Beyond the Mirror
Copyright© 2012/2014
Chapter 22
Tom was astonished at the number of people who were waiting at Sandy’s new house that evening, people of all ages and several that he had never met, but all of them seemed to know him. His family was certainly well represented. His mom and dad were there, along with Ann and JJ, so they were the first to greet him as he and Sandy walked in the door. Laura and Charlie greeted him right after that, and Rachel wasn’t far behind. Then the whole White Out crew that were in town were next. After that, there were friends, neighbours, and people he knew from around town, but there was still another group that he’d never met before, friends of friends, or whatever.
Everyone seemed to want to know how he felt and what he planned to do next, so he felt almost compelled to say something to the whole group. Since there were conversations going on all around him, he walked over to Sandy, and they moved to one end of their new living room, then faced the whole crowd. It only took a moment for everyone to notice, and gradually, silence descended on the room. Then Tom took a deep breath before starting to speak.
“First of all, I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has gone out of their way to help me in any way since I was injured. Secondly, I’d like to say thanks to all those people who are here because you were going to help sneak me out of town this evening, but that risky night operation will not happen. I vetoed it because I felt it was too damn dangerous, and I don’t want you to risk your lives over something that I don’t feel is necessary. However, you will be happy to know that because of the rumours concerning what you had planned, Sergeant Lance MacDonald and members of the local RCMP detachment arrested another group of gangsters. That group of thugs were on their way to the airstrip, probably intending to finish the little job that Randal Scherer failed to accomplish. Now, if you want to know more about the whole gangster thing, you’re going to have to talk to Sergeant Mac because I’m not certain of all the facts, and I don’t want to mislead anyone.
“As for me, I’ve been released from the hospital, but I do have a mild concussion and a bruised shoulder. I’m not supposed to drink alcohol, and I’m limited concerning the amount of physical work I can do; however, my brain still works, and I still intend to keep improving the businesses that we’ve started. That means everyone else is still going to be working, and some of you will be doing a bit more than you were before I was injured because you’re going to take my place for now.
“Now concerning that, there are some people who need to be thanked for stepping in when I was hurt. First off, Dad, I owe you a big thank-you for stepping in and kicking butt, then for pulling JJ out of Calgary and tossing him into the job earlier than he had planned. Mom, thanks for being there and for keeping a lid on things so they didn’t boil over. JJ, I owe you for grabbing the reins and hitting the ground at a run, but you may think you stepped into a war zone in the next few days since I’m going to keep you hopping. Ann, thanks for stepping in and doing what was needed when it concerned the TF Dunn and Sunshine Mineral companies. Another big thanks to Laura and Charlie for what they’ve done to keep things on the right side of the law. Harry, Jim, and the rest of the White Out crew deserve my thanks for joining in and keeping our operation improving. Russ, Liz, Alvin, and Arnie, all of you have done a good job for Sunrise and you have my thanks. Sammy, way to go with that carful of gangsters and let me know what the repair bill is on your car, because I’ll cover the cost if ICBC doesn’t. Oh, do me a favour and look up that kid who backed his van into the punk’s car, and tell him if ICBC won’t cover the repairs, I will. Rachel, Matt, Linda, and everyone else who is here to help get me out of town, thanks for what you’ve done and for being willing to step in to help, even if what you’d planned will never happen.
“Now there are a few others that need special mention. First, Sergeant Lance MacDonald has gone over and above the call of duty with what he’s done for me and for all of us in the last day or two. Thanks, Buddy. If I can help at any time in the future, just call.
“Next, Ben Jacobs, without your quick wits and decisive actions, I’d probably be dead. I owe you, but I’m going to repay you by keeping you busy and using those wits to the advantage of both of us. From today on, you have a steady job and a good wage with Sunshine Mineral, either here in town or out on the lease, but we’ll discuss that another day.
“And finally, I’ll mention Sandy, the lady I plan to marry. There just aren’t enough words I could say that would have any more meaning of thanks than that willingness to be with her for the rest of my life does. Of course, we’re still discussing the date, but as far as I’m concerned, even yesterday wouldn’t have been soon enough,” and with that, Tom gave Sandy a big hug and kiss.
