Wings of Fire Ch. 02

"Thanks. I appreciate that and yeah, she was. Where do you think I get my smarts and firecracker attitude from?" Jim joked. Giggling, she snorted through a brief fit before asking more questions.

"So, how long have you been planning this for?" she wondered.

"At least four years, back when my mom's health had started to deteriorate. I had got my hands on anything and everything I would need to know, to make a break across the border. Having access to a plane helped, but that changed fast. It was about that same time when your dad bought the airfield from old George Vlahos, if I remember right," James said, thinking for a minute.

"Speaking of escape plans, what was yours?" he wondered aloud.

"You remember how I told you I was in an arranged marriage to Paulo?" she asked.

"Kind of hard to forget, as you told me a little less than an hour ago," Jim replied.

"Well, my mom convinced me to go along with it, to placate my dad and to keep him off our backs. She knew just how much of a brutal asshole Paulo was and had already set a plan in motion for me to avoid it. Once she knew no one was listening, she told me of her plan to get me out of the United States and across the border," Laura revealed.

"How was she going to pull that off?"

"She had money that papa didn't know about, squirreled away for such a time, should she ever need it. This was the time that she felt it warranted being used. She had already contacted the Underground, and was in negotiations to see me safely across," she said.

"There's still Underground in town? I thought they had all fled with the last round of public executions that happened," Jim said, astounded.

"Only the most obvious figures had fled, to make a good show for the public. They knew there were people who still needed help and wanted out, so some of them stuck around. According to what my mom told me, they needed time to get things together, so we waited," Laura continued.

"The plan that was laid out for us, was to have the Underground transport us from the U.S. and go south, into the Central American Alliance. Our destination was to be deep in the heart of Mexico, far from my father's reach. We didn't know just how influential he was though," she grumbled.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Someone must have heard something, or they caught one of the agents, but all contact with the Underground was severed. Soon after, both my mother and I were being constantly watched, by either one of papa's family or the servants at the house. We were barely left alone during our waking hours, so any opportunity to leave was gone," Laura went on.

"We both had given up on being able to leave without being followed. So, we ignored the Underground, to protect them and protecting ourselves. You know what happens to anyone associated with them and what becomes of people who try to jump the border."

Jim didn't need reminding as the grisly executions from over a month ago was still fresh in his mind. Watching those poor people, slowly get torn apart, and they invited the public to watch. They separated the family who had been caught with the agents of the Underground. They sent the mother and father to separate jails while they sent the kids to orphanages as a means of punishment.

"So, how did you know to find me at the airfield?" Jim wondered.

"I didn't. I was angry and needed to go somewhere other than home, so I snuck out. I always liked coming to the airfield at night because the sky there was so clear. My plan was to sit there and try to talk to God when I saw the lights go on in the main building. I thought there might be someone trying to rob the place. So, I used a hidden key to unlock the door to walk inside. And that's when I found you," Laura finished.

"Hmm. Well, that explains a lot. So, I guess that me deciding to leave via stealing this plane provided you with a unique opportunity to get out then?" James asked.

"Si. It wasn't what I had originally planned but since you already there, doing what you were doing, I hoped that you would be compassionate enough to let me come with you," she said.

"No one should have to endure shit they don't want to. I was already leaning towards allowing it anyway, but telling me about Paulo, made it a solid yes. I know just how much of a dick that guy can be," James stated.

"You sound like you have personal experience with that," Laura said, picking up on the tone of Jim's voice.

"More than once, him and his goons jumped me. They thought to use me as their personal punching bag, back when I was still in middle school. After about the third time it happened, I convinced my mom to have me tutored privately back at the estate," James explained.

"Well, thank you. I truly appreciate you being a fair-minded man. I only wish I could have brought my mother with me," she lamented. "I should have gone back for her!"

"There's nothing for it now. Besides, had you gone back, you would have likely alerted your father much sooner. If that had happened...." James let that hang in the air for a minute.

