was highlighted by drifting dust motes, but the sky, the land outside, was blocked by the mass of rocks in front, leaving it lit by soft indirect light. The roof of the cave was not high; Ryan started to reach up to touch it, stopped as his eyes beheld the marks surrounding them.

Every wall, the entire roof, was covered in lines and patterns and symbols, deeply scratched, carved perhaps, into the living rock. Spirals and concentric circles, zig-zags, triangles, crisscross grids -- they stretched over almost every inch of the place. Oddly, he thought, there were no recognizable images of the sort he might have associated with 'cave art' -- no stick figures, no animals of any kind.

"What are they?" he found himself whispering.

"I don't really know. There's no record of this place I could find and nobody has ever tried to explain or interpret."

He turned, his neck craning in all directions.

"How did you find it?"

"I noticed an odd shadow flying over here one day. It's not really obvious and it's not shown on any map I've seen. I got curious, came out here the next week."

Ryan now understood her caution, her almost reverential attitude towards the cave. It seemed to him not only a quiet place, but a place where quiet was expected.

He looked down, saw Sofia looking up at him, a quiet smile on her face.

"Sofia... Am I...?"

"The first to see it? I mean, the first one I've brought here?" She nodded solemnly. "Yes."

Ryan could sense her trust now and felt warmed by it. He held his arms out in invitation and the girl stepped into them put her head on his shoulder, her own arms around his waist.

"It's beautiful, Sofia," he whispered. "Thank you."

Surprised at the strength of her hug, he swept her head and back with a gentle hand.

"Thank you," he repeated.

She released him, stepped back. "Come, there's a good place to sit over here." She led him by the hand now. A low rock lay on the cave floor, flat, even, level, almost as if it had been placed there on purpose. She sat down, pulled him down beside her.

"Sssh," she breathed. "Listen"

Ryan closed his eyes, tried to focus on the sounds, or lack of them, in the cave. He became aware of Sofia's hand in his. She squeezed, relaxed. Some seconds later, she squeezed again.

The girl continued to squeeze his hand and Ryan tried to understand why. Then it hit him. There was a low, dull, barely-perceptible chuff  of sound every time she squeezed. No, he thought, she's squeezing in time with the noise.

He opened his eyes, looked about. There was no change, nothing new. He closed his eyes, tried to focus on the sound. There was no doubt. It was real.

Sofia gave an extra-hard squeeze. "Did you hear it?"

"Yes. Yes, I did. What is it?"

She grinned beside him. "I think it's just resonance, air blowing across the cave mouth."

Her grin grew brighter. "But it sure sounds like the cave has a heartbeat, doesn't it?"

He thought about it, nodded. Impressed, unwilling to disturb the serenity of the place, Ryan sat still. Glancing down to the figure beside him, he saw her eyes were closed now, her breathing slow. Her eyes opened, looked into his, bright, sparkling even in the dimmer light.

"Sorry," she smiled. "I tend to relax in here."

Sofia turned her head away from him suddenly, took a deep breath, then another.

"Hey," he said softly. "Did I do something? I'm sorry if..."

She turned back towards him and he noticed a couple of tears in her eyes.

"No, silly." Her hand closed gently around his upper arm and her head came down on his shoulder. "Sometimes when I'm here, I forget. And that's good, but it always comes flooding back."

Gingerly, Ryan put his arm around her, pulled her into a gentle hug.

"Sofia," he said softly, "I won't push, but if you ever want to talk about it, I'm available."

Her hand squeezed his arm for a moment."

"You don't need the trouble, Ryan. But thank you."

"Might I... may I ask if you've talked to anybody, a professional? Surely the Air Force..."

Her head returned to his shoulder. A moment later, he felt a small sob shake her. Instinctively, he half-turned towards her, put both arms around her. The sob was followed by another, then the girl's frame was racked with deep, broken-hearted weeping. He began to stroke her head and back, gently, as one might sooth a toddler after a nightmare.

"It's OK, Sofia. It's OK. It's OK."

Her arms circled his waist now and the crying intensified. Sofia clung to him like a drowning woman might clutch a life preserver. He could feel tears on his chest, soaking his t-shirt. He continued to stroke her back, ran his hand over her hair.

The crying slowed, stopped. A moment later, she turned up to him with red eyes, tried a small smile.

"You did that before!" she sniffed. "In our apartment."

"Special marshal training," he smiled.

Her head again fell to his chest. From under his arm, he could hear her whisper. "It feels good, Ryan."

"I'm sorry to be such a mess," she whispered a minute later. "You're being very patient all the time." Her sobs had subsided, replaced by sniffles.

"It's OK, Sofia." He thought for a second, faced a decision, made up his mind. This girl would be worth being patient with. "Thanks for trusting me."

Her hug was surprisingly strong.

She pulled out of his embrace, went to the cave entrance where the cooler lay. From it, she took a paper napkin, blew her nose, wiped her face. When she turned back, her eyes were still red, but there was a shy smile.