Of course, there were cheers and clapping after that, then a lot of handshaking and hugs, but it wasn’t long before Tom was feeling a bit tired. So he found a seat in one of the huge leather recliners that Mrs. Morgenstern had left behind, but to his surprise, his talk seemed to break up the party. Before anyone left, though, almost everyone of them took the time to come over and talk to him for a moment or two. Finally, only Rachel and Sandy were still there, and it wasn’t long before Rachel said she was tired and was going to bed, so she wished them goodnight. Then Sandy came over and slid onto his lap.
“That doesn’t hurt you, does it?” she asked quietly.
“Nope, and you’re leaning on the left shoulder, so you can even snuggle.”
“Reading my mind, huh?” she teased.
“When you crawl up on my lap, I figure you want a pet just like your cat would.”
“Hmph, Ebony didn’t like the move at all, probably because I’ve banished her and her kittens to the back porch for now. It has a tile floor, so if the kittens have an accident, it can be cleaned up. Until she’s been here for a week or two, there’s too much danger she might try to haul her kittens back to the old house, and that would be a death sentence in this weather.”
“Yeah, cats are damn near as territorial as people.” Tom smiled slightly. “In fact, I’m feeling a touch out of my depth right now. I’ve had too many changes happening in the last little while, and it’s finally caught up to me. I’m just glad you’re still around to act as my anchor.”
“Hmm, talking about anchors or things that have long-term holds on folks, I had a long discussion with Charlie and Laura about marriage licenses. It seems that British Columbia doesn’t have a waiting period between the time of getting the permit and having the marriage,” she grinned. “So if you consider that, in combination with the fact that you and I have been warned that we’re in danger if we stay in town right now, I was thinking that tomorrow would be a good day to get married. We could have a civil ceremony and go on a honeymoon for two weeks without feeling that either one of us was ignoring our jobs and without really affecting our long-term plans. Now I know it’s sudden, and I know that neither you nor I really want to take the time away from our work right now, but to be safe, we do have to leave town, so let’s use this as an opportunity. In a way, we’d be killing two birds with one stone.”
“Are you going to be satisfied with a civil ceremony on such short notice?” Tom asked. “I thought all women wanted a huge wedding with all the bells and whistles.”
“I’ve gone through one of those fancy ceremonies, and look what I got out of it. The bastard I married then is trying to have me killed now!” Sandy snapped. “You are a thousand times the man he will ever be, without even trying, and it isn’t the ceremony that makes the marriage work. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, we’re as good as married already, but I still have that feeling we should make it official, even if it’s just to please our families.”
“Well, I don’t think we can do it quite that soon, but not because I don’t want to,” Tom sighed. “You see, I’m sure marriage licenses are only issued by the Provincial Government, and all the Government offices will be closed for the weekend.”
“Oh, sheee-ite!” Sandy swore quietly, then giggled. “I never even thought about that.”
“Well, we could always take the honeymoon now and get married when we get back,” Tom kidded her.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Sandy surprised him. “Of course, if we wanted to go anywhere distant, we’d pretty well have to go to Vancouver first, and that’s where the gang that’s after us is based. I’m not sure I like that idea.”
“We could probably get around that by having Dad fly us to Calgary,” Tom paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. If we flew to Calgary, I could do the piloting, and that would give me almost enough hours to pick up my jet and multi-engine endorsements. Then I’d be legal to fly the plane JJ sold me. That plane is nearly new and in great condition, so if I had my ticket for multi, we could fly out to see your folks in Manitoba.”
“Yeah, that would be okay, I guess, but I never feel comfortable flying up in that part of the country during the winter since blizzards and whiteouts seem to blow up in no time flat. Even pilots that have flown up there for years can become disoriented, at least briefly, so at least once a year, you hear of a pilot who was caught in a brief storm and flew into a hill. I know you’ve flown in that country in the summer, but in the winter, it’s totally different. From the air, all you see is snow; even the trees and lakes seem to blend together, so the whole darn country looks the same, almost as if you see the same scenery everywhere you look. It’s just too damn dangerous for someone not completely familiar with the area to fly up there in the winter. Besides, I really wanted to go to somewhere warm,” Sandy pouted slightly. “I was thinking more along the lines of Hawaii or Mexico.”