Laura went over the possibilities and she found that Jim had a point, several in fact. If she had been caught with Jim, she would have been confined to her house and likely her room. James would have been sent to jail and possibly been put on the list for execution. She shuddered at the thought and quickly let her mind drift away from that topic.

"You're not the only one who left someone behind they care about," James said to her, as a means of comfort.

"But your mother is gone," Laura said, not fully understanding.

"I had a friend or two back there. One, who meant more than I thought she did," he said, giving Laura the clue she needed to put things together.

"Ooooooohhh! I'm sorry Jim! That must have been hard!" Laura apologized.

"It's all right. I guess I'll just have to adjust my plans then," James said while he was still flying through the moonlit night.

"What do you mean?"

"I was planning on going back for her, but since your mom is also there, we can see about getting her out as well," James said as he adjusted their course to two-two-zero.

"You mean that?" Laura asked in wonder.

"Absolutely. I'll go about finding a contact with the Underground once we're across the border and see if they can help us both. Since your mom did such a good job raising you, then she's a good woman. She doesn't deserve to be trapped somewhere she doesn't want to be," Jim told her honestly.

"Thank you!! Thank you so very much!!" Laura got out as she cried tears of joy. She had hoped to find a way to get her mom out and expected to have to do it herself. That James was offering to help her do that, had her feeling grateful that he was such a considerate man. She had a few ideas about how to thank him but kept them to herself for the moment.

"Where did you learn how to fly?" she asked him as she dried her tears on the sleeves of her borrowed jacket.

"Old Vlahos taught me years ago, back when he still owned the airfield. My mom tried to get me into the traditional activities that upper-class men would partake in. Polo, croquet, rowing, soccer, but I wanted none of it. The one thing I wanted to learn most of all was how to fly and after much convincing, she agreed to let me take lessons," Jim said.

"After she saw how good I was, she not only continued to allow my lessons, but she became a patroness of the airfield. The money she donated helped Old Vlahos with new equipment, covering the cost of repairs and stuff. Sadly, it wasn't enough as the old man still had debts to pay and was given no choice but to sell the airfield," James sighed.

"Despite your father's antics and bullshit, he wanted to keep my mom's patronage. So, he allowed me to keep my job and fly, but he was always restricting my time up in the air. Kept me so damn busy that I was lucky to go up maybe once a week. Then she died, and everything went to shit," the young man griped.

"Well, we're away from all of that now," Laura reminded him.

"True, but we're not out of the woods yet. Have to set down in the airfield and then try tomorrow night," he told her.

"Why not try to cross now?"

"Because it's late, and I have had little in the way of sleep. I can fly hungry but not tired and if we're going to cross the border and not get shot down, I need to be sharp. The only way I stay sharp, is if I get enough rest," he said.

"That makes sense. Is this abandoned base you told me about far?" she wondered.

"Maybe an hour away, if my calculations and charts are correct," Jim said to her.

"You charted this whole thing?" Laura asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Since your dad bought the airfield, I had a few plans, but filled out the details on each one. I worked hard to make sure I would have had an exit plan, to get out of the U.S. Granted, I didn't plan for this specific outcome," James laughed. "But because I had planned a few exit strategies in advance, it was easy enough to adapt them to fit the situation."

"That makes sense," Laura said, nodding. "You sure you can land this thing in the dark?"

"Old Vlahos taught me well. He had a lot of experience with night flying and he was adamant I learn it as well. Besides, there's something he told me in the strictest confidence, which lent credence to his teachings," Jim stated off handedly.

"What did he tell you?"

"Swear that you won't tell anyone about this. What I'm about to tell you could get a lot of good people in trouble. People who still live in the U.S. and have limited resources to leave," James stated, his voice hard as iron.

"I swear by holy God and on the life of my mother, that I will take this secret to my grave, if you ask it of me," Laura swore, placing her hand over her heart.

"Old Vlahos, he served with the Black Widows," Jim said.

"What??? You're telling me he served with the greatest and most feared warrior women of our generation?"

"Yup. He was one of the first who signed up with them. Brought his whole family with them, those who hadn't already fled to America. He stood with them in each sortie and firefight, fighting and bleeding alongside them," James stated.