Returning, she brought a second paper towel, attempted to blot her tears out of his shirt. She looked up at him, smiled again.

"Thank you, Ryan. I'm sorry about your shirt."

"No worries. Are you OK now?"

"I think so. Are you hungry, after all that? I'll understand..."

"Starving."

Her smile brightened. It occurred to Ryan that she was an exceptionally pretty woman when she smiled.

Sofia took him by the hand, led him to the cave mouth, then to a bench-high flat rock off to one side, out of the cave but still in the shade.

"I don't like to eat inside, you know? It would just feel wrong."

"I get it."

The cooler contained a thermos of lemonade, sandwiches, fruit and foil-wrapped cookies. The pair spoke little for some time, then Ryan, leaning back contentedly against the rock wall behind him, took her hand in his and gave a gentle squeeze.

"A good lunch, Sofia. Thanks for that -- and for your company."

The woman squeezed his hand in return.

"You're welcome."

"And thank you very much for trusting me with this place, Sofia. I can see why you're drawn to it. It's magic, like your eyes."

The girl's face dimpled.

"Again, you're welcome, Ryan." She leaned in his direction and, her eyes looking at his, gave him a chaste kiss on his lips. A moment later, her eyes closed and the kiss became less chaste.

Ryan leaned into it, encircled her waist with an arm, pulled her in tighter. The tip of her tongue touched his lips and he opened them, met it with his own tongue, explored, played. Feeling her hand moving over his back, he began to respond, up her back, over shoulder, down to narrow waist. Her form under her blouse was firm, athlete muscle under feminine curves. Daring greatly, he slipped his hand lower, clasped her bottom, squeezed.

Sofia broke the kiss and Ryan's heart fell, thinking he'd gone too far, had upset her. Then she giggled, reached up, pulled his head back to hers for a brief kiss. Pushing him away, she glanced at the large watch on her wrist.

Dark eyes, no longer red, swept up to his. Her smile was pert now, happy.

"You are fun, Ryan, and I would like to continue this, but my reserved time with the bitsy bird out there is about up and the other owners would be annoyed if we get back late."

"We need to go?"

"Sorry." His disappointment was tempered by her smile and by her hand running up and down his chest.

The two were back at the aircraft a few minutes later. Ryan watched her repeat most of the same checks she had back on the airfield. Catching his eyes on her, she shrugged.

"Never take anything for granted, right?"

"I guess." The truth was that he hadn't been so much curious about her repeating everything as he had been admiring her body as she walked, turned and bent. Again, he felt a stiffening, but this time he didn't look away.

Ten minutes later they were in the air. Soon after that, they were back on the ground. Ryan helped her tie the small craft down in its place, helped fit the fabric cover over the cockpit. Having watched Sofia file various reports in the flight room, he followed her to the parking lot, now shimmering in the daylight sun.

She wrapped her arms around his waist, hugged gently before stepping back. Her face was a little more solemn, a little apprehensive.

"Ryan, may I ask a big, big favor, please?"

He nodded, wondering if something was wrong.

The girl pulled them together again, her head against his chest. It felt good, she thought.

"Ryan" she said, her voice soft and hesitant. "I enjoyed that. I enjoyed this,"  and she hugged him, harder now. "But I've still got a bunch of issues, a whole lot of things to work out. I guess... I guess what I'm asking for is you to be patient."

Her face turned up towards his. "Please?"

He bent down, kissed her forehead.

"Of course." He thought for a moment. "I had a very good time. Sofia. I'd like to see you again, soon."

Another hug from the girl seemed to signal approval, so he continued.

"Are you doing anything later this week? Say, a BBQ dinner at my place Friday night?"

Sofia looked up at him.

"I'd like that, Ryan, but I have an early shift on Saturday. I couldn't stay very late at all. Pilots have to sleep."

"An early dinner, then? You set the time. Oh, there's a pool at my place; you could bring a bathing suit if you wanted."

She smiled again. "How about I come mid-afternoon and leave by 8:00 or so? Would that be stretching it?"

"Not at all." The boy leaned down, was delighted to see her lips rise to meet his own. Then she was in her car, waving as she passed him.

+

"Well?" Maria asked eagerly. How'd the big date go, Ms. Earhart?"

"Good." Surprising both of them, Sofia blushed, looked down.

"Real good," she said softly.

Maria laughed, started to say something, but stopped. She was happy for her cousin, knew enough not to tease right now. Instead, she hugged Sofia.

"Details, girl!"

Sofia looked down, her blush deepening.

"Well, I like him."

Maria's laugh filled the apartment.

+

It was a nice neighborhood, she thought to herself. Not entirely new, not entirely old. Tiled roofs, more real trees than she'd expected, back yards surrounded by typical high stone walls.

The house was two stories, with a two-car garage. The front yard consisted of crushed red rock and a large palm tree. Sofia pulled over several doors down, examined it more closely. It seemed neat, well-taken-care-of and for some reason that seemed immensely important to her.