“Not Mexico!” Tom snorted. “Where do you think all the drugs that gangs in Vancouver sell come from? Mexico or Colombia, that’s where, which means they have connections down there. Going there on a holiday would be like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Actually, I don’t have a passport, so we can’t really leave Canada right now anyway.”
“We don’t need a passport to go to Hawaii; it’s US territory, and they haven’t changed that law yet, although I really thought they would after 9/11.”
“Well, to be honest, I’d rather not have to go through the hassle of buying tickets out of the country right now. As soon as we do, our names might be noticed, and that just doesn’t feel safe at the present time. I know that’s a little paranoid on my part, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“Well, couldn’t your dad fly us there in his plane?”
“It doesn’t have the legs,” Tom shrugged. “In other words, it doesn’t carry enough fuel to fly that far.”
“But when they first came out here, he and your mom were on their way to Hawaii, and I know Kelly said that he’d be the pilot on the trip.”
“Well, he must have made arrangements to rent or lease a different plane then, because the KingAir definitely wouldn’t do the job.”
“Well, if we’re going to be stuck in Canada, I’d just as soon go out to the lease and spend a week or two there as anything else. Before we go, though, I want to buy a couple of pairs of those insulated long johns with the flap at the back and one of those insulated plastic toilet seats that your friend in Victoria mentioned,” Sandy grumbled, then slapped Tom’s good shoulder lightly when he grinned. “It’s not funny!”
“Well, maybe we should get you a thunder bucket too,” he grinned even wider, but shifted to get more comfortable.
“What in heck is a thunder bucket?” Sandy frowned at his grin, then she slipped off his lap and moved to another chair.”
“Well, you take a twenty-litre oil bucket and remove the top, then fit a regular toilet seat to sit over the bucket, and you build the whole thing into a frame to stabilise the setup. Before you use it, you put a half-litre or so of some sort of deodorant mixture in the bottom to keep the whole thing from smelling too badly,” he shrugged his shoulders and grimaced, then touched his right shoulder lightly as he frowned. “We could set it up beside the firewood in the covered area between the cabin and the cliff, then you wouldn’t have to walk all the way to the outhouse every time you had to go.”
“You mean out in the breezeway, with the wind whipping through there the way it does? You’ve got to be kidding! Besides, the smell would creep into the house.”
“Well, it’s not a breezeway any longer, not since I closed in the ends with slab lumber and the log walls of the cabin are solid with any gaps sealed by oakum. It’d be easy enough to put up a curtain of sorts to give you some privacy, keep out the drafts and still prevent the odour from getting into the cabin, that way the enclosure would be vented outside.”
“Darn, I forgot what a pain in the butt that outhouse and all the song and dance of being at the cabin without modern conveniences can be,” Sandy complained. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the solitude and the scenery, but just cooking a decent meal can be a pain in the butt.”
“Yeah, I know,” Tom shrugged again, then complained softly to himself. “Dang it, I’ve got to stop shrugging my shoulders like that because it hurts when I do.”
“That’ll get better in a day or two, but in the meantime the pain from your shoulder is a reminder that you need to take it easy.”
“No, the doctor said I wasn’t to get too energetic and not to drink alcohol. He didn’t say I was to take it easy and sit around on my butt. I couldn’t do that if I had to,” Tom snorted. “I’m not really an invalid, just injured, but I definitely don’t feel energetic. The only thing I really feel right now is a bit out of touch with everything, because things have been happening and I haven’t been around to watch over them.”