"How did he wind up on the east coast of the US?" she asked.

"He didn't say specifically, but when we were out drinking once, he told me in the strictest confidence. The poor man was way too drunk to make himself completely understood. I picked up the pieces, about how he had a twin brother that was living in the United States. He also mentioned something about the riots of forty-eight. How he couldn't save him," Jim sighed as he teared up a little.

"Old Vlahos had a big family, didn't he?" Laura wondered.

"Maybe that was his brother's family!" Jim said, snapping his fingers as his brain put the pieces together. "He probably came to get them out, but the riots and such endangered everyone's lives! With a family of nine, a couple of them babies, I wouldn't want to risk losing any of them, if I was him!"

"So, he probably stayed to look after his brother's family and in a way, they became his family," Laura speculated.

"It makes logical sense. Vlahos would always tell me that looking after your family was important, more so than yourself."

"He truly was a good and honorable man! I wish I could have gotten to know him," Laura said sadly.

"Yeah, well, he left town soon after he sold the airfield. No one has heard from the man or any of his family since," Jim said curiously.

"Maybe he crossed the border?" Laura asked.

"Here's hoping."

"Why do you call him 'Old Vlahos'? He didn't look that old," Laura questioned.

"That's because his hair went white long before it was supposed to. He constantly complained about it. He kept saying that the white hair made him look old, although he was just past forty. We started calling him 'Old Vlahos' as a joke and the nickname kind of stuck," James explained.

"Hmph! You guys shouldn't have been so mean!" Laura griped.

"You should have heard the nicknames he had for us," Jim said, laughing it off.

"Oh! What kinds of nicknames did he have for you then?" Laura asked with a teasing note in her voice.

"I think that's going to have to wait until we're on the ground. Judging by the time on my watch, we should be getting close," Jim stated as he brought the plane on a more westerly course. As he did this, he killed the engine, stopping the propeller.

"Why did you do that?" Laura squeaked in shock, thinking they were going down.

"There's a town just ahead," Jim said as he pointed though the canopy. Sure enough, the telltale glow of streetlights lay ahead of them, maybe twenty kilometers in the distance. "I want no one hearing us overhead, then deciding to come look for the source of the noise. Especially the local cops."

"Oh!"

"That's also why we're flying so high right now, so we'll be tougher to spot in the gloom. The base we're heading to isn't far, maybe forty, forty-five kilometers away from the town. We've been lucky and if our luck holds, we'll be away from this place and across the border before news of us even gets here," James explained.

Laura said nothing and just watched as the town got progressively closer. Once they had flown over the first few neighborhoods, Jim banked right in a northwesterly direction. They continued to glide through the air, losing altitude, but in a slow and controlled manner. James did everything he could to keep them aloft, and they passed over the town without incident.

Just as they were maybe halfway to the base, the sky got lighter. It was still dark, but the beginnings of pre-dawn were starting, as the night blue of the sky brightened. Jim kept their course steady, not wanting to risk starting the engine in case they were overheard. Despite the early hour, James didn't want to risk it. They were dropping more altitude than he would have liked, but there nothing he could do about it now.

"Is that it?" Laura asked.

"Where?"

"On your right. Looks to be maybe a few kilometers away," she said, her hand pointing past Jim's seatback. Sure enough, James spotted it in the distance. It was hard because there were no running lights or telltale signs of movement. Checking his altimeter, Jim saw they had just descended below two thousand feet. He growled in annoyance and banked right quickly.

"What are you doing?" Laura cried out as she saw him turn away from the airfield.

"Coming about so we approach the runway from the correct angle. We can't land diagonally or go into any rough areas, or the landing gear will get wrecked," he explained. "I would have liked to make a pass over the base to confirm that no one is there, but we're too low. I'm going to have to land it now."

"You said it was abandoned!"

"By the military, yeah. But places like this don't stay like that for long. Who knows if there's someone hiding out there already?" James said.

"And you decided to tell me this now?!?" Laura shouted angrily.