“Well, as far as your crew is concerned, they’re all self-starters. They knew what you were trying to do and they just kept busy at what you had told them you’d planned. By yesterday evening, Russ and Liz had talked to Charlie and Ann, then had gone over to see those condos you bought. There were three of them that were complete and move-in-ready: the handicapped one, another single-bedroom unit, and a two-bedroom unit. Ann rented them the two-bedroom unit, but they want to buy it and put their double wide up for sale. I think they’ve already moved in, because they hated the motel and they said they’d moved most of their furniture here anyway. The guys you call the ‘A-team’ helped them with that last night, and I think the boys are staying with them for now. Either that or the guys are staying at the motel. I’m not sure which, but I offered them a room for tonight, and Arnie said they had taken care of that, so I didn’t ask too many questions.”
“Wow, they sure moved fast, but if Russ and Liz want to buy a condo, that’d be fine with me. In fact, that’s what I hoped would happen. If you’re talking to Ann before I do, tell her to set up a mortgage for them with the company. Of course, if they have the cash for a down payment, they might want to take over the mortgage that Charlie arranged for TF Dunn when we purchased the place,” Tom smiled at that development. “I didn’t buy the place to sit empty, and if they want to buy a condo, more power to them.”
“Well, since you don’t want them to sit empty, you might want to talk to Lillian Samuels about that job. She came into the office this afternoon and apologised profusely for being a bitch yesterday, and she impressed me with the knowledge she already has about this town. She must have talked to your dad about all the places he knew you dealt with, because she’s already spoken to most of them. Not only that, but she likes Ann, and they’ve worked together before, so you know you’d be getting a working team. Besides, even if I ignore Ann and your mom’s glowing recommendations, I’d say she could probably do the job for you, and when you hire her, you can sell her that handicapped condo.”
“Okay, that apology makes a difference,” Tom nodded, then grinned. “I imagine Ann probably is at the bottom of both her apology and the research, though, because my big sister knows me quite well, even if she hasn’t seen much of me in the last few years. She knows I try to treat everyone fairly and try not to jump to conclusions, so I’ll bet she chewed on her buddy’s ear over losing her cool with you and told her what might happen if she didn’t play nice.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s possible,” Sandy nodded. “Only it might have been your mom who did that, because I think she likes Lillian as well.”
“Yeah, Mom would definitely have said something, which means I could act like ‘Mister Nice Guy’ and thoroughly confuse her, but I won’t. What I will do is explain what I want, tell her what I need her to do, and give her an idea of how to handle the different suppliers I use. The one thing I will try to get across to her is that I expect her to give people a chance and not to jump to conclusions.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Sandy smiled slightly. “To be honest, I think I could learn to like her, because she has a drive to work, and right now she’s feeling lost since she doesn’t have a job to keep her busy.”
“Okay, I’ll need to talk to her tomorrow then,” Tom nodded. “Now do you know what else has been going on? For instance, what have Arnie and Alvin been up to, or Russ and Liz for that matter? I’m also surprised that the White Out bunch is still in town. Do you know what they’ve been up to all day?”
“Well, your bunch, Russ, Liz, and the ‘A-Team’ have been sorting and shuffling all the things in your containers. I guess you talked to Russ and Liz about some of the things that you got in Calgary and told them that some of them needed to be modified before they were to be shipped up to the site. I think they spent most of the day on that, but I know they’ve been sorting things out, then weighing and labelling everything. They pretty well took over the one storage building for the job, the one where the scales are, but Harry gave them permission to do it and helped them get started. I know they came into town with a battery-powered forklift and parked that in the warehouse, then took your two new ATVs back out to the airstrip,” Sandy grinned. “Then your two prospectors went over to the guy who sold them to you and made a deal to buy two snowmobiles. Ann told them to buy them using the company name to get your discount, then they paid her for them, and she used that money to buy furniture and equipment for her new office in your building. Oh yeah, she bought you a fancy used desk for your office at the warehouse, which I thought was a neat trick, because that desk used to be Sheridan’s.”
“Oh man, I’d better have Lance look that desk over to see if it has any secret compartments in it, because he thinks Lister left some more files behind.”
“He already did, because I told Ann and she told him,” Sandy laughed, then quickly sobered. “But more than that, he’s going to go over to the new building tomorrow and work with the contractor to see if there are any trap doors or hidden cubbyholes in Sheridan’s old office. Ann told the contractor to strip the whole office down to bare wood and to open up anything that looked the least bit suspicious. I think she has a touch of a vindictive streak when it comes to protecting her ‘baby brother’ and the rest of your family. Your mom is even more protective, though, and your dad can be just plain scary. I swear he was almost crazy yesterday morning, at least until he found out you were going to live, and even then he was a bit wild. Once the doctor had told us that you only had a mild concussion and were resting comfortably, your dad started making phone calls. I know he called lawyers, judges, politicians, and anyone else who might rattle Sheridan’s cage. Then he called your brothers in Calgary and told JJ to be in Vancouver this morning and to be ready to go to work out here. He was like an angry bear.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen him like that, but there was really only one time when I thought he was really wound up. That was when Mom got sick, and we had to fly from Yellowknife to Calgary. I was only about ten at the time, and the whole thing scared heck out of me. Actually, that might have been the time when Dad changed, and his personality got a lot harder. I know it wasn’t long after that when he and I started to have nasty arguments, but part of that was the difference in our educations. He was raised in what I call the ‘grab and go’ generation, and I was being taught to conserve and recycle, so we didn’t see eye to eye on almost anything,” Tom snorted and grinned. “I still think the two of us are a lot alike, though. Neither one of us has much patience for what we each consider to be sheer stupidity, and both of us are stubborn as hell, so when we clash, it’s bound to be tumultuous.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that,” Sandy grinned.
“So what about the guys from White Out? What have they been up to all this time?”
“Well, they’ve stripped all the busted and damaged pieces off that new small helicopter, and I understand Ben has been working with Travis and Ron on that. I think the other wreck from Kamloops was delivered late this afternoon, but it was brought in on a semi-trailer truck. Harry and Jim were going over your notes and drawings about the new layout at the airstrip, and once JJ was here, they went over them with him. From what they said to me, they don’t agree with everything you wrote down, but they do like the idea of separating the rotary traffic from the fixed-wing operation. I think their argument had something to do with how incoming and outgoing supplies and materials were to be handled, but I’m not sure exactly what they meant. Oh, Harry mentioned that he wants to hire his niece sometime later in the year to help out around the office, but that won’t be until just before the big move.”
“Huh, I don’t care how they set up the buildings or who they hire,” Tom snorted. “I was just trying to do a layout that I thought would work, but I’m not an expert on designing loading facilities for air traffic. I just wanted something on paper to get a general idea of the amount of space and money we’d be laying out to do the job. Heck, one of the reasons I drew things up the way they were is no longer a problem, because it looks like we’re going to be flying the heavy loads going to the lease out of Misery Flats. At least I hope we are.”
“Oh, good thing you mentioned that. Harvey Bartlett called and talked to your dad, then to Russ and Alvin. They made arrangements for Alvin and Arnie to pick up a few supplies for Harvey’s store before they drive the semis over to Misery Flats. They’re going to do that tomorrow morning - unless you have other ideas, but Harvey said the supplies aren’t going to be essential for a few weeks, so if you have something else you want them to do first, he can wait a week or two.”
“Actually, I just might have another idea,” Tom looked at her and grinned. “I was thinking that since I’m laid up, maybe we really should take a few days’ holiday, but if we do that, I’d like to take our private army along.”
“Our private army?” Sandy stared at him with a frown.
“Umm, hmm, Alvin, Arnie, Russ, and Liz.”
“But why?”
“Because I was thinking of using Dad’s plane to fly the bunch of us to Victoria, which is a lot warmer than it is here, and it gets us out of Bear Creek in a way that can be made public. Now, our supposed destination when we leave here could be announced as Calgary, but I might just head the wrong direction, which would send any remaining gang members on a wild goose chase. However, since Victoria and Vancouver aren’t all that far apart, and just to cover our butts, I’d like to take along some protection—in other words, our private army,” Tom grinned again. “If we work it right, we can take along a few instruments and plan to play on Blues Night at Herman’s.”
“If I know you, you’ve got another reason for going there, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, I do,” Tom winked. “I was thinking of talking to Brian and Linda Welch about a couple of our problems up at the lease.”