"Didn't think we'd have much in the way of a headwind, but I can't do anything about it now! Tighten your seatbelt, this landing could be a little bumpy!" he shouted back. Growling and mouthing a prayer to God, Laura did as she was told and hoped and waited that everything would be all right.

Jim banked left as he lined up the plane with the base. The sky had brightened more, and he was grateful to have some clarity of vision. He could make out the runway ahead, but just barely. He could see that there was something on the runway but couldn't tell what exactly it was. He cursed his luck with the winds though as there was little could do about it now.

The runway was on a slight angle to where they were positioned, so James moved the stick to compensate. They were lined up and coming in slow, but maybe not slow enough. Flipping the switch, the landing gear went down, and James felt the clunking of it locking into place. The altimeter read five hundred feet as Jim set the flaps and went in.

Four hundred... three hundred... two hundred... one hundred... James braced himself for impact as the plane hit the tarmac hard. As the plane jolted and shuddered upon impact, Jim was thankful to see that he had landed straight, and they were coasting along the runway gently. The moment he looked ahead, he saw what exactly was on the runway and his heart dropped.

In the middle of a runway was an old army truck that had seen better days. Jim instantly hit the flaps to go up to the highest setting possible, hoping they'd slowdown in time! Looking about frantically, he saw that there was small taxiway coming up on his right. They were still moving a little fast, but he'd have to risk it.

"Hang on!" he cried out as he turned the stick sharply to the right, veering off the runway. Laura squawked as her face was pasted against the glass at the sharp turn. They could both feel the aircraft tilt to one side for a brief moment. Jim pulled hard on the stick, hoping he could right the plane. A split second later, they felt the weight shift and the plane straighten out.

"What the hell was that for?!?!?" Laura shouted indignantly, as she peeled her face off the cold glass.

"Look to your left on the runway," Jim said simply, breathing easier, as his heart hammered in his chest. Rubbing her bruised cheek, Laura craned her head to look and her mouth fell open. She saw the truck sitting there on the road, looking like an implacable monolith. She noted that the tires were flat, and it looked like the truck had been there for a while.

"If we had crashed into that..." she started.

"We would have wrecked the plane and then had to walk across the border on foot, at best. At worst, we would have gone up in flames and the only things left of us would be ashes," James finished.

He guided the plane towards a nearby hangar, the third one away from the main building. The doors of it were already open, so Jim guided the aircraft towards it. They came to a full stop when the nose was just shy of the opening. Taking a deep breath, Jim pulled out the keys and pocketed them, before he flipped the latches with Laura and opened the canopy.

Jim was out first, eager to stretch his legs some, after being confined to the cockpit for several hours. He heard Laura fussing with trying to get out and ran over to help her. She accepted his help and climbed out of the plane, unused to doing it as she fumbled her way out. Once on the ground, she stretched as well, popping her limbs as she flexed her muscles.

James went to the belly of the plane and popped open the cargo bay. Finding his duffle, he opened it and was thankful that he found the bottles of wine and his sword intact. Pulling his sword out, Jim also rummaged about until he found a flashlight. Once he had both items, he pulled the blade free of its scabbard, handed the sheath to Laura and turned on the flashlight.

"What are you thinking might be here?" Laura asked, more than a little frightened.

"If we're lucky? Nothing. Hobos if there is someone here. Possibly worse, if our luck has turned sour," James told her as he checked the hangar. Finding it empty, Jim continued his search and found no signs of habitation in the other four hangars that dotted the area. He then turned his attention to the main cluster of buildings, with Laura following him close behind.

"What could be worse than hobos?" Laura whispered as she clutched the scabbard tightly.

"Criminals, trying to evade capture. They still haven't caught the Flintlocks, and no one knows where they got to. Rumor has it that they've been lying low somewhere close to the border," Jim whispered back before he shushed her.

Laura paled at the mention of the Flintlock gang. They were a notorious bunch of outlaws that had made a name for themselves by robbing banks, taking hostages, raping women and killing anyone who got in their way. The authorities had been trying to catch them for the last decade but have had zero success in doing so. Anyone who got too close to the gang, wound up dead.