“Okay, what problems are those, or is that a secret?”
“Well, a few days ago, I heard someone talking about composting toilets, and I wondered if there were any new ones on the market that actually worked. I know the first ones to come out were a complete flop, but if anyone would know about them, I thought Brian would.”
“Wouldn’t those stink pretty badly?”
“Yeah, the bad odour was one of the problems with the early ones. Another problem with them was that they just didn’t compost worth a darn, so you ended up with a terrible mess. The third problem was that they need a source of heat to get rid of the fluids, usually electricity, which we don’t have. But I understand the Provincial Parks department is installing them in out-of-the-way places now, though, so maybe there have been some improvements.”
“Hah, both you and I know the parks department has screwed up before,” Sandy snorted. “Look what they tried to do to you and your lease?”
“Yeah, there is that,” Tom nodded.
“Okay, that’s one thing you want to see Brian about, but you said you had a couple of questions for him, so what else were you thinking about?”
“Oh, you got me to thinking about cooking up at the lease and I was considering the fact that we have a private delivery service up at the lease now. How would you feel about having a small propane stove to cook on in the cabin? We’d still be using the wood stove for heating and slow cooking of some things, but for cooking meals we’d have a normal stove, with an oven,” he grinned at the surprised smile on her face. “Not only that, but tomorrow is the first of March and I’ll bet the early spring flowers are appearing in Victoria’s parks and gardens. It’s a bit early for the cherry blossoms to be showing up, but there’ll be crocuses and daffodils coming into bloom, so you’d get a taste of spring.”
“That sounds great, in fact the stove sounds wonderful, but don’t they make refrigerators that run on propane as well?”
“I don’t know about that, but I suppose we could ask at an appliance store. I was thinking that we could spend two or three days down there and get a lot of little details done,” Tom said quietly. “I know Mom, Dad, and JJ want to be back in Calgary next Friday, so I think we’d probably have to be back here on Wednesday or Thursday at the very latest.”
“Okay, you’ve convinced me,” Sandy grinned. “First off, I need to run upstairs and talk to Rachel. Then I’ll make some phone calls before it’s too late to call anyone.”
And with that, Sandy was on her feet and rushing off, leaving Tom alone with his thoughts.
Over the rest of that evening and the next morning, Tom had a perfect illustration that Sandy was extremely good at organising events because late the next morning they were leaving town. By two o’clock Saturday afternoon, Tom had landed the KingAir at the Victoria airport near Sydney, just north of Victoria, and they had rented a pair of adjoining cabins and three cars for the next five days. The cabins were each two-bedroom units and sat right on the waterfront, looking out onto the strait. Tom was told in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t to handle any of their luggage, so he grabbed the phone and tried to set up meetings for the next few days. Unfortunately, most of the people he was trying to call weren’t answering, so he gave up for the time being.
Saturday evening, all eight of them ate at a local pub. Then they visited an Army, Navy & Air Force Unit in Sydney, where Tom and his ‘private army’ joined in on a jam session. That was the first time his mom and dad had ever seen Tom perform in public, and it virtually left them speechless, at least for a short while.
“I knew you could play the guitar, but you can sing too!” his mom sounded astonished as Tom and the others came back to sit down after their first session onstage.
“Yeah, that’s what others tell me,” Tom shrugged, then made a face. “Personally, I think I sound like a bullfrog with a sore throat. Liz is the gal I like to hear sing, but Alvin and Arnie can do pretty darn well on a duet, a lot better than me. To be honest, I think the only reason they let me get up there and play with them is because I gave them all jobs.”
That brought a snort from Alvin, while Arnie laughed aloud.
“Big A does it so he can swap guitars with the Boss every once in a while, and he bullies the rest of us into going along with his decision,” Arnie teased both Alvin and Tom.
“Listen to you talk, you’re the guy who drools every time you even see Tom’s old Martin guitar,” Alvin snorted. “Say, do any of you recognise that guy over there with the cane, the younger guy? He looks familiar somehow.”
“Well, since he’s in here, he was probably in the service at one time or another,” Liz commented. “I don’t recall meeting him before, though.”
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